Busy start to the New Year for Burgess Hill Runners

Saturday saw the Sussex Athletics Cross Country Championships held at Bexhill.

The expected ‘firm underfoot’ conditions were destroyed by 12 hours of wind and rain which continued into the races and runners faced a quagmire: shin deep puddles and an inability to gain traction for the vast majority of the course.

In the men’s race there were excellent performances in a high quality field from James Collins (25th in 46 mins 19 seconds), Trevor Symes (86th, 59.15), Stuart Condie (92nd, 61.24) and Andy Bradford (94th, 62.38). Similarly hard work was done by the ladies team over their shorter course, with Sharona Harrington 33rd in 31.48 supported by Janet Clapton (55th, 37.02) and Emma Leeson (59th, 37.59).

On New Year’s Day the West Sussex Fun Run League programme kicked off with the traditional ‘Hangover 5’ organised by Goring Road Runners and the club made an excellent start to the season, taking 28 runners and finishing in third place on the day. Jon Boxall ran well to finish in 11th place in his first WSFRL race in 35.30, followed by Jonathan Lelliott (37.05), Trevor Symes (39.18) and Jonathan Davidson (40.04). Janet Clapton led the ladies contingent home in 44.57 for maximum points, closely followed by Emma Buckland (45.18), Sally Symes (47.47) and Stephanie Harding (48.57).

Several members made their league debuts at this event including Philippe Ecaille, Wendy Spicer, Andy Gasson, Glyn Merritt and Malcolm Slater. Finally, a number of members made the trip to Eastbourne on Sunday for the Longman 10, although final results were not available at the time of going to press there were good performances from Dan Foord, Anne Savidge and Theresa Chalk.