Today's Runner XC at Minnis Bay - 16/1/00

For the first Today's Runner race of the Millennium we had another good turnout of 22 Harriers at this infamously muddy event of about 4.75 miles held near Birchington. The weather was not too bad this year, although a chill NE breeze did not help the runners, and the terrain was as sticky as ever.

Sasha Daniels, who has come from New Zealand to live in Canterbury, did not seem to mind the conditions since he came 5th overall and 3rd in the actual league race in his debut run for the club. His placing, together with Simon Kendall's 7th, Fraser Wildman's 14th and Roy Palmer's 18th (and that was despite feeling unwell), and the women's solid team performance, meant that we finished 3rd in the combined event on the day. Dennis Hayes also put in a good debut league race for the club.

For the women, Dianne August had a very good run and Emma Hodges competed in her second XC for the club to help us to 7th place on the day in that competition. Erica Akerman also ran, adding weight to the theory that she only goes in for the really tough races these days! However, she did not make it as tough for herself as Steve Craswell and Mick Hunt did, both running (or sliding!) round the course in ordinary trainers.

There were 211 finishers in total with 148 competing in the men's league race and 57 in the women's. The winning time in the men's league race was 26:59 by James Batchelder and in the women's it was 30:39 by Tina Oldershaw.

In the junior race that preceeded the main event, Jack Parnell once again won easily in a time of 11:50 with Andy Dowell putting in a brave effort only to lose second place in the final stretch and come 3rd in a time of 12:51.

In the figures below, after the time the next column shows the overall position, the following one the position in that individual's league race (i.e. ignoring guests and runners of the opposite sex) and the final column shows the performance rating i.e. the percentage of runners beaten in that league race.

Senior Race 

Sasha Daniels                        27:51    5   3  98.6
Simon Kendall                        28:51    9   7  95.9
Fraser Wildman                       29:52   16  14  91.2
Roy Palmer                           30:07   20  18  88.4
Keith Crossland-PageV40              33:25   59  53  64.6
Gerry ReillyV50                      33:38   63  56  62.6
Graham BrownV50                      34:14   70  63  57.8
Dennis HayesV40                      34:28   73  66  55.8
Bob DavisonV40                       34:49   76  69  53.7
Dave LightburnV40                    35:31   83  75  49.7
Alastair Telford                     36:47  102  91  38.8
Roy GoodersonV40                     37:04  108  95  36.1
Mick HolmansV40                      38:04  119 103  30.6
Dianne AugustV40                     39:11  139  20  66.1
Carol Reid                           39:41  142  21  64.3
Fayne StoneV40                       40:14  151  26  55.4
Emma Hodges                          41:23  160  29  50.0
Steve Craswell                       41:55  164 128  13.6
John HartleyV50                      42:36  172 134   9.5
Mick Hunt                            42:50  175 136   8.2
Sue ReillyV45                        44:33  186  39  32.1 
Erica AckermanV50                    53:21  205  54   5.4

Combined League Placings After 5 Events

 1  Medway AC                     72pts
 2  Paddock Wood AC               71
 3  Istead & Ifield H             66
 4  Canterbury Harriers           56
 5  Sevenoaks AC                  53
 6  Thanet RR AC                  48
 7  Maidstone H                   40
 8  Invicta EK AC                 38
 9  Swanley & District AC         36
10  New Eltham Joggers            34
11  Bromley Vets                  21
12  Gravesend RR                  20
13  Sittingbourne Striders        17
14  Plumstead Runners             16
15  Dartford H                    14
 
Ladies' League

 1  Paddock Wood AC               74pts
 2  Medway AC                     55
 3  Istead & Ifield H             54
 4  Thanet RR AC                  51
 5  Invicta EK AC                 49
 5  Canterbury Harriers           49
 7  Sevenoaks AC                  46
 8  New Eltham Joggers            45
 9  Swanley & District AC         44
10  Gravesend RR                  34
10  Bromley Vets                  34
12  Maidstone H                   21
12  Plumstead Runners             21
14  Sittingbourne Striders        17
15  Dartford H                     5