The first Saturday of December was race day for the oldies! Writtle University College was the venue for the Essex Veterans Cross Country Championships and with three separate morning races, it was the over 50 men who literally broke the ice. The two lap course was supposed to be 8k but most runners measured it at around 7k. Andy Carter was Halstead Road Runners only entrant for either of the two men’s races and he had a much better run than his last race at this venue, running at sub 8:30 pace he placed 107th out of 126 finishers in a time of 37:18       Five HRR ladies were next in action as the over 40’s women’s race took place over the same course, with 106 finishers. By this time the freezing fog appeared to be getting worse which made it even more challenging. Rachael Roughan led the yellow vests home with an excellent 24th place in 33:54, followed by Noush Springett, revelling in her first cross country season, 47th in 36:47. Wendy Carter was next with 11th place in her 55-59 age category and 72nd overall in 39:54 with two other clubmates in their debut cross country season not far behind. Jody Smith placed 77th in 40:20 and Maryann Sycamore 22nd in her 45-49 category and 90th overall in 43:12