Springfield Striders cross country teams were in action at two venues on Sunday. The club hosted the Mid Essex League fixture at Highwood, but also fielded a full team at Hadleigh in the 53-12 League.
The forecast heavy rain duly arrived to make an already wet and muddy course on private land at Highwood a tougher proposition than usual. One ditch crossing was too deep for safety so the course was hastily re-routed at the last minute.
76 men and 29 women runners braved the conditions and all finished safely after nearly five miles of hard struggle. Race winner Shay Joyce of Little Baddow was chased all the way by Mark Newton who led the Striders men to victory with another fine run. There was great back up from Gary Chandler in a clear third spot. The Striders piled the necessary seven scorers into the top thirteen for a convincing win in the men’s’ race.
Siddy Bowring, Tim Brockington and Chris Pearce all made the top ten with Mark Waine and Rob Mills just outside. Veterans Gary Rayner and John Beaumont also ran well for top twenty spots.
The ladies race was a triumph for Grange Farm who were led home by race winner Jane Smith. Leigh on Sea maintained the pressure on the leaders with the Striders back in third. Jo Gemmill, Karen Chapman, Mary Dyer, Jackie Mudd and Allison Cook represented the host club
At Hadleigh the Striders maintained their position in Pool A after a difficult season and hope to return to former glories next season. With the club hosting the race at Highwood the team captains had to pull out all the stops to field complete teams. Anthony Marsh and Liz Turk passed the test as the white and yellow vests were fully represented at the hilly Hadleigh course.
The Striders’ scorers on the day were Alan Ashton, Andy Mason, Stuart Raven, Chris Purse, Paul Anderson, Roger Gooding, Jason Praill and Paul Wheeldon for the men and Nikki Pyle, Lynn Tanner, Sue Clarke and Kerry Marsh for the ladies. The club also had much appreciated back up from John Clarke and Dave Milton.
Husband and wife Anthony and Kerry Marsh were also the club’s only representatives at the National Cross Country Championships at Leeds on Saturday. They both returned in time to support the club’s efforts at Hadleigh on Sunday.