VENUE TO BE CONFIRMED

Please note: times displayed are indicative only

There are also U11 races for boys and girls.

There are also U11 races for boys and girls.

VENUE TO BE CONFIRMED

Please note: times displayed are indicative only

Times are indicative

VENUE TO BE CONFIRMED

There are also U11 races for boys and girls.

Times are indicative

VENUE TO BE CONFIRMED

No U11 races..

There are also U11 races for boys and girls.

Please note: times displayed are indicative only

Venue in Kent. To be confirmed

There are also U11 races for boys and girls.

There are no U11 races at this event

Girls’ Report

Half term saw a drop in numbers competing in the Hampshire League, as most of the Reading AC girls’ squad seemed to be off skiing! But those that did turn out were rewarded with perfect running conditions and personal best finish positions in league races.

First off was Stephanie in the U13 race. She over came her nerves about running her first league race and came through to finish a very respectable 26th in 13:54.

In the U15 race there was also only one Reading athlete, but Eve made up for the lack of numbers with a confident run to a best ever finish position of 6th in a time of 15:37. She’s now up to 7th in the individual rankings and getting better and better with every race!

In the U17s there were 2 Reading athletes, who both ran strongly. Lily Stevens finished an impressive 9th in 23:24 and Amelia ran a well paced race to come 13th in 25:37, closing in on 12th place towards the end.

Boys’ Rport by Keith Whyte

Reading's U13 boys produced another good performance in their quest for Hampshire League medals in the latest league fixture at Popham on Saturday. However, for the first time this season our U15s failed to finish a complete team, and our U17s had just one runner.

In benign conditions on a grassland couse that is tougher than it looks, Sam Weeks was soon near the front in the 3km U13 race, but as the race continued he was unable to prevent the leading trio breaking away. However Sam had judged his race well, and on the final hill and the downhill finishing stretch he moved through to eventually finish a convincing third in a time of 10.50. Harrison Hunter ran strongly for a hard-fought 15th place in 11.29, and Damian Wisinski completed the team with another determined effort to finish 29th in 12.26. The team total of 47 points gave Reading third place on the day and leaves them in third position on aggregate with one fixture still to come.

Reading's U15s were severely weakened by half-term absences, but were well represented by James Titmas and Ollie Shears in their 4km race. After recent illness James found himself unable to stay with the leading group of five, and despite his best efforts had to settle for a finishing position of ninth in a time of 14.09, while Ollie's persistent running earned him 29th place in 17.03. Despite missing out on this occasion in the team contest, Reading remain in third place on aggregate, with the final postions being decided on the best four results of the five races.

Adam Methven may have been Reading's only reprsentative in the U17 5km race, but he ran a fine race to move through the field and eventually finish in an excellent seventh place in 18.24 for his best league position so far. However our U17s are now out of the running in the aggregate competition.

Now there's a brief pause before the National Championships in a fortnight's time for those entered, and then the final league fixture, before for some the challenge of the Inter Counties and the English Schools.

Women’s report by Debbie Taylor

The Hampshire league race was held in Popham on 11th February . Unfortunately due to illness and injuries we had a smaller turn out for Reading AC. However the ladies who did race, did us proud and worked hard throughout the course.

It was a very mild day compared to the same race year so underfoot was good and the athletes didn’t have the wind to battle against this time which helped with fast conditions.

Big improvements shown with every race was our first athlete home, Shirley-Ann Dix. She has showed that commitment is finally paying off and finished 39th in a strong field. Our first vet home and coming back strong after having covid at Christmas was Sue Francis with a placing of 48th and then running well was vet Lucy Daniells in 56th who finished strongly.

Our next 3 runners, also vets were Julie Rayfield, Millie Dainton and Claire Mills who battled hard changing positions throughout the race and finished 68th, 74th and 78th.

Our vet ladies had to step up due to the lack of senior ladies but they did good!!!!

Congratulations all.

Men’s Report by Ray Stevens

The 4th Hampshire League match was at Popham Basingstoke on Saturday. The race was held in perfect conditions for running with no wind and the course being dry with very little mud. After doing so well in our home match it was very disappointing to have just one senior turn out with the rest of the team being vets.

Luc Jolly had a very good run to be the leading vet to finish in 10th (33:35), and our only senior runner was Haider Razzaq who also had a good race in 19th (34:42). Neil Walker was 105th (43:06), Andy McDonald 112th (43:42), Matt Rodda 113th (43:44), Sandeep Simon having his first run for us was 158th (50:20) and the ever present Gerry O'Driscoll was our final finisher in 164th (52:03).

Well done to all who ran and thank you for turning out.

There are also U11 races for boys and girls.

Times are indicative based on previous year timetables

Please note: times displayed are indicative only

Times are indicative

There are also U11 races for boys and girls.

Exact location in Liverpool not known at time of publishing

Times are indicative

Please note: Times are indicative only.

Girls’ Report by Jilie Rayfield

Sunday saw a welcome return of the BBO Cross Country Championships at a new venue, Henley Showground. This must be both the most beautiful and toughest of courses, so it was rewarding to see all the Reading AC runners complete their races when others faltered.

The first girls to race were the U13s covering 3.5km. There was a very small field. Our own team of 4 being hit by 2 late Covid withdrawals, but our two debutants; Susannah and Araliya bravely lined up to face the challenge. They struck to the task and finished close together in 5th and 6th.

Next off were the U15s with 4 runners ready for the 4.3km challenge, which may have had the hardest hill of the day on the medium loop. They all showed good pace judgement to maintain or move up the field as the race progressed. Georgie, in particular stormed through the final section to move up and take a well deserved 2nd place. Alex was just 21s behind in 4th and Lucy came in 7th to complete the scoring team, with Poppy a valuable back up in 10th. The team won silver, just 1 point behind gold.

In the mixed U17 6.4km race good pace judgement over the hills and with the longer distances, was again on show as Zoe came through to get 4th and Emily L made a solid debut in 10th.

Well done to the girls who should all be proud of their performances. Full results: https://bbocca.uk/.../2000-2049/2022-BBO_Champs-Prov.pdf

Boys’ Report by Keith Whyte

Reading's small turnout of lads for the Berks Bucks and Oxon Championships at Henley Showground on Sunday meant that team medals that were there for the taking went begging. Nevertheless it was good to see those taking part compete with real courage and commitment.

In the U13 3.5km race on the tough hilly course Sam Weeks fought hard to the end, and although he was unable to match Bracknell's eventual winner, he well deserved his silver medal, as he finished 17 seconds behind in a time of 14.40. Damian Wisinski too ran committedly to the finish, managing to secure sixth place in 16.01.

The U15 team in their 4.3km race were weakened by the absence of their leading runners, and were further handicapped by injuries sustained during the race, but were all able to complete the course. They were led home by Noah Tyers in eighth position in 18.46, who had overtaken Elliott Hily on the steep hill after he had twisted his ankle. Elliott continued gamely, finishing 14th in 20.01, while James Charlton-Perez came through strongly for 17th place in 20.18, and Ollie Shears despite a significant knee problem finished two places behind in 20.31. Unfortunately the team result left them outside the medals in fourth.

Finally Ed Lewis showed a welcome return to form in the 6.4km U17 race, finishing fifth in 26.53.

Men’s Report

Sunday 20th November 2022 saw Henley Showground host the 2022 edition of the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Cross-Country Championships. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the Senior Men’s race has been run over a shorter 8km course, as per recent changes meaning that Senior Men and Women run over the same distance.

The course was made up of one medium lap and two large laps and encompassed large swathes of Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire countryside, and with some extremely undulating sections, made for some tough running.

Sadly, this event has not fully recovered its pre-pandemic popularity, and as such there were only 41 U20, Senior & Veteran Men finishers on the day.

Continuing his fine recent form, Richard Price powered through the Henley hills to emerge in first place and comfortably win the race in a time of 29:46; as a Vet, he also topped the Vet individual standings! Next across the line was U20 Chris Parker, who had a very good run, placing 5th (and 2nd amongst the U20 standings) with 31:11 on the clock. Just behind Parker was Haider Razzaq, who also posted an impressive performance to finish in 6th place in 31:28. Fourth scorer for Reading’s men was Ben Rollings, who ran solidly to finish in 13th place in a time of 32:46. Next across the line for the Palmer Park men was Sultan Abdullah, who in spite of suffering from a stitch for much of the tail-end of the race, came through in a very respectable 19th position in 33:56. Sixth and final scorer for the A-team was Tom Nike, who ran well to finish two places behind Abdullah, with 34:11 on the clock.

Following on from Nike was James Quinn, who had a promising run to finish in 30th place in 38:04. Not far behind was ever-present Andy McDonald, with a decent 32nd place in a time of 38:52. Packing closely behind McDonald were Neil Walker and Matt Rodda, who came through in 33rd and 35th place respectively, in times of 39:09 and 39:56. Shaun Watson was the fifth scorer for the B-team and made it round in 44:40 for 40th place, and not far behind him was Gerry O’Driscoll who mastered the Henley hills to cross the line in 41st place and a time of 49:03.

As for the team rankings, the A-team just missed out on first place, as they were pipped by Abingdon by a margin of just four points, leaving them in second place with 65 points. The B-team also did well for fifth position with a tally of 211 points.

The next fixture for Reading’s Senior Men will be the Hampshire League event to be held at Kings Park in Bournemouth on Saturday 3rd December, with the race starting at 14:30. Look forward to seeing you there!

There are also U11 races for boys and girls.