It was a busy and muddy weekend for Springfield Striders with the Essex Veterans Cross Country Championships at Hylands Park, on Saturday, followed by a Mid-Essex League fixture at Little Dunmow on Sunday.

Hylands Park, with its lack of contours, is usually a straightforward grassy run, but with the recent rains, the course proved arduous and a true test of stamina despite being only four and a half miles long.

The over 50s men put out a full team of four and were led home by Pete Tremain, who after a strong start, hurt his back, but carried on to keep the team in contention.

Dave Gray had another good run, holding off Ken Edwards and a resurgent Roy Walton closed out the team.

The veteran ladies also finished a full team, led in by Janet Hill with Suzanne Kuyser, Helen Walker, Ginny Powell and Chris Endres giving their all in the tough conditions.

The final race of the day saw the over 40s men tackling the increasingly muddy course, and Lindsay Broadbridge continued his recent good form to lead in the seven competing Striders.

Club chairman Rob Rodie was next, followed by Richard Taylor, Pete Hoxby, Richard McHale, Kevin Wright and Dave Milton.

n On Sunday, the Striders' Mid-Essex League squad were in action at Little Dunmow.

The Striders finished second to a strong host side, which was an excellent effort, as many of the team had raced the day before.

The star performance of the day came from ladies team captain, Denise Reed, who made light of the heavy conditions to win the ladies event at a canter.

Gill Peartree, making her debut, and Janet Hill completed the scoring team, with Suzanne Kuyser and Helen Walker also close at hand.

Only Andrew Mason, Jamie Woodyard and Jon Legge made the top ten, which was dominated by Grange Farm, but with the rest of the scoring team in the teens it was good enough for second spot.

The other scorers were Rob Rodie, Charlie Ross, Alec Coleman and Graeme Carey.

The Striders' positions at Grange Farm were: (Ladies) (1st) Denise Reed (18th) Gill Peartree, (19th) Janet Hill, (20th) Suzanne Kuyser, and (23rd) Helen Walker. (Men) (6th) Andrew Mason, (7th) Jamie Woodyard, (10th) Jon Legge, (14th) Rob Rodie, (15th) Charlie Ross, (18th) Alec Coleman, (19th), Graeme Carey, (25th) Julian Catmull, (26th) John Williams, (27th) Dave Gray, (38th) Neil Bradley, (39th) Kevin Wright, (49th) Dave Milton, (50th) Steve Lindsell, (51st) Ian Gowers and (52nd) Pat Knowles.

The League table sees the Striders sharing top spot with Grange Farm, both teams having 11 points, followed by Witham (8), Little Baddow (6), Epping (3) and Dovedale (3).

After an event free weekend, the Striders will be racing at Witham on Boxing Day, the Great Blakenham trail race on Wednesday, and will be hosting the next Harpers Intersport fixture on New Year's Eve.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.