On a very cold day the Essex XC league shifted across the border to Cambridgeshire to the Horseheath race course near Linton. In a very barren landscape a limited Colchester Harriers squad fought well although under resourced with top runners.

The men and ladies managed 5th places in the team stakes through some solid performance. Denise Morley who has been battling away for endless years for the green vests led the team home in 15th spot and then Becky Cooke 17th, Ella Neale 18th and Annette Oakman 27th, completed the team, Becky Bjotter also ran very well for 63rd place. The ladies maintain 3rd place in the overall league.

The mens team were entirely Veterans with Colin Ridley at 54 years old first home for the Harriers in 27th, then came the other 5 scores, Paul Rodgers 28th Mark Harrod 29th, Jon Nears 40th, Paul Spowage 45th and Pete West 78th. David Wright 103rd and Simon Morgan 112th, completed the Harriers squad. This leaves the senior men in 3rd spot in the league overall and first in the Veterans league.

The under 17 men saw good runs from Fergus Crouch 13th and Joseph Boden 22nd. The under 15 girls put in a brave performance with Jasmine West 18th, Hannah Rodgers 22nd and Isabella Minder 23rd. In the under 13’s event Madeline Claydon had an excellent run finishing high up the field in 12th position. In the U15 boys race Danny Millward again finished a strong 2nd with Max Caulfield coming home 4th and Ziggy Lambton 11th.

Coventry 24 hour race

Allen Smalls and Sean Ketteridge put in a mighty performance in the Get away from Coventry 24 hour race, starting at just past midnight on Saturday morning, Smalls and Ketteridge dealt with terrible weather and freezing conditions to clock 97 miles as they made their way towards Stansted in the darkness.

Valencia Marathon

The up and coming Wayne Cook ran a terrific Personal best at the Valencia Marathon in Spain clocking 3:13:07 knocking 7 minutes off his best ever time.

Chelmsford 10km

Simon Smith ran 39:47 at the Chelmsford 10km, with Dan Wilkinson pleased with his 42:49.

Hadleigh 10

Keith Marley found the Hadleigh 10 difficult with flooded roads adding to the toughness of the course but Marley was pleased with his 65:05 time.

Park Run

The Colchester Castle Park run saw Ramadam Osman cruise to victory in the 318 strong field, Osman ran 16:30 and was over a minute clear of the second runner. Andy Raynor 18:54 and David Wright 19:28 had top 10 finishers, while Helen Bloomfield was first lady in 20:53, Sara Wallace ran a personal best in 22:40 and Sophie Stephenson was runner up in 22:17. Heidi Steele was 4th at Harwich park run in 22:26, while Erica Joscelyne was 8th at Clacton in only her 2nd park run.