On Sunday 26th October, it was the first fixture of the season in the Suffolk Winter XC (Cross-Country) League. The race was held within the grounds and surrounds of Framlingham Castle, over an approximately 5.2 mile (~8.4km) course (estimated from GPS consensus). In this league, Newmarket Joggers (NJ) combine with Sudbury Joggers (SJ) to form team N&S. There was a high overall turnout of around 470 club runners from Suffolk running clubs, including 17 women and 28 men from N&S.
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Above: The Newmarket & Sudbury team at Framlingham Castle.
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Some rules of competition, which might be helpful: The women compete in up to three teams of four runners, while the men compete in up to three teams of seven runners (teams ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’). On average there are about half the number of women as men running, explaining this difference. So, a total of 12 women and 21 men can compete in teams for their clubs. ‘A’ teams are not chosen beforehand but decided by the first 4 women or first 7 men to finish the race. ‘B’ teams are made up of the next 4 women and 7 men to finish, and the same for ‘C’ teams. Any number of runners over this amount can still enjoy the race but are not categorised into a team unless they finish in the top 12 women or top 21 men. Nevertheless, all club runners are encouraged to take part, regardless of speed, helping to increase the overall team atmosphere and camaraderie on the day. ‘A’ teams compete only against ‘A’ teams from other clubs, and the same for ‘B’ and ‘C’ teams. There are separate trophies for ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ teams at the end of the season. Points for ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ teams are not combined, as not all clubs have enough runners for ‘B’ and/or ‘C’ teams. However, female and male points are combined individually for ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ teams, to give combined as well as separate gender scores. There are also end-of-season trophies for the top three individual performers in all of the age categories for women and men.
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From left: Joey Bendall, Jimmy Smith, Hugh Tawell and Kirsty McDermott; Scene at the start; Ellie Margetts, Angela Drury and Kirsty (apologies for originally misidentifying Ellie Margetts as Lilian Corbett).
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Here are the preliminary positional results of the N&S performances, with no times released as yet. The scoring will be based on gender positions, rather than overall positions, but overall positions are all we have until the official results are released:
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Women’s A team: Kirsty McDermott NJ 42nd of about 470 overall; Sarah Osborne NJ 67th; Carol Cienna Carter NJ 106th; Olivia Carter NJ 113th. B team: Lilian Corbett NJ 176th; Helen Hilario NJ 229th; Ellie Bithell NJ 289th; Ruth Cowlin SJ 321st. C team: Ellie Margetts NJ 335th; Angela Drury NJ 360th; Helen Wass NJ 386th; Lorraine King NJ 393rd.
Women’s team reserves: Jan Holmes NJ 399th; Belinda Schofield NJ 410th; Jo Bouttell NJ 430th, Sianie Painter NJ 448th; Pearl Fay NJ 462nd.
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From left: Angela Drury; Jan Holmes in front with Lorraine King and looks like Brian Munns a bit further back; Pearl Fay.
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Men’s A team: Oliver Daykin NJ 7th overall; James Smith NJ 12th; Hugh Tawell NJ 14th; Mark Hayward NJ 16th; Joey Bendall NJ 18th; John Beardsworth NJ 21st; Chris Balmer NJ 23rd. B team: Gordon Irvine NJ 43rd; Richard Defries NJ 68th; Jason Bevan NJ 86th; Marc Drury NJ 116th; Stephen Edwards NJ 120th; Daniel Tee NJ 124th; Jon Brooker NJ 131st. C team: Andrew Sandeman NJ 134th; Charles Jones NJ 135th; Andy Fryatt NJ 138th; Tristram Hilborn NJ 207th; Michael McGarvey NJ 220th; Neville Clarke NJ 228th; Jeremy Reader NJ 259th.
Men’s team reserves: Reuben Smith NJ 266th; Rob Hawkins NJ 344th; Dan Bainbridge NJ ~350th; Brian Munns NJ 381st; Alan Thornhill NJ 429th; Jim Withers NJ 458th; Chris Aylmer NJ 461st.
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From left: Dan Bainbridge; Tristram Hilborn being cheered on by family.
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It was great to have three Junior NJs competing in the Junior XC 3.5km race, which took place before the adult race. Harvey Thomas U15 finished 16th overall, with Reuben Hilborn-Fox U13 68th. Noah Poujardieu U13 also competed but unfortunately we don’t currently have a position for him.
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It looks like a good result for N&S with lots of depth and strength going down through the ranks. Very well done everyone. Welcome to new NJ recruits John Beardsworth and Gordon Irvine, who both performed well. Congratulations to top N&S performers Kirsty McDermott and Oliver Daykin. We can give the actual competition results in next week’s report.
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ROUND UP OF OTHER RACES
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On Saturday, 25th October, the Epping Forest Trail 10K took place, starting near Loughton in North London. Sarah Last (1:13:41, 218th of 388 overall, 94th F of 211, 8th of 18 in F50-59) found it tough but did well to finish in the top half of the female runners and in her age group. Gillian Green (1:35:16, 198th F, 11th in F60-69) also put in a good effort. According to both their watches, the distance came out long, at about 6.6 miles, so more like a quarter marathon in reality.
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From left: Sarah Last & Gillie Green; the bib & medal; the T-shirt.
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On Sunday, two Joggers took on the Duxford Dash 5K in Cambridgeshire, over the airfield service roads and runways. Karl Coutts (21:33, 8th of 218 overall, 3rd of 11 in M40-44) and Andrew Taylor (21:46, 10th, 1st of 11 in M50-54) both did very well overall and in their age groups, with Andrew winning his age group trophy.
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Also on Sunday, two Joggers competed in the Thames Path Trail Half Marathon at Windsor. Mark Geddie (1:57:18, 58th of 199 overall, 9th of 20 in M50-59) enjoyed a comfortable run, a little ahead of his wife Wendy Ancill (2:04:40, 23rd F of 73, 4th of 19 in F50-59), who did very well among female runners and in her age group.
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Above: Wendy Ancill with medal.
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Many thanks for all the photos, which are much appreciated.
