As always the New Year opens with the major county cross-country championships and again these are being held at Bexhill Down on Saturday.
The weather has not been kind to us in the last couple of weeks and the rain will make the almost permanently muddy course even more testing.
However the conditions will do little to deter the athletes and both the senior events could be corkers for the individual titles.
Jon Pepper (Brighton Phoenix), who has not been seen over the country in Sussex this season but has had an impressive victory in Surrey to his name, will be aiming to add a fifth successive Sussex title to his name and if he does he will rank alongside Brighton & Hove’s Andrew Bristow as winner of five titles.
He will still be little short of fellow Brighton & Hove athletes Hugh Foord and Peter Standing who have both won eight titles.
The main danger looks likely to be club mate Finn McNally who has shown some cracking form on the road with a 29:47 clocking in the Telford 10km last month and will probably be the strongest challenger although a 10km run on the road bears little comparison with 7 ½-mile of Bexhill mud.
Another Phoenix athlete Ross Shelton and Brighton & Hove’s Howard Bristow and Kevin Rojas with possibly Daryl Hards, who has recently left Worthing to re-join Phoenix, could prove the challengers for the minor placings.
Despite the absence of the injured Ben Tickner Phoenix looks to defend the team title for the fourth time in five years.
The Under 20 race will start with the seniors but will not do the full course and at the stage, when the U20’s, peel off to the finish we may well see Stephen Ferroni (Brighton & Hove) up close to Pepper and maybe helping to pull him away from his rivals.
In the senior Women’s event the U20s will race the full distance with the seniors and this could produce a cracking battle between Emma Macready (Worthing), the reigning champion and Grace Baker from Hastings, who ran for the British Junior cross country team at the European Championships last month, will race head to head although Baker will be competing in the U20 championship.
Also in the fray will be Nicole Taylor from Tonbridge who this year moves into the senior age group.
Last year a close battle ended with Baker first across the line ahead of Macready and Taylor and we may see that order repeated this year.
Back in November Eastbourne’s Daniel Stidder and Brighton & Hove’s Brodie Denholm had a neck and neck battle in the Under 17 League at Bexhill. Denholm slid across the finishing line, which allowed the Eastbourne runner to win by the narrowest of margins. Had he managed to stay on his feet he may well have been the winner. These two will renew their rivalry on Saturday but this time it will be the County title at stake.
Ben Collins from Chichester has reigned supreme in the U15 age group in Sussex this season as has Worthing’s Luke Ellard in the U13 age group but the Girls have produced various winners in their races and may yet provide different winners in their races.
The first Championship race will be at 11.30 although there will be an U11 race at 11.00.
The senior and U20 men start at 1.30 with the senior and U20 women completing the afternoon at 2.25.
NOTES
These races will act as selection races for the Inter-county championships at Birmingham in March and the first five finishers will receive automatic selection.
The team managers however have requested that athletes finishing in the top 12 positions should contact their team managers with details and availability.
Championship secretary Keith Donno is also appealing for help during the afternoon in the judging area as recorders.
A reminder that numbers must be collected by Team Managers to distribute and will not be allocated at reception to individuals.
INDOORS
Many leading Sussex track athletes will be heading to Sheffield this weekend to compete in the England senior and U20 Indoor Combined events championships while at Lee Valley the South of England will be holding their U15/U17 Indoor championships