London Marathon challenge was taken on by several Croydon Harriers last Sunday, two of whom looked set for exceptional times until they succumbed to the sting in its tail.

The early pace took its toll on the club's first finisher, tri-athlete Ironman challenger Steve Bayliss, who following an ambitious opening 10k of 34 minutes, tailed off in the final stages and had to settle for a 2hr 55min clocking.

Second Harrier home was Whitgift master Duncan Byrne, who benefited from some well-controlled pace.

Reaching the halfway point in 1hr 42min, he progressed well and overcame late cramp to register a PB of 3hr 33min.

Eric Campbell also paced himself well with the half-way time of 1hr 53min, and a 4hr 08min finishing time.

Former Trinity School student, 18-year-old Mark Elsworthy, making his London debut, reached the mid point in 1:51, before suffering serious cramp in the final stages, and showed great character to complete the course in 4:32.59.

Surprise Croydon 10k winner, David Warrington, 18 months back into running after a long lay off, ran strongly, only just missing his ambitious 2 hour 40 minute target by two minutes 20 seconds.

6^th Will Mercer 14.30

Senior Men

Position Scoring Position Num Name Club Time Category

1 1 103 JON MCCALLUM CRO 27.12 S

3 3 113 STEVE BAYLISS CRO 27.22 S

28 27 107 DAVE DYMOND CRO 30.00 V45

44 43 101 COLIN OXLADE CRO 30.47 V45

59 57 111 DAVE WARREN CRO 31.35 V45

73 69 104 MIKHAIL POPOV CRO 32.16 S

84 75 102 ANDY DEL NEVO CRO 32.58 S

93 78 112 JULIAN DILLOW CRO 33.36 V45

94 79 108 DARREN BRADLEY CRO 33.38 S

107 81 106 KEITH BROWN CRO 34.11 V45

124 xx 105 PAUL THATCHER CRO 35.12 V

167 xx 110 ERIC CAMPBELL CRO 38.17 S

207 xx 109 KEN CROOKE CRO 49.10 V75

After 2 fixtures

Kingston 637 ,Walton 765 ,Croydon 873

Masters Cross Country International Open Race- Croydon, Nov 20 2004

Place Time Name Team/Club Age

18^th 32:40 OXLADE, Colin Broxbourne Runners M45

29^th 35:20 DEL NEVO, Andrew Dacorum & Tring AC SM

35^th : DILLOW, Julian Croydon Harriers M45

40^th :36:40 HEMMING, Norman Croydon Harriers M50

44^th :37:53 THATCHER, Paul Croydon Harriers M40 86 44

45^th :37:56 THATCHER, Kevin Croydon Harriers M45 82 45

52^nd 52 0:41:15 LAPINS, Terry Croydon Harriers M17 40

55^th 42:21 CAMPBELL, Eric Croydon Harriers SM 77 55

57^th 44:39 BYRNE, Duncan Croydon Harriers SM

CROYDON HARRIERS promoted the East Surrey League Cross Country Races in Lloyd Park, but had to give way to a strong team from Herne Hill Harriers Steve Bayliss raced into the lead on the first of the 2 x 2.5 mile laps but was overtaken by Scottish International track runner Jon McCallum who went on to win in 27 min. 48 sec, the fastest time over the course for several years Steve was also overtaken by other runners coming through, but still ran a fast 29 37 for 8th spot. Ray Marriott was first in the M45 age group, recording 29.42 for a close up 10 th and is having a really good year after sonic injury problems in the past couple of seasons. Colin Oxlade was 2nd M45 in 20th with 31 .58. also having better times after injury and completed the four to score "A" team for Croydon, securing 2nd place with 37 points behind Hcrne Hill Harriers 21 for 1st. M40 Ian Wright was next home in 32.31 for 22nd. The league scoring: 4 from the first 6 runners of each Club is the "A" team and the next 6 the "B" and so on. The next non-scoring A team runner from Croydon was Robert Langridge in 25th with 32.43 for 25th. Andy Del-Nevo and Keith Brown (M45) led in the "B" team running together to finish 46th & 47th in 35.26 and 35.30 respectively. Martyn Rooney, after a superlative track season, was the first under 20 runner clocking 35.48 for 51st, and Mark Bayliss, taking time out from water-polo, ran 36.17 for 54th to secure the "B" team position of 12th with 166 points. Non-scorers: 62nd Paul Thatcher (M40) 36.45 and 71st his brother Kevin (M45) 38.12. New member Terry Lapins (Under 20) led home the "C" gang with a promising 40.07 for 83rd followed by the stalwart Eric Campbell who was 103rd with 44.45. Next in was Natalie Osher (Senior Women) timed at 50.09 for 110th and with Ken Crooke (M75) closing the "C"s in with 50.59 for 112nd.

Team Results: 1 Herne Hill H (A) 21 , 2 Croydon (A) 37, 3 Boxhill Racers (A) 66, 4 Crawley AC (A) 75, 5 Epsom & Ewell H (A) 95. 6 Striders of Croydon (A) 98, 7 Dorking & Mole Valley AC (A) A 108.

........... 12 Croydon ( B) 166 and 17 Croydon H (C) 302. 25 teams closed in. League positions after

this race and the Cross Country Relays held on the 2nd October: 1 Herne Hill H (A) 24, 2 Croydon (A) 22, 3 Boxhill (A) 19, equal 4th Dorking (A) and Reigate Priory (A) on 14 each ...12th Croydon (B) 8.

There was also a record field of 114 to finish in the Cross Country Races of the League, which was founded in 1935.

Will Mercer kept the Croydon Harriers flag flying when he took a fine 4th placing in the Under 1 3's
2 miles race with quality 14.56. League rules allow for incomplete teams to score and Croydon came 5^th with 4 points, and are in 2nd place after two events scoring 17 match points behind Hercules Wimbledon AC's 21 for 1 st., Croydon were 4th team in the combined under 15 boys & under 17 men's race, also
over 2 miles. Claudius Ricketts continues to be the Club's forward runner in this grouping, taking 6th in 12.22 with only 1 other under 15 ahead of him. Dan Ho-Xiao (U15) backed him up with 13.27 for 14^th and Mustapa Daved (U15) completed the "A" team with 13.47 for 17th. Josh Alexander gave
non-scoring support in 22nd with 14.30. Croydon "B": 25 Matthew Kiernan (U15) 14.46 and 27 Eliot Osher (Ul 5) 15.30 scored 44 for 9th. Teams: 1 Epsom & Ewell (A) 1 7, 2 Hercules Wimbledon (A) 25, 3 Herne Hill (A) 27 and 4th Croydon (A) 36. 11 teams closed in.

Croydon Harriers are promoting the annual British & Irish International Cross Country races in Lloyd Park on Saturday 20th November, including Open Cross Country Races for all runners (Male & Female) from 17 years of age and upwards. For details and an entry form send a self addressed stamped envelope to "VAAE Open CC Races, 8 Rylandes Road, Selsdon, South Croydon, CR2 8EA. Information: Phone 020 8683 2602.

1st M Tennyson (G&G) M40-1 35:12

2nd M Goatley (G&G) M40-2 35:23

3^rd D Ogden (SLH) M45-1 35:27

16^th I Wright (Croy) M40-10 37:28

19^th 14 C Oxlade (Croy) M45-4 37:50

26^th 19 D Warren (Croy) M45-7 38:26

73^rd 44 P Thatcher (Croy) M45-19 42:21

85^th 20 N Hemming (Croy) M50-15 43:12

115^th T Baker (Rei P) M65-3 48:02

86^th 48 K Thatcher (Croy) M40-33 43:19

136^th K Crooke (Croy) M75-1 61:23

M40 Teams scoring: total: additional

1 Guildford & Godalming (1,2,15) 18 23

2 South London H (3,7,10) 20 11,17,34

3 Boxhill Racers (4,5,13) 22

4 Croydon H (12,14,19) 45 44,48

M50 Teams scoring: total: additional runners: runners:

1 Hercules Wimbledon AC (3,4,5) 12 8,11,17

2 Ranelagh H (2,9,16) 27 19

3 Thames Hare & Hounds (7,13,22) 42 30

CROYDON Harriers enjoyed a complete reversal of fortune over last years' opening fixture of the Surrey Cross Country League, when they competed at Wimbledon Common.

In 2003 they finished last of the nine competing clubs, and then rallied to finish fourth by the season's end. This time they had a narrow margin of three points for a victory over Kingston AC & Polytechnic Harriers, with 360 to 363. Walton AC were a close up third with 372. West 4 Harriers fourth (405), Boxhill Racers fifth (436), and The Stragglers sixth (468) will still be able to challenge, so we can expect an exciting winter. Jon McCallum led Croydon's charge over the five miles undulating terrain (quite hilly in parts), and remarked afterwards: "I overdid the first lap, and struggled a bit on the second."

He finished second to James Harvey, of Walton, running 27min 34sec to Harvey's winning time of 27.15. Steve Bayliss had another fine outing to take seventh in 28.48.

Barren Bradley came up from Exmouth to lead the back-up pack of Croydon Harriers with 30.26 for 23rd, just ahead of team-mate Dave Dymond (30.32 for 24th) who came from even further afield, flying down from Scotland.

Colin Oxlade showed he is back to full strength with 31.08 for 32nd spot. Ian Wright ran 31.20 for 34th, and Dave Warren on 32.09 for 50th was just ahead of a Kingston & Poly runner and Mikhail Popov, 42nd who were both also timed at 32.09.

Julian Dillow found the English climate tough after his warm weather holiday, but was instrumental in clinching the good team scoring with his 32.41 for 58th. New member Paul Thatcher was thrilled to finish off the scoring 10 with 34.22 for 92nd.

Hugh Alexander was there to support his son Josh in the Young Athletes race, and had his first run for many years so was pleased to get round in 40.04 for 105th.

Croydon's Young Athletes finished second in the Under 15 and U17 combined race over one lap of 2.5 miles.

Claudius Ricketts (U15) had another good run to take fourth in 15.44, ably supported by new member George Thatcher (U17) who was timed at 16.27 for eighth. Josh Alexander (U15) was next scorer in 15th with 18.17. The scoring five was completed by new member Mustapha Davey (U17) 17th in 20.42 and Matthew Kiernan (U17) 19th in 21.03.

CROYDON Harriers' winter season got off to a good start when contesting the first of the East Surrey Amateur Athletic league events at Wimbledon.

This was the cross country relays, hosted by Hercules Wimbledon AC consisting of teams of four, running 1.95 miles each, over a fast and furious course starting and finishing on the pathway parallel to Parkside

Jon McCallum led off Croydon's A team and had a tough task on his hands, finishing in first place, marginally ahead of Dorking Mole Valley's Simon Beardsall. McCallum’s time of 9 minutes 26 second s the second fastest of the day.

Ray Maritott (M45) took over and blazed round in the sixth fastest and best veteran time of 9.51, extending the lead by 21 seconds.

Robert Landridge was down on last year's time by nearly a minute and recorded 11.40 for stage three, dropping to second place 63 seconds behind Simon Coombes (Herne Hill Harriers).

Steve Bayliss gave chase, but his equal fifth fastest time was not last enough to make up the deficit. Herne Hill finished in an overall 44.01 with Croydon having to settle for runners-up with 40.47.

Croydon B team also ran well to take sixth place. led off by Andy Del Nevo with 11.09 for 11th . lan Wright in with 9.57. moved up to 8th with 9.57.

Mikhail Popov has decided to abandon marathon is training for the time being, and is training for the steeplechase, so is showing good form going into the winter season. His 10.49 moved the B team up to seventh.

Colin Oxlade (M45) showed that he has recovered well from his spell out with Injury and recorded 10.48 to bring the B Team home in sixth

Croydon‘s C Team included three veterans, who possted almost equal times. Keith Brown leaad off with 12.01, to hand over 14th to new member Kevin Thatcher (M45), who ran 12.01 tp maintain position. His brother Paul another new signing ran 12.04 for his stint to maintain 14th spot.

Eric Campbell started well but suffered an asthma :attack en route, although valiantly finished with 15.30 for 16th.

Twenty-one teams closed in and Croydon had two surplus runners ed runners for an incomplete team as Mike Caudwell (M65) recorded 15.39 for 25th place on the first leg and Ken Crooke (M75) finished in 18.42. for 24th on stage two.

The young athletes relay was held over three 1.95 mile laps and croydon took 5th in 34.58. Claudius Ricketts (Under I5) was third on the first stage, with the third fastest time of 10.47. handing over to Josh Alexander who ran 13.00 for fifth.

George Thatcher (U17) ran a bit faster than his father, recording 11.11 to bring Croydon home in fifth.

Matthew Kiernan (U17) ran 14.38 as the incomplete B team and was eighth on stage one.

Will Mercer was the only Croydon Harrier In the U13s rare over one 1.95 miles lap. He was timed at 13.26 and finished in fifth place. Under scoring system, incomplete teams can gain points, and he was classed as fifth team in his event with eight points.

U13 1.95 miles

5^th Will Mercer 13.26

5th Croydon A 34.58

3 Claudius Rickets U15 10:47

5 Josh Alexander U15 13:00

5 George Thatcher U15 11.11

Croydon B

8 Mathew Kiernan U17 14.38

2^nd Croydon A 2^nd 40.47

1 Jon McCallum SM 9.26

1 Ray Marriot M45 9.51

2 Robert Landridge M35 11.40

2 Steve Bayless SM 9.50

6^th Croydon B 43.53

11 Andy Del Nevo M35 11.09

8 Ian Wright M40 10.57

7 Mikhail Popov M35 10:49

6 Colin Oxlade M45 10:58

16 Croydon Harriers C 51.26

14 Keith Brown M45 12.01

14 Kevin Thatcher M45 12.01

14 Paul Thatcher M40 12:04

16 Eric Campbell SM 15.20

24 Croydon Harriers D - Incomplete

25 Mike Caudwell M65 15.39

24 Ken Crooke M75 18.42