Latest round-up includes news from South Shields, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Essex, Warwickshire and other areas across the UK
NORTH EAST COUNTIES CHAMPIONSHIP, South Shields, Tyne & Wear, December 14
Calum Johnson proved he is the master in the north-east once again after beating Chris Coulson by more than a minute at Temple Park.
However, it was third placed Lawrence McCourt who led his Morpeth club to the team victory as they had four finishers in the top six.
Johnson had finished sixth in at the British Cross Challenge in Liverpool but wasn’t selected for the European Cross Country Championships.
This was his first outing since Liverpool and there was no rustiness in him whatsoever.
Morpeth also came out on top in the women’s race, with Millie Breese leading a 1-2-3 for her club.
Breese opted for the senior race rather than the junior outing and had a narrow victory over teammate Catriona MacDonald.
Millie Breese (David Hewitson)
Men: 1 C Johnson (Gate) 32:09; 2 C Coulson (Hough) 33:14; 3 L McCourt (Morp) 33:40
TEAM: 1 Morpeth
U20: 1 J Dixon (Morp) 22:51; 2 B Sproats (NSP) 23:03; 3 B Marr (Morp) 23:23
TEAM: 1 Morpeth
U17: 1 Z Gribbon (N Marske) 19:26; 2 L McDonough (Alnw) 19:28; 3 J Brown (Mandale) 19:41
TEAM: 1 NSP
U15: 1 J Sturman (NSP) 11:34; 2 K Sridhar (Darl) 11:40; 3 K Pearson (Wallsend) 11;56
TEAM: 1 Darlington
U13: 1 N Penfold (NSP) 9:51; 2 O Curran (Darl) 9:59; 3 P Davies (NSP) 10:11
TEAM: 1 Darlington
Women: 1 M Breese (Morp, U20) 26:49; 2 C MacDonald (Morp) 26:54; 3 H Lawrence (Morp)
27:17
TEAM: 1 Morpeth
U20/U17: 1 C Dillon (Hought) 16:16; 2 I Bungay (Elsw) 16:21; 3 Z Jones (Darl, U17) 16:54
U17: 2 H Stead (B;hill) 16:57; 3 I Oldfield (Alnw) 17:03
TEAM: 1 NSP
U15: 1 G Pinder (N Marske) 12:07; 2 H Robison (Hough) 12:46; 3 O Murphy (Birt) 12:49
TEAM: 1 Birtley
U13: 1 P Phillipson (Birt) 10:55; 2 I Hall Birt) 10:59; 3 A Blight (Elsw) 11:05
TEAM: 1 Elswick
BEDFORDSHIRE & BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 2025 Championships, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
The two counties once again staged a combined championships and moved from their traditional January date to December, due to the non-availability of Campbell Park next month.
In the end, there was a much-reduced entry from Bedfordshire’s clubs, with a clash with the Three Counties League one reason given.
It was Vale of Aylesbury’s Thomas Fell, a distant 17th in January’s event, who comfortably came out on top of the men’s race, with a sizeable win over Findlay Dyer to take the Bucks title, while third placed Mohammed Elbayan won the Bedfordshire gold.
The overall women’s race saw Alice Rolfe take victory over a field of Bucks runners, as the Bedfordshire women were absent.
The biggest overall win of the day came from Bucks’ Kara Gorman, the English National under-13 champion, whose margin in the under-15 girls’ event was well over a minute.
Kara Gorman (Graham Smith)
BEDFORDSHIRE
Men (10km): 1 M Elbayan (Lut) 35:25; 2 J Farmer (L Buzz) 36:54; 3 A Headley (Bed C) 37:52
TEAM: no team closed in
M60 (6.9km): 1 M Kleanthos (Leigh FR) 32:42
U20: 1 C Barnes (Bed C) 25:56
U17: 1 M Kotrys (Bed C) 22:23; 2 A Henderson (Bed C) 22:59; 3 T Beale (Bed C) 23:13
TEAM: 1 Bedford &C 6
U15: 1 H Henderson (Bed C) 14:18
TEAM: 1 Bedford &C 12
U13: 1 E Gibbs (Bed C) 9:48
TEAM: 1 Bedford &C 7
Women (7.5km): 1 J Dear (L Buzz) 34:00
TEAM: no team closed in
W55 (6.2km): 1 V Singleton-Lawley (Bed H, W60) 39:45
U20/U17: 1 S Jacobs (St Alb) 17:16
U17: 1 L Freeland (Mil K) 20:17
TEAM: 1 Bedford & C 11
U15: 1 L Bone (Bigg) 16:53
TEAM: 1 Bedford &C 9
U13: 1 L Flutton (Lut) 10:50
TEAM: 1 Bedford & C 9
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
Men (10km): 1 T Fell (VoA) 33:54; 2 F Dyer (Belg) 35:46; 3 N Jones (VoA) 35:37
M40: 1 S Buckle (L Buzz) 35:45
TEAM: 1 Vale of Aylesbury 71
M40 TEAM: 1 Leighton Buzzard 24
M60 (6.9km): 1 R Day (VoA) 31:52
U20: 1 S Colley (WSEH) 24:57
U17: 1 E Johnson (hilt) 22;18; 2 S Kaye (VoA) 23:41; 3 J Holdsworth (Chilt) 23:52
TEAM: 1 Chiltern 18
U15: 1 J Smith (Mil K) 15:32; 2 F Haywood (Wyc P) 13:46
TEAM: 1 Wycombe Phoenix 23
U13: 1 L Dolan (VoA) 9:37
TEAM: 1 Milton Keynes 28
Women (7.5km): 1 A Rolfe (VoA) 33;16; 2 N Taylor (Wyc P) 35:02
TEAM: 1 Vale of Aylesbury 13
W55 (6.2km): 1 D Brent (Mil K, W60) 34:03
U20/U20: 1 M Pearce (Mil K) 17:47; 2 S Chapman (Mil K, U17) 18:17; 3 T Gray (Dac) 18:25
U17: 2 K Webb (Mil K) 19:14; 3 A Peckham (Chilt) 20:05
TEAM: 1 Milton Keynes 7
U15: 1 K Gorman (WSEH) 14:07; 2 O Geary (Mil K) 15:19
TEAM: 1 Milton Keynes 14
U13: 1 J McDougal (Chilt) 10:24
TEAM: 1 Chiltern 6
Varsity Match (Graham Smith)
BERKSHIRE CHAMPIONSHIPS, Hungerford, December 14
A week after ploughing through the water and mud in the Varsity match between Oxford and Cambridge, the Berks, Bucks & Oxon champion Chris Parker added another title as Nina Griffith took victory in the women’s race.
The W35 master, who has had a quiet couple of years after running a 2:36:45 marathon in Cheshire in 2021, is back to winning ways once again.
Men: 1 C Parker (Read) 31:32; 2 S Hart (NEB) 31:54; 3 S Hodgeson (WSEH) 31:59
M40: 1 L Jolly (Read) 32:05; 2 R O’Brien (Read RR) 34:21
M50: 1 A Rennie (Read) 36:19
M60: 1 A Collett (T Kennett) 41:23
TEAM: 1 Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow
M40 TEAM: 1 Newbury
U20: 1 D Bavazzano (WSEH) 24:57; 2 C Welsh (WSEH) 26:17
TEAM: 1 Newbury
U17: 1 W Humm (Brack) 19:37; 2 M Gillas (Read) 19:42; 3 S Toqeer (WSEH) 19:57
TEAM: 1 Newbury
U15: 1 E Langley-Abar (Brack) 15:05; 2 J Legge (Brack) 15:25; 3 B Lucas (Brack) 15:36
TEAM: 1 Bracknell
U13: 1 T Bainbridge (WSEH) 10:55; 2 L Moss (And) 11:12; 3 A Evans (WSEH) 11:25
TEAM: 1 WSEH
Women:1 N Griffith (WSEH, W35) 31:05; 2 A Jones (M’head) 32:02; 3 K Clutterbuck (WSEH)
33:04
TEAM: 1 Newbury
W35 TEAM: 1 Newbury
U20: 1 J Robertson (Newb) 21:59; 2 J Heller (WSEH) 22;25; 3 Z Rennie (Read) 22:47
TEAM: 1 WSEH
U17: 1 M Fieldsend (WSEH) 18:19; 2 V Grant (WSEH) 18:51; 3 M Sichova (Brack) 19:19
TEAM: 1 WSEH
U15: 1 Z Allan (WSEH) 16:08; 2 T Ferguson (WSEH) 16:13; 3 R Street (WSEH) 17:35
TEAM: 1 WSEH
U13: 1 T Davies-Dixon (Brack) 11:58; 2 M Lennox-Imbasari (WSEH) 12:06; 3 H Lucas (Brack)
12:12
TEAM: 1 Bracknell
Essex Masters County Champs (Martin Duff)
ESSEX MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIPS, Epping Forest, December 14
James Connor comfortably retained his title as Sarah Williams led the women home in their race.
Peter Coates chased Connor hard and these two were over a minute clear of the rest of the 75-strong field, where large numbers in all three races were the order of the day.
The International Masters champion said after his race: “It was very muddy today and probably the most technical course I have ran on in years. I set out quickly knowing that it would be a race between myself and new M40 Peter Coates of Braintree.
“Having done a lap of the course to warm up, I saw that running through the woods would be in single file. There were boggy corners and huge puddles to add to the challenge of not falling over. Thankfully I stayed on my feet.”
Connor then outlined his future plans and added: “After taking a break since the international race in Belfast, I was not sure what racing shape I would be in. The race today was my last cross-country race this season, as my focus for 2025 is the London Marathon and a sub-2:18 clocking.”
Women’s winner Williams moved up from third last year to run out a narrow winner over county masters’ holder Rebecca Luxton, who had run for England in that Masters International in Belfast and top W45 Zoe Oldfield.
The over-50 men had a separate race and it was Christian Holmes who ran out a winner over Mark Waller as these two were also well clear of the rest.
In the upper age groups there were stand-out wins for Paul Spowage in the M60 class and M70 David Butler, while in the women’s age groups Christine Kennedy’s W65 win stood out.
Essex Masters County Champs (Martin Duff)
M40: 1 J Connor (Hav’g) 28:17; 2 P Coates (Brain) 28:37; 3 R Williams (Grange F&D) 29:55
M45: 1 N Filer (Col H) 30:07; 2 C Bloomfield (Bill’cay) 31:14; 3 D Ovel (LoS) 31:25
TEAM: 1 Havering 42; 2 Orion 45; 3 Colchester H 98
M50: 1 C Holmes (S’end) 30:44; 2 M Waller (S’end) 30:56; 3 H Mizon (With) 31:58
M55: 1 S Reid (Orion) 32:01; 2 B Glasgow (Orion) 32:56; 3 S Philcox (Ilf) 32:40
TEAM: 1 Orion 41; 2 Ilford 47; 3 Colchester H 81
M60: 1 P Spowage (Col H) 33:11; 2 C Ridley (Col H) 34:20; 3 O Dare (With) 35:10
M65: 1 P Tullett (Chelm) 35:43
M70: 1 D Butler (Bill’cay) 37:34
TEAM: 1 Colchester H 18; 2 Ilford 32
Women W40: 1 S Williams (Grange F&D, W40) 33:29; 2 R Luxton (Chelm, W40) 33:32; 3 Z
Oldfield (Lought, W45) 33:49
W45: 2 R White (Saffron) 37:42
W50: 1 H McIlvenna (Grange F&D) 37:54; 2 A Trauttmansdorff (Lought) 37:55; 3 L Milne
(Eton M) 38:59;
W55: 1 D Morley (Col H) 39:23; 2 L Gosling (Orion) 40:42
W60: 1 D Fisher (S’field) 43:31
W65: 1 C Kennedy (Orion) 42:46
W40 TEAM: 1 Loughton 39
W50 TEAM: 1 Colchester H 42
GREATER MANCHESTER COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS, Leigh, December 14
Callum Rowlinson and Lucy Armitage came out on top in the senior races.
Men: 1 C Rowlinson (Salf) 32:12; 2 S Hopkins (Salf) 32:35; 3 X O’Hare (Traff) 32:39
TEAM: 1 Salford
U20: 1 I Battye (Horw) 16:54; 2 H Peacocke (Salf) 17:12; 3 W Parker (Traff) 17:17
TEAM: 1 Trafford
U17: 1 F Goddard (Sale) 15:25; 2 J Hutchinson (Traff) 15:28; 3 P Aron (Traff) 15:30
TEAM: 1 Trafford
U15: 1 A White (Traff) 12:17; 2 B Gardner (Traff) 12:36; 3 C McManus (Sale) 12:51
TEAM: 1 Trafford
U13: 1 L Alves (Sale) 11:6; 2 T Calland (Warriors) 11:21; 3 T Daly (Traff) 11:22
TEAM: 1 Sale
Women: 1 L Armitage (Sale) 29:17; 2 L Lombard (Salf) 30:23; 3 A Williams (Traff) 30:31
TEAM: 1 Salford
U20: 1 S Rolditis (Salf) 17:22; 2 S Clough (Traff) 18:18; 3 I Pearson (Traff) 19:00
TEAM: 1 Salford
U17: 1 J Wright (Salf) 17:32; 2 I Hill (Sale) 18:06; 3 J Hutchinson-Thompson (Salf) 18:21
TEAM: 1 Salford
U15: 1 B Sopher (Sale) 13:35; 2 O McManus (Sale) 13:45; 3 R Heywood-Young (Sale) 13:50
TEAM: 1 Sale
U13: 1 K Crossland (Horw) 12:05; 2 E Lowe (Salf) 12:15; 3 I Weatherhead (Salf) 12:23
TEAM: 1 Salford
MERSEYSIDE CHAMPIONSHIPS, Birkenhead, December 14
Jack O’Farrell, who three times ran 14:21 for 5km this year, took the senior men’s race from Phil Robertson – the 2023 winner – by over 100m.
In the women’s races, Emily Haggard-Kearney led her Warriors Pentathlon club to the senior team medals by taking the event by well over a minute from Lucy Fairclough to add her second Merseyside cross-country title, having also won the 2024 event back in February.
Men: 1 J O’Farrell (Liv) 38:29; 2 P Robertson (Sale) 38:55; 3 J Doherty (Liv) 39:49
M55: 1 F Rafferty (S’port W) 44:24
TEAM: 1 Liverpool 36; 2 Wirral 131; 3 Southport Waterloo 133
U20: 1 A Poulston (Wirral) 26:30; 2 L Hatton (Wirral) 27:26; 3 J Heap (Wirral) 27:28
TEAM: 1 Wirral 6
U17: 1 L Johnson (St Het Sutt) 21:54; 2 M Taylor (Liv) 22:29; 3 N Ford (Warriors) 22;35
TEAM: 1 Warriors Pentathlon 19; 2 Wirral 21; 3 St Helens Sitton 25
U15: 1 W Delamere (S’port W) 12:52; 2 C Still (S’port W) 12:54; 3 M Phelan (Warriors) 13:41
TEAM: 1 Southport Waterloo 19; 2 Wirral 41; 3 Warriors Pentathlon 53
U13: 1 B McEvoy (Liv) 11:37; 2 S Rung (Liv) 11:52; 3 F Reese (Wirral) 11;55
TEAM: 1 Liverpool 17; 2 Warriors Pentathlon 34; 3 Wirral 41
Women: 1 E Haggard-Kearney (Warriors) 28:49; 2 L Fairclough (St Hel Sutt) 30:26; 3 C
Gallagher (Wirral) 32;24
W45: 1 F Allen (UTS) 37:28
W55: 1 R Isaacs (Pensby) 37:48
TEAM: 1 Warriors Pentathlon 28; 2 Wirral 55; 3 Wallasey 57
U20/U17: 1 H Cross (Liv, U17) 17:48; 2 B Hughes (Liv, U17) 18:03; 3 S Monahan-Clarkson
(S’port W, U17) 18:18
TEAM: 1 Liverpool 9; 2 Warriors Pentathlon 22; 3 Southport Waterloo 25
U15: 1 I Yorke (Warriors) 14:49; 2 R Murphy (Liv) 14:54; 3 M Williams (Liv) 15:53
TEAM: 1 Liverpool 16; 2 Warriors Pentathlon 48; 3 Wirral 56
U13: 1 D McVicar (Warriors) 12;38; 2 I Beddow (Warriors) 12;45; 3 B Rawcliffe (Liv) 12;50
TEAM: 1 Liverpool 20; 2 Warriors Pentathlon 23; 3 Southport Waterloo 83
WARWICKSHIRE & WORCESTERSHIRE CHAMPIONSHIPS, Solihull, West Midlands, December 14
The two counties staged a combined race with medals. Birchfield pair Ash Burgess and Ed Banks did well for Warwickshire in the senior men’s race, while their club mate James Vaughn took the Worcester title with third overall.
In the women’s race, Banbury’s Emily Thompson – the 2019 BUCS indoor 1500m champion, – comfortably won for Warwickshire in only her second race of the year after a low-key Midland women’s league outing in November.
Down the age groups one of the better runs was from Warwickshire’s Midland under-17 champion Archie Lane who won his event by nearly a minute.
WARWICKSHIRE
Men: 1 A Burgess (Bir, U20) 31:29; 2 E Banks (Bir) 31:38; 3 D Clarke (Cov G) 32:18
M40: 1 O Harradence (RSC, M45) 33:49
TEAM: 1 Coventry Godiva 25; 2 Bourneville 85; 3 Centurion 119
M35 TEAM: 1 Knowle & D 30
U20 TEAM: 1 Rugby & N 18
U17: 1 A Lane (Leam) 18:20; 2 S Lambert (Strat) 19;10; 3 J Price (BRAT) 19:23
TEAM: 1 Stratford 13
U15: 1 J Smith (Leam) 14:24; 2 W Hovell (Strat) 14:36; 3 J Ledgard (Strat) 14:58
TEAM: 1 Stratford 9
U13: 1 Z Rush (S&SM) 10:56; 2 T Heather-Green Leam) 10:33; 3 J Larkin (S&SH) 10:35
TEAM: 1 S&SH 10
Women:1 E Thompson (Banb) 26:17; 2 G Campbell (Strat) 26:55; 3 K Edwards (Leam, W35)
27:15
U20: 1 B Homer (Wreake, U20) 27:53
TEAM: 1 Birchfield 29; 2 Stratford 35; 3 Coventry G 42
W35 TEAM: 1 Knowle &D 16
U17: 1 L Barker (S&SH) 17:57; 2 J Wright (Bir) 18:05; 3 K nee (Bir) 18:50
TEAM: 1 Leamington 20
U15: 1 E Spencer (S&SH) 18:44; 2 M Tear-Verweij (Strat) 18:48; 3 A Emery (BRAT) 19:24
TEAM: 1 S&SH 24
U13: 1 F Mustin (S&SH) 10:35; 2 A Marshall (Strat) 11;14; 3 S Potacka (RSC) 11:15
TEAM: 1 S&SH 14
WORCESTERSHIRE
Men: 1 J Vaughan (Bir) 32:16; 2 A Jeavons (Worc, U20) 32:38; 3 L Richardson (B&R) 33:33
M40: 1 J Marshall B&R) 34:38
M50: 1 K Evans (Malvern) 36:49
TEAM: 1 Bromsgrove & Redditch 47; 2 Warley Woods 125; 3 Malvern 164
U17: 1 G Wagstaff (B&R) 19:20; 2 S Hembry (B&R) 19:52; 3 A Taylor (Hales) 20:14
TEAM: 1 Worcester 19
U15: 1 C Egerton(B&R) 14:38
TEAM: 1 B&R 10
U13: 1 F Preston (Kidd&S) 10:58
TEAM: 1 Dudley & Stourbridge 13
Women:1 T Freeman (B&R, W40) 28:45; 2 L Hatfield (B&R, U20) 29:08; 3 L Thomas (B&R,
W40) 29:23
U20: 2 H Dale & B&R) 29:42
TEAM: 1 B&R 6; 2 Warley Woods 34; 3 Malvern 43
U20 TEAM: 1 B&R 7
U17: 1 I Porteus (Worc) 17:48; 2 F Collins (Hales) 18:27; 3 L Hellingsworth (Hales) 18:32
TEAM: 1 Halesowen 12
U15: 1 M Blower (B&R) 18:01; 2 H Richards (K&S) 19:20; 3 H Hansen (B&R) 21:03
TEAM: 1 B&R 9
U13: 1 H Cooke (Worc) 10:31; 2 H Parkes (D&S) 10:49; 3 H Boehm(B&R) 11:15
TEAM: 1 Dudley&S 16
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