A strong squad of men and women runners from Shrewsbury Athletic Club competed in the English Cross Country Championships at Wollerton Park, Nottingham, overcoming the saturated ground conditions created by Storms Ciara and Dennis to finish 45th Mens' team out of 115 teams from up and down the country and Graham Jones 2nd in the Veteran Over 60 category. The Club's junior star, Bethany Trow produced an outstanding 8th place out of 358 runners in the Under 13 Girls' race.
Results: Men: 161 Matt Hall 49/13, 228 Charlie Rogers 50/35, 561 Steve Waters 55/35, 591 Jake Milovsorov 56/00, 815 Graham Jones 59/42(2V60)1002 Kevin Francis 62/32, 1051 Matt Wooden 63/17. Women: 297 Lauren Morley 44/24, 702 Clare Downes 54/58, 915 Grace Hough 82/55. Under 13 Girls: 8 Bethany Trow 15/54, Under 15 Girls: 103 Iris Downes 21/55.
On the road running scene, Paul Jones was 1st Veteran Over 50 in 5th place in the Rhyl 10 Mile Race in 57/22, with Ollie Parry 16th in 60/15. Pete Hughes was 14th and 2nd Veteran Over 35 in the Oswestry 10K in 40/57.
Off road, there were age category successes for the three Club runners who competed in the Titterstone Clee Race, Graham Jones 11th and 1st Veteran Over 60 in 23/19, Andy Lewis 30th and 2nd Veteran Over 60 in 27/49 and Gill Evans 41st and 1st Lady Veteran Over 55 in 31/30. The Long Mynd Valleys Race, scheduled for the following day was postponed for safety reasons due to the extreme weather, but in the rescheduled race, Gill Evans finished 90th and 3rd Lady Veteran Over 55, the day after she competed in the South Shropshire Circular 25 Mile Hill Race. Other Club competitors in the Circular were Graham Jones, Kevin Francis, Graham Parton and Chris Hedley.
Report compiled by Tony Scales
