Womens Surrey League Lloyd Park 2/3/2019
It was a somewhat strange feeling to be on the start line of a Surrey League match after the annual National XC Champs (this fixture was the rescheduled January match) but for those who had run the previous Saturday in Leeds, minds were still firmly locked in “XC mode”. With many of the usual scorers unable to make the race for a host of reasons and with only 11 Kent AC runners on the start line, we had to work hard to prevent our 9th place position being put in jeopardy. But with 3 of the 11 runners in contention for the 18/19 Women’s XC handicap title, ‘eyes were on the prize’ for some…
The weather was favourable, the conditions good (was actually rather nice to skip across the muddy sections after the unseasonably dry conditions at Leeds) and the team individually worked hard on the undulating course to retain their 9th position. Scorers (in order): Katie Rowland, Sarah Hanley, Victoria Buck, Susie Fairbrass & Vicky Boyle. Thereafter, we saw Joanne Campbell, Kate Williams, Sarah Young, Tina Baklanov, Zoe Gaffen and Annabelle Hadlow come through the finish funnel. Shout out to Katie Rowland who finished the league in 4th place in the overall individual scorer list.
To finish 9th in the Div 1 2018/19 Surrey League season was a considerable achievement given a number of our regular faster runners were either out of action or out of the country for extended periods of the season. However, the outlook for 2019/20 looks promising; the depth of the ladies’ section continues to increase as a consequence of new members to the club or existing members making season-upon-season improvements to their running form and times.
So as we pack away our spikes for the final time this season, here’s to the next XC season and the promise it brings. And as always, a huge thank you to Pete Boxshall for his omnipresence at each fixture and continued coaching/support to all in the ladies section & Ellie Brown for handling all the administration that allowed us all to race on the day.
Match result: 11th placeFinal standings after 4 fixtures (based on provisional results):
1 THH 2952 HHH 3153 H/W 5944 C/C 6515 FUL 6656 RAN 6767 BEL 7138 SLH 7699 KEN 94710 E&E 1110