AndoverAC

 

 

2009 ROAD RUNNERS NEWS

 

 

Cross Country – Prospect Park Reading

 

 

Prospect Park in Reading was the location for the 4th in the series of five races that comprises the Hampshire Cross Country League which pits the athletes from neighbouring counties of Hampshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire and Dorset against each other in a winter endurance league. The athletes were greeted with very cold icy but beautifully sunny weather and unusually for this location - which is normally known for its mud – very hard icy uneven ground.

 

Despite the conditions the show always goes on and the brilliant sunshine and some very notable performances helped to make it a very enjoyable event. As is their trademark – the under 15 boys team consolidated their reputation by taking first team place on the day moving them up the overall rankings to second place. They now have a real chance of taking the title in the final match which will be held in Salisbury in February.  This magnificent team performance saw all four athletes cross the line in the top 10 – the best performance by a country mile by a young Andover distance team in many decades.

 

Alex Rudge was first man home in second place in a time of 12:41 for the 4k course, followed by: Dan Grinham in 6th (13:07), Tom Bennett, who is slowly returning to form following a shoulder injury in 8th place (13:29) and Chris Neil in 10th place (13:44). All four boys also feature in the individual league rankings where four of the five races must have been completed to qualify. Alex holds 2nd place, with Dan Grinham secure in 5th, Tom Bennett 7th and Chris Neil 8th.

Christie Woodford and Chris Berntsen also had great races in their respective under 17 age groups. Both attacked the race from the start. Christie finished the 4k course in 5th place her highest finish ever in 15:31 and Chris in 6th place in a time of 17.49 for the 5.6k race. Also competing on the day were: Ellora Milsom, Vick Grinham, Charlotte Brown, Natalie Thomas, Margaret Smith, Caroline Bennett, Soloman Lane, Sam Winchcombe, Chris Adams, Matt Lane, Tim Bennett and Gordon Smith.

 

Victory 5

A cold day awaited the many runners from around the county and yet again Andover AC was very well supported with 15th athletes running in what was the 5th in the series of the Hampshire Road Race League – Portsmouth’s Victory 5. The mens race was fast with the overall winner coming home in just 22:54. Some way behind in 81st place Matt Lane brought the A team home with a stunning Sub 30 minute 5 mile race, a new personal best (PB) for Matt by nearly 2 minutes and only 2 minutes behind him was Rob Cliff in 142nd (31:51) place also setting a new PB. Ade Sinclair ran extremely well to get 3rd place for the club in an excellent time of 32:14 with David Cleghorn completing the A team with a time of 33:02. These results meant that the A team achieved 4th place in (A) Division 2 maintaining there overall position of 4th in the Hampshire Road Race League. The B team also came 4th in their division (B) Division 2 but move to 3rd place overall, with good solid runs from Martin Welsh (206th PB) Kelvin Mason(237th), Ian Oldacre(280th) and John Goulding (309th).

 

The ladies were also out in force with 2 full Andover AC teams competing, a first for the club – well done ladies. Emma Dunham was first back for the A team in 34th place in the ladies race in a time of 33:49. Emma was followed home by Jo Samways in 40:08 in 106th place and Sandra Blowers in 120th place in a time of 41:14 (a new PB). The A team came 3rd on the day and stayed in 4th overall. The B team was lead home by Sheila Oldacre in 156th place, with Katy Karas 12 places further back, with Sandra Horner and Sally Vant bringing the team home in 210th and 220th places respectfully. Following this fine set of results the B team now lies in 3rd place in the (B) league Division 2. A Big well done to all Andover AC road runners – and a reminder to all that if you have set yourself a New Years resolution to get fitter in 2009 Andover AC is a great place to make a real start towards that goal.

 

Overall results

 

Place

WOMEN

Team

Team

Points

Indv

Score

Age

Cat

 

 

 

 

34

Emma Dunham

Andover AC

260

88.6

Snr

19

0:33:49

06:46

04:12

106

Jo Samways

Andover AC

 

63.7

Snr

47

0:40:08

08:02

04:59

120

Sandra Blowers

Andover AC

 

58.8

W50

13

0:41:14

08:15

05:07

156

Sheila Oldacre

Andover AC

534

46.4

W50

18

0:43:37

08:43

05:25

168

Katy Karas

Andover AC

 

42.2

Snr

78

0:44:14

08:51

05:30

210

Sandra Horner

Andover AC

 

27.7

W40

50

0:47:08

09:26

05:51

220

Sally Vant

Andover AC

 

24.2

Snr

91

0:47:44

09:33

05:56

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MEN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

81

Matt Lane

Andover AC

566

83.2

M40

7

0:29:43

05:57

03:42

142

Robert Cliffe

Andover AC

 

70.3

M40

15

0:31:51

06:22

03:57

159

Ade Sinclair

Andover AC

 

66.7

M40

18

0:32:14

06:27

04:00

184

David Cleghorn

Andover AC

 

61.5

M45

35

0:33:02

06:36

04:06

206

Martin Welsh

Andover AC

1032

56.8

Snr

100

0:33:48

06:46

04:12

237

Kelvin Mason

Andover AC

 

50.3

M55

14

0:34:37

06:55

04:18

280

Ian Oldacre

Andover AC

 

41.3

M55

16

0:36:05

07:13

04:29

309

John Goulding

Andover AC

 

35.2

M70

3

0:37:12

07:26

04:37

 

 

 

To read road runner news reports from 2008 - Click here