The overall situation at the top of division two of the Chiltern Cross Country League could barely be any closer. After three races there is just two of points between LBAC and Wycombe Phoenix at the top. Considering we have approximately 2100 points it is virtually nothing. Additionally Gade Valley Harriers are only 50 points behind, and Thame Runners just over 100 back.

The most recent races held at Upton Court Park in Slough over a flat fast course, were kicked off as always by the U11’s. As the sole representative Luke Orlando ran well to finish in 45^th position. Next out on the course were our squad of U13 girls who managed to field a complete team of three for the first time this season with Lauren Parker joining Beth Tipitte and Kirst-Anya Shefferd for the lap of the park. Beth lead them girls home in 20^th place with Lauren and Kirsty-Anya having a little battle between themselves to take 30^th & 32^nd respectively.

The girls were followed around the waterlogged field by our leading team of U13 boys. Once again we had four representatives in the race, and with the division 2 title in mind they are really starting to focus on keeping the team strong for the rest of the season. Jordan Clay, Jake Irvine & Lloyd Milliken all raced hard to finish within twelve seconds of each other in 8^th, 10^th & 11^th respectively over the 1.5 mile course, but they were once again lead home by Joe McGarry in 5^th place. The boys have a healthy fifteen point lead over Wycombe Phoenix – their nearest rivals – but were pipped by Wycombe in this fixture so need to keep up the good work to take the championship.

The last of the club’s juniors to compete were Billy Mead and Bryan Foulger in U15 boys. They spent much of the first lap running together before Billy pulled away with about half a mile to go, but with both lads finishing in the top ten in a very competitive age group, the future looks bright for them both.

The ladies race saw a couple of good performances from Gail Duckworth and Amy Inchley, but following the record attendance of eight ladies at Wigmore Park, it was slightly disappointing to have only two participants in the December race as there are a lot of points available in both the senior races. Gail continued her fantastic form of the season to come home in 3rd position and was excellently supported by Amy who returned to the top twenty again over the soggy 3.5 miles.

The men faired better as they did manage to complete a team, but once again had to rely on some of their more “experienced” members to pick up the last few points. At Luton the scoring team was closed in 46, whereas at Slough it took until 94^th place for our final scorer to cross the line, despite a slightly smaller field. Simon Coombes was first home in club colours, but due to his first claim membership of Herne Hill Harriers is not able to score points for LBAC and so just did it for fun! Having given Simon a scare at the start, Andy Inchley, Peter Foulkes and Joby Hobbs were the first three scorers for the team, with Andy having his best run for a number of years, in 12th place. Peter & Joby were joined in a small pack by Nick Clay and Tom Inchley (in his first cross-country for three seasons) who all finished really well between 25^th and 33^rd. Fred Watt, Richard Inchley and debutant Steve Orlando crucially completed the scoring team with John Adam adding support to the squad.

The result of this is that on the day we were 5th overall, with the ladies team in 8^th and the men’s team in 5^th, but fortunately Wycombe had a similar type of day and so failed to take much advantage in the overall table. The senior men however, have slipped from 2^nd to 4^th place after three fixtures and need a really good turn out at both of the last two fixtures to avoid throwing away the great position that was held last month.