Sunday saw the first race in 2012, the 53-12 Cross Country League, this time hosted by Hadleigh Hares up in Suffolk and, as expected, it was a tough one with the infamous hill. However, due to the drought in our region, there was a distinct lack of mud and the traditional mud wallow was noticeable by its absence.

Brigid Wallen (18th) and Liz Stuckey (31st) made sure the ladies’ team finished in second place in Pool B, with the other Witham ladies running well: Claire Gordon was 33rd, Jane Noble 69th and Tracey Denby 72nd.

Jon Booty (11th), James Farren (22nd), Tom Beard (54th) and Marc Underdown (73rd) gained the points for the Witham men’s team, who also finished in second place in Pool B. The point scorers were supported by the rest of the men’s team: Tony Wallen (85th), Lee Pembroke (108th), Mark Williams (116th), Mark Jeary (138th), Seb Gywn-Williams (142nd), Shawn Beckerleg (153rd), Colin Short (157th), Paul Hedger (167th) and Dave Payne (180th). When the team points were combined, Witham Running Club came out first and extended their lead at the top of Pool B.

The Witham Runing Club juniors were also out in force at Hadleigh. Joel Farren was first across the line in his first club race, finishing 14th overall and 7th in the under 13 boys age group. He was followed by: Tom Brown in 15th place (2nd in the under 11 boys); Tom Latham, another first time runner, who finished 16th overall and 2nd in the under 17 boys; George Stevenson in 22nd place overall (4th in the under 11 boys), and beating his sister Juliet Stevenson into 24th place (5th in the under 11 girls). Eight year-old Charlie Brown had the race of the day with an fantastic run to finish 33rd overall and 9th in the under 11 boys. Alex Waring, a veteran of the 53-12 league, finished 36th overall (9th in his age group) whilst young Lois Gordon had a good race by finishing 58th. Georgina Haskey-Jones also had her best run so far finishing 60th and 9th in the under 11 girls. Eight year-old Ellie Beckerleg found the course very hard work and even though she came 75th she finished the race with the biggest smile of all runners. Overall the Witham juniors came 3rd out of 13 teams, and are now up to 4th in the 53-12 league with two races to go.

Well done to all the juniors and seniors who ran and many thanks to the Witham supporters: Lynn Williams, Lynne Lewis, Stewart Waller and Tony Gordon to name but a few!