Cross-country race reports and photos and leading results including the final Surrey League plus South East Lancs and North Eastern Harrier Leagues

Opentrack Surrey Leagues, Lloyd Park, Croydon, March 4

Unlike some other major leagues, whose February fixtures were knocked out by the storms, the Surrey League opted to complete its programme by using the spare allotted league date on the calendar, but turn-out was patchy, Martin Duff reports.
The lower men’s divisions were able to finish their programme, on February 19th at Lloyd Park and the Croydon venue was again pressed into service – with an already planned East Surrey League – for all of the women’s races and the premier men’s, along with the young athletes’ events.

Div 1 Women
On the same weekend as the New Zealand Championships, Herne Hill Harriers Kiwi Georgie Grgec ran her first cross-country race for three years and her first race since 2020 but certainly didn’t look short of race fitness.

Her previous cross-country was a Surrey League race in March 2019, also at Lloyd Park, where she was second.

This time she went one better leaving Georgie Bruinvels (31:44) behind by 200 metres with a time of 31:02.

Bruinvels, who had won the opening fixture back in October, took the overall title.

Guildford’s Carolyne Baxter was an isolated third in 32:12.

W50 British marathon record-holder Sue McDonald completed an over-50 clean sweep with her fourth victory of the campaign, as Pam Iannella notched up three wins to claim the unofficial W60 award.

Belgrave led by Olivia Papaioannou in fourth, won the team race by 30 points from Kent AC who had gone into the race with relegation worries but led by Katie Rowland in fifth, they will be back in Division one next season.

Div 1:
1 Georgie Grgec SEN HHH 31:02
2 Georgie Bruinvels (2C) SEN SLH 31:44
3 Carolyne Baxter SEN G&G 32:12
4 Olivia Papaioannou SEN BEL 32:44
5 Katie Rowland SEN KEN 32:58
6 Sarah Hanley SEN KEN 33:11
7 Lara Bromilow (N/S) V35 KEN 33:14
8 Eleanor Harrison SEN G&G 33:21
9 Maddy Whitman U20 BEL 33:32
10 Claire Grima W40 H/W 33:43
11 Bethanie Murray SEN THH 34:03
12 Alexa Parker SEN KEN 34:30
13 Jess Saunders SEN BEL 34:59
14 Laura Goodson SEN BEL 35:14
15 Lizzie Broughton SEN RAN 35:18
16 Mimi Corden-Lloyd SEN BEL 35:19
17 Lucy Hoseason U20 STR 35:23
18 Claire Oxlade SEN KEN 35:27
19 Amy Billups SEN SLH 35:29
20 Sue McDonald W50 SLH 35:31
Additional to be added once Power of 10 have processed.

Women Div 1:
TEAM (5 to score): 1 Belgrave 52; 2 Kent 82; 3 S London 93; 4 G&G 112; 5 THH 146; 6 Herc W 155; 7 Belgrave B 197; 8 Stragglers 211; 9 S London B 231; 10 Herne Hill 253

Final standings: 1 Bruinvels 9; 2eq C Baxter (G&G)/S Monk (G&G) 11
W50: 1 S McDonald (S Lon) 3; 2 Filsell 8; 3 D Barnet (THH) 12. W60: 1 Iannella 3; 2 Thevenet 10; 3 Young 19
U20: 1 A Vermeulen (Belg) 4; 2 A Fery (HW) 8; 3 Valkenburg 11
Div 1 TEAM: 1 Belgrave 265; 2 G&G 547; 3 THH 606; 4 S London 647; 5 Belgrave B 715; 6 Herne H 800

Div 2:
South African triathlete Paula Rutherfoord gained her second  league race ‘win’ of the season in 33:14 but as a second-claim Ful on Tri member, she did not score and race runner-up  Hannah Morris second was the official league winner in 33:54.

Multi world and British age-group record-holder Clare Elms was officially second and her Dulwich Runners again came out on top in the team stakes and they now advance to the top flight for next winter. Elms was the overall best performer in the division over the winter.
Less than half the runners who ran in the Division two race at the last fixture in Mitcham Common competed at Croydon

1 Paula Rutherfoord (2C) (N/S) V40 FOT 33:13
2 Hannah Morris SEN DMV 33:54
3 Clare Elms W55 DUL 34:20
4 Victoria Carter V50 FOT 34:47
5 Penny Oliver (2C) SEN CRO 35:29
6 Madeleine Armstrong SEN CRO 35:39
7 Harriet Tapley SEN TRI 35:41
8 Sophie Roberts SEN WIN 35:57
9 Lisa Rooney W40 COL 36:13
10 Ursula Hankinson SEN FOT 37:10
11 Katie Smith W40 DUL 37:23
Additional to be added when Power of 10 have processed

Div 2 TEAM: 1 Dulw R 70; 2 Croydon 91; 3 Sutt R 100; 4 L City 113; 5 Ful-on-Tri 165; 6 Tri-Surrey 187

Final standings:
Overall: 1 Elms 8; 2 Morris 9; 3 S Forbes-Smith (Tri Sy) 13

U20: 1 L Moore (Croy) 3
TEAM: 1 Dulwich R 289; 2 L City 450; 3 FoT 726; 4 Croydon 745; 5 Windrush 823; 6 DMV 927

Under-17 races
Under-15 Lily Brown of Epsom and Ewell won the combined under-15 and under-17 race from under-17 competitor and clubmate Gabriella Ceccherini but it was Herne Hill who won the under-15 team and Hercules Wimbledon  the under-17 team.

Kate Ealden of Guildford won the under-13 race but it was Herne Hill who took the team honours.
U17 TEAM: 1 HW 17; 2 E&E 24; 3 E&E B 46; 4 Croydon 76; 5 DMV 98; 6 E&E C 102

Final standings: 1 Weisz 6; 2 Thorpe 13; 3 Taylor 15
TEAM: 1 HW 86; 2 E&E 97; 3 E&E B 190

U15 TEAM: 1 Herne H 18; 2 E&E 40; 3 HW 47; 4 Herne H B 61; 5 S London 64; 6 HW B 105

Final standings: 1 F White (E&E) 4; 2 Carroll 5; 3 Brown 9
TEAM: 1 E&E 87; 2 E&E 109; 3 HW 221

U13 TEAM: 1 Herne H 30; 2 HW 35; Woking 66; 4 Belgrave 82; 5 G&G 84; 6 E&E 83
Final standings: 1 Roake 3; 2 Ealden 5; 3 McAndie 8
TEAM: 1 HW 164; 2 Herne H 206; 3 G&G 276

OpenTrack Surrey Men’s League, Lloyd Park, Croydon,
Belgrave had a good day on Saturday as apart from winning the women’s team event, they also won the men ‘s team on the day by 195 points from Thames Hare and Hounds’ 250.

The third team on the day Hercules Wimbledon given support by many times National cross-country champion and medallist Dave Clarke, though well beaten on the day still won by a huge margin overall as they had comfortably won both the October and November fixtures.

Thames Hare and Hounds second-claimer Jack Millar, who had been a brilliant fifth in the previous week’s Saucony English National for Bristol, went one better than the last league race on Mitcham Common.

He won in a time of 26:20 with Belgrave’s Australian second-claimer and Middlesex champion Dylan Evans chasing him hard in 26:33. Evans though won the overall individual league standings.

Belgrave’s Samuel Gebreselassie, only 34th and 12th in his two previous league races, won a sprint finish with Hercules’ Tom Jervis for third.

Belgrave also got a sixth place through former English National runner-up Phil Wicks who showed an improvement on his 17th place in a league match earlier in the winter.

Senior men:
1 Jack Millar (2C) SEN THH 26:20
2 Dylan Evans (2C) SEN BEL 26:33
3 Samuel Gebreselassie SEN BEL 27:23
4 Tom Jervis SEN H/W 27:28
5 MacGregor Cox SEN THH 27:34
6 Phil Wicks V35 BEL 27:36
7 John Sanderson SEN G&G 27:40
8 Josh Trigwell SEN BEL 27:42
9 Paddy Roddy SEN THH 27:45
10 Fred Slemeck SEN H/W 27:58
11 Freddie Hessian (2C) SEN G&G 28:00
12 Richard Mcdowell V40 H/W 28:02
13 Tom Foster SEN G&G 28:16
14 Oliver Carrington SEN H/W 28:23
15 Ed Mallett SEN H/W 28:28
16 James Hoad SEN THH 28:40
17 Richard Ollington SEN THH 29:00
18 Dame Dibaba SEN KEN 29:06
19 Chris Busaileh M35 KEN 29:12
20 Dan Pettitt SEN KEN 29:13
21 George Dollner SEN G&G 29:17
22 Sam Sommerville (2C) SEN BEL 29:18
23 Jonny Neville SEN BEL 29:22
24 George Ogden U20 SLH 29:25
25 James Bartram SEN THH 29:27
26 Conall McNally SEN BEL 29:29
27 Jack Hillier SEN HHH 29:34
28 James Nutt SEN BEL 29:38
29 Finn Johnson SEN H/W 29:41
30 Samuel Evans M35 KEN 29:42

Additional results once Power of 10 have preocessed

Reigate’s under-17 Oscar Curry easily won the combined under-17 and under-15 race in 14:04 from his younger club-mate Sameul Stapley who took the under-15 race in 14:29 and Reigate took the team award.

Men Div 1 TEAM (10 to score): 1 Belgrave 195; 2 Thames H&H 250; 3 Hercules W 291; 4 Guildford & G 379; 5 Kent 426; 6 S London 488; 7 Herne H 496; 8 Ranelagh 767; 9 Fulham 803

B TEAM: 1 G&G 223; 2 Belgrave 328; 3 Herne H 400; 4 HW 454; 5 S Lon 468; 6 THH 484

Final standings:
Overall: 1 Evans 9; 2 Sanderson 20; 3 Jervis 23
M40: 1 McDowell 8; 2 Prothero 26; 3 M Leyshon (Rane) 40. M50: 1 Reynolds 5; 2 Pitt 11; 3 Booth 24. M60: 1 Ogden 3; 2 Beardsworth 8
U20: 1 I Makkar (S Lon) 4; 2 G Ogden (S Lon 5); 3 E Kendall (G&G) 12

Div 1 TEAM: 1 HW 817; 2 Belgrave 1107; 3 G&G 1405; 4 Kent 1462; 5 THH 1634; 6 S London 1958; 7 Herne H 2035; 8 Ranelagh 2728; 9 Fulham 3234

U17/U15 TEAM (4 to score): 1 Reigate P 270; 2 E&E 220; 3 Woking 204; 4 Herne H 197; 5 Herc W 190; 6 Croydon 185

Final standings:
U17: 1 Curry 3; 2 Slavin 8; 3 Taylor 12
U15: 1 Stapley 3; 2 Baillie-Burke 8; 3 E Willis (Rei P) 8
TEAM: 1 Reigate P 1088; 2 E&E 959; 3 Herne H 926; 4 HW 790; 5 Walton 750; 6 Croydon 676

U13 TEAM: 1 Herne H 93; 2 HW 87; 3 S London 72; 4 E&E 71; 5 Reigate P 23; 6 Kingston ^& P 22

Final standings: 1 Holmes 6; 2 Sone 11; 3 S Dyson (HW) 12
TEAM: 1 Herne H 646; 2 HW 582; 3 E&E 540; 4 S London 510; 5 Woking 319; 6 Reigate P 271

South East Lancs League, Heaton Park, March 5
Under-20 Bethany Reid scored her second win of the series, over the tough course incorporating a farmer’s field.

The Chorley AC and Tri athlete was almost 50 seconds clear of Chloe Elliot with W45 Michelle Vaughan a similar distance back in third.

In the men’s race, Gavin Brown (35:08) of East Cheshire led all the way to finish the best part of 400m clear of M40 David Carroll with Mike Holness of East Cheshire around 100m in arrears
Leading senior men provisional results

1 103 Gavin Browne E Cheshire H & Tameside AC 35:08
2 356 David Carroll M40 1 Oldham & Royton H & Ac 36:25
3 100 Mike Holness E Cheshire H & Tameside AC 36:42
4 403 Rob Fowler M40 2 Prestwich 36:52
5 268 Michael O’Connor Manchester Ymca Harriers 36:55
6 102 Liam Browne E Cheshire H & Tameside AC 37:11
7 302 Jorden Burke M40 3 Middleton Harriers Ac 37:53
8 399 Rob West Prestwich 39:28
9 276 Tim Shanker M50 1 Manchester Ymca Harriers 39:32
10 52 Paul Duke M45 1 Burnden Road Runners 39:43

Women’s race provisional results

1 663 Bethany Reid U20 1 Chorley Ac & Tri 31:22
2 576 Chloe Elliott Salford Metropolitan Ac 32:07
3 168 Michelle Vaughan W45 1 E Cheshire H & Tameside AC 32:56
4 164 Hayley Simpson E Cheshire H & Tameside AC 34:45
5 590 Jaine Brocklehurst W50 1 Salford Metropolitan Ac 35:14
6 784 Alison Mort W40 1 Horwich R M I Harriers 35:19
7 668 Amber Pilkington U20 2 Chorley Ac & Tri 35:28
8 585 Amanda Hurndall W45 2 Salford Metropolitan Ac 35:41
9 425 Ciara Wilder Prestwich 35:51
10 587 Belinda Neild W45 3 Salford Metropolitan Ac 35:55

Additional results once Power of 10 have processed

North Eastern Harrier League, Alnwick Castle, March 5

Phil Winkler from the slow pack won the race though guesting Jarlath Mckenna, who won the North East masters race last month, was comfortably the fastest with a 36:16, which was over three minutes faster than Winkler.

Third across the line was Division 2 slow pack runner Samuel Beckett who was clearly not waiting for Godot like his famous Irish namesake.

Conrad Franks, sixth across the line, was the second fastest with a 37:30.

Morpeth led by Winkler won the team race as 468 men finished the senior men’s race.

Handicap:

1 Phil Winkler (1) Morpeth Harriers & AC 39:38 Slow pack (actual 39:38)

2 Jarlath McKenna Bristol and West 41:16 Fast pack guest (actual 36:16)
3 Samuel Beckett (2) Crook AC 41:46 Slow pack M35 (actual 41:46)
4 Will Lindsey (2) Durham City Harriers 42:09 Medium pack U20 (actual 39:39)
5 Graeme Cook (1) Morpeth Harriers & AC 42:22 Slow pack M35 (actual 42:22)
6 Conrad Franks (1) Gateshead Harriers 42:30 Fast pack M35 (actual 37:30)

Team:
1 Morpeth Harriers & AC 32 1-Winkler 2-Cook 5-Hughes 6-Anderson 8-Thorpe 10-Marshall
2 Heaton Harriers 142 4-Banks 15-Shawcross 16-Mckenzie 17-Roberts 43-Hope 47-Sturman
3 Gosforth Harriers 162 7-Neve 11-Ward 14-Heppell 27-McCreesh 40-Nichol 63-Ramsay

Additional results once Power of 10 have processed

Women:
Division 3 athlete Kirsty Lowery of Sunderland Strollers, from the slow pack won by 47 seconds from Kate Storey who had started alongside her.

Four seconds down on Storey on the line was Catriona MacDonald who actually run over four minutes faster than Lowery with a time of 28:10.

Second fastest was fellow Morpeth athlete Jane Hodgson with a time of 33:54.

Jesmond Joggers won the Division 1 team event as some 404 women finished the race.

Handicap:
1 Kirsty Lowery (Div 3) Sunderland Strollers 32:19 Slow pack W40 (actual 32:19)

2 Kate Elizabeth Storey (3) Crook AC 33:06 Slow pack Fsen (actual 33:06)
3 Catriona MacDonald (1) Morpeth Harriers & AC 33:10 Fast pack Fsen (actual 28:10)
4 Jane Hodgson (1) Morpeth Harriers & AC 33:54 Fast pack W40 (actual 28:54)
5 Emily Green (1) Jesmond Joggers 34:15 Slow pack Fsen (actual 34:15)
6 Becci Morgan (3) Newburn Running Club 34:18 Slow pack Fsen (actual 34:18)

Division 1 TEAM:
1 Jesmond Joggers 24 3-Green 4-Sharrock 7-Bowen 10-Rowland
2 Elswick Harriers 39 6-Naylor 8-Brown 9-Bonner 16-Grant
3 Elvet Striders 50 11-Mccabe 12-Warner 13-Mason 14-Bojadzic

Further results including age-groups will be added when results are processed by Power of 10.