Medway and Maidstone AC

 

Parliament Hill, London

30 Jan

 

 

After a long break from racing M&M athletes returned to racing at the toughest of courses.  Never a course to disappoint, Parli Hill was frozen at the start of the day with a very light covering of snow.  The course didn't remain like that though.  By the time the young athletes and ladies had been round to softent the course up it was the usual mudbath by the time the sneior men were on lap two. 

 

The Senior Ladies completed the club's only female team with 5 runners. Natalie Gray was first home is a career best 5th place (best M&M place of the day).  She was followed home by Louise Watson in 26th and backed up by Bernie Harrop 151, Fallon Lafferty165 and Rachael Stewart 175th.   

The frozen course was the undoing of Cerys Matthews' challenge when she twisted a foot in a sticky patch and her hopes of a top 20 placing were gone.  She did well to finish 90th behind Lucy Nicholson (65th), with Loise Blair completing the M&M trio in 115th.   

In the Under 15s race Jade Smith having her first run for the club found the course a little on the long side and finished 110th with Georgia Humphries 181st. Again in the U13s Charlie O'Connor 178th  was another newcomer and managed the 3000m full of running at the end with only Rhea Sanders for support in 192nd.

 

 

The sneior men scored their highest ever team position in 7th place.  Alongside that achievement a compliment of 9 athletes finished, another club record.  Notably Tom Collins notched up his highest ever finishing position in 52nd and James Hogg made an impressive step up in distance to show he's not just a speed merchant.

 

The Junior men were short in supply, but Josh Elderfield and Nathan Wilkins were never far apart as they finished 60th and 62nd respectively.

 

Joel Jennings led home the four U17M as he finished 113th.  Jamie Arnold (133), Sam Gibbons (131) and Andrew Watkin (167) completed the team.

 

James West (81), George Vaughan (91), Christian El Shamma (137), James Williamson (165) and William Stockwell (206) were the finishing team in the U15B race.  The U13B went one better than the U15B by finishing 6 athletes, but once again one of the Jennings boys led them home.  Louis Jennings was a creditable 45th with Ashley Nisbet (59), Mark Collins (110), Rob Horgan (122), Joe Clarke (133) and Rory Head (170) all following in.

 

Full results at: http://mcs.open.ac.uk/mkac/10seaaxcresults.htm

 

 

Following the postponement of the county xc championships on 9th January, a new date of Feburary 13th has been confirmed for the Championships.  The final Kent XC League race planned for that day has been moved to 20th Feb.  The venues of Detling Showground and Swanley School remain the same.