On Sunday 8th February, Newmarket & Sudbury (N&S), the joint cross-country team of Newmarket Joggers (NJ) and Sudbury Joggers (SJ), fielded a strong team and put in an excellent effort on the Nether Hall Estate in Pakenham, near Bury St Edmunds. The weather stayed fair and the ~5-mile course was especially scenic and attractively laid out by the organisers Saint Edmund Pacers, which included a loop around a large lake. A turnout of 12 women and 18 men ensured complete A, B and C teams of four for N&S women and complete A and B teams of seven for the men. The women’s A team did particularly well to achieve 1st and 3rd overall female positions among a total field of about 350. Official results and times are not out yet but we do know the overall finishing positions of N&S runners and the make-up of the teams, which was decided by the finishing order on the day.
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Above: N&S on Nether Hall Estate in Pakenham. Back row from left: Jim Withers, Isabelle Talbot Price, Charles Jones, Helen Wass, Gordon Irvine, Jimmy Smith, Tom Elton, Mark Hayward (behind in tent), Andrew Sandeman, Reuben Smith, Brian Munns (behind), Helen Hilario, Stephen Edwards, Richard Defries, Michael McGarvey, Neville Clarke; Front row: Marc Drury, Chris Aylmer, Ruth Cowlin (SJ), Angela Drury, Carol Cienna Carter, Olivia Carter, Sarah Osborne, Rob Hawkins. Not in photo: Kirsty McDermott, Angela Underwood, Sianie Painter, Pearl Fay, Paul Holley, Jonathan Pye. Thanks for team photo.
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N&S Women’s A team: Isabelle Talbot Price NJ 1st F, 22nd of ~350 overall; Kirsty McDermott NJ 3rd F, 29th; Sarah Osborne NJ 64th; Carol Cienna Carter NJ 89th. Men’s A Team: James Smith NJ 9th overall; Mark Hayward NJ 19th; Paul Holley NJ 36th; Jonathan Pye NJ 38th; Gordon Irvine NJ 42nd; Charles Jones NJ 80th; Andrew Sandeman NJ 112th.
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Women’s B team: Olivia Carter NJ 124th; Helen Hilario NJ 168th; Ruth Cowlin SJ 269th; Helen Wass NJ 278th. Men’s B team: Richard Defries NJ 148th; Stephen Edwards NJ 163rd; Michael McGarvey NJ 171st; Tom Elton NJ 189th; Neville Clarke NJ 191st; Marc Drury NJ 223rd; Rob Hawkins NJ 256th.
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Women’s C team: Angela Drury NJ (N&S team captain) 292nd; Angela Underwood NJ 304th; Sianie Painter NJ 327th; Pearl Fay NJ 344th. Men’s C team: Reuben Smith NJ 258th; Brian Munns NJ 289th; Jim Withers NJ 337th; Chris Aylmer NJ 338th.
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Note that B and C teams compete in their own separate divisions, against B and C teams from the other clubs, with separate trophies at the end of the season. This gives everyone a chance to compete and win prizes. N&S are currently 4th of the 22 clubs in all the other B and C divisions.
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Above from left: Jimmy Smith forging into 9th overall position; Angela Drury & Angela Underwood supporting each other;
Pearl Fay going round the beautiful lake in the sunshine, with Nether Hall standing majestically behind. Thanks for great photos.
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There is quiet confidence in the camp that N&S have done enough to retain second place in the league; certainly for the women and hopefully also for the men and combined competitions. A scare in the previous fixture at Bungay raised the possibility that N&S might be shunted down to 3rd place or below. However, catching the league leaders Saint Edmund Pacers looks a tall order with only one fixture to go. The final fixture will be at Horseheath Racecourse, organised by Haverhill RC on Sunday, 15th February.
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It was great to have four Junior Joggers competing for N&S in the ~3.5km junior race for U13, U15 and U17 age groups. Harvey Thomas U17M finished 15th of around 65 overall, with Noah Poujardieu U13M 39th, Sophie Blundell U15F 44th and Rio McAndrew U13M 55th.
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OTHER RACE NEWS
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Also on Sunday, Barley Woodcock had another go at the monthly High Lodge Duathlon series in Thetford Forest, organised by Can But Tri. The events involve a 1 x 7.75km ride, sandwiched between 2 x 2.25km runs over grass and gravel trails. He achieved 2nd position, as he had done in his previous attempt last December, this time of 21 participants.. His times were 9:18/16:42/8:52 for a total of 34:53, including transitions.
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Above from left: Barley Woodcock after High Lodge Duathlon; James & Emily Thomson after The Drop in Cambridge;
The Drop Medal close up. Thanks for photos.
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On Saturday, NJ James Thomson tried out an event called The Drop, which involved bussing blindfolded participants to a spot either 10 or 15 miles away and asking them to self-navigate back to base as quickly as possible. James chose the 10-mile option, along with Emily Thomson, and happened to be dropped in Caxton, near Cambourne. They did very well to make it back to Up & Running in the centre of Cambridge in a time of 2:08:23, finishing 5th and 6th of 46 overall. NJ Miranda McWade was also taking part in the same event and took 3:16:54 to get back to base, finishing 30th overall.