XC Roundup

53-12 Abbeyfields

On a cold but sunny morning 400 plus runners competed in the latest 53:12 XC League fixture at Abbeyfields. Colchester Harriers had an excellent turnout considering they were staging the event and had competitors at he Essex XC League the day previous. It was Angus Holford who was a run away winner leaving team mate Ramadam Osman after the first lap of three on the 5 mile course which is a lot tougher then it looks. Holfords had his second consecutive victory in the league while young Ramadam Osman was happy with 2nd spot, making up the 8 scoring men team who finished runners up behind Ipswich Jaffa were Nathan Filer 17, Colin Ridley 22, Jon Nears 24, Dominic King 27, Paul Rodgers 32 and Keith Marley 34 Ged McMillan was 35th. A very good debut came from Edward Doherty 41, while also showing up well were Paul Preston 48 and Gavin Scanlon 49. Then came Alex Sales 53, Kevin Higgens 58, Richard Flutter 64, Chris Manby 76, Joe Boden 78, John Fryer 88, Dan Marks 89, Rob Ferguson 95, Russell Goodridge 96, Chris Panton 104, Michael Burrows 109, Dave Gayer 122,Pat Marsh 142,Simon Miller 143, Johny Zeeuw 144, Martin Claydon 146 and Keiron Callaghan 163.

The ladies were also an unlucky 2nd second beaten by 2pts by Ipswich Jaffa with the 4 scoring ladies running extremely well they were Laura Shewbridge 3, Andrea James 5, Celia Farisser 7 and Debbie Cattermole 13. Jo Marks 16 and Ffion Harris 18, along with Annette Oakman 20, were also firing on all cylinders. Other ladies were Cheryl Appleby 37, Kate Gibson 42, Helen Thurlow 55, Louise Yates 59 and Rachel Rodgers 89.

The juniors were the 3rd placed team with Ermeas Aferwerki 2nd runner home, and George Mann 6th in a field of 128. Theo Gardiner 17, Jasmine West 20 and Charlie Walder 21, were the Green vests scorers along with Milly Presland 14th who was the first female home. Other juniors to run were Charlie Parmenter 26, Madeline Claydon 28, Harrison Leek 30, Daisy Hilton 38, Mollie Whiteford 39, Lizzy Woods 41, Emily Henderson 48, Isabella Minder 69, Savannah Harrison 71, Anna Ritchie 75, Emily McGill 79, 82 Jes Longstaff, 87 Alex Walder, 88 Rebecca Collins, 95 Michael Woods, 103, Hannah Rodgers, 105 Jennifer Woods, 106 Holly Speller and 112 Charlie Palmec.

Essex League – Hockley

At the Essex xc league held at Hockley Colchester Harriers veterans maintained their lead at the top of the league thanks to Allen Smalls 36, Colin Ridley 38, Paul Spowage 49 and Pete West 78. They also scored in the senior men’s race where Harriers finished 7th with Joe Patterson 20 leading the green vests home, Chris Sellens was 35, Gavin Scanlon 72, Simon Morgan 130 and Martyn Claydon 156.

The under 17 men were 5th they were Ermeas Afewerki 16, Danny Millward 26, Joe Boden 29 and Fergus Crouch 30. Hannah Watson was 6th in the under 17 race, while Milly Presland continues to impress with a 4th spot in the under 15 girls, where Madeline Claydon was in good form in 11th with Grace Rothwell in 15th position. The lone under 13 boy for the green vests was Charlie Parmentor in 27th. 3 ladies braved the cold conditions with Denise Morley 15, Rebecca Cooke 16 and Ella Neale 17.

Other XC

Jordan Rowe was 10th overall in the under 23 class and 36th overall in the British Athletics XC Challenge in Liverpool, a superb result against the best in Britain.

Start of the senior Men's race - Hockley

Start of the U17Men and senior Ladies race - Hockley

Junior boys at the 53-12 XC at Abbey Fields. Alex and Charlie Walder, Charlie Parmenter, Theo Gardiner, Harrison Leek and George Mann