CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE
February 25th 2011
The last meeting of the 2010/2011 season took place at Stafford on Saturday February 12th 2011.
True to form the first Pacer home was Geoff Farmer, in a time of 43.59 taking 41st place overall. Ian Wood was the second club runner to cross the line followed by his running mate Neil Stretton in 46.32. Ninety Eighth place went to Richard Hands with a time of 48.05, and the other Richard (Matthews) came home in 49.30 taking 106th overall position. Final qualifying place went to David Ryder in 49.46 adding 109 points to the total. Craig Watters although not qualifying in the team positions, also ran and finished in 50.41.
Oak Park finished the season in 11th position with 1980 total points. Well done to all runners who took part both today and in all the previous races, to enable Oak Park to finish the season without penalties. Thanks must also go to our Chairman Rex Tomlinson, who organised all the events, ensuring the Club was represented with sufficient athletes to qualify each week.
Remember the saying ”They also serve who only stand and hold the clipboard and stopwatch”
Once again Well Done to all who participated throughout the season
It is hoped to present any trophies at the AGM on March the 8th.
January 24th 2011
The third event in the 2010/2011 Birmingham Cross Country League Division 3 took place at Wyken Park Coventry on Saturday January 15th 2011. A total of 162 runners completed the gruelling course with Oak Park finishing in 14th position, with our rivals Aldridge one place behind in 15th place. Geoff Farmer as usual, in 39.27 was the first Pacer to cross the line, earning 35 points for the club. Second Club runner home was Neil Stretton in 91st position with a time of 42.38. Third place for Oak Park went to Richard Hands in 45.05 putting him in 119th position overall. Richard Matthews then finished in 130th place in 49.09, with only 6 runners between him and David Ryder who crossed the line in 47.07. Craig Strong was the 6th qualifying runner for the club finishing in 139th overall with a time of 47.23. Martin Gwillam also ran but was not in a qualifying position. Well done to all the runners and thanks to Rex for organising the clubs involvement. The final race in the series will take place on Feb 13th at Stafford.
December 7th 2010
Nine Oak Park Pacers braved the extremely cold weather, to compete in the second race of the 2010/2011 cross-country season.Burbage Common in Nuneaton, was the venue for the event on December the 4th, which had 150 finishers. First Pacer to cross the line was Geoff Farmer in 38th place, with a time of 42.22. Liam McGrath was next to finish for the club, when a time of 43.09 put him in 48th overall position. Three places and 8 seconds separated him from Ian Wood who claimed 4th place for Oak Park, followed by Neil Stretton who finished in 44.05, taking 61st overall place. 101st position put Richard Hands in 5th scoring place with a time of 47.00, and sixth and final scoring position was taken by Craig Strong in 107th overall place. Ian Bell, Matthew Biddle, & Martin Gwillam also completed the gruelling course. Lest we forget, that while the 9 athletes were keeping warm careering around the course, our intrepid Chairman Rex Tomlinson suffered the cold & biting winds, to bravely stand, clutching his trusty clipboard, so as to ensure, all athletes were counted home. Well done to all who made the journey to Nuneaton. I did note that our closest rivals, Aldridge Running Club, only managed to finish 4 runners.
November 3rd 2010
The 2010/2011 Cross Country season commenced on Saturday October 30th, with the first race at Leamington Spa. Eighteen teams competed in division three, with Oak Park finishing in 12th position with 443 points. Four of the 18 teams, failed to score, owing to the fact of not having 6 finishers. First Pacer to finish was Geoff Farmer, in 33rd place, with Ian Wood in 37th position and 3rd Pacer, Neil Stretton in 46th place. David Ryder was next with a nice round 100, and 10 places behind him was Richard Hands. In 6th and final scoring place was Ian Bell adding 117 points to the total. Craig Strong was the non scoring finisher in 160th place overall, and Craig Watters, and Martin Gwillam pulled out with injuries. The Clubs devoted clipboard holder Rex Tomlinson, dutifully counted all the runners home, but unfortunately caught a chill in the process. We wish him and the two injured runners a speedy recovery.
July 11th 2010
The fixtures for the 2010 / 2011 Birmingham Cross Country League are as follows
October 30th 2010 Leamington Spa
December 4th 2010 Nuneaton
January 15th 2011 Sphinx Coventry
February 13th 2011 Stafford Common
May 8th 2010
On April 20th the trophies for the 2009/ 2010 cross country season were presented to the following well deserved athletes.
Craig Strong, Martin Gwillam, Neil Stretton, Ian Wood, Liam McGrath, Richard Hands, and Craig Watters.
Junior Harrier of the year went to Todd Jewkes, and once again Geoff Farmer carried off the senior Harrier of the year trophy.
Well done to those who braved the bad weather to compete in all the events.
Thanks must also go to Rex Tomlinson who organised Oak Parks involvement and attended every venue to support the team and collate the results. They also serve who only stand and wait.
February 18th 2010
February 13th saw the seasons final cross-country event which was held at Aston University playing fields West Bromwich. A total of 163 runners completed the gruelling course including 9 members from Oak Park.
First for Oak Park with a time of 39.47 was Liam McGrath in 45th overall place. Second club runner home was Geoff Farmer taking 54th position overall in a time of 40.23. Four runners after Geoff was Ian Wood staking his claim for 3rd place for Oak Park in 40.31. Only 25 seconds separated him from his running buddy, Neil Stretton who took 4th club place in 63rd overall placing. David Ryder who recently completed his 170 something marathon ( I’ve lost count ) came in 5th for the club in 42.13 giving him 85th position. Completing the points list with 6th placing was Craig Strong in 46.01. Seventh pacer was Richard Matthews in 47.07. Eighth place for Oak Park went to Craig Watters with a time of 48.15 and the 9th club member to finish was Steve Green in 58.19.
Assisting Rex to hold the clip board was Martin Gwillam, wishing he could be out there on the circuit but due to his recent eye operation he was unable to compete. The good news is that like Arnold the Terminator ( I cant spell his surname) ” he’ll be back” and he will be putting his running shoes back on at the end of February.
The cross-country trophy awards including Harrier of the year, will be presented on a club night in the near future. Many thanks to all who braved the bad weather to compete in the seasons events, and so enable the club to maintain their league status. And thanks to Rex for the organisation.
February 8th 2010
Burbage Common Nuneaton was the venue for the Cross Country event on January 16th 2010. Ten runners competed for Oak Park, but unfortunately due to a recent eye operation Martin Gwillam was unable to compete. We all wish him a speedy recovery.
First over the line for Oak Park was Todd Jewkes in 35th position overall with a time of 42.56, in 51st overall place Geoff Farmer took second place for the Pacers with a time of 44.51. In 58th overall spot with a time of 45.42 and 3rd for Oak Park was Steve Green, with Ian Wood being the 4th Pacer to finish in a time of 45.45 in 61st overall place. Neil Stretton took 5th Club position 46.04 minutes past the starting gun in 68th overall spot. Sixth position for Oak Park went to the 100 plus marathon man David Ryder ( thats not his age) in a time of 47.23 taking 80th overall place. Seventh Pacer was Richard Hands in 49.18 minutes, Craig Watters came in 8th position with a time of 51.34 ( Thanks for the photo Craig), Richard Matthews was 9th in 52.01, and Craig Strong was the tenth pacer to cross the line in 52.53 minutes. Well done to all the runners, and thanks to Rex for the collating and organisation, without which the club would not have been there.
October 27th 2009
Last Saturday 24th saw the first event of the season taking place at Senneleys Park. A much relieved Rex counted home six Pacer’s, enabling the club to qualify in the points system. First athlete to cross the line for Oak Park was Ian Wood in 50th position overall, with a time of 42.57. Only 5 seconds separated Ian from his running mate Neil Stretton who followed him home in 51st place. The third runner for Rex’s clip board was Geoff Farmer in 88th position with a time of 46.16, and at 48.51 Richard Hands crossed the line in 119th position. Coming in the 5th qualifying position for Oak Park was Craig Watters in 54.49 taking 139th place overall. Martin Gwillam in 146th position was the sixth athlete to qualify for the Pacer’s with a time of 01.12.
Well done to all who entered the event. The second event in the series takes place at Leamington on 5th December.
Following the recent AGM of the Birmingham Cross Country League Oak Park Pacers have been re-elected to the league for the 2009/2100 season
The following are the dates and venues of the races
October 24th Senneleys Park
December 5th Leamington
January 16th Nuneaton
February 13th West Bromwich
The Cross Country League Web site is accessable via the link in the blogroll section
