EAST YORKSHIRE CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE

As British Summertime ends, so the East Yorkshire Cross Country League begins.  Thanks to torrential rain the previous week, the competitors in the first leg at Bishop Wilton were treated to mud, mud and more mud on a course already difficult because of its steep gradients.  But if we didn't like mud, we wouldn't do it ,would we?  So no complaints from the Striders' contingent, who fought bravely against some much larger teams including Hull, Scarborough and Beverley.

The star of the day, as she so often is, was Karen Bexon, who won the ladies race by over 30 seconds. With good support from Julie Masterman and Kay Vickers, the team finished in fourth place on the day, only three points behind Beverley.  Well done to Nina Hanney, making her cross country debut.  Nina may look dainty but ploughed through the mud with as much determination as everybody else.

Simon Griffin looks anything but dainty but was an excellent 7th overall for the men, with Martin Midgley and Dave Hanney also battling to top 20 positions.  With Martin Booth, Giles Harris and Neil Bentley also in good scoring positions, the mens team was 3rd on the day, within striking distance of Scarborough in second.

Striders' positions and times:

Ladies:  1st Karen Bexon 45.31, 10th Julie Masterman 49.54, 16th Kay Vickers 54.01, 20th Patsy Fenelon 56.28, 29th Sandy Clark 62.17, 33rd Nina Hanney 63.55.

Men:  7th Simon Griffin 40.18, 17th Martin Midgley 42.21, 20th Dave Hanney 42.50, 21st Martin Booth 43.15, 26th Giles Harris 44.36, 27th Neil Bentley 44.39, 32nd Alan Bexon 45.20, 54th Nigel Warner 47.55, 65th Mark Thompson 49.05, 84th Dave Ryan 53.12, 91st Mick Fenelon 55.50, 93rd Ray Smith 56.32, 103rd Rob Oldridge 60.40.