A busy couple of weeks in the cross country calendar with Beagles competing in the Essex League, London Youth Games, Liverpool Cross Challenge and the Eastern Championships. Super results from all places! Well done too to our Brighton 10k’ers and everyone who has been producing amazing results in the school cross country events!
Liverpool Cross Challenge
A very muddy trip to Liverpool for our Beagles for the second round of the Cross Challenge series today saw 4 medals for the club and some brilliant personal performances.
The U11s race saw another brilliant run for Lianne Esterhuysen who showed real strength over the 2k course to finish 3rd in 7:43. Also having an amazing race, despite being one of the youngest in it, was Blossom Smith who finished an amazing 16th in 8:20.
The U13s race over 3k saw another dominant performance from Madison Kindler who led throughout the course, enjoying her muddy experience. She took the tape in 11:20.
The U15 girls also ran over 3k and also saw superb front running from the Beagles with Summer Smith and Heidi Woodley both sticking with the leading group and pushing the race pace. Summer ultimately finished 3rd in 11:06 with Heidi 5th in 11:15. Also having a good personal race was Isabel Forrest who was over 50 places further up the field than last year in 42nd – 12:23. Whilst Missy Tiller made her Liverpool debut with a strong start and good effort throughout to finish 62nd – in 12:52.
In the U17 women’s 4.4km race, Olivia Forrest recovered from a poor start to progress well through the field ultimately finishing in 3rd – 16:16. Evie Warn also ran well through the race, finishing strongly in 38th – 17:58. In the men’s U17 race over the same distance Max Sanderson had a good first Liverpool experience to finish 49th in 15:29.
The final race of the day saw great enthusiasm from our senior men who ran over 8km. Robin Smith probably regretted the trail shoes but managed to stay on his feet despite the ever growing mud lakes. Robin finished 206th out of the 537 runners – 34:24. Daniel Esterhuysen continues his cross country initiation with a great run in the mud and enthusiastic smiles throughout – 360th in 39:21. Honourable mention for coach Rob Trevor (running for his first claim club) who also made the most of his Liverpool run to finish 216th in 34.50.
Well done all on the brilliant results that were definitely worth standing in the mud and rain for!
Essex League
The third round of the Essex League took place today at Hilly Fields in Colchester. Well done to everyone who ran – once again we saw some brilliant Beagles results and it’s great to see the individual progress being made.
First up were our U11’s running over 1.5k. Once again Lianne Esterhuysen finished as first female (6:47), with Blossom Smith in 4th (7:16), Thea Clark in 8th (7:32) and Evie Foley in 13th (7:52). On the boys side Bertie Allen finished 12th (7:11), Oscar Gander was 14th (7:12), Jude Deal 18th (7:21), George Kyprianou 19th (7:26), Jude McNicholl 21st (7:49), Archie Hussey 26th (7:51), Luke Morris 34th (8:14), and Oliver Jones 37th (8:58).
The U13s ran over 3.3k and we had just one female Beagle today – Caitlin Phillips – who did a great job finishing 13th (14:55). Plenty of U13 boys though! Well done to Adam Armour who was 15th (13:45), Mason Grindrod 23rd (14:05), Jamie Murphy 24th (14:07), Cameron Young (who ran holding his shoe for much of the race) 31st (14:51), Max Massarella 33rd (15:02), Ollie Trevor 39th (15:34), Jacob Stanley 41st (15:41) and Sid Allen 43rd (15:59).
The U15s were running 4km and we saw some brilliant runs by our girls – in 7th was Izzy Young (17:08) and 10th Esme Thomas (17:38). On the boys side Mattie Delea was 20th (15:47) with Frankie Edwards and Matthew Jones neck and neck on the line in 29th and 30th (16:24).
U17’s ran over 6k and we saw a brilliant win for Evie Warn (23:59) with Mara Thomas in 5th (26:20). Also running strongly was Max Sanderson who was 2nd in the men’s race (20:25).
In the senior women’s race over 6.6k, Lorraine Massarella produced another great run to finish 36th (32:40). And making her league debut was Francesca Gordon who was 40th (33:12).
Finally our senior men over 8k and also making his league debut was Scott Brooks who finished 44th (28:56) just one second and place ahead of Alex Young in 45th (28:57). Daniel Esterhuysen also ran well finishing 174th (35:57).
Well done again to all who ran. And a big thank you to Laurence for these photos!
Eastern Championships
In Bury St Edmunds on Saturday the Eastern (England) Athletics Association. cross country was taking place on a lovely course in Nowton Park. First race of the day saw our U13 girls absolutely dominate over 3k with Madison Kindler taking the win (11:21), Sophie Bickerstaff finishing 3rd (12:26) and Amalie Twydell 4th (12:26). Needless to say we also picked up the team win too and a nice new trophy!
The U15 girls were inspired by this success and also set out at pace over 4k. Heidi Woodley ran from the front and built a good lead to easily finish 1st (13:57). Missy Tiller ran well to finish 6th (15:20) with Isabel Forrest in 8th (15:33). Brilliant performances that also saw team gold!
Elliot Worth was one sole male representative and he had to face 3 laps for a 12k course. A good run saw him finish 7th in his age group with a time of 51:58.
Finally Olivia Forrest ran over 6.25k against the U17s, U20s Senior Women, and Masters Men and still led from beginning to end ensuring yet another Beagles win. Her time was 22:44.
Hadleigh 2k
Congratulations to Amalie Twydell who finished first girl at the Hadleigh 2k mixed terrain run. Amalie finished in 7:56 – 30 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor.
London Youth Games
Meanwhile over in London and at the tough Parliament Hill course it was the London Youth Games. The U15s there ran just 2k and a strong run up the hill by Summer Smith saw her finish 3rd (7:28). In the boys event, over 3k, Ollie Johnson was 123rd (12:11).
The U11s event saw good runs from Emily Brewington who finished 27th (8:27), from Alice Jones in 83rd (9:01) and from Poppy Monk in 191st (10:51).
In the U13 boys race Will Fagan ran well to finish 72nd (8:18). And Emily Johnson also did great in the 2k girls race finishing 198th (10:34).
Well done to all! Another set of superb results.
Brighton 10k
Sunday saw a great opportunity for some road running by the sea! So a trip to Brighton was taken by three of our Beagles who produced some great running in the Brighton 10k event. Simon Knightbridge was 193rd overall and 10th in his age category with his great run of 37:11. Also having a great event was Stuart Crowther who was 403rd overall and 15th in this age group with his run of 41:04. Finally Jemimah Knightbridge once again having a brilliant 10k with her finish – 494th overall but an amazing 3rd in her age group – 42:45.
Great running all!
District Schools Cross Country
We saw so many Beagles at the Mid Essex district trials last week – it was amazing to see so many out running and giving their best! Unfortunately no results are released from the event but congratulations to everyone who ran – we really were proud. We did manage to note our podium placed runners so well done to:
Yr7 Girls – Madison Kindler (1st)
Yr7 Boys – Hugo Wilks (1st), Max Cheetham (3rd)
Junior Girls – Heidi Woodley (1st)
Intermediate Girls – Olivia Forrest (1st)
Senior Girls – Mara Thomas (2nd)
Senior Boys – Max Sanderson (3rd)
The Southend District trials also say Beagles success with Amalie Twydell finishing first in the junior girls event and Jude Hearn finishing second in the intermediate boys one!
Well done to everybody who has qualified to represent their district in the Essex event.
Parkrun and Junior parkun round up (16-17 November)
With an array of events taking place on Saturday, numbers of Beagles taking part in Parkrun were significantly down from the usual, but we did have representatives at Raphael, Billericay, Tooting Common & Brentwood.
At Raphael, Keith Thornton (21:04) made the top 20, finishing a very respectable 19th from 315 runners, on a day when there was a very close attempt at the course record! Also taking part at the event was Stuart Bennett (32:25).
At Billericay, Dylan Hussain (23:10 PB) ran well to finish 40th overall. Dylan also recorded his course best, a significant improvement from his last effort a couple of years ago. At Tooting, Matt Earing* (28:16) was in action while at Brentwood, Daniel Jaycock (21:48) continued his comeback from injury, finishing 4th overall from 116 runners.
On Sunday, numbers at junior events were also down with many recovering from their XC efforts the day before. However, there was still a good turnout at Harrow Lodge where Matthew Jones (07:00 PB) continued his exceptional progression of late with his 3rd PB at the course in a row, shaving another 3 seconds off his previous best. In 2nd was Jessica Page* (07:47), 4th Blossom Smith (08:22) while another course best was claimed by 8th placed Ezra-Zion Gooch (08:55 PB), taking 11 seconds off his prior best. In 11th was Willow Smith (09:05), 15th Jack Collier (09:23), 18th Zachary Watson (09:51) and 1 place further back, Finley Smith* (09:58).
At Hutton Rec., Nadia Price (08:32 PB) ran strongly to finish 2nd and 1st female, claiming a 2nd successive course best taking a further 9 seconds off her time. In 7th was Max Morris (09:32), 8th Jessica Thomson* (09:450, 10th Alexandra Johnston (09:50), 11th Chloe Thomson* (09:57), 12th Elise Gosling (10:00), just 2 seconds outside her best time., and 20th Joshua Thomson* (11:12). Finally, touring at Bury St. Edmunds was Liam Worth (09:54) who took 12th on his first appearance at the event.
Parkrun and Junior parkun round up (23-24 November)
Storm Bert was out in full force at the weekend but so were our Beagles who were battling against the wind and rain in their 2 & 5k runs. On Saturday, there was a strong turnout at Raphael and some great performances despite the conditions. Matthew Jones (18:22) continued his great progression coming 6th overall, 1 place & 2 seconds ahead of Simon Knightbridge (18:24). In 14th was Ollie Johnson (19:29) and in 32nd with a fine run was Emily Brewington (21:19 PB) who took a second off her course best, congratulations Emily!
More exceptional performances at Billericay as all 3 Beagles in attendance secured PB’s! Alex Young (17:53 PB) finished 2nd overall while a superb effort from Sophie Bickerstaff (19:41 PB) saw her finish 1st female and take a huge 31 seconds off her previous best! Isabelle Young (24:30 PB) also had a great run, finishing 40th overall and knocking nearly a minute off her best time. Well done all.
At a muddy and testing Brentwood, there were just the 2 runners as Elliot Worth (22:37) placed 9th and Kurt Brooks (23:49) 11th. Meanwhile, touring at Kings Lynn, was Keith Thornton (20:46) who finished 21st, at Rushmoor Stuart Crowther (21:02) took 29th and finally at Tooting Common, Matt Earing* (32:14) placed 387th.
On Sunday, Sophie Bickerstaff (07:28) was running strongly again, finishing 2nd overall and 1st female while Sage Kernohan (12:11) also ran well, taking 28th. There was a strong turnout at Harrow Lodge with 8 Beagles taking part. Leading the way once again and collecting the #1 token was Matthew Jones (07:12) while Emily Brewington (08:17) also did well finishing 2nd and 1st female. 3rd went to Blossom Smith (08:42) while Ezra-Zion Gooch (08:52 PB) took 5th and collected a new course best. 6th went to Willow Smith (09:16), 9th Finley Smith* (09:56), 11th Jack Collier (10:21) and 13th Freya Brewington (10:29).
Finally, at Hutton Rec., our Beagles performed strongly taking 4 of the first 5 tokens in testing conditions. Camilla Nash (09:26) ran strongly from the start to take 1st while a gutsy progressive effort from Alexandra Johnston (09:32) saw her close down the lead well to end up a close 2nd. Liam Worth (09:58) took 4th and 1st male, while Ted Lobo (10:08) finished just a few seconds behind in 5th. Sophie Lobo* (11:13) also did well, finishing 10th overall.
Well done to all our representatives this weekend. Can we please remind you that we can only pick up your results in the parkun club report if you register yourself as being part of the club in your parkrun profile. Unfortunately, the automatic club report only works on the Saturday parkruns so we are unable to spot performances at junior parkruns beyond the local ones we monitor (Harrow Lodge, Hutton Rec., Chelmsford, Lake Meadows and Northlands). Feel free to contact us if you need help setting up your profile or if you want to tell us about your runs further afield.
Coming up
It’s the fourth of the Essex league on Saturday which takes place at Writtle – a nice flat(er) course for our runners – we hope to see lots of you there. Good luck to all our primary school runners taking part in the Edmund Carr races.
