Our women acquitted themselves well at the London Cross Country Championships this year. With only four completing the tough Parliament Hill course, all had the satisfaction of being in the scoring team. The squad of veterans finished 11th out of 21 full teams, a comparable performance to last year’s ninth place out of 16 teams.
Grazina Narviliene’s stamina showed through in the latter stages as she led the team home with a strong run, finishing 21st out of 186. Fiona Kennedy found the hills a struggle on this occasion, and finished around half a minute behind in 29th. Christine Meek was also well inside the top half of the field in 87th, with Carol Jones (101st) only a further minute and just missing the top 100 – forgivable in a W55!
This championship has not historically featured in the men’s calendar for Ealing and once again, some of the club’s stronger runners opted for a race-free weekend. The team of eight who braved the hills and mud finished 25th of 27 teams. Andy Dodd (154th) led the team home, defying an ongoing back issue which has hampered his training. The consistent veteran Rob Brown (169th) was just half a minute behind, and also inside the top half of the field. Mark Delahunty (234th) was close behind Rob in the early stages but a longstanding back problem curtailed his pace later in the race. Ian Leslie (246th) completed the scoring team. Steve Plested (277th) followed some two minutes later, having pulled away from triathlete Keith Freegard (313th). After starting the race plumb last, Martin Wilson (341st) showed greater staying power than some, also overhauling team-mate Gary Stringer (344th).
Click here for full results.