South of England Athletics Association Cross Country Championships – Saturday 27th January 2018
Ashford & District RRC travelled to Stanmer Park in Brighton to compete in this year’s SEAA Cross Country Championships. The competition invites clubs to compete from anywhere in the south of England, from Cornwall to Norfolk. The competition was tough and so were the conditions as driving rain descended upon the runners and churned up the hilly course.
First up were the A&D ladies with Danyel Carter finishing in the top 200 in a time of 40m:48s with Christine Costiff just behind in 40m:59s (205th). Gill O’ Connor was next up in 43m:29s (247th) and Lucy Johnstone finished the 8km course in 48m:49s (310th). Overall, A&D ladies finished 36th out of 40 eligible teams.
Meanwhile, in the men’s 15km race, Robert Latala continued to impress with a great performance in difficult conditions finishing in 53rd place overall out of a field of 740 runners. Latala crossed the line in 55m:47s.
Next up was Jon Pearce in 1hr:02m:18s in 222nd followed by Jon Wells in 1hr:10m exactly (437th). Dean Bracken’s return to form continued, finishing in 1hr:12m:51s (510th) with Robin Butler and Adrian Moody not far behind in 1hr:13m:40s (533rd) and 1hr:13m:47s (535th) respectively.
Rob Barton finished in 1hr:15m:08s (557th).Paul Moses, who succumbed to injury finished in 1hr:19m:33s (642nd) and Richard Baker in 1hr:23m:20s (678th). Overall, the A&D men’s team finished 40th out of 75 eligible teams.
Ashford Parkrun – Saturday 27th January 2018
A cold and frosty morning greeted nearly 300 runners at Victoria Park on Saturday in the latest parkrun event.
Running in A&D colours, Ben Smith came home 1st for the club. The A&D junior also set a new personal best of 18m:34s finishing 6th overall. Mark Attenborough was next, crossing the line in 21m:05s (17th) with Ryan Edwards just behind. Mark Carlton finished next in 21m:43s (27th) and Ricky Hickman in 21m:50s (28th)
Gill Pragnell was 1st lady home for the club in 22m:08s (34th) with James Chapman in 22m:51s (44th). Rod Kessack crossed the line in 23m:14s (52nd) with Elodie Paviot and Mark Boorer not far behind in 23m:17s (55th) and 23m:18s (56th) respectively.
Will Whittington was up next in 24m:31s (68th), Claire and Dan Green finished in 25m:43s (87th) and 25m:44s (88th) respectively. John Fidge in 27m:44s (131st), Shelly Blake, completing her 51st parkrun in 28m:36s (143rd), Andrew Smith 29m:36s (157th), Ann Fidge 29m:53s (165th), Becky Hodgson 32m:57s (199th) and Julie Foster in 46m:46s (269th).
By Mark Carlton
You must be logged in to post a comment.