Sunday 28th November 2021 Halstead Road Runners hosted the next race in the NESS Cross Country League sponsored by Eyes Rite. The race HQ was at Gosfield School and the course took in Broaks Woods and part of the motocross track behind. This made for a very gruelling course for the competitors with copious amounts of mud to wade through and many hills to forge their way up.
Halstead Road Runners marshalled the event and managed to put out a large team of runners as well. The Men’s Team came second in Pool B and the Women’s Team came second in Pool B so the Team is placed second overall.
192 men took on the course;
Matt Hutley came in first for Halstead in 31st place.
Nathan Roulson 38th
Mike Smith 43rd
Gavin Ripton 63rd
Rob Frost 97th
Stephen Metson 98th
Barrie Pullinger 99th
Tom Martin 105th
Perry James 116th
Sam Wolton 127th
Don English 153rd
Ross Kemble 158th
117 Women took on the course;
Rachael Roughan was first lady home for Halstead in 14th place.
Hannah Joy 33rd
Grace Bauckham 57th
Hannah Whale 58th
Lisa Rodbourn 64th
Charlotte King 67th
Lauren Ripton 87th
Carol Atkins also ran in the Bassingbourn Belle 10 mile race in 1:44:21.
Last weekend (11/12th December 2021) was the Vets Cross Country event run at Writtle College. The course was approximately 4.5miles. The race was only open to over 40’s. The women ran first with the over 50’s men.
120 women ran. Rachael Roughan came in first for Halstead in 16th place. Hannah Whale was in next in 64th place.
Lisa Rodbourn 74th
Charlotte King 75th
Anna Bambridge 88th
Only two Halstead men ran in the over 50’s race out of a field of 137. Alan Fancy came in first in 99th place followed by Andy Carter in 102nd place.
The over 40’s men ran a separate race with a smaller field of 79 runners including some of the top veterans in Essex. Sam Wolton finished in 64th place and Phil Jeffries came in 76th.
John Warne was out again with the Hare and Tortoise company running in the Raynedeer Run. This was a 6 hour event consisting of a 3.3mile loop that could be run as many times as you wanted. John ran 8 laps to complete 26.59miles in 5:14:46.
This Sunday was Great Bentley running clubs cross country race in the NESS cross country league sponsored by Eyes Rite held at Hilly Fields in Colchester. The course was fairly brutal with the Hilly Fields living up to their name. Bentley Runners included a lot of hard, sharp hills in the course. Halstead managed to field scoring teams again with eight men and three women running.
Steve May 59th
Gavin Ripton 65th
Stephen Metson 103rd
Sam Wolton 120th
Darren Powell 124th
Bob Langley 125th
Andy Carter 143rd
Phil Jeffries 149th
For the women
Charlotte King 43rd
Treena Carder 76th
Lauren Ripton 77th
Halstead Road Runners fielded teams at the Essex Cross Country League race at Great Notley on Saturday 18th December 2021. Conditions were overcast with a light wind but it was very slippery underfoot. The women had to run up the notorious hill in Notley Discovery Park twice and the men had to do it three times. The women didn’t manage a scoring team as three women ran and four are needed to score. 95 women ran in the race and Rachael Roughan came in 14th place. Wendy Carter came in next for Halstead in 58th place and Lauren Ripton came in 80th position. Due to not having a scoring team this leaves the women in the relegation zone of Division 1. 195 men ran. Michael Smith came in first for Halstead in 112th place. Bob Langley came 147th, Darren Powell 149th, Perry James 163rd, Andy Carter 172nd and Joby Humm completed the scoring team in 184th place. This leaves the men’s team in first position in Division 2.
Lisa Rodbourn flew the flag for Halstead at Stowmarket trail half marathon finishing in 2:14:00 coming 23rd out of 109 women.
