The more senior athletes from Sussex were also in fine form at Horspath on Saturday when they picked up several individual and team medals at the South of England Master’s cross-country championships.
Masters age groups are in five year bandings but team events for this event are in ten year bandings and in the 40-49 Women’s group there was a double victory for Arena 80 with Julie Briggs winning the overall race, despite being in the W45 group, by a handsome margin clocking 21:43 to Epsom & Ewell’s Diana Norman’s, who is in the W40 group, 22:05.
Briggs led her team to victory with Dani Tarleton and Tara Shanahan placing eighth and tenth in the race while Sue Fry from Hailsham, also had an excellent race to finish fourth.
In the highly competitive M40/50 race Chris Smith (TVH) who runs for Haywards Heath in Sussex League events, had a battle with Sussex M40 champion Howard Bristow, before pulling well clear for victory in 29:22 to 30:09 with James Skinner (Haywards Heath) placing fourth in 30:42 as well as being the first M45 runner to finish.
In the team even Brighton & Hove took third place with 50 points to Thames Hare & Hounds 30 and TVH’s 44 points.
Matt Bristow in 19th place and Louis Taub 29th closed in the Brighton team.
There was another victory in the M60/69 race when Paul Whelpton (Brighton Phoenix) took the honours.
In the M50/59 event Adrian Haines (Crawley) finished fifth and Paul Cousins (Haywards Heath) 13th while in the W50/59 race Hailsham’s Liz Lumber placed fifth and Arena 80’s Caroline Wood eighth.
In the M70 race Dave Beattie (Crawley) finished fourth and Malcolm Kemp (Phoenix) fifth.
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