There are also U11 races for boys and girls.
Girls’ Report
It was great to see so many Reading girls running at Prospect Park!
First up were the Under 13s - Grace was the first Reading girl to finish in a very close race. She was 9th and very close behind was Isabella in 13th. Lucy finished off the scoring team in a very respectable 28th place and Heather was just behind her in 30th, a great result after recent injury. Overall, the girls were 5th on the day and 5th in the league so far.
Next were the Under 15s. As before, several of the girls worked together and it paid off as they finished as a pack in a great position. Emma was the first to finish in 8th place, swiftly followed by Georgie (9th), Eve (10th) and Zoe (11th). The next pair to finish were Poppy in 18th and Lily in 19th. The team came 3rd and are currently 5th overall.
Finally, it was the turn of the Under 17s. Holly raced confidently to finish in 3rd and it was great to see Evie competing again, finishing in 6th. Lydia brought home the team in 17th with Amelia (18th), Lola (19th) and Sophie (22nd) all close behind. A particular well done to Amelia and Sophie for their first cross country race! It was a very successful day for this age group as they finished 1st and are now 3rd overall.
A huge well done to all the runners for battling the mud and hills! And thank you to all the volunteers who helped make the event happen.
Women’s Report by Debbie Taylor and Charlotte Phillips
Today was our home cross country fixture at Prospect Park. The sun was trying to come out and there was no wind so it was ideal race conditions. The course was still wet, very muddy and very hard going underfoot in true Prospect style.
The race always starts fast due to being gradually down hill before the runners turn and have to do two very hilly, muddy loops before running around the perimeter of the park to the finish.
First up the hill for Reading AC was U20 Mia Waldmann looking strong and was digging in deep. She kept her composure to finish an amazing 8th position overall followed by Laurie Marlow 11th and U20 Isabelle Shirley 22nd. Cross country captain Sarah Holmes was just behind in 23rd looking very strong and running hard. Coming back from covid was Hayleigh Wood who had Sue Francis, our first vet home on her tail and they worked well together for 43rd and 46th places. Lucy Daniels was our 2nd vet home running very strong in 49th position.
Lynne Henderson-Nike, Julie Rayfield, Millie Dainton and Alana Rayfield were running really well as a group and helped push each other round. Lynne was our 3rd scoring vet to finish. Millie ran exceptionally well as it was only her second ever cross country race on a very tough course.
All in all it was a good day out for Reading AC Ladies.
Men’s Report Report from David Lewis
Saturday 15th January saw Reading AC play host to the third Hampshire League Cross-Country fixture of the season. Prospect Park would be the venue for the proceedings, and 1 small lap followed by 2 larger laps totalling approximately 9.25km would await the men in red, white and blue.
As was to be expected for a fixture held in the middle of January, conditions underfoot were somewhat slippery, and the runners would have to navigate their way around some particularly treacherous sections of the park, in particular the steep downhill stretch at the far end of the course.
With a pack totalling more than 200 runners from various clubs across the South of England, home advantage meant that Reading’s men were out in force, with a total of 18 runners ranging from U20 right through to V60 lining up on the start line.
The mud and undulating terrain were no match for Dan Thorne, as he successfully made his way around the course to cross the finish line in 6th place in a time of 31:49, making him the first Reading man home. Close behind him was the in-form Isaac Farnworth, who finished in 7th place with a clocking of 31:59. Making it three Reading men in the top-10 was James Rennie, who was 9th in 32:26; Rennie was also the first U20 finisher, 58 seconds ahead of his closest rival.
4th scorer was Richard Price, who came through in 23rd position in a time of 33:27, enough to earn him a very impressive 2nd place ranking amongst the Vets. The fifth and final scorer was Sarab Dhillon, who posted another very decent performance to finish in 28th position in a time of 33:53. Not far behind Dhillon was Ryan O’Brien, who, in spite of an unfortunate incident involving a concrete pillar earlier on in the week, managed to get round in a very respectful time of 34:55, earning him 42nd position. Following on from O’Brien was Haider Razzaq, who ran a very good race for his Reading AC debut to come through the finishing funnel in 44th position, and 35:12 on the clock.
Next through was Tom Nike, who as always had a solid outing to get himself home in 55th position, and a time of 36:20. Arturo Martínez de Murguia continued a run of good form to be the next Reading man home, positioning himself in 76th place, with Vet Jeff Titmas not far behind in 37:56, the two of them clocking 37:16 and 37:56 respectively.
The next man through was David Lewis, who is just beginning to get back into fitness, and who was just outside of the top 100 in 108th position, with a time of 39:16. U20 Aryan Gupta was not far behind David, having a decent run to cross the line in 39:46, earning him 116th place.
Veteran Charlie Madelaine mastered the mud to earn himself 135th and a time of 41:19, followed by Andy McDonald, who rounded off a solid afternoon of running with 158th position and 43:52 on the clock. Hot on the heels of McDonald was Neil Walker, who successfully navigated the course in a time of 44:19, giving him 163rd place. Fellow Vet Sergej Filippov was just two places behind Walker, crossing the line in 165th position, and with 44:29 on the watch. Finishing in 197th place was George Reich, who ran a time of 48:27, and rounding off the Reading contingent was Gerry O’Driscoll, who had a very decent outing to finish in 203rd position, and a time of 48:57.
In terms of the team results, as always the first five runners formed the scoring team. With an impressive tally of 73 points, this was enough for a very decent third position behind AFD (38 points) and Southampton (49 points); this cements us into third place after three fixtures.
As for the individual rankings, Richard Price is currently joint leader amongst the Veterans, along with James Baker of City of Portsmouth AC. Dan Thorne is ranked in seventh position across on the Senior Men’s leaderboard; very impressive indeed!
A reminder that the fourth fixture of the Hampshire League will be held on 19th February at Popham Airfield near Basingstoke, so I look forward to seeing all of you there! As always, a big thank you to Ray Stevens for all his organisation as team manager.
Team result: 3rd with 73 points. (1st: AFD 38, 2nd: Southampton 49). Currently in 3rd place overall.
Boys’ Report by Keith Whyte
Reading's lads enjoyed a largely rewarding day at Prospect Park in the latest Hampshire League on Saturday, with our U15s coming second and our U13s third, although it was disappointing that our U17s failed to finish a team,
The early fog had largely dispersed by the time of the U13 boys' 3km race, and it was good to see an eight-strong turnout of Reading runners. Sam Weeks was soon among the leading group, and although by the hilly section of the course the two leaders had opened a gap, Sam moved past the rest and was able to hold third to the finish, despite a late threat from behind, recording 10.49. Second home for Reading was William Kent, who like Sam produced his best league race so far, as he came through the field to finish in a fine 13th place in a time of 11.25, and the scoring team was completed by Noah Tyers with a determined effort for 16th in 11.35. Behind them came a string of Reading athletes running strongly in the middle of the field, with Seb Clark 19th (11.44), Josh McKenzie 20th (11.45), Oswald David-Oppong 21st (11.47). Harrison Kent 25th (12.15) and James Charlton-Perez 27th (12.19) all doing well. Reading's team total of 32 gave them a clear third place and just three points off second.
From the start of the U15 boys' 4km race James Titmas and Maddox Gillas were both seen to be running well, and their continued effort was rewarded with James just maintaining fifth place at the finish and Maddox holding onto eighth place, as they recorded 13.36 and 14.07 respectively. Samuel Lindsey-Halls in his first race of the season faded a little after a couple of falls, but hung on well for 17th place in a time of 14.58, giving Reading a total of 30 and a fine second place in the team contest. Javier Perez-Sanchez had an encouraging first race for Reading, finishing 33rd in 17.53, but unfortunately George Bundy was forced to drop out with breathing difficulties.
For various reasons Reading were again short of runners in the 5km U17 race, but Adam Methven and Adam Tivey both represented Reading well, running steadily to finish in 12th and 19th places with times of 19.34 and 20.59.
After the third match of five Reading's U15s currently lie equal third on aggregate in the league standings and the U13s fourth. However, the U17s are now eliminated from the team competition, though, like the U13s and U15s, they have athletes well placed in the individual aggregate contest. Now come the Berkshire Schools races, followed by the Southern Championships..