Well done to the juniors who ran in the wet and muddy conditions last weekend at Great Notley Discovery Centre, I would like to say a big thanks to Rachel, Mat, Martyn and the marshals for helping with the race, the junior running order was:-


16th Alex Manley
24th Harry Groves (8th overall this season)
30th Tom Beard


We will be taking a break over the Easter school holidays, and will be back in training on 19 Apr at Rickstones School in Conrad Lane, no more hills or mud till October.

A great performance from our team in the last fixture to secure a Division One place for next year.

Thanks to Brigid, Alan and Captain Keith for their efforts over the season in ensuring that we had full teams.

On Sunday of the 13 Clubs there were only 6 full teams of which we were one.

On the day of our finishers it was great to see that we were led home by our youngest man and woman which is how it should be!

The Roll of Honour

The Guys

14 Alan Pilgrim
15 Neil Adams
43 Stuart Mills
44 Frank McKeown
55 Dan Beckerleg
60 Ian McLaughlin
62 Keith Taylor
71 Trevor Johnson
84 Tony Wallen
94 Russell Swann
95 Nick Manley
102 Colin Short
103 Shawn Beckerleg
106 Dave Payne
115 Dave Beckerleg
117 Paul Hedger
125 Les Leeds
131 Brian Ladell

The Girls
12 Emily Mayo
19 Brigid Wallen
20 Liz Stuckey
21 Angie Manley
40 Julie Pringle

Overall I counted over 50 members who turned out on the day to help and to each and everyone I say thank you.

Martyn

Whilst a full set of results will be available shortly a thank you to everyone that turned out to either run, marshall or help on a lousy day at the Discovery Centre.

Particular thanks to Rach and Mat without whom today would not have gone so smoothly. It was left to me to put a spanner in the works in relaying the results! I will get the hang of incomplete teams and their affect on overall finishing positions for next year. Promise!

The good news is we stay in Division One with Colchester and Tendring being relegated. Today our men came in fourth with the Ladies going one better in third meaning 7 points an overall placing of fifth giving us ten points meaning the Division One final table looked like this:

Springfield 77
Jaffa 73
Colchester Harriers 53
Great Bentley 52
Witham 44
Colchester and Tendring 35

No more mud now until October!

Martyn

An informal invitation to those either running or marshalling to a post cross country coffee at Costas at Tesco from around 12.30. Coffee there is excellent and its only 5 minutes away.

See you there.

PS. Don't forget your waterproofs as forecast is not very good!

Martyn

Calling all members!

Witham Running Club is hosting the final Cross Country of the season and needs your help ensure to the event is enjoyed by all.

The fixture is o­n Sunday 16th March at Great Notley Discovery Centre and help is needed to marshall, set up and help tidy away. All volunteers would be gratefully received. We are looking forward to welcoming the other clubs, many of whom have also put o­n great events.

Of course, Brigid and Alan will still be requiring teams to compete as we shall be remaining in what Martyn describes as the 'Premiership'. With all the support of club members, it is sure to be a great day.

Please see either myself or Martyn at the club and we will gladly welcome your support.

Enjoy your running.
Rach.

First of all on behalf of new Captains Brigid and Alan thank you to each and every member that turned out to run, be it Seniors or Juniors and spectators. I made it we had 40 members over at Hylands Park on an absolutely glorious day.

Dave has posted the Junior report already so straight on to the Senior race which saw two debutants donning studs for the first time namely Al Cutler and Brian Ladell.

For the Men we closed in 77 with Alan leading by example claiming another top 20 placing. Second man home and in top form at the moment Frank McKeown in 58 followed by Ian McLaughlin in his first outing of the season in 63. 'Captain' Keith finished in his highest scoring position of the year in 67.

As for the 'new to x/c' Alan seemed to be enjoying his time in the ditches whilst Brian took a slightly longer rest in them before coming home in an excellent 159. Overall the men come 6th with a total of 421 with good packing in a race that was very tight with Halstead's 442 only good enough for 9th place.

Meanwhile the Ladies again carried the flag with Lindsay Hellier leading us home in 21 with Walls 22, Emily 27, Liz 31 and Angie Manley closing in 33. It was great to see Debs Cutler and Janet Peck back over the Country with the former completing a 'family fullhouse'. Tracie Bromboszcz sadly aggravated her injury and limped home in 62 which typified fantastic Club spirit. Both Penny and Deb Lewis competed having run 16 miles the day previously.

All of which meant the ladies came 4th giving us an overall placing of 5th which now sees us 6 points ahead of CATS in the Premier League with one fixture (at the Discovery Centre) left which should be good enough to preserve our Top league status for another year.

Alan Pilgrim 17
Frank McKeown 58
Ian McLaughlin 63
Stuart Mills 66
Keith Taylor 67
Dave Smith 73
Martyn Byford 77
Mat Pearsons 90
Joe McEwan 95
Nick Manley 106
Dave Payne 117
Dave Andrews 119
Colin short 123
Russ Swann 124
Mike Struthers 148
Les Leeds 149
Alan Cutler 152
Brian Ladell 159

Lindsey Hellier21
Brigid Wallen 22
Emily Mayo 27
Liz Stuckey 31
Angie Manley 33
Deb Lewis 56
Tracie Bromboszcz 62
Deb Cutler 69
Janet Peck70
Penny Clarke72

Martyn

The clubs juniors had a good turnout at Hylands Park, Chelmsford in this weekend's Cross Country race.

Harrison Cutler lead the way for the club's under 16s finishing 15th, 5th in his age group, Alex Manley had a good run finishing 24th, with Charlotte Cutler finishing strong in 39th. It's good to see all three back after their lengthy breaks in cross country racing.

Harry Groves, the only junior to complete all five races so far, lead the way for the under 13s finishing 27th, with Rachel Faires continuing to improve with her new training regime in 68th and 9 year old Bethany Shippely finishing 80th.

A fantastic turn out at Ipswich on Sunday saw us field 12 men and 8 ladies only hours after several left the Annual Club Dinner and Dance.

The Lads lead by their Captain elect finished 9th just 21 points from 7th.The gals lead by their Captain elect secured 5th by 1 point all of which meant that we leapfrogged CATS by 3 points and so moved off the bottom of the Premier League with 2 fixtures left.

Notable performances which stood out were Brigid's 13th and Emily's 22nd with proper x/c shoes and for the guys Tony scored for the first time.

A great result with the next fixture at Hylands Park on Sunday week (10 Feb).

Full Results

Brigid Wallen 13
Emily Mayo 22
Liz Stuckey 28
Ruth Pain 41
Deb Lewis 47
Tracey Bromboszcz 50
Yvonne Mortimer 61
Penny Clarke 63

Alan Pilgrim 16
Stuart Mills 61
Keith Taylor 69
Mat Pearsons 72
Dave Smith 78
Joe McEwan 92
Tony Wallen 96
Colin Short 102
Russ Swann 104
Les Leeds 121
Mike Struthers 124
John Roberts126

Firstly, a big thank you to those who made it out to the 53-12 Cross Country League event in Hadleigh. It proved to be a tough, hilly course which fortunately didn't deter those runners who turned up. Support provided by the Montgomerys and an injured Wendy was very much appreciated.

Keith is very happy, as for the first time in a long time, the men were positioned higher than the ladies in the results. So come o­n ladies, come along to the next event o­n Sunday 28th in Ipswich and support the club. We o­nly need 5 for a team (we o­nly managed 3 o­n this occasion) of enthusiastic women to take part. It is great fun and home made cake is always o­n offer afterwards.

For those who are a bit heavy headed from Saturday night's frolics, Keith, myself and a few others will be happy to provide lifts and will meet at Bramston at 9am. More details will be posted nearer the time.

Enjoy your running!
Rach.

Meet 9.15am to depart 9.30am at Bramston Sport Centre for those that are not too sure of the way there. Car sharing would be a good idea.

See you all Sunday then?

Theresa