Reports and Results
Cross-Country
1999/2000 Season

MAGGIE STATHAM BECOMES BRITISH WOMEN'S
OVER 45 CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPION!

Holland Sports AC's Maggie Statham had a magnificent run at the British Veteran Athletics Association's cross-country championships at Grimsby, winning the female Over 45 title and finishing fourth overall. In a race which ended her cross-country season with perhaps her best performance, she picked off all her rivals for the Over 45 crown.

The race took place in fine weather conditions over an undulating, uneven five kilometre course across fields and woods on the outskirts of Grimsby (Europe's capital of food, according to signs lining the roads into the town).

Maggie - who for once had turned up for a race in ample time and had thus been able to warm up properly - decided to start off fast. This made all the difference as the runners went round the first field and left it by crossing a ditch to reach the next part of the course. Lying in about tenth position as she reached this bottleneck, she then steadily picked off runners ahead of her, including Ann Ford (Redhill Road Runners), to reach the finish in fourth position, recording a time of 20:24, only a few seconds behind the winner, Margaret Boleman (Sale Harriers, W40 - 20:04), and in doing so beating all the other over 40 women runners.

MAGGIE SECOND IN SOUTH OF ENGLAND VETS

Maggie Statham gave yet another strong performance to win the silver medal in the V45 category at the South of England veterans' cross-country championships 2000 at RAF Halton, Buckinghamshire, on Saturday. She came fifth overall in the race which took place over the undulating grassland and woodland tracks of this RAF station in the Chiltern hills. Her time over the roughly 4¼ mile course was 29:27, 17 seconds behind first placed V45 Gill Dean of Radley Ladies. Maggie had beaten Gill, one of her closest rivals, at the National Intercounties at Nottingham, and was disappointed to be behind her on this occasion. Although Maggie ran well her contest with Gill was made more difficult when she was held up on both laps over the narrow track through the woods by a runner who, annoyingly, then overtook her in the run into the finish. 126 women completed the race.

In the men's O40 10K (but probably actually longer) race the sole Holland representative Martin Berry recorded a time of 47:19 to finish 155^th out of 200 runners. At one point his foot came out of his shoe in the mud and he had to stop to put it back on, but this did not really affect the outcome.

SUPER SARA EXCELS AT ENGLISH CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPS!

Holland's Sara Stodart excelled in the English national cross-country championships at Stowe Park, Buckinghamshire on Saturday by finishing 45^th out of 397 finishers in the 5 mile senior women's race. Stodart took it sensibly on the first lap, gradually working her way through the field to pass the Surrey championship bronze medallist, Kate Jenrick, in a strong finish for a time of 30 minutes 29 seconds. Maggie Statham also ran well to claim 80^th in 31:35, a performance she was quite pleased with. The race was run by Tara Krzywicki in 27:21.

In the U13 girls' race, Hannah Brooks struggled with a heel problem and did well to finish 229^th out of 307. Hannah's brother Michael had hamstring problems and came 123^rd in the junior men's race.

The championships took place in fine, but windy weather conditions over the challenging, hilly grassland of this National Trust property. It was a very good venue for such an event, which attracted almost 8,000 runners. Easy to get to by road, plenty of parking, pleasant countryside, attractive surroundings with architecture by the likes of Vanbrugh dotted around, and a good course which despite the number of runners was relatively free of mud and easy to run on.

CLEAN SWEEP OF CROSS-COUNTRY TITLES FOR PROMOTION-WINNING HOLLAND WOMEN!

In their final Surrey league cross-country fixture of the season, the ladies of Holland Sports AC turned on a stunning performance at Brockwell Park, London, to win promotion to the first division. In doing so, they emulated the achievement of the club's men's section.

In an exciting race, Holland's Sara Stodart pulled away at the top of the hill on the third lap to record Holland's first-ever individual victory, winning in 24 minutes and 59 seconds, five seconds clear of Meredith Pannett, with whom she had been running neck and neck throughout the race.

Maggie Statham had a superb run to finish fourth overall (second in Division Two behind Stodart) in 25:39.

They were ably backed by the team's other scorers Hannah Bongers 34^th (eighth in Division Two) in 28:11, Paula Bongers 48^th (11^th in Division Two) in 28:47, and Joan Wingfield 53^rd (14^th in Division Two) in 29:07. Joan grew stronger as the race progressed, and had a particularly good third and final lap to stay within shouting distance of Paula.

On her way back to fitness, Susie Cook ran well for 81^st in 30:44. She had a storming finish and picked up several places in the run-in

Holland missed the Division Two title, which was won by Woking, by just one point, but secured promotion and scooped the individual titles: Sara Stodart (seniors), Maggie Statham (veterans) with Paula Bongers in silver medal position, and Hannah Bongers (junior).

In her first year as an U13, Hannah Brooks yet again finished an excellent fourth, despite suffering again from a stitch, for the fourth successive league race! Mum Sally wondered whether the stitch was hereditary since Hannah's brother Michael, a star runner in the Holland men's senior team, had also suffered the same problem when younger. Hannah did very well to collect the overall bronze medal. Well done Hannah!

The races took place over windy, soggy, not to say muddy, undulating grassland.

See the Photo Gallery for pictures of the promotion-winning senior women's team and Hannah Brooks.

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES BY HOLLAND'S WOMEN ATHLETES IN NATIONAL INTERCOUNTIES CROSS-COUNTRY MATCH

Sara Stodart and Maggie Statham helped Surrey to 15^th position in the national inter-counties cross-country championships at Woollaton Park, Nottingham with excellent performances as third and fourth scorers in the team. Sara had a scintillating run to finish in 78^th position in 31:41 over the five mile course. Maggie was 106^th, in 32:13, a minute and a half quicker than her performance for Surrey last year at the same venue.

Of the other scoring members of the team, first home was Clare Pauzers, 44^th in 30:50. Second Surrey scorer was Kate Jenrick, 76^th in 31:37. Jane Lansdowne was fifth scorer, 118^th in 32:33, and Gill O'Connor was the last scorer, 147^th in 33:16.

The event, which was also a trial for international selection, was won by Tara Krzywicki (27:54).

HOLLAND'S MEN WIN PROMOTION TO DIVISION THREE OF SURREY MEN'S CROSS-COUNTRY LEAGUE!

Holland Sports' emphatic victory in the last Surrey men's cross-country league fixture at Oxshott Heath ensured their promotion as champions to Division Three. The club fielded 18 runners, which was the biggest turn-out of the season. Well done, chaps!

The race was held in almost spring-like weather conditions. The wooded course, a new venue for the league, was just under 5 miles, and the three laps included a climb of a short but testing hill and later the descent of a flight of treacherous wooden steps, which the brave (or foolhardy) plummeted straight down, while others took a more cautious route around the steps. Steve Bishop flew down the steps in a manner which one spectator from the club described as "scary", while another couldn't bear to look. Steve's decision to throw caution to the wind must have been right, because he led the team home in style winning the race comfortably from the previously unbeaten champion, recording 29 minutes 23 seconds.

Michael Brooks, in his last Surrey league cross-country for the club before going off to university, deservedly won the juniors' title, remaining unbeaten and finishing 4^th in 30:52. John Bowers, the youngest in the team, followed in 8^th position in 31:33, and was second overall in the juniors.

Rob Hall was 10^th in 32:01, and there was a fine run from Phil Kavanagh, 13^th in 32:24. Tony O'Brien was 24^th in 33:55, Martin Berry 51^st in 36:02, Mark Lowton 53^rd in 36:12, Paul Gurr (recently conqueror / survivor of the Tough Guy!) 55^th in 36:18, and Paul Bowen, 10^th and final scorer, despite tumbling over a tree root on the first lap, 57^th in 36:28. Dave Drummie (a welcome return from illness) was 59^th in 36:34, Nick Geear 67^th in 37:08, Graham Pullen 76^th in 38:10, Richard Timmis 82^nd in 39:24, Nigel Bongers (also recovering like Dave from illness) 83^rd in 39:55, Martin Jackson 90^th in 41:38, and Brian Spicer 99^th in 45:03.

Mention must also be made of one of our best senior runners, flier Andy Dunstan. After years of saying that he would not run a marathon, he finally succumbed and is now in training for the London. Three weeks ago he started to get pains in his knee and although he started on Saturday, he unfortunately had to drop out half way round. Thanks nevertheless to Andy for coming along and supporting the team, and congratulations also for finishing in a magnificent 12^th position in the Sussex county championships.

Holland also comfortably won the boys/youth team title with Jonathan Dine overall boys' champion and winner of the race in 17:51, with Tom Soane 2^nd in 18:12. Chris Kyrke-Smith, 3^rd in 18:46, won the youths' title, Mat Burley was 4^th in 19:06, John Patrick-Laide 6^th in 20:05, and Tom Hurley 7^th in 23:01. Oliver Blake came 3^rd in the Colts' race.

Click here for table of results.

HOLLAND PUTS UP GOOD SHOW AT SOUTH OF ENGLAND XC CHAMPS

Held as usual at Parliament Hill, London, Holland had a good turnout at this ever popular event, with runners competing in most age-groups. Conditions were windy, muddy and tough (but it has been worse, according to Holland coach Nigel Bongers, who didn't run however!).

In the under 13 girls' race, Hannah Brooks was not feeling too well, and also suffered a bad stitch which caused her to finish 131st out of 216 in a time of 16:14. Over the same distance Oli Blake in the under 13 boys' had a good run, placing 156th in 15:14.

The under 15 boys were the only Holland team, comprising Tom Soane, 190th in 22:37, Danny Coster (241st in 24:23), John Patrick-Laide (261st in 27:30) and Tom Hurley (263rd in 27:50).

For the under 17 boys, Matthew Burley was 153rd in 30:14 and Chris Kyrke-Smith, 156th in 30:23.

In the junior men's U20 race, Michael Brooks had a good run as one of the youngest entrants, finishing 66th out of 116 in 33:16. Hannah Bongers, competing in the combined U17 and U20 women's race, reported that it was "murder". She did well however, despite being one of the younger competitors, finishing 29th overall in 24:24.

In the senior women's, Maggie Statham put in a storming run to finish 39th among the 357 finishers in 35:39. Although there was no veterans classification, she was possibly the second or third placed veteran in the race, close behind Clare Pauzers, who was 29th in 35:11. She was pleased to finish ahead of such runners as Carole Evans and Alison Fletcher, but slightly disappointed to finish behind Estelle Viljoen (32nd in 35:21), whom she had beaten in a previous race. Maggie was closely followed by Sara Stodart who, suffering from lack of fitness on the second lap and losing 11 places, finished 43rd in 35:39. Paula Bongers was pleased with 157th position in 41:24. Having maintained a steady pace, she said she had enjoyed herself despite the tough conditions.

Almost a thousand runners completed the senior men's 15 kilometre (nine mile) race. The race was won by Blackheath Harriers' Dave Taylor, followed by Paul Haywood, who once ran as a junior for Holland Sports, and perhaps owes some of his success to the superb coaching he received at the time! Steve Bishop showed a return to form by coming 122nd in 54:56. Second Holland runner home, fell runner Tony O'Brien, had expressed concern before the race that the course, which he had never run before, would not be hilly enough for him. He admitted afterwards that the course really was tough! Tony must also have broken some sort of record by contriving to remove a Helly Hansen long sleeve shirt, which was making him too hot, from underneath his Holland singlet while he was running! Tony had a fine debut despite his sartorial problems, finishing 546th in 65:33. The third member of the Holland trio, Munich-based Graham Pullen, came 766th out of 964 in 71:08. (Incidentally, Graham claims a Holland club record for having gone running last week in a temperature of minus 21 degrees Celsius! He didn't say if he had suffered frostbite to any part of his body!).

Complete championship results are published on this web site.

MAGGIE WINS VETS AC WOMEN'S XC CHAMPS

Maggie Statham led from the start to win the Veterans' Athletics Club ladies' cross-country championships held on Saturday over a two lap course at Wimbledon Common. Finishing well ahead of her nearest female competitor, she went past the finishing funnel and carried on running with the men who were competing in their regular three lap race, eventually finishing 14th overall out of 50. She completed the two lap (around 3.5 miles) course in 23:59, and the three lap course (around 5.5 miles) in 35:57. Fellow Holland cross-country stalwart Graham Pullen ran in the men's race, but no time or position were available at the time of writing.

HOLLAND SENIOR WOMEN FINISH 4TH AT RICHMOND PARK, STAY 2ND OVERALL IN DIVISION 2 OF SURREY XC LEAGUE

Despite losing their number one runner and being one short of a team, Holland did superbly to finish fourth in Saturday's Surrey Women's Cross-Country League fixture at a cold and windswept Richmond Park.

The quartet did very well to retain second place overall after three meetings.

Maggie Statham had an excellent run in a fast race to win Division Two, passing a number of key rivals in the final lap, and finishing seventh in the combined event in a time of 21:51. Hannah Bongers produced her best effort of the season, finishing 11th (and first junior) in Division Two and 38th overall in a time of 24:02.

Hannah's mum, Paula, was next in, 17th (57th overall) in 24:50. Joan Wingfield, despite arriving only seconds before the start, turned in her best performance in Holland colours by finishing 21st in 25:16.

The team, despite being a runner short, has retained second position in Division Two, behind Woking, and just ahead of BA, with one more match to go. Details...

In the under 13s race, Hannah Brooks was fourth for the fourth consecutive time. With half a mile to go she was in contention for second place, but suffered with a stitch and recorded a time of 13:12.

In the under 15's, Felicity de Ste Croix faded in the closing stages to finish 22nd in 18:04.

HOLLAND WOMEN JUST MISS THE MEDALS AT SURREY XC CHAMPS! GOOD PERFORMANCES AGAIN BY OUR JUNIOR RUNNERS!

In the Surrey cross-country championships held on Saturday for the first time at Lloyd Park, Croydon, Holland Sports representatives acquitted themselves well on a testing and muddy course.

The women deserve most of the plaudits with the senior women just missing out on the team medals in fourth place. Sara Stodart despite still suffering with a cold after flu put up a brave battle only losing fourth place in the run in, recording 35:10. Maggie Statham had another great run finishing seventh in 35:21. They were ably backed up by Paula Bongers, 42nd in 41:46 and Joan Wingfield, who made up seven places on the last lap to finish 48th in 43:09. More details

In the U13 girls' race Hannah Brooks repeated her performance in the league finishing an excellent fourth in her first year in the age group with 15:40. Annie Dunham (from Moor House School) in her first big race did well in the under 15s, coming 28th in 5:19.

In the U13 boys' race Matthew Baker had his best race of the season finishing 33rd in 16:22, with Oli Blake doing well in 43rd in 17:33. In the U15 and U17s Holland were represented by Moor House School athletes. Tom Soane led the U15 team home in 38th in 20:04 with a classy finish, with John Patrick-Laide 55th in 22:53 and Tom Hurley 57th in 23:06. The youths' team came in fourth with Nathan Britton 19th in 29:22, Mat Burley 24th in 31:22 and Chris Kyrke-Smith 25th in 33 minutes.

A weakened men's team finished a creditable 16th out of 20 teams with Phil Kavanagh having another fine run on the 7.5 mile course finishing 73rd out of 180 in 52:02. Tony O'Brien was next in 114th position in 56:34, followed by Martin Berry, 136th in 58:55, Graham Pullen 144th in 60:57, Richard Timmins 161st in 65:39, Paul Gurr 162nd in 65:49, and Brian Spicer 177th in 77:45.

The race was won by Dave Taylor in a time of 42:06, who just held off former Holland star Paul Hayward on the run in (42:09).

HOLLY RUN

At the Holly Run in Reigate Priory Park Hannah Brooks finished an excellent 4th in the under 13 girls' race in 7:21. Brother Michael, running for Oxted County School rather than Holland Sports, placed a fine 18th in the senior men's race in a time of 35:49, while Graham Pullen finished in 46th place in a time of 43:09.

In the under 13 boys' race Oli Blake came 17th in a time of 13:47, one place ahead of Matthew Baker, who recorded 14:06.

HOLLAND MEN DESTROY OPPOSITION TO GO TOP OF DIV 4 OF SURREY XC LEAGUE!
SARA STODARD 9TH IN SOUTHERN INTERCOUNTIES!

Holland's men destroyed the opposition in Division Four of the Surrey League at Reigate Priory when a winning margin of 138 points took them to the top of the table, ahead of Elmbridge and well in contention for promotion to division three. Steve Bishop led the team home in third place, as Holland's men took four of the first seven places. The two juniors in the team again performed brilliantly, Michael Brooks finishing fourth and John Bowers seventh. Holland fielded an impressive 18 runners.
Detailed results.

In the Colts race, Oliver Blake finished fourth in a time of 18:22. Jonathan Dine gained his second victory in the Boys/Youths race, winning in 15:54 ahead of Tom Soane (16:08) and Chris Kyrke-Smith, also first youth, in 16:33. Fourth was Matt Burley in 16:45, ahead of Danny Coster (17:01), John Patrick-Laide (19:41), Tom Hurley (21:34), and Greg Page (21:34).

Two Holland athletes represented Surrey at Southern Intercounties event at Milton Keynes and gave a good account of themselves. Sara Stodart had a marvellous run to finish ninth in the seniors, while Hannah Brooks was 41st in the under-13 race.

DOUBLE WHAMMY FOR HOLLAND IN SURREY XC LEAGUE! WOMEN'S TEAM FIRST AT RICHMOND PARK, MEN FOLLOW SUIT AT CROYDON AIRPORT!

Holland's senior women's team finished in a great first place in their Division Two match at Kingston Gate, Richmond Park. Their points tally of 47 was 11 better than the second place team. The result is expected to lift Holland to second place in the division. Sara Stodart once again was outstanding, finishing in 6th place overall. Detailed results. Congratulations are also due to Hannah Brooks for finishing in 4th position in the under 13 girls' race, despite having a stitch caused by eating a bowl of muesli for breakfast! The afternoon of success for Holland Sports in cross-country was completed an hour later at a cold and windswept Croydon Airport course where our men's team also carried off the honours, a result that moves them to second place in Division Four of the Surrey League.

Particular mention should be made of the contribution made by our two outstanding juniors, Michael Brooks (brother of Hannah) and John Bowers, who crossed the finish line in fifth and seventh position respectively, separated by Andy Dunstan in sixth position. Not far behind was Rob Hall, in eleventh position. Detailed results. The event was hosted by Holland Sports and Dulwich Park Runners and thanks go to all those people who turned out both to run (we had 16 runners, with 10 to score) and particularly those non-runners who helped organise the event. It was probably a lot colder for the marshalls and other supporters than for the runners themselves!

MAGGIE STATHAM 4TH W45 IN VETERANS' HOME INTERNATIONAL AND HELPS ENGLAND TO A WIN!

Maggie Statham, competing at Bideford, Devon in the Veterans' cross-country home international, was fourth W45 and second in the four- woman English team, helping England to victory in her age category. She posted a time of 20:06 over the undulating course in the grounds of a private college. First Englishwoman home was Gill Dean, in 19:42, third was Josie Heffernan (20:22) and fourth Ann Pugh (20:43).

Ahead of Maggie and Gill in the W45 category were Wales' Bronwen Cardy-Wise (19:28 - 11th overall) and the outstanding Northern Ireland runner, Karen Marshall (19:14 - 6th overall).

Teams from England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland took part in the event, competing in age categories from 35 upwards. Maggie, who came 24th in the final order, was extremely pleased with her performance at an event that took place rather early in her season.

PRIORY RELAYS

Holland's women's team - Maggie Statham, Hannah Bongers and Sara Stodart - put in a tremendous performance at the Priory Relays that were held in Reigate Priory Park on Saturday afternoon. They beat around 20 other teams to come third behind Arena 80 and Crawley AC.

Maggie had a cracking first leg, finishing in second position in a time of 16:35 for the 2.5 mile course. She handed over to Hannah who came in fifth in a time of 18:35. Then Sara picked off most of the runners ahead of her to bring the team home in third position, posting an excellent time of 16:14.

SARA 5TH IN 1ST XC OF NEW SEASON AT WITLEY!

Sara Stodart was an excellent 5th overall, and Maggie Statham was first vet in division two in the first Surrey women's cross-country race of the season at Witley Common, Milford. Though the team results aren't known yet, the Holland Sports women's team, despite being a runner short, must have finished among the leaders. Click here for table of results for division one and division two.

In the under 13s race Hannah Brooks had a great run to finish in 4th position in a time of 10.49. Sarah Statham, troubled by a bad ankle, finished 19th in a time of 12.02. There were 27 runners. Holland Sports were 5th team out of 13.

In the under 15s race Felicity de Ste Croix came 22nd in a time of 14.37.

MAGGIE WINS AGE-GROUP AT ARDINGLY XC RACES

Maggie Statham won the W45 category in the Ardingly cross-country races on Sunday 17 October, and came 5th overall!

MAGGIE STATHAM WINS W45 AGE-GROUP AT SURREY VETERANS' XC CHAMPS

Congratulations to Maggie Statham for winning the W45 category at the Surrey vet's cross-country champs at Richmond Park.