Richmond Park November 11^th 2017

Our stiff League course from the Isabella Plantation provided the anticipated home advantage,with Matt Hyett’s team responding well to his invites. With 3 from the 13 at the first fixture not available,it was indeed heartening to still field 17 runners. The returns of Neil Wellard and Michael Huntley to our top contenders ensured our overall match points total was 125 better than in M1 and we grabbed 4^th place of the 9 clubs,in the process stretching the gaps to the 3 clubs below us. We remain 5^th overall at the halfway stage of the season and,though the 2 final matches are in Beckenham(Jan 13) and Croydon(Feb 10),involving tricky journeys,we will be accompanied across to Beckenham Place Park and Lloyd Park by the 3 clubs below us,all from our side of Surrey. No need to emphasise how much we will need our M2 squad in action in full again – and others!.

Surrey Ladies League Cross Country, Match 1 / Surrey Masters Cross Country Champs Reports

The ever growing field of athletes competing in the ladies Surrey league has meant some changes for this season, with the smaller venues now hosting separate races for the two senior divisions. The first match of the season, held on 14 th October at a balmy Priory Park in Reigate, saw the first of these events - with our Division 2 team competing in the later race with a start time of 1pm.

Our largely veteran team encountered a dry but tough (we all agreed!) 2-lap course of almost 4 miles. Nina White led the team home in 45 th place in a time of 30 minutes 22. A very welcome debut performance from U20 Rebecca Keddie saw her finish in 55 th place (31:12), our 2 nd team member home. Continuing her good start to the cross country season, Nicky Atkins was next home in 79 th place (32:24) with Nicki Murphy not far behind finishing with a time of 33 minutes 07 for 97 th place.

A little further down the field in a close battle to complete the scoring team, Avelline Deighton (36:08) had a strong finish to come home in 137 th place. Not far behind her was Susanne Dietrich finishing with a time of 36:22 (142 nd place) and closing the team was Liz Richardson, returning to racing after a new addition to her family over the summer, in 157 th place (36:58). In a competitive field of 219 athletes, the scoring ‘A’ team finished in 14 th place out of 24 teams.

Earlier in the day a small but dedicated team of junior girls ran in the joint U15/17 race over 2.5 miles. Alix Baccardax (U15) led our girls home in 20:49 for 67 th  and was quickly followed by Imogen Busa (U17) (21:25/72 nd ) and Esme Cerilli (23:18/78 th ). In the U13 race over 2 miles, Evie Priest was our sole K&P representative and had a great run (14:47/37 th  out of 80) on her Surrey ladies league debut. Well done to all!

Our next league match will be held at Nonsuch Park on 11 th November. New members to the team are always welcome and anyone interested in competing should please contact Liz Richardson for further information.

Surrey Masters Cross Country Championships – 21 st October 2017

The following week our veteran ladies encountered very different conditions at the Surrey Masters Championships – held in Richmond Park, the team battled gale force (almost comical!) winds to combat the two-lap course over a 3.85 mile distance. Nina White was again our first lady home in 49 th place with a time of 28 minutes 35. Debbie Raymond ran well to finish in 29:15 for 62 nd place, with Nicky Atkins chasing hard in 78 th place (30:24). Liz Richardson showed improving fitness to finish in 104 th place (33:00) with Avelline Deighton closing the V45 team scoring in 114 th place in a time of 33 minutes 59 seconds. The ladies race was combined with the mens V60 with an overall field of 132 athletes. Our V45 ladies team (Nina, Nicky & Avelline) finished in a creditable 8 th place.

At the same championships, the mens V40/50 was an exciting race – K&P’s Matt Atkins had a tight battle with Ben Paviour (HHH) but held on to successfully retain his M40 county title. Thanks to our team supporters Caroline Jeffcote and Peter Wilkins and well done to Matt. Congratulations also to Michael Huntley for his first win at the Club 5, which took place on the same day.