Halstead Road Runners were in action last Saturday, competing in the first of five Essex League Cross Country events. On a beautiful sunny day with light winds, the course at One Tree Hill near Basildon was in perfect condition. In the senior Women’s race, there were no fewer than 10 Halstead runners lined up to tackle the hilly 4.1 mile route that followed gravel tracks and tricky woodland paths with many exposed tree roots. First home out of 141 finishers, in a fantastic 10th place, was Hayley Lamkin, followed by Rachael Roughan 50th, Caroliena Cameron 79th and Wendy Carter 93rd, making up the team score. Hot on their heels and still affecting other teams scores were Noush Springett making her Essex League debut with an excellent 97th place, Mandy Humm 98th, Lisa Rodbourn 104th, Emma Healy 108th, Victoria Metson 109th and another debutant, Jody Smith, in 116th. Those excellent performances placed them 12th overall out of the 29 clubs represented and 5th in Division 2. In the Men’s 5 mile race there were only two Halstead runners. Dan Roughan judged his pace perfectly to finish in 229th out of 257 finishers, comfortably ahead of Andy Carter in 238th.
Race report by Andy Carter
