Birmingham League Cross Country - Division One, Race 1,

Kenilworth Runners made an encouraging start to its second ever campaign in the top flight of the Birmingham Cross Country League on Saturday, with the team finishing in thirteenth position and just above the relegation zone. It was different surroundings for the opening race of the league, the traditional season opener at Senneleys Park replaced by a no less challenging course over approximately 11km at Newbold Comyn, Leamington Spa. Thankfully though for the runners, despite heavy recent rainfall, the ground was good to firm in most places and the notorious water jump across a muddy stream was less deep and wide than usual. The runners did face though three climbs of the notorious Beacon Hill which remained as steep and imposing as ever.

With the team setting a target of avoiding relegation, hopes for a strong start were somewhat diminished with several key team members absent through illness, injury or other commitments. However our remaining runners performed admirably to help haul the team above the all important drop zone. Stuart Hopkins was first home with a storming run - finishing in 45th position in 38:32. He was followed by Richard Simkiss - competing with a heavy cold - who was not far behind in 57th place, and Men's Team Captain Phil Gould, who battled to 71st position.

The scoring team of six was completed by cross country expert Pat Noonan who ran a strong race to finish 124th, a jet-lagged Matthew Kingston-Lee who made a strong finish to wind up 128th, and Graham Birch, who was just behind in 137th position. The team scored 556 points, which is just two ahead of Telford, but a healthy 100+ points clear of Rugby & Northampton and Gloucester.

Position	Name	Time
A Team
45	Stuart Hopkins	38:32
57	Richard Simkiss	39:06
71	Phil Gould	39:49
124	Pat Noonan	42:26
128	Matthew Kingston-Lee	42:39
137	Graham Birch	42:50
B Team
137	Pete Bryan	43:07
149	James Griffiths	43:47
153	Martin Dorrill	44:21
171	Davinder Cheema	46:26
189	Martin Lambert	48:57
194	Richard Steele	49:36
Other Finishers
197	Richard Whiting	49:59
198	Barry Elkington	50:30
204	Mark Hall	51:24
207	Sigurd Assing	53:11
208	Clive Pearce	53:27
212	John McKenna	54:39
215	Tom Dable	55:03
220	Stef Shillington	57:58
221	Glyn Clarke	59:26
224	Martin Broomfield	62:12