Thanks to Tom for this update from Ryde Harriers. Ed
The event at Eastleigh’s Fleming Park only just went ahead thanks to course rerouting and some hardy officials, but the Wade brothers showed that mud and standing water were no barrier to their high standards.
In the men’s senior race, Tom Wade finished second, beaten only by GB XC team member John Beattie, with Joe Wade finishing seventh. Also in the mens senior, running for IOW AC, Steve Haggerty continued his good form, whilst Ryde Harriers fielded five runners, with first home being Tom Blackwell in 82nd place followed by Les Cupis in 91, but third Vet. 55.
Also for Harriers, Paul Charlton-Smith put in a fine performance, finishing third Vet 60 and 143 overall with men’s captain Pete Still, competing in his first XC of the season finishing 158th and Andrew Keehn 163rd.
IOW Road Runners representatives Darren Cole and Rich Whittington finished 133rd and 156 respectively.
Run at the same time, the under 20’s race featured Islander Harrison Curling who, like the Wades, runs for Aldershot, Farnham and District. He managed a pleasing third place.
Women’s races
The women’s senior race saw another good performance from Ryde Harriers Female Athlete of the Year Sarah Kavanagh. She finished in 23rd followed by Grace Crumplin 36th, running for Havant and competing in her first senior race.
Harriers’ Mary Norman was 51st and second Vet. 50 and Sharon McNally 59th who was making her first appearance for IOW RR. Julie King completed the Ryde Harriers trio, finishing in 65th place followed by two more IOW Road Runners Abigail Farwell (80th) and Claire Campbell (87th).
Under 20s women also ran at the same time as their senior counterparts but were pleased to have 2k less of muddy, watery slogging to do. Running for Havant Kaya Simpson and Annabelle Marsh finished eight and tenth respectively.
Juniors races
Earlier in the day there were juniors races with IOW AC well represented and performing well.
In the under 11 boys, Ben Timmons ran well for 14th as did Dylan Holdsworth (32nd). Ben Holdsworth powered into the top ten in the under 13 boys finishing tenth with James Haggerty also running as strongly as his dad for 32nd place and Tom Timmons showing his finishing skills for 45th.
The under 15 boys fielded a full and very strong team to finish fifth overall. Sam Metcalf led the team home for a brilliant eight followed closely by Michael Ilott in 11th, Jacob Lewis in 19th and Sam Hitchinson 42nd. Millie Bacon and Mabel Lewis broke into the top 20 for the under 11 girl’s finishing 15th and 17th. After the doubleMs, the doubleEs did well with Elsie Lewis finishing 22nd and Ellie Bacon 29th.
Eden Crumplin was the only IOW AC runner in the under 15 girls, crossing the line in a creditable 13th place.
Thanks to all the coaches, families and supporters for braving the mud and rain.
