Despite the efforts of Storms Eunice and Franklyn many CoSARC runners still went racing both during, and in the aftermath of the heavy rains and gale force winds writes Vasen Moodley
Saturday saw the grand finale of the Hampshire Cross Country League in very challenging conditions at Popham Airfield. To merely say it was wet, windy and cold would be an understatement. With the ground totally saturated this turned conditions extremely muddy underfoot. All the runners did fabulously well, in extremely tough running conditions, and there were stand out performances from them all.
The U13 girls were lead home by Sophie Wood in 4th place, followed by Sophie Hayakawa 17th, Lilli Clements-Champion 30th, Olivia Barnett 32nd, Bethany Denbury 37th, Jessica Martin 39th, Beth Bament 41st, Indigo Badger 44th, and Isabelle Grover 45th. The team finished in 5th place, beating the likes of Southampton, Poole and Reading.
Next up where the U13 boys. They were lead home by James Gabriel in 10th, Daniel Robertson 19th and, in his first race for the club, James Chant in 42nd. The boys battled to another 5th place finish, beating the mighty Basingstoke team in the process!
With the ground well and truly “churned” the U15 girls were next to toe the line which saw battling runs from Izzy West in 33rd and Harriet Boardman in 34th, Harriet finished the league in a very good 22nd place overall.
The big boys were out next in the U15s, Charlie Coles gliding over the mud to finish in 12th and also securing 12th place overall in the league standings. Thomas Holme was next in, with his best placing of the season in 23rd, with the ever-present Joseph Holme taking another seasons best 32nd. The team finishing both 5th on the day and 5th overall.
Now the course was at slip ‘n slide status, but the U17 women raced off at a cracking pace. First CoSARC home was Daisy Badger 11th, closely followed by Milly Rayner 12th, and, securing a fantastic second place for the team Emily Warren in 18th. Milly also finished top ten in the overall league standings and Emily 14th.
Cameron Jacobs was our sole representative in the U17 men’s race. Not concerned by those almost twice his size, he stormed round to 21st place and won s the “I’m loving this” award for the day.
The weather was almost starting to turn for the better in the Senior ladies race, who were led home by Anne-Marie Bayliss in 17th place, which secured 1st place overall in the Vet ladies league - a superb achievement. Next home was Anna Patrickson in 53rd, Katie Clements 59th, Sam Noyce 71st, Polly Jacobs 76th, Charlie Boardman 88th & I McNaulty 98th.
The senior men were led home by Michael Beckett in 28th place, followed by Steve Herring 49th, Pete Callanan 58th, Joe Costley 63rd, with Ed Naish 75th completing the scoring team. Early indications are that this was enough to secure 1st division status for next season. Other finishers were Andy Holme 84th, James Mills 113th, Bill Knight 117th, Craig Weatherburn 141st, Richard Larcombe 144th, Steve Mitchell 146th and James Rodwell 197th.
Winchester 10K was run on a hilly and challenging route around the city boundaries. There was only one diversion, around a fallen tree, due to the storms. CoSARC results were : Kieran McManus 45:37, Petra Oyston 1:03:03, Janine Kemm 1:05:47.
Salisbury Parkrun and Junior parkrun both continued, even though nearly 300 parkruns around the country had to cancel. This was due to the fortitude of all the runners and the diligence of the organisers in providing a safe environment to take part in.