Newmarket & Sudbury top of Suffolk Winter XC League 2025-2026

Following the first fixture of the season on October 26th at Framlingham Castle, great news for the club that Newmarket & Sudbury (N&S, the joint club team of Newmarket Joggers and Sudbury Joggers) have been confirmed as leaders of the Suffolk Winter XC League, in the combined women’s and men’s top division as well as in the men’s top division. The N&S women’s team are narrowly second in their top division. These top or ‘A’ divisions include only the first 4 women and/or 7 men of each club to finish the race. ‘B’ divisions include the next 4 women and/or 7 men of each club to finish, and likewise for ‘C’ divisions. N&S are also near the top of these two lower divisions, showing strength and depth in the squad.

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The lead for our combined women’s and men’s first team is quite fragile at 13 points, with total points currently 4261 compared with Saint Edmund Pacers (SEP) on 4248 (see table above), so obviously no room for complacency. The same goes for the N&S men’s first team, for whom the lead is just 22 points ahead of SEP. Our women’s first team is only 9 points behind SEP at 1565 to 1574, so every chance of turning this round. The second fixture of the season will be at Sutton Heath, near Woodbridge, on Sunday November 30th, so all to play for.

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OTHER CROSS-COUNTRY NEWS:

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On Saturday, November 15th, at Horseheath Racecourse near Haverhill, the Eastern Athletic Association (EAA) XC Championships took place. The EAA region includes the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Lincolnshire. Nine Newmarket Joggers took part.

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The senior women’s race was officially over 6km (~5.3km on GPS) and included Joggers Sarah Osborne (22:01, 7th of 31 overall, 1st of 8 in F35); Olivia Carter (24:11, 18th); Helen Hilario (25:21, 7th in F45+); Pearl Fay (40:26, 11th in F45+). Unfortunately the oldest age category for the senior women was 45+, whereas Helen and Pearl were 50+ and 65+ respectively. For men, there was an M60+ category. The NJ senior women’s team of 3 did well to achieve 3rd place team trophy, with Saint Edmund Pacers top and Cambridge & Coleridge 2nd. It was well worth the outing.

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For the senior men, the distance was officially 12km (~10.6km on GPS) and Joggers competing were: Oliver Daykin (39:31, 7th of 36 overall); Mark Hayward (41:00, 6th in M40); Chris Balmer (41:45, 10th in M40); John Beardsworth (42:01, 11th in M40).  In the U15B race, Harvey Thomas (12:55, 13^th of 31) put in a good effort over the official 4km course (estimated at ~3.5km). Teams of 6 were required for senior men’s team trophies but NJ had only four participants. Cambridge & Coleridge won the team trophy from Saint Edmund Pacers.

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Overall, Sarah Osborne was the most successful individual Jogger, with first place in her age category. She has been improving steadily all year.

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ROUND UP OF OTHER RACES

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Two Joggers competed in the St Neots Riverside Half Marathon in Cambridgeshire on Sunday November 16th. Jonathan Pye was first Jogger home in his best time this year of 1:20:42, close to his best ever time of 1:18:39 in 2018, according to Power of 10. He was 17^th of 1,015 overall and 8^th of 255 in M17-39. Angela Drury (1:56:39, 176^th F of 373, 54^th of 106 in F45-54) had a great run, setting a new half marathon PB by 9 seconds.

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Also on Sunday, in the Run Breckland Forest 10K at Santon Downham, Jason Beeton (47:00, 17^th of 143 overall) and Lisa Beeton (59:04, 22^nd F of 74) both enjoyed good runs. No age groups were shown in the results.

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In the MCC Coventry 10K on Sunday, held in the War Memorial Park over hard path, Chris Aylmer enjoyed a steady run in a time of 1:09:43. He finished 429th of 515 overall, with no age groups given. Conditions were cool and dry, with some pleasant, late autumn sunshine.

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Above: Scenes at or near the start of the Coventry 10K in War Memorial Park.

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