Surrey Cross Country League – Race Report 3: Newlands Corner

Surrey Cross Country League – Race Report 3: Newlands Corner

The beautiful setting of Newlands Corner provided a scenic backdrop for round 3 of the Surrey Cross Country League, inspiring Guildford and Godalming Athletics to set their sights on a return to the hallowed landscape of Division One. On a familiar course to the Emerald Greens hopes were high of a strong team performance, and with the top two of Clapham Chasers and Ranelagh Harriers bringing a large contingency of athletes, it was going to take every man to run at his peak.

Setting the standard was Jon Dewey, who lead the way over the calf-crunching climbs to an eventual second place finish in 27.34.  He was ably supported by hill-specialist Adam Stirk who accelerated over the second lap to eighth in 28.43 and Ben Evans, racing all the way to finish eight seconds behind in tenth. Grinding up the gradients over the beauty spot course were more strong performances from Mark Tennyson, Andy Eakins and Andy Ward, who recorded top 40 finishes and solid points for the team, a total further complimented by scores from Ian Durrant, Nick Sharpe, Brian O’Kane and Rob Myring. Just shading over the 35 minute barrier were Nick Green and Jon Earnshaw, Alistair Gibson, with the relentless Patrick Angell and Matt Lythell - fresh from the County Championships last week - a couple of minutes further back.

Ten runners in the top 80 represented an excellent finish taking into account some notable absentees, but was only enough to take the Spectrum-based club to third on the day and the same position in the league. This leaves them some way off second place Clapham before the last race in Richmond in Febraury, with a 330 point swing need to take the club back into the promotion position, however the belief remains that a final sprint is possible. The hill may be steep but Guilford will keep running hard for the summit.