Sam Norris and Kate O’Neill prevail in Essex League

Despite several clashing events, such as the London and Eastern championships, being held elsewhere in the east, the Essex League nevertheless went ahead as planned and Sam Norris and Kate O’Neill came out on top of the senior races. Both were close with O’Neill, the 2020 junior Inter-Counties bronze medallist repeating her win from the October race when narrowly heading many-time Essex champion Gemma Kersey. Norris wound up only a few yards clear of Peter Coates with top M50 Adrian Mussett a close third in the men’s race.

1 S Norris (S’end) 26:08; 2 P Coates (Brai ) 26:12; 3 A Mussett (Col H, M50) 26:15 1 Colchester 92; 2 Southend 94; 3 Havering 101 1 J Hurrell (Chelm) 20:09; 2 M Sanderson (B’wood) 20;25; 3 F Evison (Bas) 21:24 1 Chelmsford 14; 2 Basildon 24; 3 Harlow 38 1 J Parrott (Chelm) 14:13; 2 B Tucker (Harl) 14:23; 3 L Jopling (S’end) 14:25 1 Chelmsford 23; 2 Basildon 30; 3 Southend 61 1 T Ketterer (C&T) 12;28; 2 S Brown (SS) 12:29; 3 J Dalton (helm) 12:36 1 Chelmsford 33; 2 SS Athletics 38; 3 Basildon 54 1 K O’Neil (Hav’g) 25:43; 2 G Kersey (Bas) 25:48; 3 K Fitzgibbon (Bas) 27:24 1 Havering 41; 2 Colchester 44; 3 Chelmsford 50 1 E Warn (B ‘wood) 23;59; 2 L Tyler (Col H) 24:08; 3 Z Morley (Bas) 25:35 1 Chelmsford 24; 2 Basildon 31; 3 Colchester & Tendring 36 1 F Phillips (Chelm) 15:20; 2 I Daisy (Chelm) 15:50; 3 A Shipton (Chelm) 16:09 1 Chelmsford 22; 2 Basildon 30; 3 SS Athletics 65 1 I Kehoe (Chelm) 12;58; 2 B Castleton-Cooke (Chelm) 13:09; 3 S Sowen (SS) 13;17 1 SS Athletics 21; 2 Chelmsford 26; 3 C&T 58 The races were held in the grounds of the medieval moated Broughton Castle and the owner, Martin Fiennes, the 22nd Baron Seye & Sele, presented many of the awards as the venue hosted a cross-country event for the first time since 1979. The association’s treasurer is Reading AC’s Jess Gibbon, who added to her 2022 women’s title comfortably with a near two-minute victory over Newbury junior Josie Robertson, who has dominated the Oxfordshire League this year. Gibbon has had a quiet year after winning the South of England title in January, but returned to take the Energy Vision Cross Cup in Roeselare at the end of October.



It was another under-20 who took the men’s race as Chris Parker ran in the colours of regular BB&O club Reading, whilst his fellow Oxford University runners turned out in force to take the team race, as part of their warm up for the annual Varsity race against Cambridge University. 1 C Parker (Read, U20) 25:57; 2 A Gruen (MK Dist) 26:02; 3 N Whittaker (Oxf U) 26:05 1 R Corney (Read RR) 27:27 1 Oxford U 42; 2 Oxford U B 127; 3 Reading 151 1 Newbury 25 1 J Titmas (Read) 20:55; 2 J Norton (Newb) 21:04; 3 M Gillas (Read) 21:10 1 Newbury 16; 2 Bracknell 22; 3 Reading 22 1 E Langley-Aybar (Brack) 13:42; 2 J Legge (Brack) 14:07; 3 S Nixon-Gagg (Abing) 14:09 1 Bracknell 8; 2 WSEH 18; 3 Radley C 30 1 S Cousins (Radley) 13:21; 2 N Spruce (Abing) 13:36; 3 W May (Read) 13:39 1 Abingdon 21; 2 Reading 28; 3WSEH 30 1 J Gibbon (Read) 28:59; 2 J Robertson (Newb) 30:45; 3 J Ridley (WSEH) 30:57 1 N Griffith (WSEH) 31:49 1 J Robertson (Newb) 30:45 1 Reading 16; 2 Oxford U 20; 3 WSSEH 21 1 Eynsham 16 1 Y Grant (WSEH) 24:31; 2 S Massie (WSEH) 25:02; 3 G Colley (WSEH) 25:26 1 WSEH 6; 2 Bracknell 24; 3 WSEH B 25 1 Z Allan (WSEH) 15:18; 2 R Street (WSEH) 15:58; 3 C Campbell (Oxf C) 16:16 1 WSEH 9; 2 WSEH B 34; 3 Bracknell 42 1 H Lucas (Brack) 14:47; 2 M Lennox-Imbastari (WSEH) 14:48; 3 F Staker (Read) 15:17 1 Bracknell 12; 2 Reading 19; 3 Oxford C 38 Former Nene Valley Harrier James McCrae returned to his roots to take the Eastern championship while Lucy Mapp moved up from sixth last year to win the women’s race. In the age group events, Olivia Forrest, the English Schools and Inter-Counties champion, won another title in the under-17 women’s category.

1 J McCrae (Hallam) 36:46; 2 L White (Felix) 37:14; 3 C Smith (Hunts) 37:40 1 Huntingdonshire 14 1 Cambridgeshire 1 M Amos (Hunts, M40) 41:26; 2 M Hayward (New J) 41:30; 3 S Coombes (Herne H, M50) 41:31 1 S Howard (Ely) 25:10 1 G Chapman (Ely) 26:57 1 J Stocker (Hunts) 31:27 1 W Hollands (St Ed) 26:03; 2 T Taylor (St Ed) 26:24; 3 Taylor (St Ed) 26:58 1 St Edmunds Pacers 6 1 Suffolk 1 S Melero (St Ed) 20:24; 2 B Eccles (Bure) 21:01; 3 S McDougal (C&C) 21:05 1 Cambridge & Coleridge 16 1 F McLennon (C&C) 12:42; 2 L Legge (P’boro &NV) 12:59; 3 C Calver (W Suff) 13:01 1 Cambridge & Coleridge 11 1 M Sanford (Chelm) 11:00; 2 C Holland (Waveney) 11:10; 3 E Gibbs (Bed C) 11;16 1 Bedford & C 23 1 L Mapp (Hunts) 24:46; 2 L Cason (Ips J) 24:57; 3 S Bird (Ips J, W35) 25:40 1 Ipswich Jaffa 17 1 K Austin (Ips J, W40) 24:57; 2 K King (St Ed) 25:26; 3 H Buller (St Neots, W45) 25:40 1 S Warren (C&C) 27:18 1 Suffolk 1 E Jonas (Norw) 26:04; 2 F Hammond (W Suff) 27:14; 3 I Mitchell (Ips H) 27:40 1 O Forrest (B’wood) 22:44; 2 E Kerswell (C&C) 23:21; 3 C Hughes (C&C) 23:33 1 St Edmunds Pacers 15 1 H Woodley (B’wood) 13:57; 2 A Keen (Ips H) 14:27; 3 V Brooke (Norw) 14:56 1 Brentwood Beagles 15 1 M Kindler (B’wood) 11:21; 2 S Bolton (St Ed) 12:05; 3 S Bickerstaff (B’wood) 12:26 1 Brentwood Beagles 8 Andrew Penney won for Surrey League champions Hercules Wimbledon but could not stop rivals Thames Hare & Hounds coming out on top in the four-to-score team race. After moving up from fifth here last year, Penney ran out a winner over James Hoad by around 30 metres. Penney said: “I did have a break after the track season and did cross training.

Regarding the mileage I have been doing 60 to 70 and trying to pick it up.” The women’s race saw Lucy Jones head a Herne Hill club one-two as Sophie Tooley took the silver medal but it was third-placed Elizabeth Apsley who ensured that Thames posted a men’s and women’s team double. Jones said: “I felt good and strong and was relaxed for the first lap with my clubmate Sophie.

When I went to the front in the second lap, I tried to push it on.”Geoff Jerewood at Herne Hill. 1 A Penney (HW) 34;29; 2 J Hoad (THH) 34:29; 3 M Cameron (TVH) 34:48; 4 B Dewer (Herne H) 34:52; 5 J Brookman (THH) 35:01; 6 S Greenstein (SB) 35:23 1 THH 30; 2 TVH 66; 3 Hercules W 89 1 L Jones (Herne H) 20:58; 2 S Tooley (Herne H) 21:52; 3 E Apsley (THH) 31:57; 4 E Bradley (Belg) 21:59; 5 J Hodder (Belg) 22:01; 6 C Sharp (B&B) 22:02 1 THH 34; 2 Herne Hill 47; 3 Belgrave 58 1 A Lennon (Sutt) 15:36; 2 H Austin (Camb) 15:55; 3 I Mezey (Ealing) 15:57 1 A Pflug (Camden) 9:46; 2 T Creed (Merton) 9:54; 3 T Clerkin (Merton) 10:05 1 E Aldridge (Brom) 7:09; 2 F Kounoupus-Prastalo (Camb) 7:09; 3 B Kaspar (Barn) 7:17 1 A Nicholl (H&F) 11:28; 2 R James (T Hamlets) 11;34; 3 L McDonald (C Lon) 11:39 1 J March (Enf) 7:11; 2 I Harrison (Wands) 76:22; 3 S Smith (Hav’g) 7:28 1 C Foster (G’wich) 7:44; 2 A Wait (Merton) 7:48; 3 S O’Brien (S’wark) 7:51 Jack Gray, the double Midland Counties senior champion, added another title to his portfolio over seven miles at High Harcourt Farm, Romsley as Rebecca Miles took the women’s race.

After winning the Midland title in 2019 the Cambridge & Coleridge runner had two area silvers before again winning the Midland senior title in 2023, the year he also took podium places in both the English National and Inter-Counties Championships. Here Gray won by exactly a minute over Wreake & Soar Valley’s Daniel Hallam who was third in the 2018 Midland senior event. For women’s winner Miles, this was the Desford runner’s first notable victory.

1 J Gray (C&C) 36:59; 2 D Hallam (Wreake) 37:59; 3 N Williams (Notts, n/s) 40:50; 5 R Hale (Notts) 41:31; 5 J Reed (Tip) 41:45; 6 T De Jong (Notts, n/s) 42:02 1 Notts 81; 2 Wolverhampton & Bilston 88; 3 Tipton 113 1 R Miles (Desf) 34:18; 2 B Tabor (Tip) 34:34; 3 K McGonigal (B’ville) 35:14; 4 L Collins (Hales) 35:36; 5 P Dodd (Hales) 35:54; 6 C Baker (B’ville) 36:14 1 Halesowen 25; 2 Bourneville 43; 3 Tipton 49 The second match of the re-named London Colleges League saw Daniel McKinney and Grace Leyland come out on top of the men’s and women’s races. 1 D McKinney (Read) 33:11; 2 H Donovan (UAL) 33:11; 3 I Makar (Imp C) 33;13; 4 S Babin (Kings) 33;16; 5 D Matthews (RVC) 33:25; 6 L Wheeler (Kings) 33:31 1 Imp C 552; 2 Kings 943: 3 UCL 871 1 G Leyland (St George’s) 17:29; 2 E Warren (Surrey) 17:32; 3 E Davies (LSE) 17:48; 4 J Alonso-Gautrals (UCL) 18:10; 5 M Parmer (St George’s) 18:39; 6 C Firth (Kings) 18:49 1 St George’s 770; 2 UCL 769; 3 LSE 755 1 M Knowles (Edin U) 27:28; 2 R Martin (Stirl U) 27:44; 3 C Gourley 27:47 : 1 Edin U 13; 2 Stirl U 41; 3 Glas U 84 : 1 E Shaw (Edin U) 32:16; 2 E McNicol (Glas U) 32:34; 3 C Heggie (Edin U) 33:16 : 1 Edin U 15; 2 Glas U 55; 3 S’clyde 61 1 L Rees (Fife) 25:44; 2 D Milne (Centr) 26:00; 3 M Pryde (Loth) 26:07 : 1 Centr 67; 2 Dund H 168; 3 Loth 214 : J Tole (Metro) 27:53 : Metro 11 1 F MacKenzie (Metro) 21:39; 2 A Macfaden (Dund H) 21:51; 3 K Hardie (Harm) 22:02 1 Harm 13; 2 A’deen 37; 3 Metro 40 1 L Anderson (Anst) 14:27; 2 J Gillan (Centr) 14:31; 3 R Lees (Edin) 14:33 1 Edin 13; 2 T Bord 32; 3 Perth S 40 1 T Comer (Edin) 11:37; 2 T Ibbs (E Loth) 11:37; 3 J Shinnie (A’deen) 11:41 1 Edin 24; 2 Perth S 29; 3 Harm 30 G Wright (Hadd) 5:56 1 Edin 31 1 Dund H 447; 2 Edin 544; 3 Harm 623 1 M Millar (Centr) 23:30; 2 M Sanchez Oller (Edin) 25:06; 3 A Hedley (Centr) 25:37 : 1 Edin 32; 2 Cors 36; 3 Perth R 99 E Mooney (Ochil) 27:48 : HBT 21 1 E Dallas (S’earn, U17) 15:06; 2 J Taylor (Edin, U17) 15:31; 3 J Evans (Dunf, U17) 15:49 E Taylor (A’deen) 16:17 1 A’deen 26; 2 S’earn 47; 3 Edin 50 1 M Glass Park (Banc) 12:35; 2 G Whyte (Perth S) 12:50; 3 E Daunt (Edin) 12:59 1 1 Edin 16; 2 Harm 33; 3 Perth S 42 C Czekalowska (A’deen) 6:04 : Edin 12 1 Edin 107; 2 A’deen 286; 3 Harm 486 1 B Goodfellow (Dallam) 38:14; 2 R Allison (Dark Pk) 38:24; 3 Matthew Cardus 38:46; 4 M Barrow (Amble) 38:50; 5 J Smith (Helm H) 39:09; 6 K Barker (Amble) 39:21 : P Mather (Lons) 40:54 : J Dunn (Sett) 41:28 : J Dyer (Helm H) 45:51 : D Griffin (Helm H) 46:55 : N Hewitt (Bowl) 56:19 : S Ashton-Fitch (Sett) 41:26 : 1 H Smith (Salf, W40) 43:24; 2 A Lupton (B Combe, W45) 44:44; 3 Emily Simpson 47:52; 4 K Hurt (COLT) 49:24 : B Dyer (Helm, H) 49:50 : D Howard (Furn) 55:47 : C Museth (Amble) 55:52 : K Ayres (Amble) 60:12 1 M Kenyon (Dron) 30:05; 2 M Jones (Dark Pk) 31:20; 3 James Robertson 31:59; 4 P Montgomery (Dark Pk) 32:15; 5 F Watts (Dark Pk) 32:27; 6 M Burley (Macc) 32:29 : Andy Charlton 34:40 : J Stockdale (Mark) 39:03 : Rick Frolich 43:12 : K Holmes (Dark Pk) 48:03 : 1 L Watson (Dark Pk) 35:25; 2 A Mandal (Dark Pk) 36:48; 3 T Raab (Dark Pk) 37:57; 4 R Rose (Dark Pk, W40) 38:28 : H Elmore (Dark Pk) 41:07 : K Clark (Steel) 50:57 1 E Wilkinson (K&C) 35:52; 2 B Houlihan (Otl) 36:49; C Shearer (Barl) 37:44; 4 O Brooks (Wharf) 38:04; 5 J Hiom (Kesw) 38:18; 6 E Hassell (Wharf) 38:52 : C Emsley (Bing) 41:33 : J Green (Ilkley) 42:43 : J Ferguson (Bing) 48:21 : K Brewster (Vall) 58:16 : 1 A Wall (Horsf) 42:50; 2 E Clayton (Bing) 42:56; 3 E Bramley (Kesw) 44:05; 3 H Hardaker (K&C, W40) 45:57 : R Thackray (Bing) 47:11 : T Emery (Bing) 56:37 1 Wharf 9; 2 Bing 10; 3 K&C 12 1 G Hopkinson (Mat) 34:53; 2 L Roberts (Worc) 36:28; 3 T Rutter (Dark Pk, M40) 38:14; 4 M Anderson (Totley, M40) 38:43; 5 Brent Carlin (M40) 38:48; 6 S Berryman (Summ) 39:56 : P Lewis (Long E) 42:42 : A Barnett (Dark Pk) 47:23 : Danny Bird 50:35 : 1 C Brock (Steel) 42:33; 2 J Ellis (Penn, W40) 46:46; 3 A Wildman (Penn, W40) 46:48; 4 S Evans (Steel) 48:55 : A Wainwright (Dark Pk) 53:13 1 G Roberts (Calder V, M40) 71:53; 2 D B Hughes (Col B) 72:06; 3 J Hartley (B Combe) 72:45; 4 J Williams (G’dale) 74:03; 5 I Evans (Denbigh) 81:32; 6 B Dooley (Amble) 81:34 : N Brook (Eryri) 82:54 : Jonathan Moore 92:23 : Tim Knight 1:42:17 : M Snell (Eryri O) 1:48:36 : N Harris (Ross) 2:18:13 1 L Richardson (Eryri) 91:21; 2 K Reynolds (Eryri) 92:53; 3 M Grant (Eryri, W40) 1:43:11; 4 C Cummings (Penn) 1:43:13 : M Hughes (Eryri) 1:44:40 : A Rowlands (Eryri) 1:45:14 : R Isaacs (Pens) 1:48:35 : Helen Webber 2:19:24.