Round Two of the Essex Cross Country League took place at Gloucester Park, Basildon. The very popular venue saw 139 finishers in the women’s 4.4 mile race and 267 in the men’s 5.2 mile race. In perfect weather and ground conditions both races got off to a fast start until the runners got to the second part of the lap, where the notorious hills kicked in. Once was hard enough but both races had to run up and down this section three times! Rachael Roughan, with last weeks marathon still in her legs, ran really well to finish 38th in 34 minutes 27 seconds, closely followed by Tracy English, 42nd in 34:41. Another strong run from Wendy Carter saw her cross the line in 39:16 and 76th place. Lorraine Garnham tackled the hills with great determination as runners around her were reduced to walking pace, finishing 103rd in 43:29 with Treena Carder a couple of minutes further back in 115th place with a time of 45:32. In her first cross country race for a very long time, Val Kerrison ran really well to finish in 131st place with a time of 51:20 followed by Lauren Ripton who found it really tough but her never give up attitude saw her complete the course in 137th place in 55:58.  In the men’s race we only had three runners in action… Phil Jeffries had a strong run, placing 215th in 42:39 followed by Andy Carter 239th in 46:10. Finally, in his first cross country race since he was a young army recruit, David Clark had a great time and was pleased with his time of 51:29 in 259th place.