Photo – The under 17 men’s team
Tonbridge Athletic Club took teams to the National Cross Country Relay Championships, held at Berry Hill Park, Mansfield, on Saturday. Incessant rain made conditions very challenging, across the ten championship races, with Tonbridge having teams in seven of them. It was the under 17 men who came away with the only set of medals, after finishing third in their championship.
Harrison Fraser, who had won the previous weekend’s Kent League race, led the under 17 team off, amongst 88 starters, over the 3 x 3km race. He ran a well-judged leg to finish in 9.29, just outside the top ten, before handing over to Toby Bawtree. Bawtree then ran an excellent 9.25, which ended up as the 11th fastest split of the entire race, as he moved Tonbridge into third place. Joseph Hunt clocked 9.43 to hold on to the bronze medal winning position. The Tonbridge B and C teams were first home in their categories, placing 14th and 30th, which shows the strength in depth of the squad.
The under 15 boys had similar results, with the three teams finishing 5th, 14th and 28th, of 92 teams starting. This was run over the 2km course, with Ben Catchpole (7.11), Peter Fitzmaurice (6.51) and James Petrie (7.12) being in the A-team. Henry Cleary (7.10) and Ewan Prendergast (7.13) both had particularly strong runs, for the B and C teams, respectively.
For the senior men, it was a case of what might have been, as without an injury a top five position looked likely. Ben Murphy had one of his best races on cross country, coming home in about 15th place, as 177 teams started. He ran a 15.36 split on the 5km course, before handing to James Kingston, who ran 15.15 to move the team into 4th place. Alasdair Kinloch took over and nearing the hallway stage of his leg had moved into 2nd and was closing in on the lead. However, in a wooded section he turned his ankle on a tree root and was forced to struggle over the rest of his leg, losing about two minutes and running 17.23. Cameron Chambers then anchored the team with 16.30 to give the team 10th place.
The Senior Women finished 24th of 130 teams, on the 3x3km course, with Annabel Carter (11.40), Katie Goodge (11.37) and Polly Pitcairn-Knowles (11.43) all having solid performances.
The under 17 women placed 17th in their race, through Emily Geake (9.41), Lily Slack (9.44) and Polly Moses (9.12), whilst the under 20 men’s teams finished 19th, 25th and 28th. The under 13 girls finished 37th of 93 teams in their championship.
Away from the cross-country scene, Julian Rendall finished the New York Marathon, on Sunday, in 2.50.49.
Above – Julian Rendall in New York