Holding the Sussex Schools, in appalling conditions on Tuesday was only made possible by the unstinted efforts of many teachers and Sussex County officials.
Rain through the morning turning to heavy rain and gale force winds threatened a cancellation in what look like being the worst day in the sixty odd year history of the event.
Simon Lilley, the organiser, with his team from Hurstpierpoint College, along with Kevin Grant and the ever present team from Cardinal Newman School, who have been in charge of the course for many years, were in action early on Tuesday morning. They staked out the course as soon as the decision was taken not to cancel and there were many marshals on hand to make sure the athletes were guided along the correct routes.
The Starter, timekeeper, judges and recorders are all volunteers from the Sussex Athletics Association and Referee, Graham Jessop, had the unenviable task of having to decide to cancel the senior races when the wind increased and made conditions possibly dangerous.
Then the Hurstpierpoint College and Cardinal Newman teams had to battle with the elements to clear the course and pack up and some of the team would have been there for at least eight hours. It was a real case of dedication to enable nearly six hundred runners complete the four races.
There were many others who I have not managed to mention and I am sorry if I left you out of our thanks.
When all was done, the recording sheets had to be dried out to enable the completion of correct results. A full report to follow.