After a very early start 27 Brighton youngsters made their way to Parliament hill fields to compete against the very best teams and runners from all over the South of England and despite some last minute withdrawals, came away with one of the best overall team results for many years, with all the age groups finishing inside the first 20 teams.
In the U/13 girls race the run of the day came from Rebecca Losh (nice picture on the Sussex website) who celebrated her selection at the English schools with the race of her life to come an excellent 8th place and with the ever present Lacey Fowler 54th, Eadie Yelling who will have another year in the age group 71st and Jess Corbet 85th the team came an Excellent 8th place and were the first Sussex team to finish. Good runs also from Bertie Brooking 168th and Sima Saadatzadeh 196th in a field of just under 300 runners.
In the U/13 boys race with 312 finishers it was Haiden May who led the team home in 68th closely followed by Henry Yelling 73rd, Will Mathews 124th who both have another year in the age group and with Oscar Davies 171st the team came 15th. Kit Monti came 293rd and spare a thought for George Taylor who was badly spiked and bravely carried on finished 299th.
In the U/15 Girls race it was again Lois Dooly who also celebrated her selection for the English schools and led the team home in an excellent 40th place and with Alex Nann 110th Amber Wright 132nd and Gracie Bernard who finished with a sprained ankle in 180th, Morgan Thomas 189th and Astrid Blackledge just back from injury 246th the team finished 18th and were the first Sussex team home and apart from Amber they all have another year in the age group.
In the U/15 Boys race the ever present Max Brazier led the team home in 66th and with Tom Roberts just outside the first 100 in 102nd place, Henry Taylor 125th and Baxter Fletcher 139th, Joseph Luker 166th the team came 15th.
In the U/17 Women’s race Olivia Lyon-Monk who will also be going to the English schools had another excellent run in 39th and with Emma Gill who will also be going with Olivia to Norwich 81st, Jemima Edwards 134th Amy Gamblin 136th the team finished in 12th and were the first Sussex team to finish and I believe the first time Brighton have had an u/17 team in this event.
Well done to every one it was great to see so many Brighton runners competing and for many experiencing for the first time a great event on the famous Hampstead Heath course.