Report by team captain, Jon the jogger (apologies to MS for lack of big words). All results posted on a previous report.

Bournville men’s xc team, some 18 strapping lads, gave the opposition some gyp on a tricky course on Burbage common. Both our ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams stormed to victory with the latter doing so well that they would have finished 6^th out of 14 ‘A’ teams on the day!

Before I start, I’d like to thank Stuart Leslie, our new team manager, for all his help on the day; also, his side-kick Colin ‘the carthorse’ Cartland, who at least ran the equivalent of what I did, as he belted around the course shouting at us to get a move on.

Some of the most impressive performances happened further down the field, with James Taylor, 3^rd from the back on his 1^st XC at Sennerley’s storming to 66^th from a field of 158, almost making the scoring for the ‘B’ team; Andy ‘Alf Tupper’ Crawford – formerly known as the ‘calf’, belted around to make the final scorer of the ‘A’ team in 22^nd spot (i.e. all our first 6 were in the first 22). Andy’s new name has been attributed to him on account of him turning up in his Jeans carrying his spikes with nothing else at all; Mike ‘rest day’ Ferguson, so called on account of his training regime which consists of mostly taking a rest, had a brilliant run to finish 13^th (his training regime is in general not to be copied by those of us less talented); another person to mention is Paul ‘the web’ Foot – responsible for this very successful club website – who not only lost a shoe but carried on to score for the team, he also helped me considerably by sorting out names and numbers with Stuart Leslie.

The Race

Our task on the day was to hold off Stratford and maintain our lead, to ensure promotion to Div 2 next year. As race day approached we were missing some key runners, notably Sean Rose, Kevin Woodward and Steve James, all of whom could finish within the top ten in this division when fit. As it was, it was left to the two newest recruits, Jamie and Rob, to lead us home. Despite having little or no warm up, it appeared to have no effect on their excellent performances (3^rd and 4^th respectively). Rob turned the table on Deano and myself, giving us a thorough spanking. The latter pair, stomping to (7^th and 8^th), on the other hand, seemed to have suffered considerably from the lack of proper warm up and, although Dean at least had the pleasure of finishing in front of me, we were both not that happy with running like a pair of donkeys in relation to how we have been going in training. The next runner home, Mike F., had no such tension between perceived performance and actual performance, given that he does so little! Mike’s 13^th followed by Andy’s scorching 22^nd sealed the victory by a massive 52 points (those Monday 10 milers are definitely paying dividends).

Our victorious ‘B’ team was led home by a solid 26^th place run (Dave Harte, up from 32^nd last time) and a much better effort by Mike ‘the muscle’ Berry (up from 57^th last race to 30^th), so called for his powerful frame. Mike has been sneaking a few Wednesday midday runs with myself, Rob and occasionally Jamie. 3 Harriers then finished in close succession: Andy Wheeler, who went out hard (42^nd), Ollie Hindle (43^rd – another dedicated follower of the ‘rest day’ school of training philosophy) and Daniel Wilson (48^th). Excellent packing by these guys ensured a great win for the ‘B’ team. The final scorer, Paul Foot, would have surely finished higher had he not lost a shoe (57^th). The Bournville teams were followed by, and assisted by – remember any runner from an opposing club behind our guys is good, newcomer James Taylor (66^th), young Simon Varcoe (74^th – up from his 103rd last time out), Bob ‘the news’ Hockenhull (up 10 from last time to 83^rd), Mark ‘the thinker’ Smith (up 13 from last run out), Howard Price (124^th), free from any tool related injuries this time out, and our resident link to all things sacred, Barrie Roberts in 140^th – the rumour is not true that we have asked Barry to ask for ‘special’ help in securing promotion to Div 2. We first must learn to help ourselves and this is best done, in the main, by doing a spot of training.

On a sober note, lest we should get carried away, when we get promoted to Div 2 (note the ‘when’), we will need to have a good squad of some 20 runners to be able to compete at a different level. The signs are very good and this fixture showed us what a small squad of dedicated – if slightly mad – chaps can do if they want to. If a few of us can run like a donkey, yet the team wins by 50 odd points, we must be doing something right.

Full results here.  More photos here (courtesy of Geoff Yeates/Brian Smith of DK). BVH photos here.

No.	Name	Pos.	Time
16	Jamie Johnston	3	37:22
18	Rob Andrew	4	27:30
13	Dean Parker	7	38:24
12	Jon Grix	8	38:32
7	Mike Ferguson	13	39:37
11	Andy Crawford	22	41:13
14	Dave Harte	26	41:45
3	Mike Berry	30	42:13
6	Andy Wheeler	42	43:26
4	Oliver Hindle	43	43:27
5	Daniel Wilson	48	43:52
1	Paul Foot	57	44:22
17	James Taylor	66	45:00
9	Simon Varcoe	74	45:51
15	Bob Hockenhull	83	46:46
2	Mark Smith	94	47:33
8	Howard Price	124	50:20
10	Barrie Roberts	140	53:43

Club - A teams	Race 1 Tot.	Race 2 Tot.	Running Tot.
Bournville Harriers	68	57	125
Stratford upon Avon AC	86	109	195
Dudley Kingswinford RC	185	122	307
Centurion RC	251	204	455
Nuneaton Harriers	282	214	496
Sneyd Striders	277	260	537
Stafford Harriers	280	305	585
Cobra RC	378	439	817
Saracens RC	511	411	922
Amazing Feet RC	434	535	969
Chase Harriers	638	396	1034
Massey Ferguson RC	629	541	1170
Peel Road Runners	650	566	1216
Telford Harriers	560	686	1246
Trentham RC	183	DNS	N/A
Aldridge RC	DNF	620	N/A
Coventry University	-	-	N/A
Droitwich AC	-	-	N/A