THURROCK’S seniors were again out in force for the 4th round of the Essex Cross Country League at Basildon on Saturday.
Best performance of the day came from 41 year old Scott Rice who in finishing in 30th place beat the newly crowned Essex veteran’s cross country champion Alan Smalls of Colchester.
It was another excellent performance from the consistent and stylish veteran. He was surprised to find himself behind a 40+ runner from Havering, Steve Rand. One more good run from Scott will ensure he finishes amongst the medals at the end of the season.
Another veteran contending for medals is Orsett based Jon Metcalf who finished 3rd in the 50+ section. Jon has not been out of the first 3 all year and again one more good performance from him in the last match at Chingford will see him again in the medals.
Yet another veteran seeking an end of season podium spot is Corringham’s Mick Bumstead who won the 60+ section on Saturday. Mick has never had much affection for the mud but on Saturday battled hard with his long time rival Peter Binns of Southend who finished 3 places behind.
The team although quite a strong one finished a disappointing 7th place and they were led in by Alex Houghton in 22nd spot, followed by Scott Rice and then Steve Prosser in 35th place.
Alec Finch ran well to finish 48th while Don Lawless in 59th spot had his best race of the winter. The team was closed in by Dave Johnson in 59th place who was delighted to finish in the scoring team for the first time this winter.
Other Thurrock finishers were Dennis Cross 61st, Jason Syrett 95th,Nigel Instance 98th, John Russell 104th, Bernie Johnson 119th, his best run of the winter, Phil Oatham 125th, John Arthur 127th, Gary Rowlett 130th, Steve Martindale 139th. There were 170 starters in the race.
Senior women had only 1 competitor on Saturday. Sam Tuck finished an excellent 38th in only her third race in club colours. She can expect a rapid improvement on this over the next few months.
The next fortnight sees a quiet period for the Club. The next major event for all sections are the county cross championships on Saturday 5th January at Hadleigh Downs.
