Hello all,

With Lara on a different time zone I’m stepping in to give her a well-earned week off.

Firstly, congratulations to Lara herself in completing the New York marathon yesterday. I think she was there mainly to enjoy it and as another step towards the 6 stars but still a very creditable time of 4.12.

Junior Race results

Mansfield relays

Top billing must go to the Juniors following the English XC relays in Mansfield on Saturday. This is a national level event with top class fields usually of over 100 teams in each category.

Great running across the board from the 8 Pacers teams. A huge credit to the Juniors themselves, their parents, and our fantastic set of Junior coaches. One of our team also had a viral post showing the true spirit of XC, racing off in the final sprint then supporting each other once over the line. Brilliant to see from our youngsters.

Special mention to the four teams making an amazing top 20;

5th Under 15 boys Digby Pearson, Hamish Dover and Dexter Marshal.
9th Under 17 men Alfie Jeffrey, Max Uttley and Max Jeffrey.
11th Under 15 girls Sophie Bolton, Ella Knight and India Johnson
15th Under 13 girls Chloe Berry, Abbie Dockerill and Millie McNeill

Lift the Curfew run.

Well done to Lara for organising and all who took part in the Pacers lift the Curfew run on Tuesday. Important to raise awareness of the issues around safe and heckle free running for Women full stop, but especially going into the darker months, it was great to see clubs up and down the country taking part.

Cross country

Still awaiting the Framlingham results, but it really will be nip and tuck with Newmarket and Sudbury this year for the overall title. Without the Jeffrey brothers senior debut at Framlingham the men’s team would be struggling a little bit. So, we need everyone we can on 30th November at Woodbridge – especially if you’re a speedier type this is a great relatively easy course ideal for a Threshold effort.

Entries are closed for Eastern counties on 15th Nov, well done all those who have signed up and have a good run. Next on the agenda is the Suffolk County champs on 4th January. Entries are open, you can sign up here:

Tarpley volunteers

Whilst on her travels Lara spotted none other than a Tarpley top, they get everywhere! A reminder that as a volunteer you can lay your hands on one of these iconic items if you sign up by the end of December. Matt has just finalised the design which will be kept closely under wraps but I promise it looks good. We still need more volunteers please help by completing the form here. The race itself is very close to selling out. We already have a huge waitlist for the 10 and just 12 spaces left in the 20. Thank you to everyone who has already offered to help, it is very much appreciated.

Senior results

Bonfire burns 10k

There was a depleted yellow group run on Saturday morning with a trio of regulars saving their legs for this 10k in Histon. And it was worth it with Mike Greener flaming the v50 field with an age cat win in his colour co-ordinated orange socks. Also, a notable performance from Mark Stratton with a blistering 38.39 PB. Well done also to Paul who had a strong run in just over 40mins and, like the houses of parliament, didn’t blow up.

Ryston

For those who can’t get enough of XC we had several entrants to the Ryston series on Sunday and the EACCL on Wednesday this week. Tough conditions underfoot in both cases by the looks of it and some course confusions but still good early season fitness boosting hit outs.

East coast10k
Fantastic result for Stacy Mockford following up a really strong performance in Framlingham last week with a 41.22 PB and age cat win in Yarmouth. In top form!

And finally,

Well done to Anita and Andy Ward for completing two races while out on holiday in Cyprus. You probably know you have issues with impulsive race sign ups when you’re running in 30 degree heat when you could be sat by a pool!