HXCL Reading

Over a damp Hampshire League cross country course at Prospect Park in Reading, Graham Wilton made a welcome appearance to lead in the team by a margin of two minutes to pick up 58th tab and place 10th V40, with a time of 31.26.

Already in training for spring marathons, Dan Smith (33.37, 77th), David Lloyd (35.14, 99th) and Terry Steadman (37.28, 134th, 10th V50), chose a variety of footwear for the muddy conditions but all pushed themselves hard over the 9 km route. Andy Tweed, now recovered from his Luton marathon, completed the score (39.22, 158th). The ever-improving Don Melvin backed up the team (40.49, 169th), while John Applebee enjoyed the race (51.46, 180th).

A fifth team position out of the ten in Division 2 helped to secure a ranking of 6th after this penultimate round of the five-match series. The veterans’ claimed 6th and are listed as 7th for the series so far.

Sarah Edson gave the ladies’ team a boost with a fine run, without the benefit of studs or spikes, for 22nd place (24.22), very close to captain Jane Georghiou, who was pleased with 20th place (23.55, 9th veteran).

Jo Edson (25.53, 32nd, 15th veteran) raced hard over the 6 km to stay ahead of Angela Epps (26.00, 34th, 16th veteran), who made a very impressive debut in this competitive league. Frances Britain was always in contention for a team slot (26.36, 40th, 20th veteran), while Julie Russ provided very valuable back-up ( 31.24, 66th).