Halstead Road Runners hosted the second fixture in the NESS league. A technical course covering various terrains was drawn up by race director Steve May and provided runners with a challenging 5 mile run. Starting and finishing at Gosfield School, the course went through Broaks Wood then out for a lap of a motocross track before heading back through the woods. The course was well marshalled by an army of HRR volunteers who made sure that all runners stayed on the right track. There were a total of 287 adult runners with 187 men and 100 women, with 11 running clubs taking part. The male winner was Hassan Ahdich from Ipswich Jaffa and the female winner was Roanna Vickers from Colchester Harriers. HRR was led home by Matt Thomas who finished in fantastic 9th place. Reece Hearn finished strongly in 25th place with Mike Smith (32nd), Stephen Metson (38th) and Nathan Roulson (39th) not far behind. James North, on his HRR XC debut, completed the scoring team crossing the line in an excellent 65th place. The men’s team was then completed by Gavin Ripton (99th), Bradley Doe (104th), Perry James (125th), Don Wilson (134th), Sam Wolton (138th), Macer Twydell (149th) and Dan Roughan (153rd).  A smaller women’s team were out on course today but the lack in numbers was made up with performances on the field. Hayley Lamkin continued her excellent XC form and finished in 5th place. Karen Pickering made her debut XC race for HRR and claimed a top ten spot finishing in 9th position. Caroliena Cameron completed the scoring team in a superb 30th place. Maryann Sycamore (90th place) enjoyed her run around the woods and Penny Clarke (99th) brought the HRR team home safely. Halstead finished the day in pole position for both the men’s and women’s team in pool B. Halstead are currently sitting in first place overall in pool B in the league this season and will be eyeing up promotion to pool A with three more fixtures to come. The event showcased all that the club has to offer from our fantastic runners to our dedicated legion of volunteers. The club would like to thank Gosfield School and Bill Turtle for the use of their land for the race.