INTERSERVICE XC CHAMPIONSHIPS

This years Interservice XC Championships at HMS Raleigh heralded the most open men’s race for many years. There was as ever a strong set of juniors and women’s teams to contend with, and the veterans had to contend with an as ever strong Navy squad. The senior mens team saw the inclusion of Wg Cdr Dave Cole (HQSTC) from the veterans and AC Willy Duncan (St Athan), elevated from the junior squad. The team selection drew people from all over the country and even overseas, most notably Flt Lt Emma Middleton (Episkopi) returning from Cyprus to turn out from the team. We had to contend with a number of our runners missing due to courses and other diversions but the dedication of the team showed in SAC Matt Blunden (Waddington) coming down after guard commitment during the day.

After a good breakfast with much discussion about the Navy’s psychological warfare tactics of putting the team into uncomfortably small beds for the night (apparently it’s normal size on ship!!) we were driven to the course, around 30 mins away at HMS Raleigh. Threats of snow and freezing temperatures proved false although the wind chill factor was something to be believed, the morning proving bright and sunny but ridiculously cold.

In the juniors the Army dominated but Cpl Warren Lewis improved on his 10th place last year to come in 6th and with 2 more years as a junior to go a medal may not be out of reach for this promising youngster.

In the veterans race the Navy led off in the top few places with Gp Capt Dave Blore (EAG HQSTC) leading the RAF effort to catch them with CT Andy Gibb (Benson). These two worked solidly together to try and claw the Navy back over the 9.2 mile course, doggedly trying to break the Navy’s strangle hold on the top three places. Andy Gibb finally managed to get up into third but Dave Blore lost out in a valiant battle to hold off the 3rd Navy runner in a sprint finish.

In the ladies race hopes were raised early on with Emma Middleton and Flt Lt Mary James (JSU Corsham) taking the race by the scruff on neck and leading for half of the first lap. Unfortunately a trio of Army girls charged to the front followed closely by a lone Navy runner. Mary, undeterred, took up the chase with Emma backing her up followed by the rest of the team. It was a brave effort but the Army team was just too strong. The team was made up of a number of talented young runners, Jo Bradford and Neve Letich, which bodes well for the future. The team included Sam Hunt in her last outing for the RAF Athletics Association.

The men’s race was one of the most competitive for years, with only 2 points making the difference. Flt Lt Matt Whitfield (Boulmer) stormed into the lead with a group of Army athletes taking up the chase. SAC Martin Whitehouse (Waddington), Flt Lt Ben Livesey (Cranwell) and newcomer Willy Duncan followed in close support, with Dave Cole, SAC Dan Lewis (Brize Norton) and Sgt Stevie Neill (Northwood) bringing up the rear of the team. Matt Whitfield stayed out in a solid lead with the Army happy to sit and wait until the last lap when Sig Chepkwomy surged to the front, temporarily depriving Matt of the lead. It wasn’t enough however as he was finally beaten over the last 20m by a triumphant Matt. As is always the way with the Interservices the real story was going on behind the leaders. Martin managed to work his way up to break up the Army while Willy, the real find of the season after coming to prominence in the SEAX match, was third counter for the team in his first Interservice outing. Ben ran bravely with an Achilles problem to bring home much needed points. Overall everyone put in 150% and everyone should be proud of pushing the Army to the closest match result for many years.

The night was rounded off with the annual cross-country dinner in the Copthorne hotel in the middle of Plymouth. After a pleasant meal the RAFAA Chairman, Gp Capt Blore, reflected on the days events and the fact that he never wants to do cross-country ever again. Sqn Ldr Gavin Dalton (Leconfield) went on to draw out some of the more notable points from the previous season that saw a great deal of new talent emerging as well as our continued progress towards regaining the titles currently held by the Army and Navy. The night was rounded off with Matt Whitfield being awarded the team managers award for the previous season due to his remarkable progress, dedication to the team and team spirit.

Juniors Ladies Veterans Senior Mens

Army 10 Army 14 Navy 14 Army 43

Navy 35 Navy 28 RAF 26 RAF 45

RAF 45 RAF 36 Army 38 Navy 99

RAF XC CHAMPIONSHIPS

Overall Mens Winner Overall Women Winner

Mens Team Womens Team Junior Mens Team

1st Waddington 1st Innsworth 1st Boulmer

2nd Brize Norton 2nd Lyneham 2nd Cosford

3rd Cosford 3rd Brize Norton

SEAX XC

Results

STC Championships

The STC Cross Country Championships were held at RAF Brize Norton on the 2nd December in sunny and calm conditions. The Station Commander, Gp Capt Elliot, started a field of approximately 70 men and ladies across the fields to the south of the station over what could be best described as a traditional course. Although predominately flat the inclusion of several farmers’ fields ensured that at times the going became decidedly boggy. In the men’s race a leading group of 4 athletes quickly established a lead with Chf Tech Andy Gibb RAF Benson in front followed by Cpl Ronnie McWilliam RAF Waddington and Wg Cdr Dave Cole and Lt Cdr Dai Roberts, both from RAF High Wycombe, in close order. After about one mile Cole began to make a break and slowly established a lead on Gibbs, hotly pursued by Roberts. As the miles went on Cole moved in to a comfortable lead and won by a large margin. In the meantime, Roberts had moved past Gibbs to finish comfortably in 2nd place, Gibbs secured 3rd ahead of McWilliam. As this was an RAF Command Championship the 2nd place was awarded to Gibbs, with Roberts publicly acknowledged as the 2nd place runner in the race. Veterans took all the first 3 places and accordingly Cole also secured the veterans title. The team race was close with Waddington securing victory over High Wycombe by a margin of 4 points.

In the ladies race Flt Lt Emma Middleton continued her excellent recent form and also comfortably secured first place. Putting in strong performances Cpl Fayme White Brize Norton finished second followed by Cpl Mandy Meecham Lyneham. Sgt Rachel Williams Brize Norton won the ladies veterans’ race. Brize Norton won the ladies team race. After the race Gp Capt Elliot awarded the prizes to the winning athletes. A great event, which was very successfully organised by Brize Norton personnel, in particular WO Bill Currie of TCW. Flt Sgt John Stevens of Brampton and a number of officials from across the RAF also ensured that all the administration and results were rapidly processed.

PTC Championships

The PTC Champs were held at RAF Halton on Thursday 2 Dec 04. A new course utilising 4K laps (1 for ladies, 2 for men) was set and received accolades from those more used to the traditional RAF Course. The men's race was won impressively by 17 year-old AC Willy Duncan (St Athan) in 28.36. Similar to the STC race at Brize Norton the leading places went to Veterans with the 1st senior taking 4th place. Sgt Tara Park (17.22) 'stalked' the men around her lap and was in 9th place overall when she broke the tape in the ladies race. The major achievement for the day was that the race went ahead at all as the pre-race entries were (as expected) very low. However, the fact that the event was such a success was down to both the competitive approach and the have-a-go spirit of those that took part. Full results will be posted on this site soon.

Margate International

Results

MARTIN AND EMMA FLY THE FLAG IN GERMANY

On the 10th November the Royal Air Force was represented in both the Men’s and Ladies CC Air HQ Ramstein 1st Inter-Nation Cross Country Championship 2004 at Furstenfeldbruch Air Force Base near Munich, Germany. This annual event is 2nd only to the Inter-Services Cross Country Championships and accordingly a very strong men’s and ladies team were selected for the RAF. Despite snow and cold conditions on arrival, race day was clear, dry and sunny, although the demanding traditional cross country course remained very slippery writes Sqn Ldr Gavin Dalton

The first race of the day was the ladies over 4 laps of 1250 mtrs. With Sabrina Mockenhaupt (Germany) recent winner of a European Cross Country race and Anja Smolders, Belgium Ladies Cross Country Champion for 7 years making the early pace, the RAF ladies packed very well with Sgt Tara Park (JSSU Cheltenham), Flt Lt Emma Middleton (RAF Marham) and Flt Lt Mary James (JSSU Corsham) placing high up in the field. Also performing well in the middle of the pack, Sgt Paula Barton (RAF Waddington), Cpl Fayme White (RAF Brize Norton) and Flt Lt Jo Roe (RAF Lyneham) ensured that the RAF was well placed. As the toll of the conditions took effect, the German International athlete moved in to a very comfortable lead and went on to win very easily. Following the German, the Belgium athlete comfortably finished second. Meanwhile in her best race to date for the RAF, Emma Middleton had moved in to 3rd place and managed to maintain her position to finish a fantastic 3rd overall and winning the bronze medal with Tara Park maintaining her steady reliable form finishing in 7th place followed by Mary James in 9th. Fayme White ran extremely well in what maybe her last race for the RAF prior to her leaving the Service in 12th place with Paula Barton and Jo Roe closing in the RAF team in 13th and 14th places to ensure that the RAF ladies team finished in 2nd place overall with 31 pts to the USA who won the team event with 23 pts.

The Men’s race followed the ladies and was over 8 laps of what was no where near 1250 mtrs but closer to 1600 mtrs (8 mls in total). With a number of International athletes and an extremely strong Polish team the RAF Men’s team would need to be on top form to get near the Poles in the team race. Nevertheless, from the off the team quickly established itself well up the field. Leading the RAF team was SAC Martin Whitehouse (RAF Waddington) whose tremendous recent form was allowing him to mix it with the front runners. Flt Lt Matt Whitfield (RAF Boulmer), also in excellent shape, placed high up and with Flt Lt Ben Livesey (RAF Cranwell), SAC Matt Blunden (RAF Waddington), SAC Dan Lewis (RAF Brize Norton) and Sgt Al Turnbull (RAF Honington); the team position looked very promising. Backing these runners up were Sgt Dick Barton (RAF Wittering), Wg Cdr Dave Cole (HQSTC) and SAC Ian Bailey (RAF Marham) who were also having good runs. As the race entered the later stages, the team competition was extremely close with Poles and the RAF swapping first placed team on the latter laps. However, going into the last lap the Poles managed to do just enough to win the overall team award by 56 pts to 62 pts. 2nd Lt Ben Payne (USA) won the race from Sgt Draczynski (Poland) with Sdt Stessens (Belgium) in 3rd place; Martin Whitehouse ran a tremendous race in 4th place with Matt Whitfield and Ben Livesey in 5th and 6th respectively. This performance from the promising young RAF team bodes extremely well for the Inter-Services Championship to be held in February 2005.

TARA PARK AND DAVE COLE MAKE EASY OF ATROCIOUS CONDITIONS

The second RAFAA Cross-Country fixture of the season versus Eastern Counties and Cambridge University took place at Hinchingbrooke Park, Huntingdon in atrocious conditions; just prior to the start of the races both courses had to be changed due to the flooding of areas within the Park writes Sqn Ldr Gavin Dalton.

The ladies course which was advertised as 5km was nearer to 7km and although a flat and lacklustre course of numerous laps, the persistent heavy rain and sodden course proved extremely challenging for the ladies. Once again, the RAFW team was well represented with 2 new squad members – Jnr Tech Tertia Ritchie and Jnr Tech Kate Dempster (both JSSU Digby) representing the team for the first time. Both athletes displayed great grit and determination and achieved highly respectable 19th and 28th places respectively.

Sgt Tara Park (JSSU Cheltenham) once again displayed her invincible form and had just taken the lead in the race when poor marshalling directed the leading pack off course. Although not able to regain her lead, she did battle her way to a most impressive 3rd place after a final flurry over the last 200 mtrs finishing a gamely 2 seconds behind 2nd place. Flt Lt Emma Middleton (RAF Marham) was also a strong contender for most of the race and finished in an excellent 9th place, consolidating her previous race results. Team stalwart, Cpl Mandy Meechan (RAF Lyneham) once again displayed her usual determined style to finish strongly in 15th place, whilst the hard training is paying off for Cpl Kerry Jones (RAF Lyneham) who raced well to achieve 22nd place. In the team race the ladies were always going to find the opposition difficult and finished 3rd team behind Eastern Counties and Cambridge University.

The men’s race which initially advertised as 6 mls was in the end nearly 8 mls, due to late changes, of mud and flooded pasture land which proved to be extremely demanding and sapping course for the RAF athletes. Sgt Dick Barton (RAF Wittering) committed himself early to test his early season form and was moving well with the leading runners with Wg Cdr Dave Cole (HQSTC) and Sgt Al Turnbull (RAF Honington) chasing hard. A small group of Cambridge runners were working together at the front of the pack and were splitting up the rest of the field. Gp Capt Dave Blore (EAG RAF H Wycombe), SAC Ian Bailey (RAF Marham) and Cpl Ronnie McWilliam (RAF Waddington) were running together as a team and were aiming to get into the RAF representative team that was due to race in Munich 2 weeks later.

The 4 Cambridge athletes finished in 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th and had been split by a lone Eastern Counties in 2nd runner with Dave Cole, the RAF’s leading runner and first veteran in 6th place; obviously the soft going underfoot suited him very well. Al Turnbull finished a very creditable 7th place with Dick Barton feeling the affects of the fast early pace in 9th place. Dave Blore finished 2nd vet in 14th place overall with Ian Bailey just getting the edge over Ronnie McWilliam in 16th and 17th place and gaining the last place for the Munich trip. In the team race Cambridge University won convincingly with 31 points from the Royal Air Force 107 points and Eastern Counties 112 points.

MATT WHITFIELD WINS OPENING RACE OF CROSS COUNTRY SEASON

In the first race of the RAF Cross-Country season held at Shotover Park, Oxford both the Men’s and Ladies team fielded very strong teams over a wet and very demanding course.

In the ladies race, the first race of the day, Sgt Tara Park (JSSU Cheltenham) started this season where she left off last season – leading the RAFW team from the front. Despite a long term calf injury throughout the summer, Sgt Park stormed to the front of the pack within the first few hundred metres of the race and remained in close contention with the leading Oxford runner for most of the race, until she suffered a nasty fall on the slippery, muddy course. Undeterred though she made an excellent recovery and achieved a superb 2nd place overall. In their debut races for the RAF, Cpl Kerry Jones (RAF Lyneham), Jnr Tech Millie Lepic (JSSU Digby) and SAC Hannah Bradshaw (JSSU Digby) raced well and enjoyed the hills, mud, puddles.

Making an impressive return to form were Flt Lt Mary James (JSU Corsham) and Sgt Paula Barton (RAF Waddington) – both of whom were cheered on by their young offspring. Mary achieved 5th place and Paula 12th place in this very competitive field.

Flt Lt Emma Middleton (RAF Marham) in 6th place and Cpl Fayme White (RAF Brize Norton) 11th also looked strong and finished in an impressive manner. Flt Lt Jo Roe, (RAF Brize Norton) in 13th place and Cpl Mandy Meechan (RAF Lyneham) in 14th place completed the RAFW line up with some determined and solid running. Overall team places were 2nd and 3rd for the RAF W A and B teams.

The Men’s race followed and was a 2 lap course over 5 mls of this very demanding terrain. Flt Lt Matt Whitfield (RAF Boulmer) took control of the race very early on and by the first mile he had a lead of 30 mtrs over San Aldridge (Reading) and SAC Dan Lewis (RAF Brize Norton) with the chasing pack a further 30 mtrs behind. By the start of the second lap Matt Whitfield had built up a convincing lead with Dan Lewis and Sam Aldridge running together 30 seconds of the pace with Wg Cdr Dave Cole (HQSTC) after a steady start had moved through the field into 4th place. Sgt Dick Barton, Cpl Ronnie McWilliam (RAF Waddington) and SAC Ian Bailey (RAF Marham) were also making up ground after a positive start. Matt Whitfield maintained his form to comfortably win his first race in a light blue vest with Dan Lewis finishing 2nd after a hard tussle with Sam Aldridge with Dave Cole finishing 4th and first Vet. It was great to see Dick Barton running well in his first competitive race for some time in 8th place and the last RAF counter in the team race. Ian Bailey and Ronnie McWilliam in 9th and 11th respectively with Gp Capt Dave Blore (HQSTC) finishing 13th and 2nd Vet. Overall, the RAF won the team race with the RAF ‘B’ Team finishing 2nd.