: News

So close for George at the Mad March 20

George Miller led for most of the race but was unable to hold off a very fast finishing Steve Way of Bournemouth AC in the Mad March Pukka 20. After a steady start George took the lead at 3 miles and just started clocking off 5:37 miles on the flat rural course, pulling away to a strong lead. However despite never slowing significantly George's lead was gradually eroding as his initial rivals dropped back and Steve made his way forward. With 3 miles to go he was caught by his BAC rival. A noble effort to hang on to the leader's pace saw George run his fastest mile between 17 and 18 miles but he wasn't able to hang on to the pace to the end, finishing 26 seconds back, in 1:53:42. As a first effort at anything beyond a half this was a great effort and augurs well for a Marathon debut later this year.

James Baulch struggled in the latter stages of this race and dropped back to a 2:07 finish, but there's plenty of time to sort himself out for the London at the end of April. Geoff Scott never stops and akthough he wasn't first over 60 man this time, his run was a fine one nonetheless. A minute later he was followed by John Cakebread. Our Dorset Road Racing League team was completed by the returning David Heath, famous for running a marathon a week in younger days. Howard Lewis just pipped our favourite German, Reinhard Lehmann, while Nick Foale just pipped Kai Chandler and Jim Moore.

Our ladies team were led home by Gemma Bunce who is proving to be a strong recent addition to the ladies' squad. She completed the course in 2:33:59, and looked like she could have done another 6 at the end. The team was brought home by Mel Austreng and Ginny Palmer with strong runs also from Hannah Towner, Angela Brown, Kaye Nippard and Lucy Tidbury. Finally a special mention to Jane Chandler who ran the 20 with a cast after breaking her hand on a recent skiing accident.

In the co-run ten mile run Mike Grist was a clear second and John Towner third, while Heather Nethercott and Gaynor Hughes were 12th and 14th in the wome's category.

Mad March Pukka 20
2 George Miller 1:53:42
18 James Baulch 2:07:13
66 Geoffrey Scott 2:27:17
67 John Cakebread 2:28:22
90 David Heath 2:35:46
154 Howard Lewis 2:58:34
155 Reinhard Lehmann 2:58:57
164 Nick Foale 3:06:36
165 Kai Chandler 3:06:58
174 Jim Moore 3:12:28

Women
13 Gemma Bunce 2:33:59
29 Melanie Austreng 2:48:02
36 Ginny Palmer 2:51:56
44 Hannah Towner 2:56:50
60 Angela Brown 3:03:35
67 Kaye Nippard 3:08:53
72 Lucy Tidbury 3:12:29
102 Jane Chandler 3:33:22

Mad March 10
2 Mike Grist 56:35
3 John Towner 59:19

Women
12 Heather Nethercott 1:22:43
14 Gaynor Hughes 1:24:14

South West Schools Cross Country Championships

At the South West Schools Cross Country Championships in Taunton, the following Poole Runners represented Dorset Schools AA.

Jack Partridge (pictured) was our highest placed runner, placing 9th and part of the winning team. Jack was lying in about sixth for most of the race but had to drop back in the last half lap as his breathing became more laboured.

Our highest placed female was Verity Ockenden, who came 13th in teh Senior Girls event. Like Jack she also fell back in the last half of the race.

Rob Ineson had a strong run in the Senior Boys to come 21st overall and 2nd Dorset runner, while James Share also felt the effects of the last lap and had to struggle through a stitch to finish fourth Dorset scorer. The bravest and most praiseworthy run of the day came from Archie Parks who despite a very bad stitch ran through it to finish the Senior Boys course, albeit in a tremendous amount of pain. Alex Brain was 53rd in teh Junior Boys.

Other of our girls who ran were Jemma Bawa who ran strongly in the Intermediate girls age group, and Lizzie Harris who struggled a bit after her return from a broken collarbone over Christmas. New member Chloe Roaf made her Dorset debut and ran an astonishingly strong race to place 5th Dorset runner after having been 10th out of the pen. It shows that she is a talent to watch this summer.

Senior Boys
21 Rob Ineson 24:55
37 James Share 26:06
57 Archie Parks 35:33

Intermediate Boys
9 Jack Partridge 17:51

Junior Boys
53 Alex Brain 13:52

Senior Girls
13 Verity Ockenden

Intermediate Girls
44 Jemma Bawa 15:15

Junior Girls
44 Lizzie Harris 12:28

Minor Girls
37 Chloe Roaf 7:06

Various Senior Results

With a 1000 runners at winchester on Sunday, two struggling vets gary white and Mike Grist ran the "lumpy course", Mike finished 6th in 34.32 taking 1st vet and gary broke the forty min barrier in 39.42 and the first over55 prize.

At the Terminiator in Pewsey, a 700 strong field accompanied 2 Poole Runners:
38 1:30:17 BALL, Mark
468 2:07:46 LEHMANN, Reinhard

Down in Portland, a small field of just 30 runners ran the very muddy Bustinskin Coastal Challange trail Marathon. This marathon starts from Portland and runs out to Abbotsbury before returning along the same path to the start/Finish point. Darren accompanied Egdon Heath / Poole Runner Lurtta Spearing for a long Training run, bith finishing in 4:56

And at the Pontypridd 10, Vicki Ingham ran the 10 mile road race in 70:30, placing 6th woman!

Canford Junior relays

In the Canford Junior Relays, held last week there were some very notable individual performances from club members as they ran from their school.
The race requires two Year 6s and two Year 7s.

Baden Powell School have a very strong girls school team, so much so that their A team won and their B team were second overall beating all the other girls school teams. We had three members in the winning Baden Powell team! Alex Phillips ran the first leg, to be the third fastest Year 6 girl in 6:37 and handed over in the lead, and handed over to Year 5 (!) girl Chloe Anderson who ran 6:56, and kept the lead. Third leg was our non member Holly Aldridge who ran 6:38 and handed still in the lead, by now extended to a minute. And then came the fastest Year 7 girl of the day, Chloe Roaf who ran a time of 6:25.

In fifth team place Broadstone Middle School were represented by Year 6 Sophie Rogers in 6:52, and Nicole Saini who ran 6:54. In Broadstone's B team Arhian Davies ran 7:00, as her team finished 8th. Allenbourn girls were 9th, and were represented by Verity Hayter who ran 7:00.

in the boys event, Regan Cooper was the 2nd fastest Year 6 in a time of 5:56, just one second off the lead time and running for Broadstone. The fourth fastest time was James Kent, of Allenbourn. Also in the Allenbourn team were Daniel Rowe (Y6) who ran 6:35 and Matthew Ineson (Y7) who ran 6:23

Other Road Racing Results

In the Bramley 20 mile road race, Club Captain Martin Lewis broke his own PB by nearly a minute and placed fourth as he continued his preparation for the London Marathon. The time he closed in on was 1:52:31, a time that would have placed him in the top 10 in the UK in 2008. In his own words, "work to be done but still a good test. I can't say I ache too much either. Usual near death experience 14 to 17." The time he completed suggests that a sub 2:30 marathon time on the 26th April is more than realistic.

Meantime at the City of Salisbury 10K, a multi terrain race 17-year old Archie Parks placed 12th in 40:37.

Final Hampshire League CC at Salisbury

The veteran women's team came third on the day but won the Hampshire League cross country title over the series of five races writes Rex Bale.
Pictured are (L to R) Dorothea Russell, Christine Thomas and Daveena Tweed. Missing is a key member of the season's team, Janice Palmer - they would not have won without her contribution. Christine also won an individual prize for fourth veteran women.
In the mens race, only the first 15 individual places were posted on the website, and the results chief has gone away for a well deserved week's holiday !
Suffice to say that we finished a team with Nathan Shrubb (an excellent 8th place), Mike Grist, Evan Davies, Alwyn Dominey, Barry Mitchell, and Rex Bale finishing in that order.
Verity Ockendon (U20) running in the senior womens race tailed Christine all the way and finished a super 26th place.
Congratulations to ex Poole Runner Louise Damen who won the race by half a minute.
The Juniors were in action too, the under 17 team being particularly strong with Rob Ineson (9th) leading in James Share (14th), Paul Green (15th), Leif Chandler (17th).
Further Juniors Results are as follows:
U13 Girls
41 Amy Bilson
42 Alex Phillips
U15 G
17 Jemma Bawa
34 Sian Davies
U15 B
14 Jake Willingham
32 James Kent

Barcelona!!!

It may not seem the obvious thing to do to celebrate big birthdays but Daveena Tweed and Angela Brown did this by running the Barcelona Half Marathon, last week, as well as sightseeing and enjoying the food and wine. How old are they? Well, it's not my perogative to say....

The performance that really caught the eye, however, was Christine Thomas, who was the first veteran lady in a time of 1:27:17.

Full results:
Men
226 Bill Tweed 1:23:33
317 Jim Aylmore 1:25:45

Women
10 Christine Thomas 1:27:17 First veteran
40 Daveena Tweed 1:38:04
95 Linda Cox 1:45:58
116 Angela Brown 1:48:37

Lytchett 10 mile road race

On a fine and clear day, in sharp contrast to previous recent weather, Williard Chinhanhu was a clear winner of the Lytchett 10 road race. He was supported by 39 other members of the club, as we were strongly represented. I left before it was announced but we may have won 1 or maybe both of the team categories.

Full Results:
1 Williard Chinhanhu 52:50
7 John Towner 59:39
9 James Baulch 60:16
19 Steve Claxton 63:31
21 Mike Best 64:27
25 John Cakebread 65:50
26 Peter Ferenczy 65:52
37 Simon Hayter 68:11
46 Geoffrey Scott 69:10
48 Darren Lock 69:32
49 Jim Aylmore 69:50
53 David Heath 70:26
66 Adrian Drake 73:01
68 Gemma Bunce 73:04
77 Keith Fraser 74:22
79 Terry Sherwood 74:25
84 John Marriner 74:46
90 Paul Ingham 75:43
92 Lars Jansson 75:52
100 Helen Ambrosen 76:48
106 Reinhard Lehmann 77:18
114 Roger Cross 78:01
131 Andy Warren 80:29
141 Ginny Palmer 81:17
149 Robert Frampton 82:15
159 Brian Harrison 83:29
166 Heather Nethercott 84:35
178 Gaynor Hughes 85:58
183 Dorothea Russell 86:23
193 Kaye Nippard 87:53
196 Jim Moore 88:01
206 Miriam Gray 89:42
210 Jill Daish 90:27
211 Steve Wardman 90:35
221 Elizabeth Sherwood 92:54
223 Marion Frampton 93:22
234 Victoria Jansson 95:46
247 Emma Saiic 100:27
259 Elizabeth Hopkins 105:40
263 Sarah Sweetland 106:54

Boscombe 5k update

It was decided at the Committee meeting that the cancelled Boscombe 5k last Friday would not be rescheduled, the next race being on the 6th March. The race series this year will still consist of 4 races to qualify. The Poole Runners Club Championship race will be on on the 6th March.

Andrew Lees South West Sportshall Champion

At the South West Sportshall Finals held at Torbay on Saturday there were several medals for our youngsters, and an outstanding gold medal for Andrew Lees. The competition is a team event, with athletes selected to represent Dorset, and the winners of each team competition move on to the national final, held at the Birmingham NIA in the spring.

Andrew threw a PB 12.19 metres with the Shot to win the South West title in the Under 15 Boys age group. Team mate Daniel Martin was 3rd in the 4 laps event to gain himself an individual medal, and narrowly missed out in the Standing Long Jump by placing 4th. The county team however were narrowly pipped into 2nd by a strong Avon team, although Andrew may be invited as a wild card event winner, if he is lucky. Andrew, who got the english Schools Pole Vault height last year, was 7th in the Individual Grand Prix and daniel just behind him in 9th.

Also a narrow 2nd overall was the Dorset under 13 girls team, in which we had several representatives and two bronze medal winners. Amy Bilson scored a very strong 79 in the Speed Bounce and Miquella Livermore cleared 1.35 metres. Also representing Dorset were Jessica Olive.

Our sole under 13 boy representative, Denzil Guy, best known as a Javelin thrower, was 7th in both the 4 laps and the Vertical Jump.

Full results:
Under 15 Boys
2 laps: 7th Andrew Lees 21.9
4 laps: 3rd Daniel Martin 45.6
Standing Long Jump: 4th Daniel Martin 2.36
Standing Triple Jump: 5th Andrew Lees 7.26
Speed Bounce: 7th Daniel Martin 75
Shot Put: 1st Andrew Lees 12.19
Individual Grand Prix: 7th Andrew Lees 130; 9th Daniel Martin 127

Under 13 Boys
4 laps: 7th Denzil Guy 51.8
Vertical Jump: 7th Denzil Guy 44

Under 13 Girls
2 laps: 5th Miquella Livermore 23.4
4 laps: 7th Amy Bilson 52.1
High Jump: 3rd Miquella Livermore 1.35
Standing Triple Jump: 6th Jessica Olive 5.46
Speed Bounce: 3rd Amy Bilson 79

Poole Runners go "Internazionale"

A bit of a break from the norm for 10 of our members, who travelled this weekend to Milan to take part in the world famous Cinque Mulini cross country race. The race is a member of the IAAF World Permit Series of cross country races and gives the chance for the athletes to mingle with world famous athletes for the weekend and pick their brains, over meals and in the hotel over the weekend.

The course is fairly unique as part of each lap runs through two water mills, inside people's front rooms, kitchens and back gardens. There aren't many hills on the course, but there are some very unusual hazards all the same, low beams and door frames, doors that won't open etc! The athletes were also faced with the sight of an inch of snow on parts of the course, and a constant drizzle of snow all day.

One week after having run his first cross country race for 5 years, George Miller ran his second in 8 days, in the world class senior men's field. George ran a very solid race, much happier than the previous week. Although not able to keep with the podium of world steeplechase record holder Saif Saeed Shaheen, 8 time European Cross country Champion Sergei Lebid and Wells City's Frank Tickner, George ran a competitive 29th place, in a time of 35:57.

In the Allievi men's race, Jack Partridge ran a storming race. He led or was in the top four as they pulled clear of the rest of the field on the first lap. Running through the mills on lap two Jack was caught out by the break and as they approached the last half kilometre Jack was in fourth place. However Jack roused himself, being cheered on amongst others by the English national team who were also in the senior races, dug deep and not only got himself a podium spot but nearly caught second using impressive finishing speed that augurs well for the forthcoming track season. This was a successful visit for the Corfe Hills year 11 pupil and after having won the Foulees des Vignettes race in November, is proving to thrive on overseas races.

Not far behind, Rob Ineson worked his way through the field to place eleventh overall, while Paul Green and Leif Chandler were both in the top half, Paul despite turning his ankle and Leif despite missing the previous week's training due to a school trip to Paris.

In the Allieve race Nicki Bissett went out strongest but was hampered by a split toenail as she was spikes as the gun went off and had to give way ultimately to teammate Jemma Bawa for the title of first British finisher. Jemma had started steadier but is coming into great form. Jemma finished 13th, Nicki 16th. Not far back, but proving she had fully recovered from a collarbone broken on a skiing trip over Christmas was Lizzie Harris in 19th, who just pipped Rachel Brenton (23rd) while Ellie Hilborne was only a few places behind both in 26th place.

All the runners had a good time, ate loads of new tasting dishes, met lots of new (and sometimes famous) people and should be proud of their achievements. The journey home fortunately was quicker for us than for others. We travelled to the airport and checked in with Steph Twell and team, who were flying to Gatwick, which was shut for two hours causing untold delays, while we had the good fortune of travelling to Bristol where it was cold but there were no significant problems.

Results:

Senior Men (10.2K)

1 Saif Saaed Shaheen 31:37 (not a Poole Runner! World Steeplechase record holder though)

29 George Miller 35:57

Allievi (5.6K)

3 Jack Partridge 19:27

11 Rob Ineson 20:34

15 Paul Green 21:25

24 Leif Chandler 22:21

Allieve (3.9K)

13 Jemma Bawa 16:40

16 Nicole Bissett 16:57

19 Lizzie Harris 17:17

23 Rachel Brenton 17:27

26 Ellie Hilborne 17:53

For those interested, there are 2 folders of photos, in the "Photos" section!

Blackmore Vale Half Marathon and other races

Poole Runners males were soundly thrashed by a strong Bournemouth AC team at the weekend, with our highest positions coming from our reliable duo John Towner and Jamie Baulch. The Ladies team faired better taking first including a very string Hannah Towner obviously coming back into form. We put out 30 runners for this event, which was superb considering the near freezing conditions, and special thanks to Mike Towner for riding around the course hold onto discarded hats and gloves!

01:22:43,TOWNER,John,19
01:22:46,BAULCH,James,20
01:29:04,CAKEBREAD,John,56
01:30:27,GURIER,Chris,65
01:30:27,AYLMORE,Jim,66
01:31:37,THOMAS,Christine ,76
01:32:37,WILLIAMS,Roy,88
01:33:05,LOCK,Darren,95
01:34:03,DAISH,Stephen,106
01:36:37,SCOTT,Geoffrey,128
01:38:30,HEATH,David,144
01:39:20,TOWNER,Hannah,155
01:39:25,BUNCE,Gemma,157
01:40:01,MARRINER,John,169
01:42:45,BONNET,Alex,202
01:43:55,AMBROSEN,Helen,217
01:48:03,LEHMANN,Reinhard,264
01:51:36,PORTNOI,Peter,301
01:51:58,INGRAM,Paul,308
01:52:48,HARRISON,Brian,318
01:52:56,NETHERCOTT,Heather,321
01:53:25,WARREN,Andy,327
01:55:00,BROWN,Angela,347
01:55:16,DAVIES,Alex,349
01:58:06,CHANDLER,Kai,387
01:58:31,MOORE,Jim,401
01:59:59,GRAY,Miriam,409
02:05:21,NIPPARD,Kaye,458
02:06:13,CHANDLER,Jane,463
02:09:20,DAISH,Jill,481

Two of our ex juniors, now at university and both training for the London Marathon, ran well over the weekend in far away events. In the very prestigious Alsager 5, club captain "in exile" Martin Lewis came 34th in a time of 26:23, a 30 second PB and a time that at Littledown for instance would have placed him in the top 5. Meanwhile in Cardiff, Sean Hogan won back to back races in the Cardiff Park-Run 5K series, last week in 16:05 and this week in 16:06. Consistent if nothing else!

More medals for the Baby Boom Generation

An M60 team travelled the 160 miles to Bigglesewade in Bedfordshire on Saturday to contest the South of England Masters Cross Country Championships and came away with medals. Not the silvers they gained in this event last year but bronze this time. Ian Barnes (7th) Geoff Scott (13th) and Alwyn Dominey (22nd) were the team members and also running were Lars Jannsonn, making his cross country debut for the club, and Rex Bale (positions unknown and both are happy to keep it that way !)

Alwyn and Ian went straight off to the Lake District for three days of walking and missed the presentation, but the ever-shy Geoff (pictured) posed with all three medals.

Oxford AC were the clear winners with three finishers in the top twelve, and last year's winners Hardley Runners were second with Malcolm Renyard, who we often see in our local races, having an outstanding race placing second of 90 over-60 runners, who ran this 10k race over a parkland course in sunshine but with a bracing cold wind to remind us that this has been the coldest January for 14 years.

The over-45 womens team were stricken with illness and injury and unfortunately had to withdraw rather than compete with an incomplete team.

Dorset Sportshall Championships - 15 gold medals for our youngsters

At the Dorset Sportshall Championships on Saturday there were plenty of first time county titles for our members. Particularly strong were the under 11 age groups with David Bratchford (twice), Regan Cooper, Hester Griffin, Antonia Hancock, Alex Phillips, Sophie Rogers, Kieran Taylor (twice) and Susie Topple all adding Dorset titles to their names. Amy Bilson and Elspeth Griffin were winners in the under 13s age group , while in the under 15s age group Andrew Lees (pictured) and Daniel Martin were winners, with Andrew also sharing the Grand Prix series for the best overall performer.

Under 11 Boys
2 laps: 1st David Bratcford 24.3; 3rd Kieran Taylor 24.9; heats Sam Ashford 26.9; Ned Ellis 27.7; Billy Riglar 28.1
4 laps: heats Ryan Adam 62.3; Oliver Dustan 64.0
Paarlauf: 1st Regan Cooper & Kieran Taylor 1:18.0
Standing Long Jump: 2nd Regan Cooper 1.87; 3rd Sam Ashford 1.71; 6th Billy Riglar 1.46
Vertical Jump: 1st David Bratchford 44; 4th Ned Ellis 34
Shot Putt: 1st Kieran Taylor 6.47; 3rd Oliver Dunstan 4.59
Speed Bounce: 3rd Ryan Adam 56

Under 13 Boys
2 laps: 5th Liam Bratchford 25.2
4 laps: 4th Denzil Guy 52.3
6 laps: 2nd Regan Cooper 1:21.8
4 x 2 lap Relay: 4th David Bratchford + Ned Ellis + Liam Bratchford + Denzil Guy 1:44.7
Circuit Relay: 3rd Oliver Dunstan + Ryan Adam + Sam Ashford + Billy Riglar 1:40.6
Standing Triple Jump: 3rd Liam Bratchford 5.24
Vertical Jump: 2nd Denzil Guy 47

Under 15 Boys
2 laps: 1st Andrew Lees 22.6
4 laps: 2nd Daniel Martin 46.7
Standing Long Jump: 1st Daniel Martin 2.30
Standing Triple Jump: 2nd Andrew Lees 7.29
Shot Putt: 1st Andrew Lees 11.82
Speed Bounce: 3rd Daniel Martin 72
Grand Prix: 1st = Andrew Lees 77; 3rd= Daniel Martin 75

Under 11 Girls
2 laps: 1st Hester Griffin 24.8; 2nd Antonia Hancock 25.0; 4th Isobel Fumpston 25.5; heats: Susie Topple 26.2; Alex Phillips 26.4; Emily Olive 27.5; Lucy Anderson 29.0; Emma Blatchford 31.0
4 laps: 4th Chloe Anderson 60.1; 6th Amy Blatchford 66.6
Paarlauf: 2nd Sophie Rogers + Alex Phillips 1:22.0; 4th Chloe Anderson + Susie Topple 1:24.5
Standing Long Jump: 1st Antonia Hancock 1.94; 2nd Hester Griffin 1.82
Standing Triple Jump: 7th Emily Olive; 9th Emma Blatchford 3.48
Vertical Jump: 1st Susie Topple 37; 4th Lucy Anderson 27
Shot Put: 1st Sophie Rogers 7.21
Speed Bounce: 1st Alex Phillips 75; 3rd Chloe Anderson 73; 4th Isobel Fumpston 67; 9th Amy Blatchford 57

Under 13 Girls
2 laps: 4th Elspeth Griffin 24.6; heats: Miquella Livermore 24.9; Phoebe Burton 26.3; Victoria Bilson 28.8
4 laps: 4th Amy Bilson 52.7; heats: Jessica Olive 55.6; Tamsin Strawn 55.7
6 laps: 7th Sophie Rogers 1:29.3; 10th Gemma Hart 1:32.7
4 x 2 lap Relay: 2nd Miquella Livermore + Phoebe Burton + Hester Griffin + Amy Bilson 1:40.7; 3rd Tamsin Strawn + Antonia Hancock + Isobel Fumpston + Elspeth Griffin 1:41.0
Circuit Relays: heats Jessica Olive + Gemma Hart + Victoria Bilson + Charlotte Phillips 1:28.2; Emma Blatchord + Amy Blatchford + Emily Olive + Lucy Anderson 1:38.4
High Jump: 2nd Miquella Livermore 1.30
Standing Long Jump: 1st Elspeth Griffin 2.00
Standing Triple Jump: 2nd Charlotte Phillips 5.70; 4th Jessica Olive 5.31; 7th Phoebe Burton 5.16; 8th Tamsin Strawn 5.15
Vertical Jump: 3rd Gemma Hart 37; 5th Victoria Bilson 33
Speed Bounce: 1st Amy Bilson 83

Under 15 Girls
Vertical Jump: 2nd Sian Davies 51
Speed Bounce: 3rd Sian Davies 70

Southern XC Championships - highest ever Senior Men's team place!

It was a deceptively wet and difficult course at the South of England Cross Country Championships, which didn't really suit our best runners but our Senior Men's team still came a highly respectable 14th overall, in what is thought to be the longest proper cross country race in the world, over 15k - nearly 10 miles in old money.

Leading the way home for us, as he often does, was Williard Chinhanhu. Although returning to something like his best form, Will is not a fan of mud, but was running for the team. After a standard slow start, he worked his way up the field and eventually finished a highly respectable 14th, with some very established names behind him.

Behind him club captain Martin Lewis paced himself superbly to finish a career high 56th in this race. After lap one he had been the 4th Poole Runner but he kept it going through the wet stuff, his swimming background also helping out, and we have tos ay he looked really strong out there. Had there been another lap he would have easily finished in the top 50. However really suffering out there were our next two runners Lee Rodriguez and George Miller. Neither are fans of mud and haven't run a XC race for the past 5 years but, like Will, ran for the team and for their training. Lee was so out of practice that his XC spikes split as he warmed up so he had to run in his track spikes, while Team Manager Alwyn, and Rupert frantically (but calmly, of course) exchanged his spikes from 6mm to the longest they could find. At 6'4" and a naturally heavy stride George isn't a fan but he managed a top 100 spot, with a 93rd place spot which augurs well for his spring training. In fact not having run a XC race in 5 years, George is off to another cross country race in a week's time, this time the IAAF World Series Cinque Mulini event!

With six to score the next two runners were crucial and full marks to Steve Claxton and Dave Penwarden. Steve was a last minute runner, only confirming on Friday evening his place with another of our runners dropping out due to injury he had the pressure on him. After a relatively steady start Steve and his traditional bright green shorts were closing in on Dave lap by lap and he passed him on the last of the four circuits. Dave had a solid run but possibly underestimating the severity of the course ran in studs.

However all the runners had great performances and this is the highest team position for the club in the Senior Men's race in Alwyn's memory and all those who took part should be proud. Many thanks also to Team Managers/drivers/helpers and supporters Alwyn and Lyn, Rupert and Alan Lewis.

Full results:
14 Williard Chinhanhu 53:45
56 Martin Lewis 57:20
70 Lee Rodriguez 57:46
93 George Miller 59:05
309 Steve Claxton 68:25
318 Dave Penwarden 68:52

Dorset Schools Cross Country Championships

Verity Ockenden was a clear winner of the Senior Girls race in the Dorset Schools XC Championships held on Thursday at Kings Park. After a slow opening with an opening group of five or six runners Verity went to the front in the playing fields section, set a strong pace and just stretched away so that she was never headed again. Verity went on to win by 23 seconds, and completed the double as she had won the Dorset AA Championship earlier in the month. For good measure Verity’s school, Thomas Hardye of Dorchester, were first team

In the Senior Boys race Rob Ineson led after a similarly initial slow start but was overhauled by Philip Park of Bryanston (coached/taught by our own (Mr) Nathan Shrubb), and had to settle for second place, but a welcome return to form for the Corfe Hills sixth former. Leif Chandler also had a strong race but was unable to catch the medallists and had to settle for fourth. Leif had had an eventful morning as the school had gone without him, and a panicked phone call to parents got him to the event. James Share had had a bad fall on his bike on Wednesday and a bruised hip impaired his mobility but was a clear sixth place. Archie Parks squeezed into the top 10 with a gutsy last mile and a possible Dorset vest.

The Intermediate Boys race saw a tight finish and a last hundred yard surge Jack Partridge sneaked the silver medal spot. In possibly the most competitive race of the day, the top three were all separated by 3 seconds, but were over 40 seconds clear of fourth spot. Slightly further down the field, James Goodworth was part of the winning Poole Grammar team. Jemma Bawa was 6^th in the Intermediate Girls race and also looks to have won another Dorset vest, having the joined the club in the summer.

In the younger age groups there were great performances from Ben Wilson, who despite being recovering from injury and being a year young nearly collected a medal, and again helped Poole Grammar win the team prize, while Alex Brain also seems to have got into the Dorset team again. In the Minor age groups, Years 6 and 7, it was our years 6 athletes to the fore, with Regan Cooper the highlight as he was 5^th in his race, not very far from a medal. Although selection for Dorset is usually given to the top 10, Regan is too young to go on to the next race and will have to wait a year (hopefully).

Minor Boys

5^th Regan Cooper 9:18

19^th James Kent 9:54

Minor Girls

12^th Chloe Roaf 9:02

15^th Sophie Rogers 9:08

24^th Alex Phillips 9:23

73^rd Rosie Watkins 10:23

Junior Boys

4^th Ben Wilson 15:00

7^th Alex Brain 15:16

17^th Jake Willingham 15:48

32^nd Daniel Martin 16:44

36^th Sam Elliott 16:51

Junior Girls

14^th Rachel Brenton 15:43

38^th Lucy Kirkham 17:16

40^th Amy Bilson 17:17

56^th Charlotte Phillips 18:07

81^st Miquella Livermore 19:29

Intermediate Boys

2^nd Jack Partridge 15:32

20^th James Goodworth 18:05

49^th Reid Marsh 21:29

Intermediate Girls

6^th Jemma Bawa 16:47

32^nd Sian Davies 19:23

Senior Boys

2^nd Rob Ineson (pictured) 23:36

4^th Leif Chandler 23:53

6^th James Share 24:50

10^th Archie Parks 25:31

Senior Girls

1^st Verity Ockenden 15:46

NB Apologies to anyone missed in the results. We have tried to identify everyone, but as you are running for your schools, not the club, and there were hundreds pf runners, spotting all our members is not always perfect. Please let us know and we’ll correct our results!

AFIA - South West Regional Sportshall Under 11s Festival

There were several of our members in the South West Regional Sportshall Festival last weekend, held at Paignton in Devon, representing Dorset. Although a team event, in the girls event Sophie Rogers was our sole individual winner who won the Chest Pass event with a 7.50 metre throw. For good measure she placed 7th in the Standing Long Jump. Isabel Fumpston was 12th in teh Speed bounce with 43 and 14th in the Standing Long Jump with a 1.46 metre jump.

In the boys teams, David Bratchford was an excellent 2nd equal in the Vertical Jump with a 44cm score, and 15th in the Balance Test. Regan Cooper was third in the Speed Bounce with 51 and 4th in the Standing Long Jump with 1.77 metres. Kieran Taylor was 4th in the Javelin with an excellent 17 score, and 7th in the Standing Triple Jump with 5.04 metres. Jake Lock was 12th in the Javelin with a score of 10 metres and 13th in the Speed Bounce, with 38. Ryan Adam was 13th in the Speed Bounce with 38 and 12th in the Target Throw.

All athletes also took part in running events in which all events were held as relays and we do not have the scores or times of those. In the boys competition Dorset Dynamos were 3rd and Dorset Dodgers 6th, while in the girls event, Dorset Dynamos were 5th and Dorset Dodgers were 6th.

52nd Ken Baily Cross Country Results

At the historic Ken Baily Schools cross country race, at Bryanston School in Blandford, there were several second places but no race wins. Most striking was Regan Cooper's 2nd place in the Year 7 Boys race. Striking, because Regan is still only in Year 6. Verity was a narrow runner up, only a couple of seconds from the winner. Jack Partridge and Leif Chandler also had strong runs and placed second in their races.

52nd Ken Baily Results

Year 7 Boys
2nd Regan Cooper 13:39

Year 8 Boys
4th Ben Wilson 13:15
12th Jake Willingham 13:39

Intermediate Boys
2nd Jack Partridge 17:40
8th James Goodworth 20:02
33rd Sam Elliott 22:16
55th Dan Martin 23:10

Senior Boys
2nd Leif Chandler 24:39
3rd Rob Ineson 25:39
5th Archie Parks 26:24

Year 7 & 8 Girls
14th Chloe Roaf 15:42
17th Amy Bilson 15:49
21st Sophie Rogers 16:04
28th Alex Phillips 16:21
31st Chloe Anderson 16:28
54th Nicole Saini 17:19
76th Micquella Livermore 18:08

Intermediate & Senior Girls
2nd verity Ockenden 13:33
8th Nicole Bissett 14:12
11th Rachel Brenton 14:52

Stubbington Green 10K road race results

Brief results from the Stubbington Green 10K
94 Mike Best 13th M50 39.16
156 Gary White 21st M50 41.37

Milborne St Andrew 10 mile road race

It was the first race of the 2009 Club Championship, and the first of the new DRRL. Lee Rodriguez won the race and George Miller was second. In the women's race Christine Thomas was third overall, and first Poole Runner and Caroline Stanzel was fourth in the race and second club runner. Gemma Bunce completed the team which won the team prize

Full results

Men
1 Lee Rodriguez 53:08
2 George Miller 53:51
13 James Baulch 61:20
21 John Towner 63:09
32 John Cakebread 66:11
33 Christine Thomas 66:11 3rd woman overall
36 Chris Guerrier 67:14
43 Geoffrey Scott 68:07 1st male 60
46 Roy Williams 68:20
56 Caroline Stanzel 69:07 4th woman overall
60 Alan Lewis 69:37
64 Steve Daish 70:08
81 David Heath 71:52
116 Gemma Bunce 75:12
134 Daveena Tweed 77:17
135 Paul Ingham 77:21
152 Reinhard Lehmann 78:54
153 Helen Ambrosen 79:18
157 Rex Bale 79:46
172 Brian Panton 81:49
173 Andy Warren 82:07
205 Dorothea Russell 85:44
211 Steve Wardman 85:58
212 Angela Brown 86:03
217 Nick Foale 86:26
231 Heather Nethercott 88:25
232 Jim Moore 88:25
239 Miriam Gray 88:46
253 Jill Daish 92:12
273 Lara Elliott 100:44
280 Elizabeth Hopkins 104:39
291 Chris Hopkins 110:11

results now here http://www.dorsetrrleague.co.uk/Milborne%20results.pdf