Stubbington Green 10K and Chawton House cross country races
HRRL Stubbington Green 10k
The first league race in the New Year was the popular Stubbington Green 10km. Forty-one Farnham Runners were among the 1784 finishers for this fast, flat course. It was chilly and fairly windy but the sun came out to give pleasant conditions and 20 Farnham Runners gained new personal bests or raced the distance for the first time. Four of them were among the age group prize-winners.
James Robinson crossed the line first for the club in a splendid time of 34:49, in 43rd place. Showing the high standard at the front of the race, Joe Collins in 35:56 was 69th finisher.
Also for the A team were Toby Loomis in 36:30 and Matt Saker, 2nd M55 in 36:42.
Jamie Lyons was first in for the B team (38:44), followed by a trio of Justin Clarke 3rd M60 (40:50), Sam Angell (41:09) and Ivan Chunnett (41:33). Richard Denby (41:42) and Andy Brown (41:57) led the C team while Terry Copeland (42:48) and James Goodwin (43:40) completed the scoring. Another five were unlucky not to make the teams this time.
Now half way through the season, Farnham Runners men’s teams stay top of the A2 and B2 tables and they lie 4th in the C table.
The ladies now lie 8th/10 clubs in the A1 division and 7th/10 in the B1 tables, as well as 6th/8in the C table.
Their A team was boosted by the welcome appearance of Kayleigh Copeland who finished in a fine time of 41:48. Linda Tyler was an excellent 2nd F60 in 44:59, Bridget Naylor, 4th F55, clocked a PB 47:33 and Candy Waller showed her potential by clocking 47:44 in her first 10k race.
Toria Dick led the B team in 48:25 with Meg Grocott in 51:59, Jane Georghiou, 1st F70 in 52:13 and Marina Greig in 52:46 in her first attempt at the distance. The C team was comprised of Carol Dare (54:21), Colette Grist (53:40, Kay Copeland (56:10) and Sandra Hickey (56:16), ahead of another 12 Farnham ladies.
SXCL Chawton House
Thirty five Farnham Runners enjoyed the first cross country of 2024 in the grounds of Chawton House, organised by Alton Runners. Runners were thankful the day was much warmer than the previous week’s chilly temperatures, though overnight rain rendered the course slippery in the muddy patches. The course is mostly over undulating fields with some testing sections through woodland but the roots had been clearly marked to reduce the risk of accidents.
Though not able to repeat the team results in November when Farnham Runners won both the Men’s, Ladies and Overall sections, they did enough to claim an overall joint eighth of the 23 participating clubs. The ladies came 9th and the men 10th.
First back for Farnham by a long way was Joe Collins in a splendid 6th place. Chris Matthews made a welcome appearance in 34th, while Ivan Chunnett in 77th and Bob Brimicombe in 78th completed the scoring. Dan Bailey 82nd, Richard Denby 85th, Colin Addison 88th, Chris Raby 89th and Justin Clarke 93rd were never far behind. James Goodwin 118th, Paul Keogh 122nd, Chris Allen 161st, Craig Tate-Grimes (who had run there from Wrecclesham) 231st and Chris Gill, who accompanied him around the course, 232nd.
Ali Mitchell in 25th, Sue Taylor in 32nd, Linda Tyler in 35th and Lindsay Bamford in 49th made up the ladies’ team with Bridget Naylor on their heels in 52nd. Jane Georghiou 74th, Meg Grocott in 76th, Sandra Hickey in 94th and Kay Copeland in 99th all made the top 100, followed by Tori Shaw 102nd, Sally Lawrence 113rd, Penny Schnabel 126th, Shirley Perrett 127th, Tina Longman 130th, Clair Bailey 131st, Georgi Welch 159th, Jackie Wilkinson 170th, Pauline Hamilton 174th, Jacquie Browne 180th, Sue McKenzie 181st.
See the Photo Gallery 2024 for further photos from these events