Kent Cross Country League, Swanley

Despite sub zero temperatures and icy conditions, 20 Harriers and 8 Harriettes travelled to Swanley on Saturday for the fourth and final cross country race in the Kent League calendar. The route comprised multiple laps which wound their way through woodland, a farmer's field and playing fields. In addition to the usual obstacles to be contended with, such as tree roots and steep banks, the ground was frozen solid and, in places, very slippery. This resulted in slightly slower times than usual, but there were, nevertheless, some very impressive performances.

In the women's 5km race there were 56 finishers and first home for Tunbridge Wells Harriers, in 4th position, (and first veteran woman) was Alice Heather-Hayes in a time of 22:17. Jeannette White, whose hacking cough could be heard on the start line, put in an incredibly determined and gutsy performance to finish 14th in 24:06. Hot on her heels, in 15th position was Sarah Bailey, just one second slower. These three athletes formed the scoring team who finished in 4th position out of 10, which placed Tunbridge Wells Harriers 4th out of 17 in the whole series, a considerable improvement on previous years.

Also running for Tunbridge Wells Harriers were Pru Clements 19th in 24:47, Kim Deeney 24th in 25:55, Siân Roberts 28th in 26:21, Jillian Holford 39th in 27:43 and Lucille Joannes 46th in 30:09. Pru Clements was the very worthy recipient of a bronze medal for coming third Veteran Woman over all four fixtures.

Not to be outdone, two Harriers competed in the newly created  Male 70 category, running with the women over a 5km course. John Johnson finished first in 33:28 and Bryon (Spud) Taylor second in 43:44. Over the series Tunbridge Wells Harriers made a clean sweep in the Male 70 category with Eric Schofield winning gold medal, John Johnson silver and Bryon Taylor bronze.

138 Senior Men braved the cold in a 9.5km race. Completing his run of first places was Cambridge Harrier Dean Lacey in an incredible time of 28:42. First for Tunbridge Wells was Chris Wolton 20th in 31:45 followed by Stuart Shields 38th in 33:57, Andy Howey 42nd in 34:14 and, completing the '4 to score', Dave Langridge 59th in 35:35. This placed them 5th team out of 13 and secured them a very impressive 5th place in the whole series. But Tunbridge Wells Harriers demonstrated its strength in depth in the duodec, or '12 to score', with the addition of the following eight men securing them 3rd place: 64th Daryl Palfrey (36:20), 65th captain Ed Steele (36:25), 67th Matt Clements (36:36), 79th Terry Everest (37:13), 91st Mark Taylor (38:29), 93rd Alan Collard (38:34), 99th Casper Morris (39:06) and Geoff Turner 102nd (39:26).

Also representing TWH were George Harris 106th (39:36), Mike Russell 110th (39:59), Steve Austin 120th (42:38), Steve Bright 121st (43:07), 129th Mark Wheeler (45:45) and 132nd John Hepner (46:29).

Many thanks to everyone for braving the elements and proving what a hardy breed cross country runners are.

For a complete break-down of the results please see http://www.dartfordharriersac.co.uk/KXCL/Results/index.html