Welcombe top-15 finish for Gibbs at second race of Midland League

Sarah Rose (30th in 28:32), Laura Pettifer (40th in 28:57) and Stef Lunn (75th in 31:09) were the other counters for Kenilworth who finished seventh out of 15 teams and saw their next five runners finish within 50 seconds of each other.

Selected others: 99, Jane Phillips (32:28); 102, Jane Kidd (32:31); 105, Bella Doxey (32:36); 107, Louise Andrews (32:43); 118, Lesley Mellor (33:12); 122, Tina Crow (33:24); 126, Becky Phagura (33:45); 143, Linda Fullaway (35:06); 150, Elisse Breugelmans (35:38); 160, Sophie Cookson (36:55); 161, Mel Knight (37:07); 163, Rachel Armstrong (37:26); 170, Amanda Holmes (37:45); 173, Kerrie Flippance (38:10); 197, Jenny Richards (44:02); 206, Pauline Dable (48:28).

Kenilworth Runners’ masters’ team were beaten to first place by Leamington C&AC, who also finished a fine fifth in the seniors’ race.

Kelly Edwards was 21st overall and the first master to cross the line in a time of 27:27 with Monica Williamson (25th in 28:19 and third master), Zara Blower (36th in 28:48) and Jenny Jeeves (39th in 28:55) making up the scoring team.

Edwards, Williamson and Jeeves also scored for the masters’ team, leaving Wendy Daniels (50th in 29:44) to complete their quartet.

Other Leamington C&AC finishers: Megan McDonald (29:06), Saffia Del Torre (31:08), Courtney Thornberry (31:46), Anouk Molliex (32:34), Charlie Mitchell (33:15), Eve Walpole (33:35), Laura Gould (35:25), Jane Perkins (35:36), Judith Hanlon (35:57), Sara Wills (36:00), Carol Blower (37:29), Tara Fagge (27:40), Helen West (37:43), Mary Donaldson (38:07), Delia Caruana (40:10), Louise Marsh (41:24).

Spa Striders’ women finished 12th, with Carolyn Wilkinson leading them home in 29:59 for 52nd place.

She was followed by Kate Gadsby (64th in 30:39), Jo Fleming (86th in 31:45) and Anne Hurrell (89th in 31:54), who also formed the fourth-placed masters’ team.

Striders’ contingent was completed by Helene Wright (32:15), Claire Murphy (32:30), running her first cross-country race for the club, Clare Hinton (34:06), Fiona Edwards (34:14), Claudine Piper (34:20), Ruth Tennant (34:44), Lucy Marcovitch (35:37) and Lucy Tugwell (36:13).

Leamington’s C&AC’s men continued their fine start to the Birmingham League Cross-Country season with a sixth-placed finish at Park Hall Country Park in Stoke-on-Trent.

Twenty-eight C&AC runners tackled the course which was a mixture of trail and the more expected off-road and featured a number of steep hills in and around an old quarry site.

The ever-reliable Callum Hanlon came home first for the club in a hugely impressive 17th position (35min 43sec).

Paul Andrew was next home in 26th position (26:23), with Simeon Howson (37:22)and Phil Gould (37:33) coming in only 11 seconds apart in 39th and 42nd, respectively.

The scoring team was completed by Lewis Fagge (55th in 38:20) and Kieran Chahal (64th in 38:38) in their first seasons in the senior category.

The B team of Jack Savage (39:50), Jonathan Brown (41:34), Gavin Fowler (42:30), John Knibb (42:49), Ben Rajan (42:58) and Jason Hill (42:59) were fifth on the day to place them sixth overall in their category.

Other Leamington C&AC finishers: Marc Curtis (43:27), Craig Bower (43:36), Dean Mawby (44:12), Steve Hundal (44:53), James Joyce (44:58), Garrath Schule (45:30), Simon Perkins (45:35), Simon West (46:32), Andrew Higgins (47:37), Nick Tawney (49:32), Steve Roberts (49:57), Paolo Foglini (51:12), Peter Stockbridge (52:21), Alex Montgomery (54:06), Roger Fagge (54:14), Sagar Depala (57:26).

Kenilworth Runners finished tenth team in both the seniors’ and masters’ competitions but had the standout local performer in Paddy Roddy who ran superbly to finish eighth in a time of 35:03.

Ben Taylor also finished in the top 50, in 32nd position, in 36:57.

Kenilworth’s remaining counters (Andy Crabtree (40:32), Kev Hope (40:41), Dewi Williams (40:52) and Stanley Doxey (41:01)) grouped well, finishing between 100th and 117th with Matt Dyer just a further second behind Doxey.

Other Kenilworth Runners finishers: 132, Stuart Hopkins (42:04); 133, Wayne Briggs (42:05); 136, Nick Williams (42:17); 184, Keith Beasley (44:58); 195, Richard Broadbent (45:25); 211, Colin Bailey (46:43); 217, Ryan Baker (47:18); 219, Stewart Underhill (47:21); 228, Richard Cookson (48:11); 245, Anthony Young (50:55); 261, Tom Dable (66:59).

Spa Striders’ men continue to find it tough after their elevation to Division Two, finishing 16th of the 17 teams at Welcombe Hills in Stratford.

Chris McKeown was the first Strider home and 49th overall in 38:52.

He was followed by Paul Edwards (61st in 39:15), Adam Notley (90th in 40:53), Keith Wilson (112th in 42:10), Rich Sykes (158th in 43:56) and final counter Tim Beresford (171st in 44:27).

Chris Wilson (45:02), Gethyn Friswell (46:34), Clive Parpworth (46:36), Graham Donaghue (50:07), Pete Schofield (51:46) and Doug Rattray (57:43) rounded off the Striders contingent.

Paul Edwards was also in action the following day, finishing runner-up at the Nottingham Christmas 5k in a time of 17:27.

Fiona Edwards completed the half-marathon in 1:48:31.

Spa Striders’ Clare Bryan completed the Bedford Half Marathon in 1:47:10, while James Hartwright clocked 41:36 for the Percy Pud 10k race in Sheffield.