It was a clear-cut affair at the top of the men’s, women’s and team categories in this year’s Harvey Curtis Sussex Road Race Challenge (HC-SRRC).
Kevin Rojas (Brighton & Hove AC) reclaimed the men’s title with a race in hand after he won Race 4, the Bexhill 5k.
He was the top Sussex finisher in two of his three scoring races, notching up just four points in total.
It has been quite a year for Rojas, who ran a magnificent marathon PB of 2:18:44 in Berlin in September.
The women’s racing was dominated by Joscelin Lowden (Lewes AC), whose lead was unassailable after she, like Rojas, won the Bexhill 5k in early November.
She ended the series on just eight points, which included one win and one second place, as well as a host of PBs.
Lowden’s club Lewes AC were similarly dominant, particularly among the women: second and third overall were also red-and-yellow-clad, with Emma Rollings clinching second on count-back, just ahead of her club-mate Megan Taylor – both finished on 17 points.
The men’s runner-up was Matt Bradford (Lewes AC), who found some great form early in the year with a 31:36 PB at the Chichester 10k in February, and in March finished second Sussex man at the Hastings Half Marathon before injury troubles struck.
Still, he’d done enough to secure second with nine points, well clear of his brother and club-mate David Bradford, who finished third with 13 points.
In the team event, Lewes AC were the runaway winners – largely thanks to the consistently low-scoring collective performance of their women.
The Lewes team finished top in three out of their four scoring races, accumulating just five points, 11 points ahead of second-placed Arena 80, who finished just one point ahead of Haywards Heath Harriers.
The leading veteran man and woman, both V45s and both fifth overall, were Lewis Sida (Lewes AC) on 22 points, and Tara Shanahan (Arena 80) on 23 points.
Dave Bradford