Just Like Being at the Beach!

As it so often does, the first cross-country of the season arrived with blue skies over the Chiltern region of the country as hundreds of runners made their way to the Keysoe International equestrian centre in north Bedfordshire for a quick dip.

This was not the first time we have visited Keysoe in October, but after six consecutive years of kicking off the season in Oxford, it certainly made a change not to be slogging up a big hill! It was also unusual, in that we finished last season at Keysoe, so have had consecutive races at the venue renowned for its water splash. read more

Get Dirrrty!

Eastern Athletics XC and British & Irish Masters’ International XC

by Pete Mackrell

Last Saturday was evidently a day for dirty running. Close to home, 10 members completed the Dirt Half whilst further away, 10 more were competing in cross country. Of those, a hardy bunch of eight men and one girl made the trip over to Keysoe to participate in the Eastern Athletics Cross Country Championship.

The Eastern Athletic Association is a curious thing; it consists of the geographically diverse counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Lincolnshire. It organises various events including an annual cross-country championship which dates back to 1937 (for the men, women have been included from 1992!). It used to be a high-profile event and it has some high-profile former winners, however in recent years it has fallen from grace somewhat, participation has dropped and some years it wasn’t held at all. This seems a shame, although perhaps it’s inevitable with so many events on the calendar. read more

CCCL 18/19 – Round 2 – Teardrop Lakes

Chiltern Cross Country League 18/19

Fixture 2 – Teardrop Lakes

An unusually dry Autumn in the run up to the LBAC’s home fixture of the campaign meant that there was none of the usual boggy or slippy conditions on the course at Teardrop Lakes.

Warm, bright sunshine greeted those setting up the course early in the morning (huge thanks to all those involved!) and when the Juniors arrived it was looking like a lovely day for running.

Thanks also to those who gave up their time to marshal the races, standing out there for the entire day but still giving big cheers to all those in Purple and Gold. read more

CCCL 17/18 – That’s the Wrap!

Chiltern Cross Country League – Fixture 5 – Campbell Park

Another Chiltern Cross Country League season comes to an end and once again we are pleased to maintain our position in Division 1. As mentioned at the recent AGM, it wasn’t many years ago that we would never have dreamed of even reaching Division 1 so we must give ourselves a pat on the back for staying up there with the big boys.

Part of the reason for this is how the club has grown and we are now no longer reliant on one particular age group to pull us through. The ladies team in particular has strengthened so much that we can still put a good team out despite missing a number of key runners. read more

Sophia Leads Us Home

The fourth fixture of our league cross-country season saw Sophia Watt as the first person to finish from Leighton on the day. Her race was over before 11:40am after completing her Under 11 two kilometre race in just under 9 minutes and 17th place. There were another 55 fantastic runners from the club who followed her home but none finished in a higher position.

Sophia was excellently supported by four others in the shape of Thalia Mason, Charlotte Williamson, Harriet Butlin and Emily Axten-Blackwell and their team finished 8th out of 18. If you can possibly get to Campbell Park a little earlier in February then all of our juniors would appreciate the extra support. read more

1 2 3 12