The second fixture of the Hampshire Cross Country League season 2013/14 took place at Goodwood, in true cross country conditions, on Saturday 9 November. The Senior Mens' Team only just managed to stay in the competition, with only five athletes competing, the minimum required. Ian Habgood led the BAC contingent, finishing 18th (of a total of 219) in 31.30, a remarkable run considering Ian ran the Frankfurt Marathon only two weeks ago. Next to finish was Rob McTaggart, 23rd in 31.48, followed by Robin Copestick, 27th in 32.13 and Club Captain Simon Munro, 31st in 32.29. Well done to all four, finishing in the top 40, and thank goodness for Nick Kenchington! Had Nick, who finished104th in 36.49, not turned up, BAC's Senior Men would not have had a complete team, and would have been out of the competition for this year. Although, as at Reading, one more BAC athlete finishing in the top 40 would have made all the difference, there are, as the football managers say, some 'positives' to be drawn from the result at Goodwood. On the day, the BAC team was 4th of 10 teams in Division 1, and our aggregate position is 5th, one up from the situation after the fixture at Reading. It is also of some comfort to know that our aggregate score is well ahead of the leaders of Division 2! But, oh, how much better we are capable of doing!! Elsewhere, Bridget Dence continues to run superbly, finishing 3rd of a total of 74 in the U15 Girls' race, and Bridget lies 3rd= individual U15 Girl after two of the five races. Staying with the Girls, Elsa Charlwood was 35th of the 73 competitors in the U13 Girls' race in a time of 13.44, and, turning to the Boys, of the 77 who ran in the U13 Boys' race, Harrison Sheehan was 57th in 13.32 and Jim Dence was 64th in 13.59.

Report by Bridget & Jim Dence

Five brave Bournemouth Athletic Club members travelled to Goodwood last weekend to compete in the second Hampshire League meeting.

Goodwood, does indeed, as the name suggest, have a very nice wood situated around a massive hill. The course usually offers a fantastic view of Chichester and the sea beyond, this year however we were blessed with true XC weather ; mist , murk , and torrential rain.

First up was the under 13 girls. In this race , we had Elsa Charlwood, a second time XC competitor for BAC. She ran extremely well on a tough course of 3km, and managed to stay on her own two feet , while most others were slipping over in the mud. She finished an impressive 35th. Jim and I both hope that the fact that her hands were blue at the finish will not stop her from competing for BAC the next time!

In the under 13 boys we had two runners, Jim Dence and Harrison Sheehan. Again, both boys, not only braved but tackled and defeated the weather to charge through the finish in the places of 57th (Harrison) and 64th (Jim) . They ran the distance of 3km, up hills , down hills and across hills. They have each run three cross country races this year to an incredible standard , and hopefully there will be more impressive performances to come.
Both Elsa, Jim and Harrison ran great tactical races and have certainly learnt faster than I did about that thing called 'pacing yourself' In my race there were 74 people. Most of us are probably suffering from pneuomia, as they kept us on the start line for about five minutes in the torrential rain, but once we got going it was a nice way to cool down! I achieved my goal of not slipping over in the mud (the mud was so thick in places it called for about 20mm spikes !) but also managed to improve my placing to come in 3rd.
We also had first-time-competitor Seb Hearn , who unfortunately chose the worst day to come cross country running ! By the time we got to his race the ground, the competitors and the spectators were soaked! Despite the massive field and the weather being against him, he performed extremely well in his first ever XC race, coming in 66th. Well done Seb !
The course was physically draining, but we all managed to not fall over and to put in a sprint at the finish! The trip to McDonald's was thoroughly deserved and we were all very thankful of ourselves or mothers ( thanks mum ) for keeping some clothes dry!