Blean Woods Cross Country – mud glorious mud!

Cross Country season is over! And today we ended the season in true XC style: mud, mud, and more mud!

 

 

 

 

TRAC runners travelled to Blean Woods in Canterbury for the final instalment of the year, where 433 runners took part from 18 clubs.

 

The course is relatively straightforward: one and a half laps around a playing field before heading into the woods for one lap along the trail.

However, less straightforward was the task of navigating a route swollen with rainwater and caked in mud. Before we even entered the woodland, we had to stomp across waterlogged grass. The only way into the woods was through unavoidable (and unknowingly deep) pools of water, guarded by two inflatable crocodiles!

 

Anyone who is familiar with Blean knows that it’s slightly undulating, with inclines and declines at various points along the trail. Whilst there are no “hills” per se, the inclines are steady enough to impact runners’ pace. Combined with the mud, we can confidently say today was not a day for PBs…

 

 

We took a great group of runners to Blean to bid farewell to the XC season – well done to all who turned up today and to all those who joined us throughout the season. For a relatively small club, Thanet have done outstandingly well, going above and beyond expectations. We are so proud of your achievements and are deeply grateful for your commitment to the team. We hope to see you all (plus many more?!) out on the trails when the season recommences later this year.

 

Results at Blean

Overall Position	Gender Position	Runner	Time	Rtg
47	45	Matt McCarthy	34:39:00	84.29
64	61	Christopher Brenchley	35:43:00	78.57
143	25	Brittany Crombie	40:22:00	84.31
157	129	Andy Jones	40:57:00	54.29
173	31	Claire Greenaway	41:36:00	80.39
174	143	Stephen Forshaw	41:38:00	49.29
202	38	Joanne Kemp	42:45:00	75.82
254	56	Joanne Holl	45:26:00	64.05
256	58	Samantha Hastie	45:27:00	62.75
257	59	Julie Williams	45:27:00	62.09
296	79	Nicola Boyes	48:28:00	49.02
366	251	Tim Kerr	54:52:00	10.71
419	141	Alison Smith	01:07:57	8.5

 

 

 

 

Thanks to Pete Heath for the photos. And to Brittany Crombie and Jo Kemp for the race report.

 

Overall Results from the Cross Country Season

Hope you all had some fun and made some good memories this season. Thank you to everyone who contributed to such a great team event. All runners count and contribute towards the team standings but here are the final individual results of the season. Some brilliant performances across all the age groups. 

 

Also congratulations to Jo Holl, Chris Brenchley, Steve Foreshaw and Tim Kerr who managed all 7 races – no mean feat! 

 

Ladies Season Results

Pos	Runner	Run	Rating
18	Brittany Crombie	5	89.60
23	Joanne Kemp	6	86.18
28	Claire Greenaway	5	83.85
40	Joanne Holl	7	74.74
44	Julie Williams	6	71.86
72	Nicola Boyes	6	56.06
145	Samantha Hastie	4	65.05
159	Janet Morgan	4	37.44
317	Alison Smith	1	8.50

Only one winner in the ladies competition, congratulations to Brittany Crombie, who also has some great advice to give from her ultra marathon trail running experiences.

 

Men’s Season Results

If under 5 races the KFL order runners by number of races and then ratings.

Pos	Runner	Run	Rating
40	Matt McCarthy	5	86.60
41	Christopher Brenchley	7	86.28
57	Phil Stevens	6	79.68
77	Chris Pascoe	5	72.54
129	Stephen Forshaw	7	53.49
215	Peter Heath	5	17.41
228	Tim Kerr	7	11.85
275	Andy Jones	4	60.29
344	Jude Wood	3	80.94
424	Kevin McQuaid	2	86.01
425	Jamie Jordan	2	83.18
448	Steven Hawkins	2	54.10

A tight run competition on the men’s side with Matt McCarthy just edging out Chris Brenchley by the smallest of margins! 

 

This might be controversial but I have voted for Chris Pascoe and Claire Greenaway for best cakes of the season! But thanks to everyone who contributed throughout, it was absolutely worth all the mud just to get the cakes at the end! 

 

The Club Championships continue next week at the Paddock Wood Half Marathon. Good luck to all those racing on Sunday!

 

 

 

 

 

And the crocodile…