Eastbourne athletes notch best league finish – Hastings runners in action in Belgium

EASTBOURNE ROVERS

Eastbourne Rovers’ under-15s finished the season in style as runners-up in the Sussex League, the best position by the club in the league’s history.

The final match saw a close competition between Brighton and Hove AC, Lewes AC, Chichester AC, Crawley AC and Eastbourne Rovers.

Eastbourne needed to finish in the top three to assure them of second spot and they achieved their aim with third place on the night, missing second by just 10 points and close to Brighton & Hove, overall league winners.

After the torrential downpours of match three, it was a relief to compete in dry, warm conditions at Withdean Stadium.

First points of the night were won by Oscar Mizen in the 80m Hurdles (3rd A) and Jonah Messer (2nd B). Both went on to have successful evenings with Oscar achieving two A string 1st places (300m and Javelin) and Jonah close to his 800m PB (5th A) and picking up valuable points in the Long Jump (6th B).

In the boys’ sprints, Ethan Howcroft was in the A string for the 100m and 200m and achieved 3rd places in both, also gaining 3rd in the A High Jump. Stanley Atkins contributed well to the team score in competitive B races in the 100m (6th), and 200m (6th) and the Long Jump A (7th).

The boys’ middle distance races were high-scoring for Eastbourne with 1sts for Fin Lumber-Fry (A) and Tom Petherick (B) in the 1500m, both delighted with PBs. Fin and Tom also competed in throwing events.

George Armstrong-Smith ran a fantastic 800m to come 2nd in the B race with a new PB. George ran a strong 200m (5th B) and competed in the High Jump (6th B).

Ben Wright couldn’t compete in the 1500m due to an injury but he filled spaces in field events and was rewarded with good points coming 4th in the B Shot Putt and 5th in the B Discus.

Teddy Jones notched 3rd in the A Hammer and 2nd in the B Javelin. He ran a great PB in the non-scoring 800m.

In the girls’ sprint and middle distance events, Josie Usher was 2nd in the A 100m and 200m. She also picked up 2nd place in the A High Jump. Chae Wai backed her well with 2nd in the B High Jump.

Daisy Connor was an outstanding winner in the girls’ 300m and won the 800m. Raya Petrova improved her season’s best to finish 3rd in the B 800m.

Grace Culshaw, in the B race in the 100m and 300m, came 6th and 2nd and tried a new event, the 80m Hurdles. Ella Helm was 4th in the 200m (B) and 6th in the Long Jump (A). The 1500m saw Freda Pearce win the A race and Evie Lennard the B race.

Martha Simmons, Jemima Scott and Katy Brown were the stars in the girls’ throws. Martha picked up a win (Shot A), a 3rd (Discus A) and a 6th (Javelin B). Jemima won the B Shot, came 4th in the A Hammer and came 5th in the B Long Jump. Katy was 3rd in the B Discus, 4th in the B Hammer and 5th in the A Javelin.

In the 4x100m relays. The boys were 6th, the girls a superb 3rd.

HASTINGS RUNNERS

Eight long-term members of Hastings Runners renewed friendships in Belgium after a break of four years caused largely by Covid.

T hey were among hundreds taking part in the legendary Dwars Door Grijsloke running races, established 41 years ago.

No, they didn’t run all the way there – but they covered plenty of kilometres once they arrived.

The event takes place in west Flanders, offically in Gijzelbrechtegem – but even the locals prefer to shorten that moutful to Grijsloke (pronounced, approximately, “greej-slo-kah”).

The event is hosted by Loopclub Grijsloke whose flouro-yellow topped runners annually cross the Channel for both the Hastings Half Marathon and the Beachy Head Marathon, as well as Hastings Parkrun, and have maintained close ties with HR for many years.

HR deputy chair Susan Mann said: “We arrived at their clubhouse on the Friday – after visiting Ghent for lunch and buying chocolates.

"We then collected our race number and goodie bag for the race, before going to our host families.

"Much to our shame they all speak English – which is just as well as none of us know much Flemish. In the evening Loopclub Grijsloke take us to a local restaurant.”

Details become hazy at that point, but pre-race preparation does seem to involve plenty of Belgian beer!

The well-organised raceday features four different colour-coded courses ranging from 4.7k up to 11.8k. Runners choose which they run, and how many laps.

Mann said: “Don’t be fooled into thinking that Flanders is flat… these races cover a very challenging, undulating course. The start line is at the bottom of a hill which climbs for about 700m before turning left – to an even steeper hill. Each lap has four hills, finishing at the top of the hill we ran up at the start!”

Two of the HR party – Mann and Corrina Skinner – opted for two laps covering 12.7k in 1hr 31:11 and 1hr 37:37, respectively. Gary Lancaster (43:14), Irene Kitson (45:28), Sue Morris (54:55) and Terry Kitson (49:47) completed a one-lap course, while Jill Green walked it, supported by Henry Mann.

Entrants are welcome for 2024.

Closer to home, 26 Hastings Runners took part in the 25th anniversary King’s Head Canter, a 5k point-to-point between the villages of Chiddingly and East Hoathly.

Mann and the Kitsons were back from Belgium in time to run this one, but declined to comment on whether they were swayed by the promise of a free pint in the King’s Head at the finish line.

First HR home was Will Withecombe in an impressive time of 17min 17sec , closely followed by Adam Weller (18:36) and Paul Lambert (19:19).

The first woman to the finish line was current club championship leader Ruth Spiller (25:51), followed by Marie Crawford (26:04) and Jo French (27:57).

Hastings Runners welcome new members of all abilities aged 12 and over for fun and competition. Visit hastingsrunners.co.uk

HY RUNNERS

HY Runners have been competing in a wide variety of events.

Chris Castleman ran the Bedgebury parkrun in 24:04 and was second MV55 over the line.

Terry Puxty and Ben Macallion ran the Hastings parkrun. Terry ran 18:56, first MV55, and Ben did 17:59, first male senior home.

HY took to the Rye Ancient Trails on Sunday, running in 15k and 30k events in sweltering heat.

David Mayes won the 15k with an outstanding time of 1:09:33. David Brogan was the second HY runner, 5th with 1:15:04. Rebecca Mabon was first V40 female vet, 20th with 1:24:29.

Ben Harmer came 29th in 1:29:35, Richard Benn 51st in 1:37:25. Susan Dunn 55th in 1:38:43. Deb Read, David Clarke, Sharon Mayhew and John Waterhouse all came in at 1:48:39.

In the 30k, Carl Adams was 8th with 2:33:33. Next was Scott Richford, 16th in 2:49:59. Ivy Buckland 56th in 3:15:05 and Todd Fitz-Hugh 61st in 3:17:53.

HY were represented in the New Forest by the Gates family. In the half marathon, Susannah Gates finished in 1:51:29. Stephen Gates, in the 10k, was 6th in 37:59 and young Ellen Gates completed the 5k in 26:13.

Stuart Piper, John Ralph and Joe Moore competed in the Great North Run. Stuart finished in 1:22:16, John in 1:34:19 and Joe 1:39:51. Honorary members David Weir and Charlotte Purdue completed the T54 in 44:16 (2nd) and 1:09:36 (3rd lady) respectively.

Sunday saw two HY kids in the Brighton triathlon. Benjamin Sims competed in Tristar 1 and was a terrific second in 19.34 in a field of 42. In Tri star 2, James Fisher won in 19 .15 in a field of 24 – a fabulous effort from both.

David Ervine is going from strength to strength and competed in the YCC (Youth Chamonix Courmayeur) in Mount-Blanc, France, a two-day event, in which some of Europe's best young trail runners run a 15k and a 5k.

The races, entail 1100m of elevation and proved tough.

Following a strong run in the 15k, David went on to have a fantastic 5k, finishing 20th overall. David was proud of his performance and the future looks bright.

Joe Moore and father and son duo Danny and Steve Cornford took on the Man v Mountain challenge over Mount Snowdon, starting in Caernafon and including 5100ft of ascent as well as kayaking and ‘walking the plank’ into a lake finishing in Llanberis.

Danny finished 34th and Joe 78th out of 977 competitors.

The final under-13 Sussex track and field meeting of the season was at the K2 stadium in Crawley.

Sophie Smith and Alyssa Cornford ran the 75m with Sophie and Antalia Cole also in the 150m. Antalia won the 600m with Amelia Skelton achieving a PB. Florence Tewkesbury and Kitty Morgan competed in the 1000m.

Alyssa ran the 70m hurdles with Kitty in the high jump, Florence in long j ump, Amelia in the shot putt and Sophie, Florence, Kitty and Antalia in the relay. Aiden Larkin represented the U1 3 boys in the 150m and 600m.

The U11s had Jessica Wilson, Izabella Fitz-Hugh, Matilda Skelton, Evelyn Cornford and Henry Sully flying the HY flag.