Race Day 4 of the Gloucestershire Cross-Country League - Saturday 14 February 2026
After the unrelenting rain of the first six weeks of 2026, Saturday 14 February was bright and sunny: the perfect day for the last fixture in the 2025/26 Gloucestershire Cross Country season. Pittville Park, complete with its notorious river crossing, woodland sections and sharp inclines was the location – with the ground surprisingly good, with a few squelchy exceptions, and the river deep and fast-flowing.
CLC Striders turned out strong teams for the ladies and men’s races, with some wonderful individual and team results registered. First it was the turn of the ladies…
First home, completing a perfect performance score for the season, was the impressive Isabel Brinsden, in 7th place overall but as the first woman in the field on the day, bagging herself the senior gold medal for the season in the process. Isabel was followed home by Kate Telford, concluding a strong cross-country season with 1st place in her W35 category and earning herself the gold medal for that category for her season’s efforts. Just one place behind was Helen Knight who won her L45 category on the day and also the gold medal for that category for the whole season.
Just two places behind Helen, Sophie Longmore was 3rd in her W40 category, with Karlien Heyrman one place behind for 2ndd place in her W35 category. Ellie Pudifoot lost one of her spikes part-way through (for her second week of shoe-related drama) but was only just behind Sophie and Karlien, earning herself a silver medal for senior category to boot (pardon the pun).
Rachael Cary and Rachel Vines finished in close order, with Amelia Mullins next as the 4th finisher in her W50 category. Also completing the race for the club were Nicola Weager, Emma Abbey, Hannah Weager and Sam Templeton – with Jill Harsent 5th in her W65 category.
In terms of the team standings for the season, the CLC Striders Masters team (of Kate Telford, Helen Knight, Liza Bradshaw, Amelia Mullins, Karlien Heyrman and Sophie Longmore) took team gold, with the Senior team (of Isabel Brinsden, Kate Telford, Helen Knight, Ellie Pudifoot and Liza Bradshaw) earning team silver medals.
Running with the women as part of their race, two Striders super-vets did well on the day, with Ed Collier 5th in his M65 category and David James, 1st in his rarefied M75 category.
Back row, from left to right: Jill Harsent, Emma Abbey, Hannah Weager, Carline Heyrman, Isabel Brinsden, Rachel Vines, Helen Knight, Ellie Pudifoot, Amelia Mullins (and David James) Front row, from left to right: Nicola Weager, Kate Telford, Sophie Longmore and Sam Templeton
The last race of the day, with the ground well and truly churned up, saw the men’s turn. The club were led home by the always-gutsy Rob Green, in 9th place overall and 1st in his MV40 category, earning himself a gold medal for the season for his M40 category with a perfect performance score for the season.
The remaining A-team scorers on the day were Tom Burgess in 24th, Gavin Woods in 28th, Will McNeile in 35th, even with a fall at the stream crossing, Tom Fletcher in 37th (narrowly missing out on a M35 medal for the season) and James Mogridge in 42nd, making his club debut.
Also racing well on the day were Louis Jones for 44th, Fred Reid for 45th, James Endicott for 47th, Oliver Wright Jones for 50th, Andy Richardson for 72nd, Timothy Elliott for 73rd, Jon Pearce for 81st, Nigel Bailey for 94th, Pete Mitchener for 101st, Tim Brock for 105th, Gary Farquharson for 120th and Colin Upton 125th.
As well as Rob Green’s gold, the other medal winners for the season were Max Harrison-Tosatto with bronze in the Senior Men’s category and David James with bronze in his M75 category.
From left to right: Oliver Wright Jones, Nigel Bailey, Tim Brock, Tom Burgess, Rob Green, Tom Fletcher, Max Harrison-Tosatto, James Endicott, Fred Reid, Andy Richardson, Louis Jones, Jon Pearce, Timothy Elliott, Gavin Woods, Colin Upton (just visible!), Gary Farquharson, Will McNeile and James Mogridge