Southern Cross Country Relays

Chiltern Harriers had teams in most categories at the SEAA Cross Country Relay Championships at Wormwood Scrubs on Saturday.
 
The highlight was a win for the Under 15 Boys but there were further good efforts from elsewhere in the club. U13s and U15s ran 2k, U17s, U20s and Senior Women 3k, and Senior Men 4k. Conditions were pleasant on a still, mild day and the grassy surface reasonably quick.

The first race on the schedule featured both U17 Women and U20 Women running together on the 3k circuit. Chiltern had nearly three U17 teams out and there was one U20 team. The U17 A team was fifth with Charlotte Docwra (11.44), Maddie Hughes (11.17) and Abbie Henderson (11.42) all having good runs. The B team also did well to be eighth and featured Ellie Shield (12.35), Alice Brown (12.13) and Holly Henderson (11.47). An incomplete C team saw Hannah Ashby (12.19) and Grace Thorpe (13.26) do well. Meanwhile the U20 Women were also fifth in their race with Alicia Bushell leading off in 11.58 and undergrads Emily Alderson (12.10) and Soraya Lockwood (13.20) coming back from Loughborough and Exeter respectively to complete the line-up.
 
The U17 Men and U20 Men had the same race structure and also tackled the 3k route. For the U20s Max McGarvie led off well to come in ninth in 9.34 in a high quality field. Finn O’Brien (10.01) held that and Louis Peterson (9.49) moved up two to seventh. The B team of Ben Jackson (10.41), Jamie Carruthers (10.34) and Charlie Stone (11.06) all ran well for thirteenth place. The U17 Men were fifth with Laurie Gawne (10.01), Thomas Redmond (9.31) and Thomas Askey (10.26) all running well and Thomas Redmond running the fifth fastest individual lap of the race. In the incomplete B team Oakley Denson ran 9.47 and Matthew Evans 11.19.
 
The U13 girls ran well on the 2k route to be seventh, with Marlie Nkoane (7.46) continuing her good early season form to come in eighth. A recently post covid Evelyn Wildman (8.20) lost one spot and debutant Megan Lockwood (8.32) made up two.
 
The Under 15 Girls A team was twelfth with Lesedi Nkoane (7.19), Marea Logan (8.22) and Jocelyn Davies (8.07) all running well. The incomplete B team saw Lucy Wilkinson (8.06) and Rebecca Lawson (8.51).
 
The Under 15 Boys teams were strong with Alden Collier leading off on the first lap and recording the fastest lap of the race for the A team with 6.11. Isaac Jessop-Tranter extended the lead with 6.31 and Archie Pinder was well clear on leg 3 with 6.22. The B team was fifth comprising Alex Hughes (6.42), Max Baxter (6.56) and Euan Pinder (6.25). In the C team both Callum Powell (7.02) and Rowan Gawne (6.53) had good runs.
 
The Senior Women had a team out for the first time in several years. Hannah Wardley had a superb run on first leg to come in fourth in 11.02 on the 3k route and that was enough for sixth best time of the whole race. Ellie Bates (12.44) and Katie Royals (12.58) worked hard and an overall finishing position of tenth place from the 32 complete teams was an encouraging effort.
 
The Senior Men’s lap was billed as 4k but Strava reckoned was 3.9k. On Leg 1 Will Perkin had a good run to bring the team home in fifth in 11.39. Nick Hughes ran well but lost two spots on leg 2 with 12.33 and Richard Slade gained them back on leg 3 with 11.52. On Leg 4 Aran Davidson had a good run of 12.29 but lost three spots to some very fast finishers. The incomplete B team featured Tom Dixon (13.16), Jonty Wager Leigh (13.36) and Craig Fulham (14.42) and all ran well.
 
Hopefully more seniors will be keen to take part in these kind of high level but very enjoyable races.