Saturday 7^th December saw the club descend upon Campbell Park in Milton Keynes for the 3^rd Chiltern League Cross Country fixture.  The notoriously hilly course did not deter the 17 men who turned up to endure it.  Luckily the course was slightly shorter than some in the series.  Peter Mackrell was again the first Buzzard man over the finish line in 50^th place.  Ian Grimshaw followed in 70^th place.  Next came Paul Douglas and Adam Haylock who continued their impressive cross country racing finishing the course with a sprint finish to cross the line in 82^nd and 83^rd place, just a second apart. The rest of the men finished in close succession, many commenting on the intense course which included some very steep rises and few flats to recover.

Seven ladies were out running on the day braving the dreaded hills.  The tough course was not a hindrance to leading lady Amy Inchley, however, as she came home in a very impressive 30^th place.  Jane Sauer was the next lady back finishing 41^st followed by Lynn Boddy in 43^rd place.  An excellent run was had by Katie Haylock who crossed the line in 65^th place moving up a remarkable 19 places from the previous fixture.   Nikki Elvin, Liz Miller and Anna Mead were the other Buzzards to make up the ladies team.

Charlie Mead and Jordan Clay represented the club for the Under 17 boys.  Both put in a solid performance competing in a very high standard race, with Jordan finishing in a superb 13^th position and Charlie coming home strongly in 26^th.  The Under 15s girls saw Sarah Plummer crossing the line in an excellent 31^st place and Megan Westrope continuing her strong run of form to finish 44^th. 

The Under 13 girls saw 7 Buzzards lined up at the start.  Unfortunately the tough course and a few minor injuries took its toll and only 4 managed to make it to the finish.  Sadie Towell had a good race coming home first for the club in a strong 44^th place.  Catlin Bell and Chloe May were next home in 54^th and 69^th places respectively.  Mckenna Keefe had a difficult race but endeavoured to make it over the finish line making up the required team of 4 to get much needed points for the Club. 

There was a remarkable performance from Dominic Grimshaw in the Under 11 boys who came around the final corner in 12^th position but managed to move forward along the home straight to cross the finish line in an exceptional 6^th place.  Behind him Scott Towell, Harry Bell and Max Rose were keeping each other on their toes finishing in a very close 43^rd, 45^th and 49^th respectively.  Club guest Chris Owen, on his first cross country outing, managed 63^rd place followed by Joseph Bidlake-Hull who crossed the line in 69^th position completing a strong Under 11 boys team. 

The Under 11 girls had a team of 4 with Zara Butler, running her first cross country race for the Club, coming home in front in 52^nd place.  Millie Hawes crossed the finish line in 56^th place followed by Julia Bell in 57^th.  It seems the Bells are trying to beat the Grimshaws and Meads in having the most family members out running.  They claimed the prize for this fixture.  Tori Griffiths, also venturing out for the first time, came home 74^th.

It was a good overall result for the Club which was able to retain its 11^th place out of 14 clubs in Division 1. Next month we head over to Slough to do it all again but this time on a flat course.