The first Hampshire Road Race League (HRRL) 2021-2022 tables have been released following the first fixture at Overton 5 mile held on 5 September 2021.
After being abandoned in March 2020 after just 7 races due to the pandemic, the whole of the 2020/21 season was missed and it’s thanks to Overton Harriers for putting on a COVID safe event to get the 2021/2022 league underway.
Despite a ‘relatively’ low turn-out of CoSARC runners (22 runners – compared to pre-pandemic numbers upward of 60), the 7 Ladies and 15 Men ensured CoSARC came roaring out of the blocks to pick up where they left off in March 2020.
On a day where a freak heatwave caught everyone by surprise, the Men's A team (comprising of the first four finishers to cross the line) Ben Saunby, Richard Davidson, Rob Drag, Matt Sherfield, fired the club to first place in the top division – with a notable performance from Ben seeing him finishing in second place and first outright league runner home. Ben currently sits top of the individual standings and will hope to maintain his strong start to the season in the coming months.
With several diaries clashing with the re-arranged Southampton races, CoSARC Ladies A team (comprising of the first four finishers to cross the line) Katie Clements, Di Mattingly, Heather Hitchins, Alison Sloan, were still able to post a strong performance against their rivals and find themselves poised nicely in fourth spot in the top league; with Katie Clements (pictured) replicating the men, finding herself sitting in the top 20 of the individual leagues.
Michael Brewster, Andrew Holme, Nicholas Cooke, Derek Wood, ensured the Men's B team grabbed second spot in the top division as they started off in style with some fine individual performances in the heat. A strong showing from Stubbington just keeping them off top spot. Men's C team comprising of Jason Bennett, James Ballard, Paul Slaughter, Andy Makin, put in a solid showing to ensure the team settled into fifth place in the top division. The Men's D find themselves fourth, a relatively good start given that the team was incomplete – three of the four required finishers being Colin Warrington, David Smith, Michael O’Connell. Had the last place been taken, the team would be lying second. A fantastic start and an excellent grounding to mount a serious promotion challenge.
Ladies B team find themselves third in the top division. This is a fantastic start given that the team was incomplete – three of the four required finishers being Jackie Chlebowski, Carol Chlebowski, Mary Clements and will look to mount a serious bid for the league title in the months to come. Meanwhile Ladies C and Ladies D were not alone in the league in falling foul to the conflicting diaries.
The next race on the HRRL calendar is the Lordshill 10k on 19 September 2021 where the club will hope to at least field the 16 Ladies and 16 Men needed to complete the teams and maintain what promises to be an exciting season.
Full results and tables for the HRRL can be found at the link below.
Craig Weatherburn
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