Midland and Birmingham League XC - Season Finale
Midland and Birmingham League XC - Saturday 7 February
After Race Day 3 of their respective leagues were cancelled due to bad weather back in January, the ladies and men’s CLC Striders Teams had one job to do on what became the final and deciding fixture in their regional leagues: deliver team performances good enough to take them up into Division One.
The incredibly wet start to 2026 meant that the ground was muddy at best, water-logged and even flooded at worst. Proper cross-country conditions for the big day. The ladies were first to decide their fate, travelling up to Coombe Abbey, near Coventry for a fixture hosted by Sphinx RC. With an unusual start time of 10am, four faithful runners lined up on the start line, ready to give their all. The ladies’ season has been characterised by a small number of core runners turning out, but always producing incredible performances. Race Day 3 was to prove no exception.
First home, for a top 10 finish in 7th place overall and as 3rd in the Masters was Kate Telford, concluding her best cross-country season for the club. Kate was followed in by the ever- reliable team captain Helen Knight in12 th overall and as 7th in the Masters. Perhaps performance of the day came from Ellie Pudifoot who finished 17th overall despite having to run most of the race with the sole of one of her spikes missing! And Rachel Vines registered 24th overall and 12th in the Masters to wrap up a great season for her.
On the day the ladies were 2nd in the senior team competition and 1st Masters team, ensuring their promotion from Division 2 back to Division 1 with a 4th placing overall in the league across the 3 fixtures and 2nd overall for the season in the Masters category.
As the day moved on, attention turned to the men, racing in the afternoon over at Plock Court, Gloucester, in a fixture hosted by Severn AC. Could they emulate the ladies’ promotion feats? With all the clubs turning out all their very best and biggest squads, determined to finish the season as strongly as possible, competition was incredibly hot.
Whereas the ladies season was marked by a small, but faithful cohort of competitors turning out for each fixture, the men’s season was one which showed what strength in depth CLC Striders now has in its ranks, with the club having no less that 11 different A-team scorers across the season, and large turnouts meaning every runner played a part. The team spirit was epitomised by Tom Burgess who turned out to run despite an injured knee, meaning he didn’t finish but demonstrating everything about the Striders’ men’s approach to their cross-country season.
Splashing their way through the standing water of Plock Court, the club was led home by the resilient Rich Elsworthy in 20th place, only a fortnight after his top 10 finish in the gruelling Arc of Attrition Ultra. Pete Duffy was 33rd , after nursing a calf niggle for a month or so. Will McNeile returned from holiday to run the race of his life for 53rd overall, Tom Fletcher (another Arc of Attrition finisher) was 56th , James Endicott was 59th and Fred Reid, in his first season with the club, completed the A-team scorers in 85th place.
The B-Team scorers on the day were John Comer in 87th , Gavin Woods in 93rd , Jon Margetts in 95th , Louis Jones in 102nd , Jamie Hartnoll in 116th and Adam Greenwood in 123rd . Also running well and pushing other team runners back in the placings were Tim Elliott, Luke Hunter, Gary Farquharson, Tim Brock and Colin Upton.
On the day the CLC Striders men finished as the 9th A Team and 2nd B Team, but across the season, they were 3rd placed team overall, booking their promotion spot back up to Division 1.
Pete Duffy deserves special mention for his 2nd place in the season’s Masters rankings, playing a key role in securing the team 1st place in the team Masters standings for the season. All-in-all, it was a wonderful day for a small, local club and CLC Striders look forward to competing at the very top level in their regional cross-country leagues next season.
