Above: Early scenes on Woburn Farm in the village of Corton, near Lowestoft.
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Suffolk Winter Cross-Country (XC) League 2024-2025: After the final fixture of the season on Sunday, February 16th, held at Corton near Lowestoft, Newmarket & Sudbury (N&S, joint team of Newmarket Joggers and Sudbury Joggers) men’s A team look almost sure to top their division of 22 competing clubs, with the women’s A team likely runners-up in their division after a late season surge. This would be the best that N&S have performed in this league for many years and we look forward to confirmation of the anticipated results.
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Official results are not yet out for the final fixture but results were recently released for the previous fixture held at Pakenham, near Bury St Edmunds on February 9th. They show that N&S men’s A team (first 7 N&S men to finish each fixture) retained the narrow lead they’ve held all season over rival team Saint Edmund Pacers; also, that the women’s A team (the first 4 N&S women to finish each fixture) managed to climb from 4th to 2nd position of 22 clubs, with excellent results at Pakenham.
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Above: N&S team at Woburn Farm.. Thanks for team photo.
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The senior XC race was over ~8km. The individual positions and teams for February 16th at Corton were as follows:
N&S women’s A team: Carol Carter NJ 62nd of 279 overall; Olivia Carter NJ 84th; Helen Hilario NJ 96th; Elke Hausler NJ 129th.
N&S men’s A team: Joey Bendall NJ 4th of 279 overall; Hugh Tawell NJ 7th; James Smith NJ 10th; Chris Balmer NJ 14th; Dan Hutchison NJ 18th; Andrew Sandeman NJ 58th; Paul Holley NJ 65th.
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Above top left: Jimmy Smith at the Corton XC. Other team members pictured at the Suffolk XC Champs
in January from left: Joey Bendall, Hugh Tawell, Steve Edwards; Elke Hausler, Pearl Fay, Sianie Painter,
Helen Wass. Thanks for photos.
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N&S women’s B team: Ruth Cowlin SJ 195th; Helen Wass NJ 205th; Angela Drury NJ 245th; Sianie Painter NJ 258th.
N&S men’s B team: Richard Defries NJ 80th; Steve Edwards NJ 83rd; Neville Clarke NJ 108th; Tom Elton NJ 125th; Rob Hawkins NJ 181st; Jeremy Reader NJ 196th; Alan Thornhill NJ 226th.
N&S women’s C team: Pearl Fay NJ 274th.
N&S men’s C team: Steve Cousins NJ 227th; Brian Munns NJ 235th; Jim Withers NJ 262nd; Chris Aylmer NJ 278th.
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We had one junior Jogger, Harvey Thomas NJ U15, who put in a very good effort to finish 5th overall in the ~3.5km junior race, which included U17, U15 and U13 boys and girls. Harvey stood in 3rd place in his U15B age group after the previous fixture.
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The N&S team minibus. driven by Paul Holley. In transit (left) and upon arrival (right) at Corton.
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ROUND UP OF OTHER WEEKEND RACES
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Enfield Race Walking League, Enfield Playing Fields, Saturday 15th Feb: Three Newmarket Joggers competed individually and as a team at this event. Their team is doing very well in the League and currently stands in top place of 5 competing clubs. Lily-Ann Cooper FU15 competed in the 5km walk, finishing 3rd of 5 overall and 1st in her age group in a time of 37m:55 (56.48% age grade). Suzanne Bailey W60 was the only competitor in the 8km walk, finishing in 59m:34 (69.33%). George Wilkinson M Sen was 1st of 10 in the 10km walk in 52m:09 (71.30%). All three achieved their best walking age grades of the year so far. George Wilkinson coaches race walking technique at Newmarket Joggers’ training sessions.
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Above: The NJ Enfield RW League team pictured at the January fixture.
From left: Edson George Wilkinson, Suzanne Bailey, Lily-Ann Cooper. Thanks for photo.
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Zig Zag Run RIOT multi-lap 6H, Brandon Country Park, Sunday 16th Feb: Hanneli Stevenson completed 2 x 5.3km laps in 53:40, finishing 2nd of 15 overall and 2nd female runner. Jon Brooker ran 8 x 5.3km laps for the marathon distance, completing in 4:04:00 and finishing 3rd of 17 overall. That was Jon’s first marathon for a while.
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Above: Hanneli Stevenson during her race (left); bib & medal (right). Thanks for photos.
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Above: The start of the Zig Zag Run RIOT (Running Is Our Therapy). Thanks to Zig Zag Running for photo.
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Rayneing Medals multi-lap 6H, Flitch Way, Rayne, near Braintree: Reuben Smith completed 8 x 5.3km laps within 6 hours (5:50:11) for a full marathon.
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Above: Reuben Smith in action (left) and finishing his 8-lap marathon (right). Thanks for photos.
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Also on Sunday were two other cross-country events in which Newmarket Joggers were competing for their 2nd claim clubs. At the Ely Runners XC Championships at Cherry Hill Park/Dean’s Meadow in Ely, Phil Blundell (44:20) represented Ely Runners in the senior event over ~7.9km, while his daughter Sophie Blundell U15 (13:55) ran very well as an Ely Runner in the junior event over ~2.9km, achieving the 6th highest age grade of 27 girls and boys. There were only Ely Runners allowed in this private club competition, but some guests from other clubs were invited to take part, without influencing the results. One such guest was Newmarket Jogger Esther Eaton (U11), who did well to clock 16:35 in the junior event.
Meanwhile, Andy Fryatt (45:24 over ~5.9 miles) represented Royston Runners in the season’s final fixture of the Hertfordshire XC League at Cassiobury Park in Watford. Royston Runners are a top contender in this league.