Mud! That word is foremost in my mind as I write this race report. Following what seemed like weeks of rain, it stopped in time for the Sussex Cross Country Championships at Bexhill but left behind a veritable quagmire of deep, water-logged mud, creating some heavy going for our athletes. It was difficult enough to walk the course or move from point to point as a spectator, but running in it took some effort (and removing spikes after was not particularly pleasant).
Despite this, BHAC put in some excellent team and individual performances, returning with a solid haul of medals. Coming back from the break over the festive period and racing is always challenging, and there were still a few of our runners who were not yet fully recovered from illness. But they were there and soldiered on, and we are again proud of them all.
The u13G team secured Bronze on the day, and the u13B team got Gold. The u15G team were fourth, missing a medal by just one point. The u15B team came away with Silver. Our two u17W performed excellently but needed a third runner to secure a team result. And once again, our u17M dominated the field with Gold and Bronze! It was not bad for a day at the office. Thanks, team!
Several of our athletes also came away with individual medals. Oliver G got Gold, Taylor T-W a Bronze, and both runners battled and swapped places with a Portsmouth challenger. Julieana W sprinted the last 200m to Silver, breaking the dominance of Eastbourne. George G. also secured a Silver. Rosie went home with Bronze, and Finlay G was another well-deserved Silver medallist.
by Jay Potton
Our Senior men’s (James Turner, Matthew Grindrod, Joshua Hobbs, Sam wilkinson, Zared Arasaretnam-Hale, Andrew Green) and Senior women’s teams (Sophie Coleman, Jess Corbett, Linda Schofield and Lucie Bourne) also came away with Team golds
The full set of results can be viewed here : www.sussexathletics.net/2023-results/ and photos of the day on the AC_PHOTS site
Next races
-
South of England Athletics Association (SEAA) Cross Country Championship Beckenham Saturday 27th January (the club has entered the teams and we await the timetable to be confirmed)
- Sussex XC League race 4 at Glyndebourne on 10th February (athlete entry)
- Sussex Road Relays at Preston Park Brighton 30th March (team selection)
Forthcoming schools’ races
- Sussex Schools Athletics Association (SSAA) Cross Country Championships 16th January
- Yrs 8/9, 10/11, 12/13 = schools handle entry
- Held at Brighton RFC
- South East Schools Inter-Counties (SESIC) Cross Country 3rd February
- Yrs 8/9, 10/11, 12/13 = SSAA select the teams based on top 20 on 16th Jan
- Held in Ardingly
- SSAA Cross Country 7&8 Championships 27th February
- Yrs 7 & 8 = schools handle entry
- Christ’s Hospital