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…

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