A bright and chilly Sunday afternoon for the popular Chelmsford 10k which starts at the unusual time of 2pm. 39 Striders took part; 22 men and 17 women.
First Strider home was Chris Burgoyne in 2nd place in a time of 33.06. With Mark Newton in 7th in 34.20 and Lee Martin 16th in 36.20, the men took the Mens gold prize.
The ladies fared well too; Sam Bilbie was 3rd lady in a time of 38.08 and with Jackie Stretton in 39.00 and Polly Bridgman in 45.48, took the Ladies silver prize. Sam was also 2nd v35.
Well done to everyone who ran.

It was a Remembrance Sunday of two different races in chilly sunshine.
The Stebbing 10 mile race was the final race in the Essex Grand Prix and set off after a short remembrance service on the green at Stebbing. 25 Striders took part.
First male strider was Pete Robinson in 4th place in a time of 56.19; Pete was followed by Chris Burgoyne in 5th and 56.32 and James Smith in 8th with 57.33. Together these three took the County 10 mile team prize.

Read more: Weekend of hobbling and winners

A superb turnout for the club handicap race saw 42 runners hit the paths of Chelmsford last night. Having calculated the majority of handicaps prior to the race via the power of social media (facebook) the additional 15 or so runners turning up on the night did not overwhelm the organisers. With all handicaps calculated from previous 5k races and some other distances where not available we also had to rely on an element of honesty from the competitors. Admittedly, some runners did attempt to increase their handicap using reasons (excuses) ranging from “I had a big pizza prior to running” to “I don’t run as fast at night time”. Needless to say these were not taken in to account.

The conditions were ideal from the start and the race commenced shortly after 8pm. Some great individual efforts and numerous PB’s later we had a winner. In 1^st place  was Toni Brown with a time of 29:33, knocking a fantastic 3 mins of her previous best. Well done Toni! In 2^nd place was Katherine Lee with a time of 29:35 and again, nearly 3 mins of her PB. Both Toni and Katherine were part of the Springfield Striders beginner running group so it’s great to see them both placing here tonight and entirely in the spirit of the race. In 3^rd place was Kevin Wright who ran 30:32, a PB post operation. 

All that is left is a big thanks to all the helpers on the night, especially Allison and Alistair and the marshals. And then to the runners for coming and having a go. I look forward to seeing you all for the Winter 5k Handicap which will likely be a Thurs night in Feb. 

Read more: Late Summer Handicap

On Saturday the first Essex league fixture took place at Horseheath Point to point near Cambridge. 10 men and 5 women ran. For the men highest placed Strider was Alex Manton in 28th followed by James Smith in 29th; after them were Scott Sterling in 37th and Antony Goodall in 42nd.
For the women, Liz Davies was 1st lady and therefore qualifies to run for Essex in the County Championships. Second lady Strider was Nikki Ranson in 37th, then Allison Gillan and Lynn Tanner taking 73rd and 81st.

The 53-12 XC season kicked off with the course at Writtle College hosted by Springfield Striders on Sunday. A fine morning for running with the usual Springfield excellent organisation.
The morning kicked off with the juniors races with some great running from the 4 Strider juniors in a field of 110 runners. Dylan Robins was 15th overall and 1st in the u11 boys. Taylor Gooding  was 43rd and 2nd in the U11 girls. Ollie (U11 boys) and Jack  (U15 boys) Teddorski came 83rd and 85th respectively. The juniors are currently 7th.
The mens race was won by Andrew Rooke of Hadleigh Hares. In the scoring team for Springfield were:
Sam Cornforth 10th, Chris Burgoyne 12th, James Smith 13th, Alex Manton 15th, Scott Dryden 24th, Antony Goodall 28th, Paul Miles 31st and Greg Deacon 33rd. 30 Strider men ran out of a field of 222.

Read more: XC at the weekend