Surrey Cross-Country League

Saturday 11 February 2012

Click here for complete results of the ladies' cross-country at Esher and here for results of the men's match at Lloyd Park (Excel spreadsheets).

Our ladies' A team, once again ably led home by U20 Leanne Kavanagh, finished 8th on the day and completed the season in 10th place overall. The B team finished 23rd on the day and in 20th place overall. Great to be able to get two complete teams out for the whole season. Well done to all our ladies!

At Lloyd Park our mens' team finished third on the day and third overall in the league. Once again well done to everyone who has run for the team throughout the season.

Surrey Cross-Country League

Saturday 14 January 2012

We had a great turnout for the ladies' cross-country race on a beautifully crisp cold but sunny winter's day at Farthing Down, Coulsdon, with enough runners to create three teams, and our C team was the first C team to finish! Well done to Leanne Kavanagh for leading our A team home with a fine run. The A team finished 9th on the day and now lie in 12th position in the league. Click here for results (Excel spreadsheet) and here for photos. The final match of the season will be at West End Common, Esher, an attractive course, on 11 February.

We also fielded a full team for the men's cross-country at sunny Lloyd Park, with the team led home once again by Steve Bishop, second in the division, with Kester Mann not far behind in 9th position. The team did well, finishing third in the match and the club now lies in third place overall in the league. Click here for complete results (Excel spreadsheet - 3MB download) and here for photos. In addition, an excellent, very extensive set of photos from the race may be viewed on the Sutton Runners website; click here to view. The final match of the season will also take place at Lloyd Park, though on a different course, on 11 February, back at the usual time of 3pm. If we get a good turn out again, there must be chance of securing promotion to Division Three!

Surrey Cross Country Championships

Saturday 7 January 2012

Holland Sports' U17 Boys team just missed out on bronze medals in the Surrey Cross Country Champs at Denbies Vineyard, Dorking on Saturday. Leading the team home in 14th place in 22m 26 was Hugh Saunders, closely followed by Andy Shaw 15th in 22m 42. Sam Knight was 28th in 25m 24, closely followed by Will Rady in 29th in 25m 58. The U15 Boys Team finished 8th led home by Josh Knight in 49th in 16m 26, closely followed by James Rady 51st in 16m 34. Josh Carr was 63rd in 17m 48 with Liam Miles 68th in 19m 13. In the U13 Boys Tom Knight was first home in 46th in 13m 53 with Louis Kenyon 69th in 15m 39.

In the Senior Men's race over 7½ miles Steve Bishop finished a fine 43rd in 44m 35 whilst Nigel Bongers was 205th in 62m 49.

In the Girls' U13 race Justine Darby did well as a first year to finish 44th in 15m 15 whilst Amelie Crevel was 66th in 17m 45. In the U15s Georgina Tatton was 40th in 18m 13. In the U20 race Leanne Kavanagh was a fine 8th in 22m 38. In the Ladies' race Val Place was 95th in 41m 10, Jane McTaggart 124th in 46m 36, and Wendy Wilson 130th in 47m 35secs.

Holly Run - Priory Park, Reigate

Sunday 18 December 2011

There were some fine performances such as the Bronze Medal-winning Under 15 Boys Team, led home by a cracking run from Josh Knight, closely followed by Ocean Schwartz who had hot footed it from a high jump training session, James Rady and ably backed up by a fast finishing Liam Miles. In the U11s Harry Hardisty running for his school who finished bronze medallists came 8th, followed by Oliver Caie in 9th and Josh Watson 25th. Tom Knight despite a bad stitch did well to finish 23rd in the U13s. Lily Parkin-Brown running for her school in the U11s showed her ability finishing 16th whilst Erin McDonald also running for her school finished in the top half. A fast-finishing Georgina Tatton came 10th in the U15s whilst Leanne Kavanagh despite going off course and losing a place still finished 6th (4th U20) in the combined U17, U20 and Seniors with Jenny Mills 21st.

U11 Boys
U13 Boys
U15 Boys
U17 Boys
U11 Girls
U15 Girls
U17/U20/Senior Women

For full results click here.

Downs League

Sunday 4 December 2011

A combination of sportshall and the Surrey cross-country squad get together reduced the numbers of Holland runners at the second Downs League match, but those who braved the bitter wind at Epsom racecourse were rewarded with excellent results. In the U11 race, Hannah Williams was the 3rd girl home improving her time by nearly 30 seconds and moves up from 5th to 3rd in the overall standings. Justine Darby on her first Downs league outing of the season ran strongly throughout to finish 9th girl out of 16 in the U13 race. In the U15 race we had 3 runners. James Rady, despite finishing with only one shoe, finished 7th and held on to 6th place in the standings, whilst Liam Miles finished 21st again although this time running 15 seconds faster. Georgina Tatton was the 7th girl home taking 35 seconds of her previous time and moved up to 7th in the overall standings. The 3rd match in the series is on 19th February. Click here for pictures.

Surrey Ladies' Cross-Country League, Epsom Downs

Saturday 3 December 2011

In the second Surrey Ladies' Cross-Country League Division Two fixture at Richmond Park, 18th Birthday Girl Leanne Kavanagh led home the combined Oxted Runners/Holland Sports team in 21st place (68th including Div 1). Next in was Christine Farnham in 73rd (216) in 28m 21, closely followed by sister Karen in 77th (225) in 28m 38. 81st (234) was Val Place battling a cold in 28m 56, with 5th scorer Sarah Hardman 109th (288) in 30m 45, closely followed by Catherine Clifton in 110th (289) in 30m 48. Jane McTaggart was 116th (302) in 31m 32 with Jenny Mills 133rd (325) in 32m 36. The team finished 14th and now lie 12th overall in Division Two.

Surrey Men's Cross-Country League, Epsom Downs

Saturday 12 November 2011

HSAC men's xc team Epsom Downs

Above: Holland's men's cross-country team at Epsom Downs, Saturday 12 November. Click on photo for larger image.

In the second Surrey League Div 4 fixture at Epsom Downs, Holland Sports' men put on an excellent performance to just finish 2nd by 4 points to retain their 2nd position in the League. Steve Bishop had a fantastic run finishing 2nd in 28m 40 (4th overall including Division 3). Kester Mann on his debut had a storming finish making up many places to finish 9th (47th) in 31m 35, closely followed by Alistair Heaton-Armstrong in 10th (49) in 31m 41. Stuart Dickinson ever reliable finished 16th (94th) in 33m 16, with Andy Irons 24th (103) in 34m 18, Mick Hayes 28th (113) in 34m 44, Gary Spring 38th (133) in 35m 47. New boys Matt Collins was 42nd (142) in 36m 23 and Ian Morton 44th (144) in 36m 36. Jonathan Buxton was 53rd (163) in 38m 07 - Holland's 10th and final scorer. Pete Burford was 63rd (184) in 39m 39, followed by Richard Timmis 67th (192) in 40m 01 and new boys Roy Hesketh 69th (197) in 40m 41, Paul Markland 74th (207) in 42m 52 and finally Martin Berry 76th (207) in 43m 20. Click on links below for detailed results (race photos to be posted soon):

Please could everyone retain their race numbers so that they can use them again at the next race, at Lloyd Park on Saturday, 14 January. Please note that this race will start at the earlier time of 2.30pm for seniors.

In the Junior Race due to school athletics Holland Sports only had one runner, Liam Miles, who came 6th overall in the 2½ mile race in 19m 35.

Downs League

Sunday 6 November 2011

In the Downs Cross Country League at Epsom Downs where boys and girls compete in same race Holland Sports athletes performed well. In the Under 11's Josh Watson finished 13th in 12m 26 whilst 9 year old Hannah Williams finished 20th (5th Girl) in 12m 59. Lily Parkin-Brown was 28th in 13m 36 (9th Girl) whilst Erin McDonald was 51st in 16m 41. The team finished 7th overall.

In the U15's James Rady was 6th in 12m 10secs with Liam Miles 21st in 14m 25. Georgina Tatton was 23rd in 14m 41 (9th Girl) with Isla Anderson 31st in 15m 26 (15th Girl) closely followed by a fast finishing Abigail Rudd in 32nd in 15m 28. The team finished 5th overall.

Click HERE for photographs (opens in new window).

Bruce Judd Junior Cross Country Relay

Saturday 22 October 2011

Holland Sports AC U13 Boys A team finished an excellent 7th out of 23 teams in the Bruce Judd County Relays in Stoke Park Guildford on Saturday.

In glorious sunshine, Holland were led off by Christian Lee with a quick 8m 38sec. Jack Kavanagh, having come straight from football training, ran a fine second leg in 9m 10sec, and Tom Knight produced a battling last leg to clock 8m 50 sec. Our B team of athletes, who are more renowned as sprinters, were helped out by an Oxted School runner, but showed that 2.5km cross country held no fears as they finished in 18th place with Jack McMenamin running the first leg in 10m 26sec and Louis Kenyon the second leg in 10m 42sec.

In the U15 boys race the A team finished 13th out of 28 teams, with James Rady leading off in 8m 09 sec, followed by Joshua Carr in 8m 54 sec and Ocean Schwartz on the last leg also with a time of 8m 09 sec. The B team once again joined up with Oxted School and finished 21st with Liam Miles recording 10m 27 sec and Josh Knight a quick last leg of 8m 40 sec.

Banstead Woods Park Run

Saturday 15 October 2011

Graham Pullen - 70th in 25:49.

Cross-Country Matches at Lightwater

Saturday 8 October 2011

In the first cross-country fixture of the new season Holland Sports' Men's Team finished 2nd in the Surrey League Division 4 race at Lightwater Country Park on Saturday. The race was combined with Division 3 so the position shown in brackets was the combined divisions. Steve Bishop as always led the team home in 2nd place (7th - 1st Vet 40) in 29m 42, followed by Stuart Dickinson in 13th (62) in 34m 22, then Richard Williams 14th (66) in 34m 26, Andy Irons 17th (85) 35m 30. Gary Spring 20th (102) 36m 26, Gerry Simpson 27th (124) 38m 03, Jonathan Buxton 32nd (140) 39m 12, Jeremy Schwartz 42nd (158) 40m 45, Nigel Bongers 45th (166) in 41m 51 and last scorer Martin Berry 56th (185) with Keith Towers 60th (196) 48m 01secs.

In the U13 Christian Lee had an excellent debut finishing 2nd in 20m 53secs. In the U15/U17 Race Holland Sports team finished 1st with James Rady 1st home in 3rd place (2nd U15) in 19m 21, followed by Sam Knight 4th in 20m 08, 5th Will Rady in 20m 45, 7th Josh Knight in 22m 09 and 9th Liam Miles in 26m 04.

Holland Sports/Oxted Runners' Combined Ladies team at the same venue as the Men finished in 9th place. Competing for the 1st time in the Seniors Race, Junior (U20) Leanne Kavanagh was 1st home in Dv 2 in 13th (52nd overall as ran with Div 1) in 27m 02, followed by Christine Farnham 56th (166) in 31mins dead, Maggie Statham 59th (173) 31m 12, Christine Farnham 62nd (186) 31m 42, Sarah Hardman 78th (217) 33m 11 last sorer for 1st team. First in for 2nd team was Jane McTaggart 81st (224) 33m 25, Followed by Hannah Hutton 84th (228) 33m 40, Caroline Clifton 88th (234) 33m 58 and Jenny Mills on her debut 100th (252) 35m 20.

Results of Saturday's cross-country matches: click on links below:

Photos from Lightwater are now on Picasa. Click here for photos of the men's race. Click here for photos of the women's race. Iain Miles has now uploaded some even better photos - click HERE to view.

Titsey Trail 10K

Sunday 2 October 2011

Steve Bishop, in his first outing at the event, won Sunday's Titsey Trail 10K while Holland Sports AC runners were also well represented.

Steve finished the popular and tough cross-country race across the hills and woodlands of Limpsfield Chart which is organised by Oxted Runners in 37.24, almost 2 minutes ahead of the next runner, Kev May of Blackheath & Bromley, and just a few seconds outside the course record.

The other Holland runners who followed him in were Kester Mann (6th, 42:17), Gerry Simpson (30th, 46:37), Roberto Menichinelli (41st, 47:47) and Gaynor Thurbin (127th, 54:35). Well done to all of them.

Steve, Kester and Roberto form part of the Wednesday evening training group coached by Nigel Bongers. Another member of the group, Alistair Heaton Armstrong, unfortunately had a bad cold and was unable to take part in the race, but would probably have finished high up amongst the finishers.

Banstead Woods Park Run

Saturday 1 October 2011

21st Leanne Kavanagh 20m 59 (PB by 34 Seconds). Well done Leanne! (again!)

Banstead Woods

23 July 2011

Nigel Bongers recorded 24:15, a PB, and finished 58th in this popular Saturday morning 5k cross-country series.

Banstead Woods Park Run

30 April, 2011

Nigel Bongers improved his PB again to 24m 27 secs. Well done Nigel.

Banstead Woods Park Run

23 April, 2011

92nd Nigel Bongers 24m 41 (PB by 48 Secs)

100th Graham Pullen 25m 11 secs

Banstead Woods Park Run

16 April, 2011

75th Graham Pullen 24m 37secs (PB)

Rome Marathon

20 March 2011

Nigel Bongers completed the marathon in 4:51, and was walking without too much difficulty the next day, reports Barbara Towers. Unfortunately he got seriously dehydrated because the sun came out and it was quite hot. He did the first half in an amazing 2:03, but then had to walk for 3K. He blagged a large water bottle from a spectator and somehow got running again. Barbara and Keith saw him five times around the course, and there were a few other spectators who were part of the group who also gave support. He said this was his last marathon, but after only one day began to think about another.

Nigel has raised £20K for the Helen and Douglas House children's hospice.