The South West Club and County Cross Country Championships were held at RNAS Merryfield on an unseasonably warm winter’s day, with the temperature in double figures writes Vasen Moodley
Showers left the ground boggy, and the runners with soggy bottoms !! Despite this the juniors had a glorious time, and came away with a haul of club medals in a number of age categories. CoSARC won Team Gold in the U17 Women’s race when Sophie Nicholls led the club to victory in a time of 17:56. She was supported magnificently by Lizzie Norton 19:00, Milly Rayner 21:46, Daisy Badger 22:32 and Emily Warren 24:52. The U13 Boys and Girls teams both won Bronze.
Harriet Boardman was rewarded for her grit and determination when she was selected to represent Wiltshire in the U15 Girls.
Bea Wood was chosen to represent England U20 Women in the prestigious and historical Elgoibar International Cross Country Races in northern Spain last Sunday. She came 4th in her 4.5km race (2nd in her age category), 8 seconds behind the winner with a time of 16:57.
In the Winter Enigma marathon Jenny Hartley had to contend with cold rain and wind. Although the course consisted of 7 laps of a lake it seemed like she was always running into a headwind. Despite these difficulties Jenny excelled herself by beating the entire mixed field of high quality runners to finish 1st overall in a time of 3:18:56 and bagging a PB in the process.
Samantha Noyce took part in a series of races in Disneyworld Florida. The tough four day Dopey Challenge consisted of a gruelling four races. Samantha’s finishing times were 5K 21:55, 10K 42:36 (7th female out of 6,217 females), half-marathon 1:40:37 and full marathon 3:26:29. She saved her best until last when Samantha bagged herself a Marathon PB by 2:30.