Worcester County Cross Country Championships

Malvern Common

Saturday 6th January 2007

Lots of Medals and a great turnout by Club runners and spectators

Organisers of this annual event described the conditions as the wettest ever experienced by runners at Malvern Common with the heavy rain earlier in the week only finally relenting mid-afternoon but not before the junior runners had had to brave the worst of the rain.

The U13 girls gave B&R a great start by winning the team silver over 3km. Sally Hogan (4th) who had a brilliant race and was only just pipped for an individual bronze, was well backed up by good runs from Hayley Oliver (7th) and Sophie Bales (10th).

Not to be outdone in the medal stakes, the U13 boys of Chris Warren (4th), Jamie Scoltock (15th) and Harrison Howie (21st) gained a well-earned team bronze in their 3km race. Jack Morley (23rd) also ran well and pushed Harrison all the way.

Tomasina Ball (12th) and Holly Chapman (13th) competing over 3.5 km in the U15 girls event, had good races, and did not disgrace themselves in what was a strong field.

The U15 boys also had only two runners: Sean Bowden and Adam Peacock. After leading for most of the race, an exhausted Sean was finally overhauled towards the finish of the 3.5 km but gained a justly deserved second place and silver medal. Adam also produced a good performance to finish 7th.

B&R had no runners in the U17 girls’ race, but the U17 boys put out two lads in the 4.5km race, Simon Lanckham (5th) and Matin Saarwar (8th) who continue to improve and recorded good times in increasingly difficult conditions.

B&R women’s squad, left to right: Rowena, Tracey, Kirsten & Anne.

With the rain now stopped, but the course badly cut up from the earlier races, 38 senior ladies (four from B&R) set off on their two lap race. Tracey Jones continued her good form to be our first runner home in 14th place and was closely followed, with equally strong runs, by Rowena Bales (15th), Kirsten Walton (16th) and Ann Stuart (17th). Only 13 seconds separated the quartet who had exchanged places at regular intervals throughout the 6 km race. The team finished 5th but were within only a few points of a coveted medal position.

Left: Phil Carbutt tackles the steepest slope. Right: Kevin Lanckham cuts through the mud.

Four gruelling laps faced the 90-plus senior men including 18 B&R runners. Matt Addison led the charge for B&R, opened up a small gap, and for long periods looked well set for first place but ultimately had to settle for 4th as more experienced runners from other clubs claimed the individual medal positions. Second back for the Club was Dave Kesterton (10th) who, despite still getting up to race fitness, nevertheless won individual silver in the V40 age group. Phil Carbutt (17th) was third B&R man home and took gold in the V50 age group. The team scoring was completed by Kevin Lanckham (26th), Ian Keyte (32nd), and Jamie Dancyger (34th), and this was more than enough to secure B&R an excellent bronze position in the team race.

Above: Ian Keyte (left) & Jamie Dancyger completed the scoring team.

Other B&R runners were Paul Collins - the last B&R man to be county champion -  (45th), Gavin Moorhead (48th), Jimmy Atkin (63rd), Phil Anderson (64th), Dave Whipp (66th), Phil Richardson (68th), Peter Hawcroft (70th), Andrew Freeman (74th), Mike Leci (79th), Steve James (81st), Gordon Marshall (83rd), and Roger Beacham (85th).

Jimmy Atkin jumping clear (top left), Dave Whipp splashing out (top right) and Mike Leci climbing  show what a tough course it was for the men's 10 km  race.

Well done all runners and thanks for racing on what was, in weather terms, a truly horrible day. Thanks also for the support, encouragement and help from relatives, friends and other club members (around 20 hardy souls throughout the event).

Sorry to take so long to get this on the website – full results only just to hand. Thanks to John Manley for the photos.

Len Quartly

Click here to go to gallery for more photos from the senior races.

Click here for full results (185 kb pdf)