Thousands of athletes converged on Hampstead Heath, London on Saturday for the South of England Cross Country Championships with more than 150 clubs represented in 10 age group races. Weather conditions were ideal with light winds, no rain and around 7 degrees but the races were the toughest for several years as the soft ground became like a quagmire in places after all the wet weather of recent months.
In the penultimate race of the day, Halstead Road Runners had no fewer than 9 Senior Women in action, a record for the club. Their 2 lap course measured 4.7 miles and saw 694 finishers. Continuing her terrific form this season, Rachael Roughan came 213th in 38 minutes 05 seconds followed by some great team performances by Kelly Judge 417th in 43:13, Emma Healy 463rd in 44:39, Wendy Carter 497th in 45:50, Anna Bambridge 511th in 46:05, Lisa Rodbourn 514th in 46:08, Treena Carder 615th in 51:42, Lauren Hutley 634th in 53:28 and Victoria Metson 642nd in 54:06. With the first 4 making up the team score, 55th out of 70 was no mean feat against some top athletic clubs.
After a couple of late withdrawals, Halstead’s men were 2 short of the 6 required for a team score but they all gave their best on a 3 lap course that measured 8.5 miles and saw 1172 finishers. Ivan Filchev showed great strength as he powered round the course to finish 499th in 1 hour 2 minutes 59 seconds. Steve May was next placing 672nd in 1:06:35 with Gav Ripton not far behind in a time of 1:08:11 and 742nd place. Andy Carter completed the quartet with a battling 1153rd place in 1:28:52.
John Warne ran in the Phoenix Pick and Mix race to the Bling hour event. The course consisted of 3.28 mile laps along towpaths and muddy trails. John completed 4 laps equating to a half marathon in a time of 2:15:20.
