Category: Cross Country

Southern Inter Counties & London Championships 2009

Saturday 21st November saw the annual running of this event at Parliament Hills in London

Leighton Buzzard AC had four members of the junior squad selected to represent Bedfordshire in this event, with three of them able to run on the day. Brian Foulger got the running under way in the U15 boys and finished in a respectable time over the tough 4K course and helped Bedfordshire to gain 7th place in a very strong field.

Joe McGarry and Jordan Clay were both selected for the U13 boys team and were the 3rd and 4th scoring finishers respectively, which helped Bedfordshire to 10th team overall. Their race, over a tough undulating 3K course was the hardest race they have done in their brief running history. Interestingly, the reserve list for this age group also featured two further LBAC athletes, indicating a developing strength in depth building in the squad. read more

Home Countries International

Last Saturday, saw LBAC's club president representing England in the British & Irish Cross Country International in Perry Park in Birmingham. Gail Duckworth has run for the country on a few occasions now, but is particularly pleased with her current form as she is at the top end of her age category this season.

The event is organised by the British Masters Athletic Federation and sees teams from the four home countries, plus Ireland represented by their top age group athletes over various distances. In Gail's race, a team of three were required to score points for each country over a 6K course and the ladies had the worst of the weather, with the heavens opening during their second lap. The horrendous conditions made the event all the more challenging and when Gail came home 3rd for England in 6th place overall, the team were celebrating victory. However, the different age groups all run together and what they hadn't realised was that the cheeky Irish had 1st, 4th & 5th places which gave them a win by one point in the team calculations. read more

Leighton Fly to the Top of the Table

Saturday's Chiltern league cross country at Luton saw a fantastic turnout from the club as a whole, as we moved from 6th place to the top of division two in one event. With continued form like this, the club will gain promotion back to division one for the first time in three years. It is vital that there is the same effort for the next race at Slough on the 5th December, so please put it in your diary now!

The day started off with all of the junior races and it was great to have some under 11's competing in the boys race.  Jamie Stancombe put in an oustanding performance to finish in 7th place out of 74 finishers, while Luke Orlando gave him great support in 43rd place. In the U13 girls Beth Tippite finished in 27th in division two while Kirsty-Anya Shefford came hom ein 40th position. The real star team of the day was the U13 boys. Having struggled to get many runners over the last few years, we suddenly have a small squad of boys who are rapidly improving together. Jake Irvine and Lloyd Milliken came home in 20th and 19th respectively while Jordan Clay continued his good form in 12th, but the leading runner was Joe McGarry who sprinted home in 7th position. The boys now lead the division two team championship by four points and are only going to get better. read more

National Cross Country Relays

 

On the 31st October, LBAC took part in their first ever National cross country relays in Mansfield. The event has been going since the 1970's and the club had never competed before. As an event, it has tremendous support from all over the country and there is a vast range in standards.

Leighton entered a team in both the ladies and mens races, but due to a succession of injuries and illnesses, only Gail Duckworth was available on the day for the ladies team. Nevertheless, Gail ran well around the first leg of the 3K course and completed in 12.20. The boys team was made up of Simon Coombes, Ben Corfield, Joby Hobbs and Andy Inchley who eventually finished as the 80th team out of 151. Simon and Ben lead the team very well with times of 17.16 and 17.06 respectively for the 5K course. Joby and Andy then completed the team with Joby running 18.58 and Andy finishing with 19.09. read more

Chiltern League – Round One

Nineteen LBAC athletes took made the short trip across to Oxford at the beginning of October for the first race of the cross-country season. It was particularly fantastic to see eight runners from the younger section of the club making a vital contribution to the overall team effort of the day. All of the races were combined between the first and second divisions, but for the benefit of the results, they are all split at the end of the day.

First up, were the U13 girls and Beth Tippite put in a fantasic performance to finish 12th and she was well supported by Kirsty-Anya Shefferd. Both girls were making their cross-country debuts and scored absolutely vital points for the team. Following the girls, the U13 boys put out a complete team for the first time in a number of years and this was shown by them ending up in second place at the end of the first event, and not too far behind the leaders, Radley AC. Joe McGarry lead the team home in 5th place, ahead of Jordan Clay, Jake Irvine & Lloyd Milliken in 9th, 13th and 16th respectively. If these lads can keep going throughout the season as a team, they will score hundreds of points from the club and will undoubtedly leave with team medals. read more

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