Around 900 senior men lined up on a gloriously bright, crisp Saturday afternoon in Stanmer Park, Brighton to contest the South of England AA’s cross country championships.
Ahead of them was 15-km of undulating grass and woodland with two tough hills per lap and a helter-skelter finish. The going was good to soft, a welcome change from last year’s quagmire at Parliament Hill.
Five Vale athletes took part, with Sean Wilson first back for the club, pipping Martyn Summerfield to the post to claim 257th place in a time of 1:01:19. Martyn finished three places back in 1:01:21.
Third back for the Vale was Lewis Meredith in 367th place in a time of 1:04:36. A hiatus then occurred before Henry Edwardes-Evans and Alan Roberts emerged from the woods in 1:12.21 and 1.12.51 respectively, nailing places 610 and 625 after a hard-fought intra-club contest.
Great team spirit, Martyn’s chocolate biscuits and the loan of Chiltern Harrier’s tent made this a day to remember.
The race was won by Brighton Phoenix AC’s Ben Tickner in a barely credible time of 50 minutes, 21 seconds. The Chiltern League’s highest finisher appeared to be MK’s Steve Tuttle, 21st in 52:59. Vale training pal and Chiltern Harrier Eddie O’Gorman was 94th in 56:27. Bedford and County won the SEAA XC Senior Men team prize.