What a stunning day. The weather was crisp and beautiful. We had a tremendous turn-out from everyone assiciated with the club and correspondingly the results were excellent too.

Firstly, it has to be remembered that there are 14 clubs in division one of the Chiltern League and we are the smallest by some distance. Last year, as a club we finished 9th in the league and this was our best result ever, having picked up a place in the last fixture at Wing in 2011. This year, barring a big upset we were settled in 9th place going into the final day which may not seem like much, but three years ago we were seventh in division 2!

An approximate count-up saw that there were about 70 people on the fields of Wing doing their bit to support our club and we should be very proud of that. Every year, Richard works extremely hard to organise probably the best Chiltern League fixture and is always given invaluable support. This year however, there was very little nagging needed and no runners had to be sacrificed because lots of others volunteered their time. This resulted in a great turn-out on the running side and tremendous support for all the athletes all around the course, which spurred them on to some great efforts. Not everyone can be mentioned here, but we can offer a huge thank you to everyone who was there yesterday.

The U11's kicked things off before midday with Chloe May, Melissa Chapman and Sadie Towell all running very well in the girls race and Owen Lindars making his debut in the boys. They certainly had the coldest of the weather, but if they can keep training they will be valuable team members in years to come. In the U13 girls the club had a full compliment of four team members and Sarah Plummer led them home in 41st place ahead of Jade Lindars, Zarah Taylor and Grace Cross.

Our four U13 boys have been fantastic this season. Sam Nicholas and Owen Drabwell have both done four league races while Patrick Clay and Henry Mead have both done all five. On this occasion, Owen probably came up with the finish of the day, overtaking six people in the last quarter of a mile to finish 13th while Sam came home in 19th. Once more, Patrick and Henry added huge value to the team which earned them 6th place on the day.

The U15 boys have been gaining in confidence since the new year and some hard winter training is clearly paying off. Both Jordan Clay and Lloyd Milliken were in the leading group as they flew down the hill for the first time as Charlie, Tom and Joe started with a little more circumspection. The effort that all five have put in this year cannot be underestimated, as they have completed 24 league races between them.

As the race developed and they settled into their running the confidence was noticeable. Charlie in particular was working his way through the field with Lloyd in his sights and Joe's steady start was paying dividends as he likewise was picking people off. As it turned out, four of the five had their best run of the season as they thrived on the home turf/snow. In total though, Jordan (8), Lloyd (16), Charlie (18), Joe (20) and Tom (28) earned a spectacular 4th place on the day which very nearly gave them 4th overall for the season, but for a solitary point.

The U17's saw Billy Mead as a lone Leighton figure on this occasion but he also had a cracking run to work through the field and come home in 8th place. He is another one who has run four of the league races this year and will be an extremely valuable member of the senior men's team in 2012/13.

In the past, we may have struggled to persuade a team of ladies that running around the fields of Wing on a snowy February day would be a good idea, but this is a new LBAC and no longer is this an issue. Just three years ago we had 4 ladies doing one race each across the season. This year we have had 17 ladies doing a total of 38 races and what a huge difference it makes. In 2008/09 the ladies were 13th in division 2 and this year's fantastic efforts have seen them finish 10th in division 1!

This new approach was never more emphasised than in yesterday's race. Despite Gail deciding to focus on the world championships and just marshall, the team of seven still managed to finished 8th on the day. Jo Breslin ran another strong race to lead the team home in 16th but both Amy Inchley (23th) and Jane Sauer (30th) had storming runs to gain their highest positions ever. With Kate Owens making her seasonal debut in 43rd and Amelia Wallace also achieving her seasons best just behind in 48th there was great strength in depth.

Both Lorraine Holloway-McLean and Mandy Clay have been in their first season of running and have been fantastic this season. Lorraine was rightfully delighted by her 67th place and Mandy, just behind has succesfully completed her ambition of running all five races this season. As a result of all the ladies efforts, there is now a real team spirit amongst them all, which can only stand us in good stead for the coming years.

On this occasion the senior men were actually off before the ladies and Billy and quite enjoyed the novelty. There was much debate over the choice of footwear with a mixture of trail shoes, spikes and trainers being selected by the 18 runners. This was the best turn-out of the year, with very few people absent and it showed in the results. Ever present Ben Corfield (39th) who has been unchallenged this near was run very close by a flying Ian Grimshaw (41) and Andy Inchley (42) not far back.

The finish of the season saw Stu Blofeld (58) pip Pete Mackrell (59) by a matter of millimetres on the line. Skipper Tom May was sixth back for the club in 73rd place before a whole host of people finished very close together. Gary Stratford (84), Laurie Parr (86) in his first Chiltern League for about eighteen years, Chris Norman (90) returning from injury, Nick Clay (94) and debutant Paul Plummer (95) all finished within 32 seconds of each other and emphasised the strength of our team packing.

Mike Bryant just missed the top 100 places, ahead of a fierce battle between Dan Webb, Chris Williams and Tim Inchley which Dan Webb won thanks to a final sprint finish up the hill. Chris Dimmock and John Adam completed both finished the league season having successfully and valuably run in all five races. The result of all these great efforts by our men was a magnificent sixth place on the day, which heavily contributed to the club's overall sixth place as well.

At the post season presentations, despite not running the last fixture Gail collected her award for the first V55 lady of the season. Other notable overall performances were Jordan Clay 8th U15, Billy Mead 10th U17 and Ben Corfield 11th senior man. Possibly the thing that sums up the team attitude in our club is the fact that there were 25 in the pub yesterday evening sharing in each others successes. Well done to all.