A busy festive period for the Springfield Striders ended with a superb winning performance from Paul Dobson in the latest North Essex Cross Country fixture at Abbey Fields, in Colchester.

Dobson took control of the race from the start and was out of sight of his challengers by the finish, leading a depleted Striders squad to second place with his most impressive run of the season.

Vic Spain, Mark Healey and a back to form Phil Claydon all made the top 20 to keep the Striders in contention.

Andrew Mason, Lindsay Broadbridge and Paul Harris made up the scoring team for the men, with Liz Turk leading home Ann Claydon and Helen Walker for the ladies.

The Striders are now two points behind the leaders Colchester with two fixtures remaining.

The festivities started on Boxing Day with 36 Striders running in the Witham 5.

The performance of the day came from Denise Reed who was second lady, and beat her personal best by four minutes.

Kev Harris ran well to clock 26.47 and Dave Milton and Helen Husband clinched the year long club championship titles with good runs.

Eight Striders took to the trails around Colchester in the Millennium Eve Trail race.

Andrew Mason and Len Clark mastered the 12 mile course to place highly in a surprisingly good quality field.

The Springfield Striders' North Essex League placings were: (Men) (1st) Paul Dobson, (12th) Vic Spain, (14th) Mark Healey, (20th) Phil Claydon, (23rd) Andy Mason, (24th) Lindsay Broadbridge, (38th) Paul Harris, (44th) Rob Rodie, (49th) Richard Taylor, (53rd) Tim Brocklington, (55th) Julian Catmull, (58th) Graeme Romain, (64th) Alec Coleman, (84th) Mark Jeffrey, (85th) John Williams, (102nd) Kev Wright, and (126th) Ivan Howlett. (Ladies) (5th) Liz Turk, (31st) Ann Claydon, and (35th) Helen Walker.

Denise Reed, who beat her personal best time by four minutes in the Witham 5 on Boxing Day.

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