So, this weekend LBAC put on a superb final Chiltern League fixture of the season and ended the day with promotion back to division one for the first time in three years, and we did it by taking the title.

First things first though, after much nagging and hard work, the event was a great success and that was acheived by lots of people giving up their day to support the club. This was current members, ex-members and various other people roped in to help out both on the day and the day before, so thank you to all of you who volunteered, it was much appreciated by all the runners. Particular thanks go to Richard Inchley who has co-ordinated the races at Cottesloe for the last 15-20 years and once more organised an excellent event.

On to the running. First up were the U11 boys who had two representatives in this fixture. Making his debut, Patrick Clay was first back in 48^th place with Luke Orlando just behind in 55^th. They both ran really well and look to have a good future representing the club over the next few years. Following the boys out on the course were Kirsty-Anya Shefferd and Lauren Parker who unfortunately lost quite a lot of ground at the same time as losing their shoes in the mud, so did really well to finish together and gain some valuable points for the club. Kirsty-Anya in particular has been a stalwart this year, turning out for the club in four of the five fixtures.

Prior to today our U13 boys were leading the division two team title race, despite only having four runners pretty much all season, but Wycombe were pushing them really hard with only a four point gap. However, at the end of the races today the boys had taken the title and won todays fixture. Joe McGarry continued his excellent season with a solid run to be first home in 6^th place, but Jordan Clay produced his best run of the season to chase Joe all the way and come home 7^th. Lloyd Milliken also produced his best run of the season, despite discarding one of his spikes on the first lap and came home in 9^th position before Jake Irvine put in another solid performance in 15^th spot. Joe's fifth strong run of the year crowned an excellent league season and saw him take the bronze medal in the individual competition ahead of Jordan in 4^th, Lloyd 9^th and Jake 10^th. The only other junior representative on the day saw Brian Foulger put in a good performance to finish 9^th in the U15 boys race.

It also should be said that none of the junior athletes would be at any of the races without the support and coaching given to them by Nick Clay and Joby Hobbs every Tuesday night, so many thanks go to them as well as the juniors themselves who's points total added greatly to the overall total.

With the race order changed as ever for the final fixture of the season, the senior men were next on the course with eleven men able to compete in the vital race. LBAC lay second in the category but a good performance was crucial to the club winning the overall title and gaining promotion. The course is three undulating laps with a fast downhill start and a tough uphill finish, with various muddy patches in between. Fred Watt was going for an overall season win in the V60 category, while everyone else was just looking to gain as many points as possible for the club.

First home for the club with a best ever performance was Andy Inchley, who's 43^rd position overall equated to 11^th in division two and 5^th senior man over the season. Following him home was Pete Foulkes, who hasn't missed a race since joining the club in November and produced another strong performance to finish 22^nd. There was then a pack of four, with Nick Clay, Joby Hobbs, Charlie Thompson and our esteemed captain, Tom May finishing between 28^th and 34^th place. The final two members of the scoring team were Chris Norman and Mike Bryant in 43^rd and 56^th postions respectively. Fred Watt's 66^th place was comfortably enough to earn him the title of  leading V60 over the year and he was followed home by Jon Hull in 85^th and Steve Orlando in 92^nd. The result of this was that the senior men were 7^th overall (including division 1) on the day and second in division 2, which gave them 2^nd place for the season.

The final race that involved Leighton runners was the senior ladies, which saw Jill Richardson making her seasonal debut and leading the team home in 13^th place, with Louise Flack and Jane Sauer in 30^th and 31^st respectively. Unfortunately both Gail Duckworth and Amy Inchley were unable to compete on the day due to other committments, but their four previous performances over the year saw Gail gain 3^rd place in the V45 category for the season, with Amy Inchley 7^th in the senior ladies.

All of these results add up to one very important thing. WE WON THE TITLE. Congratulations go to all involved and let's look forward to a tremendous season competing with the big boys next year!