The latest round of the Cross Country league took place at Queen Elizabeth Country Park on Sunday 9th November 2014. There was a fantastic turnout from the club with a total of 24 Waverley Harriers in total who ran the race – 17 men and 7 ladies. Conditions on the day were ideal and with much anticipation we all pitched up and watched as JP put his recent shed building skills together by putting up the club banner supported by 23 onlookers offering much moral support. During the pre-race briefing, Sarah warned us that it was going to be muddy on route owing to the previous day’s heavy rain, but hey, this is cross country, and mud is par for the course isn’t it?
The team comprised of a few cross country débutantes for the club Jeremy Meredith, Nick Brooks, Mark Bjornsgaard who all put in great performances and will hopefully feature regularly in future events.
Others who made up the team were Daniel Hull, Mark Hobbs, Mark Rowland, Ben Mayhew, Julian Tasker, Steve Carpenter, David Pallister, Jon Evison, Jon Lawrence, James Hatch, Stefan Klincewicz, Rachel Greener, Byrony North, as well as cross country stalwarts Andrew Lockett, Sarah Frost, Ruth Lyon, Julian Ladd, JP Pritchard, Kate Fargus, Christine Robinson & Liz Hoare.
A minutes silence was observed before as it was Remembrance Sunday, and then the race got under way. The route had changed from last year with added hills and mud for enjoyment and exactly as promised ahead of the race. It was fantastic to see so many Waverley Harriers out on route and I know from my own perspective just how much it helped and how we spurred each other on and encouraged each other.
Out of 22 clubs the men came 5th and the ladies 8th. Overall we shared 4th place with ‘Haslemere Borders’ and ‘Fleet & Crookham’. This was a fantastic result for the club and one we want to build on at the next race which is The Bourne Woods, Farnham – 11am, 7th December. Please put this date in your diary and let Sarah Frost know if you can attend! Our goal is to have an even bigger team at this local race – how about 30 runners!
After the race we were treated to a fine selection of sandwiches and cakes with unlimited tea or coffee. As the club members sat round discussing the race and our achievements, we were given a preview of the clubs new post race winter range as modelled and shown below by our very own Steve Carpenter. In spite of a few members nearly choking on their cake at the time, Sarah was heard to be looking into funding for this to be part of the club attire.
We look forward to races ahead in the coming winter months and hopefully can maintain the recent performances but it needs everyone’s support.
