The results have just been released for the third fixture of the Suffolk Winter Cross-Country (XC) League, organised by Stowmarket Striders at Haughley Park, which took place on Sunday January 12th. They show that Newmarket & Sudbury (N&S), the joint team of Newmarket Joggers (NJ) and Sudbury Joggers (SJ), have maintained their lead in the men’s division of the Suffolk Winter XC League, among 22 club teams from East Anglia. N&S men’s A team (first 7 male N&S runners to finish the ~8km course) are on 7,922 points, 94 points ahead of Saint Edmund Pacers, while the women’s A team (first 4 female N&S runners to finish) have moved up from 7th to 6th place in their division. The combined men’s and women’s A team of 11 runners are 2nd of 22 in their division.
.
.
In the individual age group competitions, N&S have quite a list of runners in the top three of their age group. In top spots are Rob Dobson, 1st of 44 in M40-44 and Neville Clarke, 1st of 20 in M70+. Then there’s Cerys Bithell, 2nd of 9 in FU17; Lilian Corbett, 3rd of 34 in FS; Elke Hausler, 2nd of 17 in F60-64; James Smith, 2nd of 50 in M45-49 and Paul Holley 2nd of 53 in M55-59.
.
In the meantime, the fourth fixture took place just a week later on Sunday January 19th, organised by Haverhill RC at Horseheath Racecourse. 11 female and 24 male runners from N&S took part. Official results have not yet been released for this fixture but we do know the overall positions of our runners. It seems that N&S men’s A team are almost certain to maintain their lead, with 6 of their runners among the top 13 finishers, out of ~233 competitors overall. The women’s A team look set to climb further in their division, with a sound performance. The final two fixtures will be on Sunday February 9th and 16th, organised by Saint Edmund Pacers and Bungay Black Dog RC respectively.
.
Above left: N&S members at Haverhill XC, Horseheath; right: N&S women’s A team from left: Helen Hilario, Carol Carter, Olivia Carter and Lilian Corbett. Thanks for team photos.
.
N&S Men’s A team positions at Horseheath: Joey Bendall NJ 3rd of ~233 overall; Rob Dobson NJ 5th; Hugh Tawell NJ 6th; Oliver Daykin NJ 11th; James Smith NJ 12th; Chris Balmer NJ 13th; Barley Woodcock NJ 42nd. Women’s A team: Lilian Corbett NJ 56th; Carol Carter NJ 63rd; Olivia Carter NJ 67th; Helen Hilario NJ 100th. Men’s B team: Marc Drury NJ 53rd; Shane Mcandrew NJ 58th; Richard Defries NJ 71st; Steve Edwards NJ 80th; Andy Fryatt NJ 88th; Neville Clarke NJ 109th; Andrew Sandeman NJ 113th. Women’s B team: Elke Hausler NJ 126th; Helen Wass NJ 185th; Krystal Szerszon NJ 194th; Angela Drury NJ 213th. Men’s C team: Matthew Wisbey NJ 124th; Rob Hawkins NJ 147th; Alex Brearley NJ 169th; Liam Elvidge NJ 174th; Steve Cousins NJ 183rd; Jeremy Reader NJ 184th. Women’s C team: Belinda Schofield NJ 216th; Sianie Painter NJ 221st; Pearl Fay NJ 228th. Men’s reserves: Alan Thornhill NJ 193rd; Jim Withers NJ 222nd; Chris Aylmer NJ 231st.
.
Great to see the juniors taking part. In the ~800m Fun Run, new recruit Charlie Thomas NJ (U11) enjoyed his first known competitive run. In the Junior race over ~3500m, Harvey Thomas NJ (U15) finished 6th overall and Alex Balmer NJ (U13) 28th overall, both putting in sound efforts.
Note: The previous fixture at Haughley Park gave out no times for juniors or seniors, so this fixture may need to be omitted from the NJ Grand Prix, which relies on age grade scores.
.
ROUND UP OF OTHER RACES
.
On Sunday, two Newmarket Joggers competed in the Folksworth 15M in Huntingdonshire, a favourite preparation race for spring marathons. Ellie Bithell (2:01:38, 197th of 429 overall, 47th F of 162, 9th of 38 in F45-49) and Meera Mahadevan (2:16:22, 81st F, 7th of 25 in F50-54) both put in excellent efforts, enjoying the experience and the scenic route.
.
Above from left: Meera & Ellie; Meera 1; Meera 2; Folksworth 15 vest. Thanks for photos.
.
Meanwhile, over in Norfolk Broadland, Mark Hayward (56:37) enjoyed a top run in the Reedham 10M, finishing 9th of 544 overall and 2nd of 38 in M40-44. On Saturday, at Barrow in Suffolk, Caroline Mcintosh F70+ (2:48:08, 140th) took it reasonably easy in the Zig Zag Windmill Half Marathon, mainly as a training run for her London Marathon in April.
.
Above left: Mark Hayward finishing Reedham 10; right: Start of the Zig Zag Windmill HM. Thanks to Mark, Zig Zag Running and Total Race Timing for photos.
.
Suffolk Schools XC: Following on from the Suffolk Schools XC Championships at the Royal Hospital School (RHS) on October 17th 2024, it was the second qualifying fixture at Woodbridge School on Thursday 16th January 2025. Participants in the various age groups were aiming to qualify for the Regional Schools Anglian Championships on 1st February at Woodbridge School, and ultimately for the English Schools XC Championships on March 15th, at the Sussex Showground in West Sussex.
On Thursday, Junior Newmarket Jogger Harvey Thomas U15 represented his Newmarket Academy school at Woodbridge and did well to finish 7th of 50 in the Junior Boys’ 3500m race in a time of 13:26. In the first qualifying race in October he finished 12th of 50 in the Junior Boys’ 3800m race in 15:21. There seems every chance that he will be selected to take part in the regionals in February, as the top 16 in each age category are normally invited. For the finals in March, the top 8 are usually selected, plus 4 reserves, so fingers crossed for Harvey.
.
Harvey Thomas in the team photo at Haverhill XC.