Zoe leads way as Stratford AC's ladies claim seventh spot

TWO strong teams from Stratford Athletic Club made the short journey to Cofton Park for the third round of races in their cross country leagues.

They were met by a traditional hilly parkland course with a few boggy sections but generally firm underfoot.

It was cold and damp, but that didn’t deter the Stratford teams.

First off was the women’s race, with nearly 400 runners starting the race which was over two laps of the course which involved four miles in total.

The first 800m was relatively flat and fast so the leading runners soon established themselves at the front.

Stratford’s Zoe Chandler, continuing her comeback to racing, made a good start running in the second group of runners. Chandler continued strongly throughout the race and finished 17th in 25.31.

Next for Stratford was Rachel Pearce who made a strong start and then ran consistently through the race to come 42nd in 28.20 and was also first of the Stratford Masters team (9th master).

Close behind and running a similar race was Sheila Lammas (56th and 16th master, 29.15) who enjoyed the hills on each lap despite having raced and won the Naunton 19 mile the week before.

The final counter in the women’s team was the ever-improving Maria Haslam (95th and 37th master, 31.02).

Very close behind was Emily Adams (105th, 31.26) showing the benefit of her marathon training. Adams was 43rd in the masters’ race, completing the Stratford team.

Emma Vickers (113th, 31.50) commented how much she enjoyed the hills while Suzi Graham (130th, 33.42) is enjoying her cross country season as she becomes a regular in the team.

The next Stratford finisher was Rebecca Pridham (162nd, 37.06) who is returning from injury and found it very demanding.

The rapidly-improving Sarah Vernon (168, 38.16) is enjoying her first season of cross country, gaining several places at the finish with a fast finish.

Three of the team were close together for the whole race and pushed each other on to good results — Jo Young (170th, 38.22), Jan McLure (171th, 38.34) and Kate Sergent (175th, 38.46). Pip Abrams (184th, 42.08) completed the team.

The senior team of four came seventh in Division One of the league, consolidating their mid-table position, while the masters’ team were sixth with the last match in February to come.

Next was the Birmingham League Division Two race, held on the same course but over three laps which meant it was a six-mile course.

The Stratford team was weakened by several absences due to illness, injury and, in one case, a puncture on the way to the race.

Despite this, Stratford ran positively and performed better than could be expected.

After his recent successes, Josh Newman had set his stall out to achieve a top-ten finish. He started strongly and was always near the front. After a fantastic sprint finish, Newman finished seventh in 35.13.

Tim Hutchinson was running his fourth race in eight days, but you wouldn’t have known it, as he cruised through as next finisher for the Stratford team (52nd, 37.47).

In only his second cross country race for the club, Ollie Senior (86th, 39.13) showed what a good signing he is.

Close behind, and also in his first season was Drew Sambridge (94th, 39.42) who looked far more comfortable than in his previous races.

Under-20 Fergus Allison (105th, 40.02) started slowly by his standards as he was suffering from a chest infection, but still found the final lap hard going and did well to finish in such a good position.

The final finisher for the A team was Kieran Tursner (112th, 40.13), who is now getting back to his best and ran well despite not feeling well on the first lap.

Seb Hopper (135th, 40.58) improved as the race went on and looked full of running at the end of the race.

The next finisher was Danny Tolhurst (141th, 41.11) making a welcome return to the team in his first league race for two years. Tolhurst was happy to be back in the squad and he said: “I haven’t done any proper training for a few years now and I know it will take a while to get back to any kind of fitness.”

It’s good news for the club that Tolhurst is on the comeback trail.

David Smyth (154th, 41.58) looked strong all the way round, especially on the hills. After a close finish James Cussack (159th, 42.04) just held off Chris Cond (160th, 42.05) who had started fast but had to dig deep at the finish. Andy Cox (194th, 43.35) was the final counter for the Stratford B team.

The remaining Stratford team finishers were Malcolm Bowyer (218th, 45.18), Martyn Helliker, (224th, 45.42), Mike Sheppard (240th, 47.42), Ben Twyman (251th, 48.50), Dave Wolstencroft (257th, 49.35), James Deacon (262nd, 50.29) and Mike Barrie (273rd, 52.36).

The Stratford A team came 12th from 17, but remained eighth in the league table.

Showing the strength in depth, the B team were sixth and are seventh in the B team league. As with the women’s league, there is one race left in the season.