Last Wednesday saw the remarkable running of the fifth Stag Trophy race of the season as ten out of the nineteen club members who ran set new personal best times.

On the night it was Jordan Clay, fresh from his run at the Nationals at Alton Towers, who smashed his previous best by over forty seconds to come home first. The 25 points gained put him up to fourth place in the standings and he now has a good chance of a podium finish. Behind Jordan was Amy Inchley with another big PB. She is now regretting not doing any races early in the year as her two performances in February have yielded 49 points! read more

This cross-country race is so named because of the thigh deep streams that Bearbrook Joggers make you run through on your way around the course. Technically there were four club members who particpated in the event but they come from some very different perspectives.

Some of the more long standing members may know Mick Kelly, who dusted off his club vest to come home 29^th out of over 300 people in the race which is approximately 6 miles. These days Mick looks out for off-road races around the country and goes off with his friend and fellow LBAC member, Dave Marham to compete around the country. On this occasion Dave was 51^st in 45:44. read more

For someone who has been involved with the club for 25 years it is difficult to get across the feeling that was had last Saturday after the results were published for the final Chiltern League cross-country of the 2010/11 season.

We are a small club, with around fifty active senior members and something similar on the junior front and compete in a league with some clubs that have in excess of 400 senior members. In the past we have had some great acheivements both as teams and individuals (they are listed on the cross-country page) but this season we had just one individual triumph, yet gained our highest ever position in the league and once more hosted the best fixture.

The reason for this is the fantastic team attitude that is developing in the club, at training, at races and certainly at social events. Everyone is made to feel welcome and valued and on Saturday almost everyone went out of their way to contribute. We had nearly forty runners out on the course and none of them had to do any marshal duties because 25 others had given up their Saturday afternoon (and morning in some cases) to help out. We had everyone dusting off wellies. Former members, vice presidents, injured members, parents of juniors, parents of seniors and some who give up their time every year help out our little club.

For the majority of the last five to ten years there has been one or two people each season who have competed in all five Chiltern Leagues. It's quite a big commitment to make sure you've got them all in your diary, avoid illness, injury, family challenges and the uninviting winter weather to run them all, yet this year we had eleven members who did exactly that. Particular thanks and congratulations should therefore go to Mathilde Sammons, Jake Irvine, Jordan Clay, Charlie and Billy Mead, Amy Inchley, Tom Inchley, Mark Field, Nick Clay and Pete Mackrell for making each trip around each course. The fact that this is split between six seniors and five juniors also says a lot. It should also be mentioned that only bad traffic at Watford prevented Jane Sauer from being on this list too.

However, this league is five different team events nothing should be taken away from the nine people who did four races, the fourteen who did three or the twenty-five who did one or two as every single point counts and each extra person gives a better atmosphere for everyone. Fifty-nine different people coming out to represent the club shows how far we have come in the last two years. So congratulations to everyone involved and bring on next year.

There are a great number of photo's now in the gallery from Saturday, and thanks to Mark Sammons for taking them all year. If you want to read the report on the actual running just click below!