Cross Country Results 2009/2010:

Saturday 10th October	Guiting Power - Gloucester League
Saturday 24th October	Senneleys Park - Midland Ladies
Saturday 24th October	Senneleys Park - Birmingham League
Saturday 22nd November	Blackbridge - Gloucester League
Saturday 5th December	Blackbridge - Birmingham League
Saturday 5th December	Birchfield - Midland Ladies
Saturday 12th December	Tewkesbury - Gloucester League
Saturday 9th January	Warwickshire Cross Country Championships
Saturday 16th January	Coventry _ Midland Ladies League
Saturday 16th January	Coventry - Birmingham League
Saturday 30th January	Midland Cross Country Championships
Saturday 6th February	Pitville Park - Gloucester League
Saturday 13th February	Malvern Common -Birmingham League
Saturday 27th February	English Cross Country Championships, Leeds
Saturday 6th March	Richmond Park Cross Country

10/10/09 Guiting Power - Gloucester League

The first race of the 2009/10 Gloucester League was staged at the Cotswold farm park known to many in the BBC series Country File. In glorious sunshine the runners tackled uncomfortably bumpy terrain with twists and turns.

In the senior ladies race Sally Hicks was 63rd,33mins 18 secs, and Pauline Dable 86th , 37.07.

Phil Gould had an exceptional run in the mens race to be placed 7th in 33 mins 13 secs followed by the veteran team Martin Smith 47.13, Tom Dable 47.54, Steph Shillington 48.59 and Colin Underhill 50.55.

24/10/09 Senneleys Park - Midland Ladies

What started as a very wet and blustery day gave way to brilliant sunshine for the first race in this popular ladies cross country league. The overnight rain made the underfoot conditions particularly sticky on what is renowned as a testing two lap course with a notorious brook crossing .

Rebecca Harvey led the five Kenilworth Ladies home in 62nd position in 28:08

24/10/09 Senneleys Park - Birmingham League

Following their relegation from Divison One last season Kenilworth Runners men got off to a good start in their bid to return to the top ranks. The first race of this series run over three laps of the park and taking in two water crossings incorporated runners from all three divisions, some 600 plus runners.

Our 18 member team was lead home by Phil Gould in 92nd position 35:09 followed by Stuart Hopkins, Richard Simkiss, Phillip McCorquodale, Pat Noonan and Graham Birch making up the first team gaining third position in the "A" division.

While our second team of Matthew Kingston Lee, Roger Homes, Mick Williams, Richard Green, Pete Matthews and John Dagnan are in third place in the "B" division.

22/11/09 Blackbridge - Gloucester League

An afternoon when only mad dogs and Englishmen would venture out - 10 Kenilworth Runners made their way to Gloucester for the second race of the Gloucester Cross Country League..

The weather men came up with the right forecast for once. The ladies race over four miles was run in windy conditions with light rain and muddy underfoot conditions after heavy downpours overnight. Pauline Dable finished in 36.08.

It was getting darker by the minute as the mens race started at 2.40pm in light rain. As the wind intensified the rain fell likewise making conditions very tough going. Kenilworth Runners captain Phil Gould started up front and held fourth place for some time but battling against the wind and rain and somewhat slippery conditions he slipped down to 12th place by the finish. It was virtually dark by the time our nine finishers completed the course and all were looking forward to a hot shower and a cuppa!

05/12/09 Blackbridge - Birmingham League

In cloudy and breezy conditions, the rain thankfully held off long enough for the race to be held mainly in the dry. The largely flat course with a few sharp undulations thrown in was in remarkably good condition considering the volume of rain that has fallen recently, with the going underfoot good in most places with just the odd boggy section.

Kenilworth fielded a near full strength team of eighteen runners for the race, with Mike Johnson returning and Connor Carson making his long awaited Birmingham League debut, who both ably deputised for Richard Simkiss and Martin Dorrill who were our headline absentees through injury. Mike had a splendid comeback race from injury battling hard with Men's Team Captain Phil Gould. Both finished with the same time, with Phil just edging out Mike at the finish to take 16th position. With Mike next home in 17th, the A team of six counters was completed by Stuart Hopkins in a fine 24th; Pat Noonan 48th; Graham Birch 55th and Matthew Kingston-Lee 61st.

A total of 221 points meant we finished third on the day and comfortably sit in third in the standings with with 444 points, over 100 points behind second placed Gloucester, but 150 points clear of fourth placed Royal Sutton Coldfield. The B team head the overall standings after another impressive display of quality and depth - Connor Carson; Phil McCorquodale; Mick Williams; Pete Bryan; Richard Steele; and Richard Green making up the successful six, who were first on the day and lead the rest of the field overall by 37 points.

05/12/09 Birchfield - Midland Ladies

Three of our ladies headed to Birchfield to take part in the second race of the Midland Ladies Cross Country League. In a large field of around 190 runners and on a mainly flat but boggy in places course, the trio performed well with Rebecca Harvey 27:50 leading them home in 54th position.

22/11/09 Tewkesbury - Gloucester League

The third race in the Gloucester Cross Country League was held on a flat but muddy course over farmers' fields in Tewkesbury. The Men's race, run over 6.4 miles, saw Men's Team Captain Phil Gould put in a superb effort to finish in fifth position. He was joined by five other members of the club.

In the Ladies Race, Pauline Dable represented the club over the 7.8 km course, finishing in 82nd position with a time of 42:54.

09/01/10 Warwickshire Cross Country Championships

With the big freeze showing little respite, Leamington C&AC worked wonders to ensure that the Warwickshire Cross Country Championships took place at Newbold Comyn. Due to safety considerations the notorious Beacon Hill was removed from the course (Taken over by sledging) as had the infamous bog - a section of the course popular for YouTube videos. Conditions for the races were sunny but bitterly cold.

Four lady Kenilworth Runners took part in the Senior Ladies and Masters Race. Lucy Aphromor was our first runner home in an superb seventeenth position, followed by Ros Matthews in a highly creditable 34th and Sally Hicks in 50th, placing our ladies seventh in the team competition.

In the Men's Under 17 and Under 20, Kenilworth Runner's Phil McCorquodale put in a great performance to finish sixth overall and second in the U20 standings.

Fifteen men from Kenilworth Runners took part in the Senior Men and Masters Race. First home was Men's Team Captain Phil Gould, who finished an excellent twelfth. Mike Johnson finished eighteenth overall and took bronze medal in the masters event, helping our Masters take silver medal in the team event.

16/01/10 Coventry - Midland Ladies

Before the men set off in their cross country race, three ladies from Kenilworth Runners took part in the third race of the Midlands Ladies Cross Country League. Using the same course as the men but over a shorter distance, Ros Matthews was our first runner home in 107th position; followed by Sally Hicks 127th and Pauline Dable 145th. Finishing times and league positions are not available at the time of writing.

16/01/10 Coventry - Birmingham League

Kenilworth Runners are on the brink of bouncing straight back into Division One of the Birmingham Cross Country League after their men put in arguably the club's strongest ever showing at Wyken Croft Park, Coventry. Third place on the day with a club record low score of 149 points leaves the club in the third promotion spot with a 179 point gap over their nearest rival with one race remaining.

Runners faced a 5.7 mile multiple lap course made muddy underfoot by a rapid thaw and heavy overnight rain. Men's Team Captain Phil Gould led the 22 strong team home in a superb thirteenth position overall. The remainder of the A team followed in quick succession, with Mike Johnson 15th; Stuart Hopkins 21st; Rich Simkiss 23rd; Phil McCorquodale 34th; and Graham Birch 43rd. Moreover, with all six members of the B Team finishing inside the top 100, they finished first on the day in the B team competition and head the Division Two B team standings.

30/01/10 Midland Cross Country Championships

On a bitterly cold afternoon 10 kenilworth Runners competed on an undulating and testing course in places frozen solid and others deep mud. Phil Gould led the mens team home in 63rd place with a creditable run over the 12km course in 45mins 43 secs.

In the under 20 mens race Phil Mc Corquodale was placed 46th in a time of 32.49. In the Senior ladies race Pauline Dable 136th 51.18

06/02/10 Gloucester League Cross Country, Race 4, Pitville Park, Cheltenham

Ten members of Kenilworth Runners headed to Pitville Park in Cheltenham to take part in the fourth and final race of the Gloucester League Cross Country. In the ladies race, Ros Matthews led the three strong team home over the four mile course in 29:18. She was followed by Mandy Crust (31:41) and a hard charging Ladies Team Captain Pauline Dable, whose 34:06 was good enough to secure a well earned silver medal in the V60 category. The team finished twentieth on the day.

In the men's race, it was Pete Matthews who led the seven strong team home over the six mile course comprising three laps of the undulating parkland, complete with a stream crossing, in 39:17. He was followed home by Martin Smith (43:09); Colin Underhill (44:45); Tom Dable (45:15); Mike Crust 46:36; and Stef Shillington (49:36); Paul Buchan (52:59). The team finished nineteenth on the day, but Men's Team Captain Phil Gould picked up the bronze medal in the men's senior category without competing in the final round (Best three of four scores counted).

13/02/10 Birmingham League Cross Country, Race 4, Malvern Common, Malvern

18 members of Kenilworth Runners set out to defend their 3rd position in the league which would give them promotion to Division one next season. With three of their key runners missing and just 169 points ahead of Cannock & Staffs in 4th position the outcome was far from certain. After the first lap of four Cannock had four runners including international runner, Tom Humphries, in front of Kenilworth's first counter . An inspired run by Kenilworth's Mike Johnson along with captain Phil Gould pulled the team through to second team on the day and overall 3rd in the league giving them promotion. The runners celebrated with bubbly before boarding the mini bus back to Kenilworth.

Overall League positions A Teams:

Telford 529
Gloucester 604
Kenilworth 764
Cannock & Staffs 831

Kenilworth's B Team were overall winners of the B team competition

27/02/10 English Cross Country Champs, Roundhay Park, Leeds

Persistent heavy rain in the two days prior to race day made the hilly course particularly demanding with many sections covered in deep mud.

Kenilworth Runners fielded two teams for the Senior Men's and Ladies races. In the ladies 8km race, won by Steph Twell, Becky Harvey was first home for the club, finishing in an excellent 156th position. She was followed by Ros Matthews (344th); Sally Hicks (417th) and Pauline Dable (495th). The team finished 46th out of 61 teams and there were 543 finishers.

In the Men's 12km race, won by Andy Vernon, Phil Gould led the team home with a fine run to finish 283rd. We had six finishers to complete the scoring team, which saw the club finish 101st out of 107 teams. There were around 1430 finishers.

06/03/10 Richmond Park Cross Country

Colin Bricher completed his 22nd  cross country race of the season guesting in the match between his former club  Hercules Wimbledon, Raneleigh and Ealing, Southall & Middx. in a time of 34.22