Cross-Country Results
                    2004/2005

Thur 28 Jul

Near As Damn It 10k

Results index

Dan had a comfortable start and then pushed harder later on as he was saving himself for the Sri Chinmoy 10k on Sat, but still ended up in his usual 5th place.
Martin was hoping to be a minute quicker than last month but was a minute slower instead and more or less the same time as in May.

Sun 17 Jul

Surrey Slog

Results index

Paul reports: "Second time for Bob and myself, first for Terry. Very hot. Bob was tired from a BBQ on Sat and a gallon of Stella, I had a back strain, and Terry nearly ran out of fags. Pinky and Perky ran together, taking in the sights (engagement to be announced)."

Sun 10 Jul

Windmill Marathon

Bob reports: "A very hot day. Rob, Tom, Mel, Steve and yours truly turned up at some stupid time in the morning (7:15 registration). To Robbie's surprise I wore a club vest which kept him quiet for a least 10 secs. Lovely scenery but who put all the bloody hills in the route and organised the hottest day of the year. Anyway the times I have at the moment - Steve 4 40 (v good as it was his 1st marathon), me 5 05 03, Mel 5 18. Tom and Robbie were last seen nicking fruit from the checkpoints. Don't believe they're from his allotment on Tuesday when he tries to sell them."

Wed 6 Jul

Striders' Grass Relay

Dan had the second fastest time on the night at Lloyd Park, coming in second on his leg. Beckenham's team came through into second, but Steve and Martin hung onto third place.
Also, well done to Mel who was second fastest lady on the night. 11 teams finished.

Sun 3 Jul

Bewl 15

Thur 30 Jun

Near As Damn It 10k

Thur 26 May

Near As Damn It 10k

Sun 2 May

Three Forts Marathon

A 29 mile cross-country marathon. The organisers admitted it was over distance after being challenged by someone with a GPS unit.
Keith was presented with a medal by the 100 Club, for his 100th marathon at London. Bob managed to make it an even longer race by making a 2 mile uphill detour to a checkpoint that was used last year, but not this year. Maybe he did it just to escape Robbie's stories.

Sun 6 Mar

Steyning Stinger

Tom reports: "The course was very hilly beyond belief, the weather was snow and was very wet underfoot, with lots of soggy mud. Same old stories from Rob, I've heard all of 'em before. It was very, very hilly up and down the South Downs near Washington. Mel did an excellent time considering the conditions. I nearly came last, almost - 2nd to last."

Sun 13 Feb

Punchbowl Marathon

An off-road orienteering marathon that usually entails someone getting lost, and Tom and Rob didn't disappoint on this.
Despite constant phone communication with Mel, Maeve and Terry in the leading group, they managed to find themselves doing a 3 mile lap of a reservoir when they only needed to go through the adjacent hedge to the next checkpoint.
The weather was a little inhospitable as well, with snow, hail, wind and rain adding to the enjoyment.

Sat 12 Feb

Ladies' Surrey League - Fixture 4
King George's Playing Fields - Ewell

A very muddy and windy King George's Playing Fields was the location for the final fixture in this season's league.
Mel ran well, with a strong finish to pick up a couple of places in the last 50m. Marie looked to be struggling with the conditions after the first lap, but picked up on the second and finished well, and a good margin ahead of the last place that she was worried about.
68 ran
Collingwood finished 13th of 20 on the day, and 17th of 30 in the final table, leading the group of teams that ran in only 3 races. Wimbledon Windmilers won the division, followed by Walton AC and Striders of Croydon, and these 3 are promoted.

Sat 12 Feb

Men's Surrey League - Fixture 4
Wimbledon Common

Results index  Full Results

It was also very windy at Wimbledon for the final league fixture of the season, but thankfully we missed the downpour shortly before the start. Most of the course is gravelly tracks so not too muddy, but made up for by short sections of thick cloying mud.
It was good to see the return of Andy even if not quite over his illness, and not back to full form. He was a little frustrated to see his usual rivals in front of him and not being able to catch them.
Keith was quite close to Martin on the first lap but dropped off a little on the second. Still a very good run for him. Tony found his hamstrings suffering a little after 90 mins of football yesterday!
Collingwood finished in 5th on the day and moved up again to 5th in the final table (see below).

Sat 15 Jan

Men's Surrey League - Fixture 3
Lloyd Park

2 laps of Lloyd Park - 5 miles. We didn't have the strong wind like last week, but there has been some rain during the week and on the morning of the race, so the going was considerably heavier.
No official results as yet, but Dan and Keith thought they were 2nd and 5th respectively. Surely it's only a matter of time before Dan wins one of these.
Chris had bought some spikes this week to avoid a repeat of last week's fall, but still managed to fall over anyway. Despite that he seems to have made a quantum leap during the week, as he beat Martin and said he was around 3 mins quicker than his usual rival.
Bob started the race but unfortunately dropped out soon after the start of the second lap. David Johnson, in his first XC for the club had a very decent run with a strong finish. Doug plugged away but was still feeling tired after 8.5 hrs running last Sunday in the Winter Tanners race.
In the official results, Dan was confirmed as 2nd, and Keith 6th. Collingwood was 6th (423pts)on the day, dropping the club to 6th in the table (1271pts - 37pts behind 5th).

Sat 8 Jan

Surrey XC Champs

Lloyd Park: Ladies 8k, Men 12k.

Keith was a bit quicker than last year, despite a week of stiffness after a fall from his motorbike last week. Bob had a strong last lap to get away from Tony, whilst Chris lost some time falling over and colliding with a tree. There were some trees blown down in the high winds, but I'm sure there was one extra after the race.
Cliff found it very tough in his first race for the club as this was a little over distance for him.

Sat 18 Dec

South Of Thames Senior XC
Wimbledon Common 7.5 miles

It was a chilly day for the long version of the South of Thames race at Wimbledon Common. There were 3 laps of 2.5 miles, including one significant climb. The going was firm in some places, muddy in others.
It was surprising to see James there, but he had leave from the Marines for Xmas and was keen to race. He thought he might beat Chris this time, as did Chris, after a few weeks Marines training. They had a ding-dong battle for the first 2 laps but Chris won out on the big hill in the 3rd.
Mel had a very good run, and started catching James on the 3rd lap after he began to fade.
It was a slightly happier day for Marie compared to the first Sth of Thames race. She found it a little tough but persevered.

Sat 11 Dec

Annual Fire Brigade XC

Bob hasn't been too well lately but seems to be back in action: "The annual Fire Brigade 5 mile XC....as usual held at Parliament Hill Fields, amazingly not too muddy.Thought I would choose an easy one for a comeback race!!!!!!!!"

Sat 4 Dec

The Pirie

SLH's 10 mile cross-country on Farthing Downs

Sun 28 Nov

Bicton Blister 11

My day started well for this one as my helpful wife thought I had overslept, leant over to prod me and poked me in the eye with her claws.
This is a tough run with plenty of water to wade through and hills - it's tough on the calves. This year I wore leggings and it seemed to help my calves from the cold water. I started off easy and made up a lot of places in the last 3 miles, better time this year but it should be as last year I struggled with a calf strain.
1-17-37 and we got a t-shirt off the tight b******s this year.

Sat 27 Nov

Men's Surrey League - Fixture 2
Lightwater Park

A better turn-out for the 2nd fixture, and 4th place on the day with a score of 380, despite having only 9 runners. This brings us up to 5th place overall, helped by other teams having even fewer runners.
A splendid finishing position for Keith, his highest to date in the Surrey League.

Sat 27 Nov

Ladies' Surrey League - Fixture 2
Richmond Park

One small lap and one large - 6k. The girls found it quite a tough course but were both pleased with their run. The team was 17th with 772 points, but no full official results available as yet.

Sat 13 Nov

Sth of Thames Junior

A good run for Keith who continues his good form. Not so good for Marie in her first race for the club, and Martin, who both started nearly a minute after the rest of the field: the organisers didn't make numbers available at the start until the last minute, and then failed to allow enough time to affix numbers and fill out declarations. Marie and Martin were still doing this when the race was started.
Well done to Marie, who worked hard to make up the lost time, but it wasn't a great welcome to racing with Collingwood.
If the organisers could not make numbers available at the start in good time, they should at least have had the decency to delay the start until ALL those waiting for them were ready.

The Men's team were 28th out of 33 with 464pts.

Sun 31 Oct

Stickler 10

Paul reports: "My first really muddy x country this year, and I take the wrong shoe bag with me. I was the only w****r in road shoes I think. The course was superb, my kind of running. Would have helped if I had some control over what my feet were doing though. Three main climbs of 500ft, 600ft & 700ft. I will definitely do this one again."

Sat 30 Oct

East Surrey League Fixture 2
5 miles - Lloyd Park

A much improved turn-out for this one compared to the Surrey League, but then there was no England v Wales football on today. Welcome to new member James in his first race for the club. Also, mention must go to the first appearance of the white hat atop Doug's head. Could this be a new rival for the red hat?
8th team on the day, and 11th after 2 fixtures.

Sat 9 Oct

Ladies Surrey League Fixture 1 Div 2
Wimbledon Common, 6k

Also a reduced team for the ladies. It was a little more sheltered from the wind on Wimbledon Common though.
Collingwood are in 16th place of 21.

Sat 9 Oct

Men's Surrey League Fixture 1 Div 4
Epsom Downs, 5 miles

As per last year we had a very windy day for a return visit to Epsom Downs. At least this year the direction of the course was reversed so that we weren't running into a battering wind along the home straight, uphill towards Tattenham Corner.
It was an inauspicious start for Collingwood though, with a "team" of only 6.
Collingwood finished in 6th place with 468 points which sounds quite good for a team of only 6, until you notice that Redhill Surrey Beagles and Sutton & District equal 8th had no runners at all, and Vets AC in 7th had only 5.

Sat 2 Oct

East Surrey League Fixture 1
4 x 1.95 mile relay - Wimbledon Common

Keith was very happy with his run, continuing his good form and posting his fastest time on this course. Thanks to Gareth Jones who was all set to run before Rob arrived but graciously surrendered his place.

Place column shows team position on each runner's leg/individual finishing position. The team finished in 13th.

Sat 26 Sep

Switchback 5

Cold & wet for a welcome change and a quicker time than last year for Keith.