Midland League Country Cross Country Race 3, Cofton Park, 13.1.18
On a cold and grey Saturday afternoon, CLC Striders Ladies and Men’s teams made the journey north to compete in the third race of the Midland League Two Cross Country Competition for this season. Held in the beautiful, rolling grounds of Cofton Park in the south-west of Birmingham, the race saw the ladies race over two full laps of the park and the men over three.
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Pictured: Karlien Heyrman
Once again, the Striders ladies turned in some great performances, even without some of their stalwart runners. Finishing in 20th place overall and as the 8th senior lady, Karlien Heyrman continued to shine, bringing the team home in a very fast 28:30. Hot on her heels Helen Knight finished 25th overall as the 13th in the Masters category in 28:41. Next home were the two vets Amanda Steer and Amelia Mullins, finishing in 38th and 43rd overall as the 19th and 23rd in the Masters in strong times of 30:20 and 30:47 respectively.
Laura Fletcher finished 55th overall as the 20th senior lady in 32:22 and Nicola Weager was 60th overall and 22nd senior in 32:37. Last for the club on the day, but not least, Cerys Jones put in another solid performance in her first season with the club finishing in 101st overall and 63rd in the Masters category in a time of 36:06.
On the day the ladies seniors team was 5th and the masters finished in 4th, meaning that CLC ladies are now lying in 3rd place overall in the league, with the masters in 4th overall – meaning there is everything to pay for in the final race of the season.
After cheering on their team-mates, it was then the turn of the men, who had turned out in great numbers, with almost three complete teams on the day.
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Pictured, back row, left to right: Iain Porter, Joel Freeland, Will Ferguson, Will Pearce, James Gibbs, JJ Willson, Chris Tomas, Paul Northup, Paul Lockyer, Tom Vickers, Javid Norat. Front row, left to right: Adam Fisher, Martin Bick, Coach Brendon Ward, Tom Kabala, Andrew Gage, Mark Fuller, Tom Fletcher
After his superb 10k PB (32:03) in Telford just a week before, Will Ferguson brought the team home in 3rd place overall in a cracking time of 34:35. Once again, he was followed home by the incredibly strong Iain Porter in 15th place and a time of 35:50.
Tom Kabala registered another fine performance across the country, finishing well inside the top 100 in 74th place in 38:32. And the fourth top-100 finisher on the day was the impressive Tom Fletcher, in 91st in 39:29. The final two finishers for the A Team on the day were Will Pearce, 115th in 40:18 and Mark Fuller, 123rd in 40:32.
The B team were led home by Paul Northup, 147th in 41:36, followed by Tom Vickers, 161st in 42:11, Paul Lockyer, 164th in 42:19 and Adam Fisher, 175th in 42:39. The final two finishers for the B Team on the day were Javid Norat, 201st in 44:07 and James Gibbs, 215th in 45:13.
The C Team finishers were JJ Willson, 217th in 45:16, Joel Freeland, 227th in 45:55, Andrew Gage, 250th in 48:48, Chris Thomas, 271st in 52:18 and Martin Bick, 274th in 52:40.
On the day the CLC men’s A Team finished in 9th place and the B Team in 11th. Overall in the League, the men’s A and B team lie in 9th place with just one race to go.
The final Birmingham league fixture sees CLC Striders host teams from all over the Midlands up the National Star at Ullenwood on Saturday February 10th.