Morning Harriers
On Saturday afternoon 24 Harriers (16 men and 8 women) took part in the Kent Country XC Championships at Brands Hatch. Despite the ominous forecast all week, the rain held off and it turned out to be far less grim than we were expecting. Earlier in the week, the organisers were concerned because part of the course was under water but this drained in time allowing the event to go ahead as planned. There was far less mud than we expected and the main issue on the day was the viciously strong wind.
Everyone was extremely grateful to Hadders for not only delivering the club gazebo but for providing a wind break with his van. No other clubs tried to steal our cakes this time, presumably due to the menacing-looking tools that we used to weigh down the groundsheet :-).
The men ran a 12km course consisting of one short lap and 3 large, hilly laps. The women ran 8.3km on the same course but with 2 large laps.
In the men’s race, Liam White and Will Levett had a close race with Liam taking 5 seconds over Will to finish first Harrier home and 14th place overall. Liam was also sporting his new aerodynamic SOAR socks that Emily bought him for Christmas. They were followed by Dillon Hobbs, Alex Reid, Ed Steele and Dave Hadaway to make up the 6-to-score. Robin Barwick, Geoff Turner, George Harris, Hayden Thirkell, Andrew Joad and Simon Holford completed the 12-to-score.
Overall the men finished 5/12 in the 6-to-score and 6/7 in the 12-to-score competitions.
In the women’s race Amelie Karlsson finished first Harrier home in 13th place overall after making good progress in getting back to form. She was followed by Emily Nash and Ali Farrall to make up the 3-to-score. Jillian Holford, Emily Manners and Suzannah Kinsella completed the 6-to-score.
Overall the women finished 5/15 in the 3-to-score and 5/9 in the 6-to-score competitions
Well done to everyone who ran in the challenging conditions. Also, many thanks to those who came to support or brought cake and to Andrew Deighton for his warm sausage rolls 🙂
Kind regards
Simon & Jillian Holford
TWH XC Captains