Photo – Tonbridge men’s team at the South of Thames Championship
Ben Cole, from Tonbridge Athletic Club, was in dominant form, on Saturday, when he retained the individual title at the South of Thames Cross Country Championships. The Tonbridge men’s team finished a close third with 87 points, from their scoring six runners, behind Belgrave Harriers, who scored 70 points and Kent AC on 80.
The race saw about 300 starters from 30 clubs, negotiate the three-lap course, covering 12 kilometres of Lloyd Park, Croydon, with the men and women running alongside each other.
Cole was soon to the fore and had a clear lead from Ed Chuck, of Dulwich, after the first lap, with former Tonbridge member, Max Nicholls, now with Kent AC in third. These positions remained the same to the finish, with Cole timed at 39.55, winning by 42 seconds from Chuck.
Ben Pearce had perhaps his best cross-country performance to date, when finishing 6th, whilst Jack Higgins had to settle for 15th, having developed a stitch before halfway, whilst in the top four. George Marshall (17th), Jamie Bryant (19th) and Jack Sharpe (29th) completed the scoring team, with solid performances, whilst Tom Lockhart in 33rd also had a strong run.
Tonbridge didn’t have a complete scoring team, on the women’s side, but Maria Heslop placed 9th and was the first of the over 40 age group runners home. Tina Oldershaw in 24th continued her return to the sport, after a few months struggling with injury.
On Friday evening, Lucy Reid, showed that she is on top form, on the roads, when she won the Battersea Park Under The Lights Christmas five mile race in 26.03. This improved her own Tonbridge club record by 20 seconds, whilst also being the fastest female time in the UK for 2023. Steve Strange also had a fine run to finish 8th in the men’s race in 24.25, which was a personal best.
Tonbridge Athletic Club members will continue to train over the Christmas period, with many due to be in action in the Kent Cross Country Championships, at Brands Hatch, in early January. On Boxing Day, the club will hold its traditional cross country handicap race at Judd School’s Vizards playing fields.