The course followed tracks, paths, meadows and roads which had been divided into six stages along the rivers the Great Ouse and Cam.

The outward legs had the benefit of a tail wind while the homeward three stages had plenty of strong head winds and cross winds to battle against.

St Edmund Pacers managed to muster three teams for the event – thanks to the great efforts and organisation of Dave Overman, who once again fulfilled his club duties and put together all the arrangements needed (writes JULIA JEPSON).

The men's A team consisted of six pairs of very fast legs which belonged to Tim Fox, Justin Rabbet, Peter Golding, Chris Cooke, David Reed and Kevin Murphy.

Competing against 67 teams, they performed excellently to finish third overall. Kevin won his stage while Chris and Peter both finished second fastest on their legs of the relay.

The ladies' team contained some new faces to the relay events and I am sure now they have tasted success, it will be firmly fixed in the diary for next year.

Running the first leg was the ever-reliable Eloise Carver and she handed on to Karen Hatton. On the third leg, Sarah Golding sped her way through the tracks and paths making up places as she went. Sarah Hinhcliffe took over at Cambridge's Jesus Green and ran strongly to hand over to Julia Jepson, who ran the fifth and windy leg to the last change over at an area known as the Chalk pit. Wendy Jones took up the challenge to the finish and maintain the team's position in first place.

This was an unexpected and welcome win – making turning out on a cold, wet and windy Sunday worthwhile.

The third team consisting of Trish Dennison – a huge welcome back to the club – Iian Milligan, Chris Cooke, Mike Troup, Stephen Williams and Dave Overman, produced excellent form to battle their way to 16th place overall to show the club's strength and team spirit is growing more every day.

Although the conditions for running were far from favourable, what else would you rather do on a Sunday morning? The great sense of satisfaction after competing in a team event, is certainly worth the effort.


Two local events divided club runners this weekend. Ryston Runners hosted the last race in their Cross-Country Grand Prix, the seniors competing the 6.5km course while the juniors ran their usual distances.

In the U-9s, Gemma Grose was once again superb for second place while, in the boys, Reece Gooderham came 10th, Thomas McCarthy 15th and Oliver Radley 16th.

Two girls competed in the U-11s and Jessica Gooderham, running for the second day in succession, came second ahead of team-mate Gaia Johnstone in fifth.

A large contingent of Pacers competed in the U-13s and it was Elin Grose, also running after competing at Nottingham the previous day, who came in first for the girls in second position. Emily Gooderham finished fourth.

Sam Harrison won the boys' event and there were excellent performances by many of his fellow team-mates. Jake McCarthy finished third, Liam Brophy fourth, Liam Wigglesworth fifth and Will Curtin sixth.
The U-15 girls produced excellent runs – Lauren Clipstone finishing second and Rebecca Gooderham in fourth place.

With several seniors racing across the Fens in the high winds that could knock you off your feet, the turn out for Ryston was still very good. In the V40 age group, Kevin Vaughan came fourth with Phil Grose in eighth place. Ian Gooderham, trying to keep up with the rest of his family, ran well for ninth and Warren Radley finished 15th.

In the V45 group, Martyn Brophy came eighth while, in the next age group, Alan Dawson continued to dominate to claim top spot. Robert Price was not to be out done by his club-mate and he finished first in the V60 category.

As many of the ladies from the club were tackling the relay course through the Fens, Maureen McCarthy returned to one of her favourite venues to compete in the final race of the season. Not only did she improve with every race, but once again took first place in the female V45 category – proving that you can only get better with age.

Seven hardy Haverhill club runners competed in the Grizzly – a 19-mile off- road race starting in Seaton, Devon.

The race consists of a mix of trails, meadows, shingle beaches, bogs, rivers, streams, roads and hills. Thankfully, the storms didn't start until the race had finished and the weekend was reported to be a great success both sporting and socially.

Due to injury, Nigel Chapman decided to compete in the Cub run, which is over the shorter distance of nine miles. He completed the course in 1hr 54mins.

The Grizzly had approximately 1,300 finishers and Ian Longland was the first from the club to complete in an excellent time of 2.57hrs for 109th place. He is now hoping to run a sub three-hour time at Bungay in a couple of weeks.

Not far behind was Ian Pammenter, who produced another great effort to finish the demanding event in 3.09 and 201st place. Next in for Haverhill was Paul Brough in 3.13hrs and taking a very respectable 248th position. Dave Edwards, in his new trainers, ran 3.29hrs and Steve Miller with little training this year, strolled across the line in 3.45hrs.

Dave Greenham was pleased to have recovered from a chest infection and completed in 4.08 hrs while the only lady in the team, Alison Austin, recorded a time of 4.22hrs.


Saturday saw six St Edmund Pacers travel to Nottingham to take part in the Inter Counties Cross Country Championships. With huge fields of athletes in each age category our girls put up a fantastic performance.

Christine Anthony ran in the senior race and came a very creditable 213th but the star of the day was Jemma Clarry, who finished in 44th place in the U-20s.

In the U13s, Elin Grose ran well despite being boxed in early on and finished in 167th place in a time of 15.09 mins over the 3km course.

Rebecca Laidlaw was next home for the Pacers in 267th place, with Alice Maguire close behind in 273rd and Jessica Gooderham 294th.


Looking ahead. On Sunday, Stowmarket Striders host the Joe Cox half -marathon.

For another team event, how about the Mutford relays on July 13?
E-mail all your results to jjulia10@googlemail.com