There were many good performances from CAC athletes braving the stormy conditions at Newquay on Saturday.  Some of our youngsters were running for their schools and they’ll have to forgive me for not mentioning them but well done to them anyway.

The Under 11 Development races are a great idea and got good numbers again, with Lowenna Harvey being the only one of our runners competing for the club and going well in 9th position.

In the Under 13 Girls race our Penair girls went well and Jess Bolton, looking like she was having stitch problems, had to settle for 16th place.

Our Under 13 Boys are talented and putting on some great races this season.  They seem to be taking it in turns to win at the moment, with Sam Heslop-George struggling here, after winning the St Austell Westward League, finishing a below-par 8th.  Callum Jones is very consistent and came a close 2nd but it was Tom Rawet who proved the stronger this time to take the gold medal.  With three to score our boys took the team title.

The Under 13 Boys get underway, sporting a variety of headgear

Tom Rawet, winning his first county title

In the Under 15 Girls race CAC runners comprised over half the field and were split between club and school with Penair.  Both teams finishing equal on points, with CAC prevailing by virtue of our higher third scoring athlete being.  Freya Glover raced well again for 3rd and seems to be growing an inch in between each race at the moment.  Amy Rundle had a good race in 5th, with Ellie Starr making a welcome return to form in 6th.  Hannah Isles and Elisha Hurst were having a titanic battle just behind and Hannah just edged it for 7th to Elisha’s 8th. 

Amy, enjoying a good winter's racing

Sam Harry was the only CAC athlete in the Under 15 Boys but he cruised home impressively to take an expected gold medal.

In the Under 17 Girls race Heidi Cottam is rapidly getting back to form and came a solid 4th, with Lizzie Gard making a very welcome return to racing in 6th.

Our Under 17 Boys took their expected team gold medals.  Ryan Cleave looked in good shape, coming a comfortable 2nd, with James Waldie paying for a brave fast start and suffering in the wind to drop down the field to 5th.  Felix Coates backed them up well with an isolated run for a good 6th.

Felix, a key member of the Under 17 team

In the combined Senior Ladies and Under 20 race, we were disappointed not to raise a full team but Emma Stallard had a fine run to get silver in the Seniors and young Hannah Griffin had a solid run in her second cross country race for 8th position.

We were delighted to get  three full teams of four runners out in the Senior Men’s and Under 20 event, providing over half the field.  The highlight (gritted teeth here!) was a great tactical race by young Matt Cleave, running with Noel Kindon for most of the race before storming on past old boy Buzza with a lap to go for a fine 2nd place overall and 1st Under 20.  Buzza had a battle with Kindon (who is looking more comfortable on the country these days), before prevailing for 3rd with Noel coming 4th overall and 2nd Senior Man.  Tony Dunn wasn’t far behind in 5th and 2nd Veteran Over 40, completing our winning team and Matt Pullen made a solid return to the softer surfaces in 6th.

Kevin Toher leads our men on the opening lap

Chris Dobson, having beaten Matt a few weeks ago, didn’t go so well here in 8th, for 2nd Under 20 but still had enough to beat Nathan Gosling, fit again after illness in 9th.  Adrian Ball, still recovering from his marathon, impressed in 12th for 3rd Veteran Over 40 and closed in our ‘B’ team who only missed out on 2nd place by one point.  Will Collins was close behind in 13th and John Waldie was just pipped for 16th by a whisker. 

Adrian, a club regular on road and country

Roger Lock won the Veteran’s Over 50 race in 19th place overall, with his run being almost as impressive as his headgear (!) and Ian Wright was 2nd Veteran Over 50, one place behind in 20th, with his body holding out this time!