Written by Gordon Lester
Surrey Ladies League Cross Country – Match 1 Report
Saturday 10th October saw the first cross country outing of the winter for the K&P ladies and girls teams in good conditions at a new venue for the league - Roundshaw Downs. The new team managers were pleased to see a good turnout, with athletes representing the club in each age group and all doing themselves proud.
Senior & Veteran Ladies
In a large field of 423 athletes running 6K, our senior team (again competing in Division 2 this season) was led home by Nadia Allan (U20) in her first senior Surrey League race. Nadia finished in a creditable 21st place in the division in 27:00 mins. She was followed by 2 veteran ladies - Liz Richardson in 37th place (28:20) and Nicky Atkins in 52nd place (29:46). The scoring team was then completed by Jo Aherne in 67th place (30:38) and Nicki Murphy in 77th (31:26). In support, Rosaline Darby (97th – 32:44), Avelline Deighton (102nd – 32:55) and Susannah Darby (147th – 36:02) all had pleasing runs. Overall there were 193 runners in Division 2 and the team finished in 8th place (of 22 clubs) in a very strong field.
Our next match will be held at West End Common (Esher) on 7th November, when we look forward to consolidating our good start to the season. We would welcome new runners to the team and anyone wishing to run should please contact Liz Richardson for further information.
Junior Girls
Making their Surrey League debuts, our two U13s conquered their nerves: Gemma finished in the top half of a big field (15:00 for 25th) and Esme, only first year in the age group, ran well in 17:16 for 52nd place over the 3km course.
Our U17s were represented by Rebecca Keddie (16:25) and Isabella Busa (16:32) who came round the longer 4km course close together to place 5th and 6th respectively.
The highlight of the day came with the U15s, also going over the longer 4km course. Not only did they manage to field a complete team of 4 runners, but they also gave us the most exciting sprint finish of the day. Annabel Hobday and Kathryn Bartle battled it out right to the finish with Annabel (15:59) just pipping Kathryn (16:01) on the line for 10th and 11th in a very strong field of runners. They were closely followed by Imogen Busa (16:30/17th) who had a fantastic run. Eleanor Bartle (18:47/28th) made sure that our U15 team finished the day in 3rd place overall. Well done girls!
Rumour has it that some of the girls were overheard saying that they had actually enjoyed the run. Bring on the Bruce Judd Relays on 24 Oct and round 2 of the Surrey Ladies League on 7th November in Esher.
Liz Richardson & Susanne Mischke
