After Roadrunners hosted a fantastically successful Thames Valley Cross Country League fixture, ladies’ stand-in skipper MELANIE SHAW has filed this report on what she has dubbed ‘Ar-mud-geddon’. Supplementary reporting by men’s captain JAMIE SMITH after his six-and-a-half-hours shift from set-up to leading the team and unpacking the vans..

FOLLOWING last weekend’s Berkshire Cross Country Championships and seven days of rain of biblical proportions at Ashenbury Park, the mud and water levels on the Woodley course had increased significantly, reducing it to a sea of treacle. Just what we wanted!  

Somehow between them Sam Whalley and Peter Reilly managed to find two very different courses, both very enjoyable. 

The latest leg-sapping course welcomed a fantastic 416 runners — including 77 Roadrunners — to celebrate the final Thames Valley XC League run of 2019, and surely the beginning of the festive season.

There were Christmas hats aplenty and the lovely Eddie Thorpe even donned his fabulous festive running gear. (Fear not, he ran in the required club vest for the race). 

The mood was buoyant — and needed to be given the conditions — and everyone seemed to enjoy the atmosphere of a great event.

Jack Gregory and Rob Corney — back after eight weeks out with an Achilles injury — led the field out and the spray from the runners was akin to travelling under a waterfall. The race was gruelling, and it was more effort pulling your foot out of the mud than placing it in front of the other one. We suffered two tough laps (of 4km each) before the final placings were decided. 

Fully recovered from his injury, Rob took first place and silver went to Jack a few muddy seconds later. 

Despite it being his first appearance of the season, our second-claimer Ben Paviour (left) was the first vet home in fourth place, just ahead of Sibrand Rinzema, whose impressive sprint finish gave Roadrunners four out of the first five places.  

If that wasn’t enough, we proudly welcomed Mark Apsey in ninth and another vet, Tony Page, in 20^th, giving the club’s men a massive winning margin. With Chris Burt 13th and Jamie Smith 14th, we had nine finishers in the top 20.

I had the honour of leading our ladies team — with Laura Peatey, Jane Davies and Chloe Lloyd our other scorers — into third place. This gave the club joint first place overall, along with Datchet, after one of the Dashers’ scorers was disqualified for wearing headphones.

Sam Whalley was really pleased with the team result and wanted to give a shout-out to several other members… “Sarah Dooley was our fifth woman home, in the middle of her 14 mile long run — good going! Shweta Saikumar, who, having said just last week that she would not be back, was indeed back, and had a great run. She really will feel the benefit in the spring. Swinda Falkena’s big smile was back at Ashenbury for the second time, with Swinda claiming to have enjoyed the race much more, with the benefit of last week’s experience.

“It was great to see Annette Russell racing, after a difficult year, and Helen Wing, who had sworn never to do XC again, was a true professional in her XC spikes. Katie Rennie was back in green for this league only (at least for this year!), which was lovely to see.”

So, a big thank-you to Sam, Peter Reilly and all the wonderful volunteers who made this possible — from the course set up, the catering, photographers, results takers and the well-wishers. You really made our club proud!

Finally, congratulations to all the runners who managed to navigate themselves around the course. This event was a real show of club depth, with so many Reading Roadrunners running and/or volunteering.

Today was the final race of the year as a club and we can look forward to 2020 with a great deal of optimism.

The next XC event is the TVXC fixture at Lightwater Country Park on January 5th. Let’s start the New Year with another mass green vest race takeover!

That will be followed by the Hampshire League fixture at Prospect Park, Reading, on January 11th.

Have a wonderful Christmas all.

Results: http://tvxc.org.uk/results/team?race_id=90

Pictures: Chris Drew, Sev Konieczny, Peter Cook.

Another successful weekend of cross-country racing for Reading Roadrunners, and here’s another in-depth report from ladies’ captain Sam Whalley…

IT WAS touch and go whether Jane Davies would be able to defend her FV60 title in the Southern Masters XC Championships in Oxford, but fortunately or us all, her new granddaughter Mollie arrived the previous weekend, leaving Jane able to slip away briefly and take on the ‘technical’ 6k course, with its grass, steep hills and plenty of mud.    

Jane and fellow FV60 team-mate, the relatively new to XC Tracey Lasan, described their approach to the rooty descents as ‘geriatric’. 

Despite their claims, Jane covered the course in a gold medal-retaining 28.46, in 33rd place overall including FV40s and FV50s, with Tracey in 30.09, 45th place overall, and picking up the bronze for the age category. 

The team was completed by Cecilia Csemiczky, in 45.53, 75th place, and the three women were crowned South of England FV60 XC champions.

Cecilia (right) was ninth in the FV65 age category, but will not know her true position as the SEAA does not have an entry option for FV70s. Maybe time for change?

In the same race, the MV70 team of Eddie Thorpe, Jim Kiddie and Ken Beck fared well in spite of a fast-paced start. Eddie was first to finish in 34.14, in 9th, slowed by a slip on a wooden bridge on the final entry to the field, which saw him taking a dip in the stream.

A little chilly and scraped, Eddie was cleaned up and left in good spirits. 

Jim had been allowed to make up a bit of distance on Eddie, though, and finished just behind, in 34.16, and 11th. Ken Beck was 12th, in 36.04, having not run XC for twenty years. Results show that no other club had managed to put together a complete team, and there was no team prize awarded. Perhaps that’s something else for the SEAA to review.

Also in the women’s race, Sarah Dooley was 30th (seventh FV40), in 28.03, Sam Whalley was 55th (18th FV45), in 32.18, and Claire Seymour was 65th (9th FV40), in 34.15. The FV40 team was sixth, while overall on the day the team of Sarah, Jane and Tracey was eighth out of 10 complete team

Colder air had arrived by the time of the main ‘younger’ men’s 9k race. First Roadrunner home was an impressive Tony Page in 36th (10th MV45), in 35.21, Fergal Donnelly, complete with sore ankle from a twist at Handy Cross, was 84th (22nd MV45), in 38.14, and Bryan Curtayne was 153rd (29th MV45), in 45.33. The MV40 team was 12th.

Sadly Fergal’s injury makes him a big doubt for both next weekend’s Berkshire XC Championships and our home TVXC fixture at Ashenbury Park on December 22nd.

Despite suffering the after-effects of a flu jab, Pete Jewell led the MV50s home in 102nd (19th MV55), in 39.08, followed by Gavin Rennie, in 105th (20th MV55), in 39.28, and Mark Andrew, in 116th (24th MV50), in 41.15. Non-scorer David Fiddes was 138th (28th MV50), in 43.32. 

The MV50 team was tenth, and overall the men’s team of Tony, Fergal and Pete was 17th out of 24 complete teams.

It goes without saying that these were excellent performances all round, in an event of such a high standard.

In other news, our second-claim runner, Ben Paviour, was fourth overall, and 2nd MV45, in 32.09, running for Herne Hill. But we won’t mention that. And another second-claimer, Sarah Urwin-Mann, was second lady overall, and first FV45. She was wearing the Reading AC kit, so we won’t mention her either.

Thanks for that, Sam! Now here’s the rest of the weekend action…

No foreign Sunday marathon this weekend for our usual international jet-set foursome… but that’s only because they raced on Saturday! This time they had the company of some real quality towards the front of the field, Brian Kirsopp running 3:28.06 in finishing 71st.

Paul Monaghan and Caroline Jackson ran 4:38.31, Martin Bush 4:52.36 and Pete Morris 5:09.10, despite a heavy fall. Once again they were moaning about having to run in baking hot temperatures, without too much sympathy from back home.

Another Roadrunner doing something a bit different was Joe Blair, who competed in the eight-mile Grim Challenge, an endurance/obstacle event run over an Army assault course near Aldershot. It made for a doubly grim weekend after he watched Reading get stuffed by Birmingham City at the MadStad on Saturday.

Joe — who finished second MV60 in 1:15.54 — said: “The good news is that I wasn’t too muddy at the end; the bad news is that the mud washed off during the last three miles, which involved wading waist-deep through seven or eight gullies of cold water. The whole thing was tough but fulfilling in a weird way.”

So when he lines up for the Muddy Welly 10k at Crowthorne next weekend it might not seem quite so…. muddy!

Nick Adley was the only Roadrunner to contest the Tadley Xmas XC, and he finished 71st in 1:02.25.

Pictures: Sarah Dooley, Pete Jewell.

Masters results link: https://www.race-results.co.uk/results/2019/seaamasters19.htm

New men’s captain JAMIE SMITH had a packed weekend of successful racing on three consecutive days and still found the strength to send us this insightful report of the action…

A SLIGHTLY under the weather Jack Gregory decided to run only in the Thames Valley Cross Country League, rather than the Hampshire League. This proved a fine choice, with a solo front run to win the race at Handy Cross.

Saturday brought the third round of the Hampshire League XC fixtures and, being hosted by Aldershot ,we expected a number of top-class athletes and tough competition. Indeed, Aldershot proved their own team strength by providing the first five male runners to finish.

The air was cold but the ground conditions — when compared to the previous fixture in Winchester  — seemed to be somewhat more ‘runnable’. 

Once the majority of runners had arrived, we walked around the course together, finding a mixture of grass, short steep downhill banks and a technical twisting section in the woods, and of course there were also some pretty tough muddy sections.

Spikes laced up, we headed for the start-line. When the gun went it felt like a track race and what can only be described as a sprint for the first corner.

We had a total of 14 Roadrunners competing, being led home by the “mud lover” Mark Worringham in 46th. Our senior team finished in sixth place and that proved enough to keep us sixth overall in this season’s League standings.

The senior team scorers were Mark Apsey (53rd), Jamie Smith (56th), Chris Burt (66th) and Tony Page, having a fine run in 87th.

The men’s vet team had another excellent performance and continue to lead the way in this season’s league table.

The vets team finished the day second overall to host team Aldershot, who had clearly pulled out all the efforts to win their home fixture. Let’s make sure we return the gesture when the Hampshire League comes to Prospect Park on January 11th.

Ours vets were led home by Mark Worringham (3rd, right) and Tony Page (10th), who were backed by a strong run from Lance Nortcliff in 14th.

While the sharp end of the field is a stellar line-up of top-class athletes, everyone is welcome to take part and there were excellent runs by both Pete Morris in 262nd and Nick Adley in 270th.

It would be great to see some more runners at our next fixture in the New Year.

It’s not every race where you see a Great Britain international (Steph Twell) finish second in the ladies race and find another GB athlete (Andy Vernon) marshalling out on the course all afternoon.

A quick wash of the kit and refuel for some — including both captains, well done Sam! —who were doubling up this weekend, and the runners were raring to go at the next fixture in the TVXC.

This Sunday’s race took place at what is regarded by most runners as the hardest course in the league. I am sure those who had only just recovered from last week’s hills at Sandhurst were looking forward to even more today.

In dry and sunny conditions another large turn-out toed the line undeterred by this week’s exertions.

Before the race began we had a moment’s applause for Bracknell Forest runner Chau See, who sadly collapsed suddenly a week ago and unfortunately passed away this week.

I had the pleasure of knowing Chau for many years through my time at Sweatshop, where he was a regular runner, and then through parkruns, many local races and at Endure 24 every year.

Chau will be remembered for his unwavering smile that always greeted you and I am sure his family will have appreciated the moment taken to reflect. Some asked if there is a collection taking place and here is the link to it:

https://scannappeal.org.uk/ways-to-give/give-in-memory/

The Handy Cross race began in earnest downhill before the impending hills to come, and quickly we saw Jack Gregory take to the front. Even more quickly, he disappeared over the top of the first hill and out of sight.

The course, albeit a little drier than we have got used to in recent weeks, did not allow for any easier conditions. Every ascent seemed longer than the previous one but the descents that didn’t feel as long as what had just run up!

The men’s squad comfortably beat Datchet Dashers to the team win, with Jack being supported in the team by seniors Brendan Morris (5th), Sibrand Rinzema (7th), and Jamie Smith (10th). The two scoring vets this week were Fergal Donnelly with a fantastic run in 17th, and Paddy Hayes (44th).

Superb running by everyone at both these events and it was great to see the camaraderie shown between all club members throughout. 

The next TVXC will be our own host fixture at Ashenbury Park, Woodley, on December 22nd and it would be great to see as many members as possible turn out. Let’s make sure we can win our host fixture!

Now here’s the report from women’s captain SAM WHALLEY…

Wellesley Woodlands in Aldershot was the venue for the final Hampshire League fixture of 2019. Despite being our third visit to this location, it was the first time we had really been able to see the statue of the Duke of Wellington at the edge of the woods, having only previously experienced foul weather here before.

The women were first up, with their 6k course being made up of a start loop, one medium and one large loop around the outside of grassy pitches, and through twisting woodlands, with a couple of undulations, nothing major. The grassy areas were already pretty churned up and boggy.

The race started about a minute too early for my liking, as I was still tying my shoelace when the gun sounded, and everyone disappeared into the distance. It’s surprising how far away people can get in 10 seconds. What a rookie!

We were joined again by second-claim member, Freya Martin, who put in a fantastic run, finishing 19th. Helen Pool was 44th (fifth vet), and Sarah Dooley 56th (ninth vet). This gave the seniors team a very good sixth place. 

I think there should be a stewards’ inquiry into how Chloe Lloyd can now finish 50 places ahead of me in a Hampshire League race, or rather, it just goes to show that regular and sensible training can result in consistent excellent performances. Chloe was 65th, with Claire Raynor 94th (34th vet). The vets’ team was a fantastic third! Claire swears by a pre-race parkrun leg-loosener, but I’m too scared to give this a go.

The teams were backed up by me (Sam Whalley) in 116th, Alex Bennell in 121st, Claire Seymour in 132nd and Cecilia Csemiczky in 162nd (2nd V70).

Incidentally, Team GB’s Steph Twell was second, and said the years of training with Aldershot in those woods did not seem to have made them any easier. Even more satisfying then that many of us recorded our best performances on that course.

With the TVXC hosted by Handy Cross Runners the next day, a few of us — Cecilia, Claire Seymour and myself — were up for the ‘double’, being unable to resist the lure of the undulating Bradenham Woods course and its views (apparently there were some, but I didn’t see any).

Bringing the women’s team home was Laura Peatey in seventh overall, followed by Mel Shaw, who although feeling the effects of the sub-20 PB she achieved on the track on Friday evening still managed an excellent ninth. Sarah Alsford was our first vet female, in 23rd, with Claire Marks completing the scoring team in 26th.

There were too many other women to mention them all — which is great — but I must give a shout out to Claire Woodhouse for her storming performance, and Ros Crawford, who seems to be enjoying her first proper season of XC. Well, she keeps coming back for more.

Thanks and well done to everyone who took part in the XC events this weekend.

Here’s the rest of the weekend’s racing news…

Mortimer 10k champion Marcus Fletcher nearly grabbed another title when he finished second in the Mapledurham 10 in a super time of 1:03.41. However Brian Kirsopp was the big winner from the final club championship race of the season, the flying postie coming home ninth overall to wrap up the hotly-contested M50 age group prize.

Brian’s time of 1:08.17 was also good enough to clinch the coveted ‘all racers by age grading’ title, pipping Katherine Sargeant and  Alan Freer. Gen sec Bob Thomas has now produced the final standings and a jubilant Brian said: “A massive thanks to Bob for compiling them and organising all the races.”

Second Roadrunner to finish was Tony Page. In doing so carried off the club’s M40 crown as well as the Mapledurham M40 trophy. Tony was seventh overall in 1:06.46.

The only other club award to be decided was the senior women’s title, carried off by Donna Saunders after another good run.

In the Mapledurham 10k there were prizes for our first three finishers, Ed Dodwell (first M60), Sophie Hoskins (second lady) and Julie Rainbow (first F50).

Back at Palmer Park, Track Friday supremo Fergal Donnelly is trying to firm up dates for the 2020 meetings after another successful event last week.

Defying an icy track surface, Sibrand Rinzema won the opening mile in 5.02, beating off the challenge of two guest runners from Reading University.

But the Dutchman couldn’t repeat his success in the 5k, finishing second behind Ryan Faulkner, who won in 16.48.

There were stand-out performances — and big PBs — from Mark Dibben (17.52) and Mel Shaw, brilliantly paced by men’s captain Jamie Smith, dipping under the magic 20mins barrier for the first time with 19.53.

Pictures: Eddie Thorpe, Chloe Lloyd, Gemma Buley, Cathrin Westerwelle, Paul Monaghan.

Link to Mapledurham 10 results: http://dbmaxresults.co.uk/results.aspx?CId=16421&RId=12012&EId=3

Link to Eddie Thorpe’s Track Friday album: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOoRuBE7V5yY6u9Zj2PxVkrWlEv2wY1sGjTKeBD4DW2N6cZahlun5FyOQQu022OHQ?key=YnMxcElGNmhtY1l4UlNLeklBNnNianhQVV9RQXFR

Hampshire League links: https://www.hampshireathletics.org.uk/results/2019/20191130_hlmen.html and https://www.hampshireathletics.org.uk/results/2019/20191130_hlwomen.html

Roadrunners took a huge contingent of 70 athletes to the latest TVXC event and were rewarded with victory for the men’s team and third place for the ladies. MELANIE SHAW and JAMIE SMITH tell how they did it…

MUD, mountaineering and madness… Thames Valley Cross-Country League gets cruel at Sandhurst.

Well, we all join the League for some fun Sunday running; a chance to get out and explore new routes, meet new people and get involved in racing rather than clock watching or watch clocking.

But sometimes I do wonder what on earth I was thinking when I left my comfy, warm bed to embark on some of the most challenging, albeit beautiful, courses in the Thames Valley.

In true Jamie Smith fashion, we arrived nice and early at the stunning Lord Wandsworth College, Odiham, where the new men’s captain’s uttered the wise words: “You’ll be thankful for this close car park space when you’re done.” 

Three hours later, following a race and pack-down of infrastructure, my legs fully understood what he meant.

We set off merrily on our way to the start with fellow car-sharing team Dan Stockwell and Laura Peatey. It’s always good to car share — not just an example of our eco-friendly ethos but also very practical as parking can be tricky at these events and it’s a great opportunity to get to know fellow team members. Top tip: post on the club’s Facebook page if you ever need a lift. I’m sure you’ll get a quick response.

Celebrating birthdays was a common theme for today’s fixture. I am not sure I’d want to be spending my birthday morning splashing through mud and slogging my way uphill but fair play and a huge happy birthday to Colin Cottell and Sally Carpenter for being better human beings than I. I hope you had a blast.

The weather was utterly perfect:  a slight chill, a cinematic Sherlock Holmes mist close to the ground, but not a drop of rain in sight. Judging by the course condition this had not been the case in the days prior to the race. It was a mud-fest! Despite this, 70 wonderful, Reading Roadrunners turned out.

Undeterred by the previous days’ heavy rainfall, they donned their trail shoes, green vests and a wry smile… (OK, that might have been trepidation but I’m reading it as excitement) and lined up to face the experience.

Hearing rumours of potential bottlenecks on the course, the start was fast, with Sibrand Rinzema leading the men’s team out. 

From the moment the countdown begins, you always wonder what the course will bring. That’s part of the fun, right?  And this one did not disappoint… if you like hills.

Well this course seemed to go up FOR EVER (making for excellent hill training, which I am sure will make us all stronger in the long run). This was followed by what can only be described as a quagmire; ultimately, the reason we all do cross-country, surely? 

Then, just when you thought you were safe —  another hill. No, not a hill, a mountain. The kind of mountain you expect crampons and sherpas to help you with on some experiential travel package. Alas, here no donkey, only our poor legs. 

Good job this was followed by an incline through a claggy mud-field that added an extra 2kgs to each shoe! Oh, and then go around again. Two-lap courses certainly are challenging.

Roadrunners were led home in fifth place by Chris Burt, followed closely by Jamie Smith in sixth, Sibrand Rinzema in eighth and Mark Apsey in tenth. But it was our leading vets, Fergal Donnelly, in 24^th and Brian Kirsopp, in 30^th, who clinched victory for the men’s team.

The women’s team also ran really well to finish in a highly creditable third place. Laura Peatey (below) was our first lady home in tenth, celebrating her debut appearance to the Thames Valley League following up a corking performance at the BBO Championships last week.  

Mel Shaw (OK, a bit weird talking about myself in third person) came a close second in 11^th, Chloe Lloyd 22^nd and our first scoring vet, Sarah Alsford, 27^th.

I really need to recognise the fabulous effort displayed by Gill Manton and Sophie Higgs who battled through the difficult conditions to finish together, as a team. It made me really proud to be a Roadrunner; ultimately, we are a team and it is our combined efforts that will make us stronger.

So, what’s next? Not had enough mud? Not hit enough trails and hills?

Well, we can help… the next exciting fixture is the Hampshire League race at Aldershot on November 30th. The women’s race (6k) is at 1.35pm and the men’s race (10k) at 2.30pm. What’s even better is that this is free as the club pays for your participation. 

If the Hampshire League is not your bag, then join us at Bradenham Woods for the Handy Cross Runners course on December 1st at 11am (it’s OK to walk the hills, you know) for more mud and merriment.  

Trail shoes are a must. £3 a runner, £4 guests and… there is cake on the finish line. You don’t even have to move to be fed. That gets my vote!

See you there.

* Two of the club’s Hampshire League stalwarts, Pete Jewell and Helen Pool, took the flatter, drier, option of the Jigsaw 10k at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey (where Top Gear is filmed)… and were rewarded for their efforts.

At least Pete, when finished 14th in 38:11, would have been rewarded had there been a prize for the winner of the M50 age group… but there was no such thing. Was he disappointed? Er, yes… actually he was!

But at least he had consolation of seeing his training partner, Helen, finish third lady and achieve a 12-seconds PB with a time of 40:47, a nice follow-up to her half-marathon PB last month.

Three other Roadrunners who opted to compete on a firmer surface were Mark Andrew and his wife Veronica, plus Lizzie Hogan. They ran in the Silverstone 10k on the Formula One circuit, Mark finishing in 42.10, Lizzie in 46.15 and Veronica 1:10.42.Meanwhile the “it’s-Sunday-so-it-must-be-overseas-marathon-day’ gang chalked up another visit to Basque country for the San Sebastian Marathon. Caroline Jackson just beat the 4hr mark with 3:59.12, Paul Monaghan ran 4:19.43, Martin Bush 4:31.24 and Pete Morris 4:35.05.

Results: http://tvxc.org.uk/results/team?race_id=92

Pictures: Phil Reay, Gemma Buley, Angela Burley, John Bailey.