Three Chiltern athletes made the trip to Cardiff for the first Cross Challenge race of the season, added on to the Gwent League match taking place that day. There were sunny conditions but a wet and increasingly muddy course.
 
Kara Gorman had a good run to be third in the Under 13 Girls race which was relatively short so not ideal for her, just pipped on the line for second.
 
In the Senior Men’s race Richard Slade and Simon Bossi were in action. Richard had another cracking run in what is becoming his best ever cross country season, coming 17th overall and eighth Brit in a star studded international field. Richard ran 30.11 on the boggy 9.6k course. Simon was also in good form finishing 43rd in 32.19.

Several Chiltern youngsters took part for their schools in the Regional Final of the Cross Country Cup at a sunny but cold Stowe School on Friday. The following local schools qualified for the National Final at Woodbridge School in Suffolk in three weeks time: Junior Girls – DCHS; Inter Girls – Chesham Grammar; Senior Girls – DCHS, Wycombe High;  Inter Boys – DCGS; Senior Boys – DCGS.
 
Junior Girls
1st           Maya Davis                        DCHS
5th          Nia Clarke                          Chesham Grammar
8th          Bea Robinson                     Chesham Grammar
19th        Annie-Rose Quantrill       DCHS
Inter Girls
7th          Issy Robinson                     Chesham Grammar
8th          Megan Lockwood             Chesham Grammar
9th          Evelyn Wildman                DCHS
Senior Girls
2nd          Maddie Hughes                 DCHS
4th          Ellie Shield                          DCHS
16th        Maddie Rae                       Pipers Corner
19th        Ffion Harman                    Wycombe High
22nd        Hannah Ashby                   DCHS
24th        Alice Peckham                   Chesham Grammar
30th        Jo Snelling                          Wycombe High
31st        Lesedi Nkoane                  Chesham Grammar         
33rd        Florence Lee-Rubis          Wycombe High
42nd       Rebecca Lawson               DCHS
 
Junior Boys
2nd          Logan Gaskell                    The Beacon
30th         Isaac McCall                      DCGS
33rd         Zac Taylor                           DCGS
Inter Boys
2nd          Aidan Suleyman                DCGS
3rd          Thomas Reynolds             DCGS
4th          Charlie Quantrill               DCGS
5th          Edward Johnson                Aylesbury Grammar
15th        Felix Danielli                      DCGS
16th        Eddie O’Brien                    DCGS
25th        Zach Cleary                        Aylesbury Grammar
39th        Mattie Gemmell                DCGS
Senior Boys
2nd          Alex Hughes                       DCGS
6th          Euan Pinder                       Chesham Grammar
9th          Isaac Jessop-Tranter        DCGS
18th        Daniel Munn                      DCGS
21st        Callum Powell                   Chesham Grammar
25th        Rory Hilton                         DCGS
30th        John Nickless                     DCGS
54th        Toby Radbourne                Lord Williams School, Oxon
66th        Sam Attia                            Sir William Borlase

Emilia Ingham repeated her win from the first round in the Under 11 Girls race with a strong run but there were no other U11s taking part. Thomas Living was also a solo Chiltern presence in the Under 11 Boys race and ran hard for third place.
 
The Under 13 Girls were missing Kara Gorman, who was in action at the UKA Cross Challenge meeting in Cardiff, but the strong squad still came away with a convincing win. Juliet MacDougall won the race with Maya Davis third, Nia Clarke fourth and Bea Robinson eighth. Maya, Nia and Bea did especially well having run for their schools the day before. The team was completed by Soraya Roughton (14th), Carys Jones (18th), Holly Knott (21st), Annie-Rose Quantrill (30th) and Mala Bahia (32nd). The girls top the league after two matches.
 
Logan Gaskell again ran strongly to lead in the Under 13 Boys team with a spirited second place. Also scoring were Zac Taylor (19th), Kit Dixon (20th) and Jacob McCall (23rd). They were backed-up by Jack Rogers (26th), Isaac McCall (27th), Lenny Brooks-Klingenschmid (29th) and Albert Rushton (50th). The boys were third on the day and lie fourth overall.
 
There were good runs in the Under 15 Girls race from Issy Robinson (9th), Megan Lockwood (10th), Evelyn Wildman (18th), Katie Allsop (24th) and Izzy McFetrich (28th). Again Issy, Megan and Evelyn ran the previous day. The girls were second and hold second place going into match 3.
 
The Under 15 Boys have a great squad and packed very well to achieve a second league win. Scoring were Isaac Collier in third, Tom Ford fourth, James Holdsworth sixth and Thomas Reynolds seventh. Also well up were Aidan Suleyman (9th), Charlie Quantrill (11th) and Edward Johnson (13th). The great squad showing was completed by Felix Danielli (23rd), Dylan Rossi (27th), and George Mawby (29th).
 
Lucy Wilkinson in fourth, Emily Ford in fifth and Lily Jessop-Tranter 13th scored in the Junior Women’s team that were second. Also running well were Roxie Jones (15th), Jocelyn Davies (25th) and Rebecca Lawson (27th). The team are leading after two matches.
 
It was a very small turnout from the Under 17 men with several of the squad having completed a tough 5k cross country in the Schools Cup at Stowe School the day before. However, Jack Turner in 17th and Hari Mistry in 27th ran well to be sixth team on the day and the team is fourth overall.
 
The Senior Women had a good team out and Under 20 Ellie Shield led the team home in 15th place. Completing the scoring were Katie Repper (20th), Ellie Bates (25th), Orla Williams (30th), Fiona Kelleher (31st), and Sarah Quantrill (36th). They were well backed up by Jessie Keighley (37th), Katie Royals (49th), Charlotte Docwra (52nd), Helen Chalawo (56th), Abi Askey (60th), Jess Orr (65th), Sylvia Moss (74th), Lyndsey Bill (11th), Fiona Williams (121st), Miriam Kempson (122nd), Kathy Jessop (135th), Harriet Lemon (145th), Tamsin Finch (147th), and Fiona Calder (172nd). The team were second on the day and are second overall. The Vets quartet of Sarah, Helen, Abi and Sylvia were fifth and are eighth overall.
 
The leading two Senior Men scorers from match 1, Richard Slade and Simon Bossi, were in action at the Cardiff Cross Challenge which left the team a little light on points. However, everyone ran well and the team were seventh on the day and are sixth overall. Ash Finch made his league debut as a Senior Man and led the team home in tenth place and was third Under 20. Also scoring were Adam Shute (26th), Tom Dixon (48th), James Turner (51st), Neil Turner (89th), Michael Turney (90th), Chris Gloster (115th), Jonny Slade (125th), Aran Davidson (137th) and Ben Hannen (167th). Completing the team were Paul McCarthy (186th), Tony Dawson (216th), Ed Wright (218th), Clive Docwra (223rd), Neil Bates (224th), John Coutts (232nd), David Howells (246th) and Trevor Brawn (255th). The Vets team of Tom, James, Neil and Michael were third and the team are second after two matches.
 
Match 3 at Luton is just three weeks away and the club will hope to remain competitive in the defence of their league title.

Tuesday Sessions: Ready to run at 7pm: Meeting at the Rear Hall at Broadway Baptist Church, 78 The Broadway. Chesham HP5 1EG (stove.simply.froze)
Thursday Sessions:  Ready to run at 7pm  Meeting at Chiltern Rugby Club Car Park, Ash Grove, off Weedon Lane, Amersham (lance.mining.racks).   Thank you to Mike Shrive for planning and organising these very popular sessions.
Sunday Social Runs: These are in different locations each week and provide various length runs, generally between from 6 miles and 12 miles. Full details are available on our website, usually a few days before the event at:  www.chilternharriers.com/club-runs. Our thanks go to Graham Palser, Tony Molesworth and Doug Smith for creating the routes.​

TUESDAY NIGHTS - Ready to run at 7pm.  The Tuesday night routes will be on reasonably quiet and well lit roads in Chesham and the surrounding area.

Tuesday 07 November: Ready to run at 7pm: Meeting at the Rear Hall at Broadway Baptist Church, 78 The Broadway. Chesham HP5 1EG (stove.simply.froze), with free parking in the adjacent Star Yard Car Park, Chesham.       

Tuesday 14 November:  Ready to run at 7pm: Meeting at the Rear Hall at Broadway Baptist Church, 78 The Broadway. Chesham HP5 1EG (stove.simply.froze), with free parking in the adjacent Star Yard Car Park, Chesham. 

Tuesday 21 November: Ready to run at 7pm: Meeting at the Rear Hall at Broadway Baptist Church, 78 The Broadway. Chesham HP5 1EG (stove.simply.froze), with free parking in the adjacent Star Yard Car Park, Chesham. 

Tuesday 28 November:  Ready to run at 7pm:  Meeting at the Rear Hall at Broadway Baptist Church, 78 The Broadway. Chesham HP5 1EG (stove.simply.froze), with free parking in the adjacent Star Yard Car Park, Chesham.                                           

THURSDAY NIGHTS – Ready to run at 7pm from the Chiltern Rugby Club Ground in Amersham.
Thursday 02 November: Ready to run at 7pm: Meeting at Chiltern Rugby Club Car Park, Ash Grove, off Weedon Lane, Amersham (lance.mining.racks). NB The session will usually be on a floodlit grassed area, but occasionally, if the field is too wet to use safely, the session may be moved to well lit local roads.

Thursday 09 November: Ready to run at 7pm: Meeting at Chiltern Rugby Club Car Park, Ash Grove, off Weedon Lane, Amersham (lance.mining.racks). NB The session will usually be on a floodlit grassed area, but occasionally, if the field is too wet to use safely, the session may be moved to well lit local roads.
Thursday 16 November: Ready to run at 7pm: Meeting at Chiltern Rugby Club Car Park, Ash Grove, off Weedon Lane, Amersham (lance.mining.racks). NB The session will usually be on a floodlit grassed area, but occasionally, if the field is too wet to use safely, the session may be moved to well lit local roads.

Thursday 23 November: Ready to run at 7pm: Meeting at Chiltern Rugby Club Car Park, Ash Grove, off Weedon Lane, Amersham (lance.mining.racks). NB The session will usually be on a floodlit grassed area, but occasionally, if the field is too wet to use safely, the session may be moved to well lit local roads.

Thursday 30 November: Ready to run at 7pm: Meeting at Chiltern Rugby Club Car Park, Ash Grove, off Weedon Lane, Amersham (lance.mining.racks). NB The session will usually be on a floodlit grassed area, but occasionally, if the field is too wet to use safely, the session may be moved to well lit local roads.

SUNDAY MORNING TRAINING RUNS – These tend to be longer, more social trail runs, starting at different locations and different times each week, with a choice of routes to suit your capabilities between 6 miles and 12 miles long. The details are usually posted on our website by midweek prior to the run. Search Club Runs at:   https://www.chilternharriers.com/club-runs.

Two Chiltern teams made the trip up to Mansfield’s Berry Hill Park for one of the most prestigious events of the winter, the national Cross Country Relay Championships. Conditions were grim with very heavy rain making the course increasingly boggy.
 
An U17 Men’s team ran well for 11th place from 88 and featured good runs from Alex Hughes, Isaac Jessop-Tranter, and Euan Pinder on the undulating 3k circuit. Alex was ninth on the first leg in 9.27, which ended up as 12th fastest leg of the whole race. Isaac ran 10.00 and Euan 9.55 to keep the team competitive throughout.
 
Chiltern’s two Oxford-based Senior Men, Richard Slade and Simon Bossi, comprised an incomplete Senior team and both had very good runs. Richard had another great run to be fourth on leg 1 and his 15.10 on the 5k distance (2 x 2.5k laps) was the eighth fastest of the race and ahead of several notable names in UK cross country. Simon ran 16.37 on leg 2 to bring the team in 15th spot after the two legs.

Well, after a few quieter weeks of racing, it’s great to be able to regale you with a few more trials, tribulations and truly special successes this week.​

I’ll kick things off with parkrun results from yesterday, Saturday 4 November. There were first places for Oliver Jackson (17.16 at Black Park), Kate Loach (22.45 at Littleport) and Yours Truly (24.53 at a very sparsely-populated Church Mead). Meanwhile, there were course PBs for Seb Lawrence (20.50 at Heslington), Lizzie Barraclough (23.26 at Clapham Common) and Ella Watson (25.43 at University Parks).