James Harrison was our only runner in the under 13 Boys race over one lap of the relay course and covered the 1.95 miles in 12.29 to take third place.

Croydon's seniors were 6th in the 4 x 1.95 Relay and John Fitzpatrick recorded 10.10 on stage one. Peter Yarlett ran 11.04, Robin Dickson 11.39 and Barry Cooke 11.25 for an overall time of 44 min. 18 sec., a long way off the course record of 38.48 we set up in 1996

Division II Epsom Downs

In a tightly contested race Croydon were third team scoring 427 points behind British Airways A. C. (354) and Epsom & Ewell Harriers (397). Other teams: MPA 453, W4H 456, DUL 477, VAC 487, RPR 498, DMV 546.

John Fitzpatrick was first in for Croydon with a first class run for 5th spot with 31.41 closely followed by Deron Pagan 7thin31.58. Jon McCallum, just beck from holiday end short of training was 10th with 32.16. Mike Dawson showed good form to place 33rd in 33.55. Next came a group of our Vets in close formation: Julian Dillow [V40] 52nd (34.44), Don Faircloth [V45] 53rd (34.47) and Dave Warren [V40] 54th (34.49). Stan Collie [V50] was 62nd (35.24), Peter Yarlett [V45] 73rd (36.16) and Keith Brown (V40), making a return to racing after over a year out with back problems was 91 st (37.33) and completed the scoring ten.

Other Croydon Runners

115. Andy Del-Nevo 40.03

117 Tony Fitzgerald (V40) 40.19

132 Mike Caudwell (V.60) 43.46

EAST SURREY A.A. LEAGUE

CROSS COUNTRY RACES

Lloyd Park, Croydon

James arrison led Croydon into third team place with a good run for 6th timed at20.11 ably supported by C.Jenner 10th (21.48) and Adam Hall 11th (22.14). M. Jenner was non-scoring 12th with 22.48

In a repeat of the under 13's race Andrew Jenner led Croydon to 3rd team and was also 6th in his event with 17.31. Andrew Mitchell was a step or two behind in 7th with a good 17.35 clocking, and Mathew Hall completed the scoring with 19.15 for 12th place. The team score was 24 points equal with Epsom & Ewell Harriers, but Mathew was ahead of Epsom's last scorer by one place which gave them their third position.

We had the bare minimum or four runners for the first time in the history of this event, and all were veterans except Eric Campbell. Julian Dillow (V40) was 17th in 34.18 followed by Dave Warren (V40) 19th in 34.59 and Peter Yarlett (V45) 27th in 36.03 and Eric Campbell (S) 39th with 40.18. The team placed 6th and with the 6th placing from the Relay on October 3rd maintained 6th overall in the League. League situation after two events:

1 st. Boxhill Racers 24, 2nd. Epsom & Ewell Harriers 20' 3rd. Crawley A.C. 18, 4th. Striders of Croydon 17, 5th. Hercules Wimbledon A.C. 15 6th Croydon Harriers 14, 7th. E&E "B" 10, 8th. S&D 10, 9th H/W "B" 6, 10th. SOC "B" 5 11th. H/W "C" 4, 12th Eq. DMV 3, 12th. Eq. Met. Police 3, 14th. CRA "B" 2.

For the first time Croydon Harriers failed to field a ful! team of ten, and paid the penalty by finishing 5th from the nine clubs in Division II.

Jon McCallum (23.52) showed he was back in top form finishing 2nd to A. Eynon (23.47) of British Airways. Deron Fagan repeated his performance in the first match to take 7th again with a fast 25.00, whilst Sean Sanders trip from Abergavenny was fruitful with 10th in 25.12. Ian Wright was well up in 13th with 25.28 and Julian Dillow was 5th home for us in 42nd spot (3rd V.40) with 26.5. Dave Warren came 63rd (5th V.40) in 27.59 and Norman Hemming (V.45), just back from working overseas, was 84th.with 28.48. Eighth home for us was Keith Brown (V40) 99th in 29.33.

League position after 2 matches: 1st MPA (688), 2nd BAC (690), 3rd W4H (787), 4th E&E (833), 5th Croydon H. (881), 6th DUL (951, 7th RPR (1042), 8th VAC (1054), 9th DMV (1264).

Another incomplete team: Ten to score so two ran for their 2nd claim clubs:-

5. Ian Wright Serpentine 30.39

38. Peter Yarlett Croydon 34.36

43. Norman Hemming B. of Eng 35.01

75. Andy Del-Nevo Croydon 37.59

Boys under 13 3.25 Km.

James Harrison once again led in Croydon Harriers team, which finished 4th behind Woking A.C., Oxted Schcool and Sutton & District A.C. James was 19^th in 13.43 over the very arduous course starts at the top of the Valley and decends down Glebe Slopes, completes one small lap round the Noswells Fields, then up Glebe slopes again to the finish in Fourteen Acre Field, near the start. Martin Rooney was a close up 21st in 13.48 with Ian Hop a well placed 26th in 14.19. Adam Hall completed the team in 31st with 14.41. Mark Elsworth came 34th in 14.52.

Two Croydon Harriers competed in this race. Matthew Hall was 22nd in 17:22 and Luke Elsworthy finished 44th in 21:50.

Kate Davey ran a sound 19.22 for 15th place and was the only female Croydon Harrier to take part in the championships.

Jake Elsworthy was our sole runner, and finished 36th in 34.47.

Yacin Yusuf not only won his 1st Surrey Cross Country Championship title but was the first Croydon Harrier to achieve this distinction. He showed he meant buisness right from the start and was first accross the field before leading down into the valley. From then on he had a battle with Ian Munt of Herne Hill Harriers over the first two laps but once he surged away he was not to be denied his title and finished clear of by 40 seconds to record 43.22. One lapped runner said that when he was "Yacin's feet did not touch the ". Jon McCallum barely recovered from a calf injury and suffering form the effects of a recent cold, also had to contend with blisters but still finished a determined 12th in 47.01. Deron Fagan made a good start but probably this was a bit too ambition as he lost ground gradually over the course race to finish 37th in 49.31. Mike Dawson produced his usual consistent performance to take 53rd in a useful 51.02. Dave Warren came in 75th with 53.24 whilst Norman Hemming completed our scoring six in 102nd spot in 56.19. Keith Brown (57.57) and Stan Collie 124th (58.48) gave non-scoring support to their team mates The Club's fifth team position from the 15 to close was an encouraging sign for our next League match.

Possibly due to the circulation of the first Cross Country Newsletter (a project I have had in mind for several years) and my renewed enthusiasm prompting me to get on the telephone we had the best turn out of the season for our home fixture in Lloyd Park. Croydon sprang a surprise victory on the other clubs in the League and were led home by Deron Fagan with a stunning run to take 6th in 32.03, a good time for a very muddy five mile course. John Fitzpatrick showed good form to take 14th spot in 33.04, closely followed by Ian Wright in 19th (33.28). Julian Dillow won the battle of the Veterans getting in ahead of Dave Warren with 33.57 for 23rd. Dave's 34.05 took 25th.

Barry Cooke in his first race back after a broken rib was pleased to finish in 31st with 34.40 and Martin Walmsley (Vet 40) made a rare appearance to take 40th spot with 35.07 whilst Stan Collie was 2nd Vet over 50 with 36.33 for 60th. Next in was Norman Hemming (Vet 45) with a determined run for 70th in 37.12 and Andy Del-Nevo made the scoring ten for the first time when he was timed at 37.37 for 79th. Non-scoring support was given by Gary Lomas in his first race for the Club taking 87th in 37.55 and Keith Brown (V.40) was 94th in 38.24, with Duncan Jackson (another new member) 100th in 39.08.

Team scores produced a very interesting situation with almost unbelievably close totals:-

1 Croydon Harriers 363

2 Reigate Priory AC 432

3 West 4 Harriers 438

4 Dulwich Runners AC 439

5 British Airways AC 452

6 Epsom & Ewell Harriers 453

7 Metropolitan Police AC 456

8 Veterans A.C. 510

9 Dorking & Mole Valley AC 552

Overall position after three matches:-

1. BAC 1142 6. DUL 1390

2. MPA 1144 7. RPR 1474

3. W4H 1225 8. VAC 1564

4. CRO 1244 9. DMV 1816

5. E&E 1286

The last match at Wimbledon on 27th February should be well worth a visit for spectators as any of the first 8 clubs could get into the first two places for promotion to Division I in 1999/2000, a good target for the next millenium.

James Harrison was 3rd with a 20.43 clocking closely followed by Clive Jenner 4th in 20.52 giving them a score of 85 points for 2nd team (3rd overall with 345)

The change of date from last year was a mistake as it clashed with the Vets. AC Championships and the Downs League on Sunday was allocated as our young athletes championship race. Only 22 runners finish in contrast to 77 on the 10th January, 1998. I will aim for 8th January 2000 if the changes to the season imposed from on high permit.

Andy Flett got revenge on John Fitzpatrick who won in 1997 when they fought a duel all the way until John got away in the last half mile, but this time Andy had a clear lead from about half way around the first lap and finished strongly in 32.13. John had a long tusstle with Tony Sheppard of Striders of Croydon but got clear in the later stages to take 2nd place and win the Club Championship title he lost to Barry Cooke last year. John's time of 32.47 was 17 seconds faster than the previous week and Julian Dillow, 4th with 33.49 improved by 49 seconds. Norman Hemming just lost out to former Croydon Harrier Alan Dolton who was 8th for Striders in 36.55. Norman was 9th in 36.56.

Gary Lomas was pleased with his time of 37.26, half a minute faster than last time and finished 11th just ahead of Keith Brown (V40), 12th in 37.31. Mike Vickers was 19th in 46.16 to complete the scoring team, glad to finish after a long time out with injury. Croydon won a closely contested battle. Result (6 to score):-

1. Croydon Harriers 57

2. Collingwood A.C. 62

3. Striders of Croydon 64

Four to score (Supplementary):-

1. SOC 23
2. CRO 26
3. COL 30

Martin Rooney made his first appearance in the League and led Croydon to victory, placing 3rd in a fast 13.05. James Harrison gave his usual class performance to take 4th spot in 13.19, ably supported by Mark Jenner, 5th in 13.37 a step or two ahead of his brother Clive who was 7th in 13.50.

Team result:-

1. Croydon Harriers 19

2. Epsom & Ewell H. 32

3. Sutton & District AC 36

4. Kingston & Poly. H 58

Teams after three matches:-

1. Croydon Harriers 55

=2. Epsom & Ewell 97

=2. Sutton & District AC 97

4. Kingston & Poly. H 132

Croydon look to have the under 13 Boys League title tied up before the last match on the 14th March.

Andrew Jenner had another good race finishing 2nd in 11.58 and Luke Elsworthy came 10th with 14.29. Croydon finished 3rd with 36 points and lie 3rd overall with 88 behind Epsom (54) and Sutton (84) and ahead of Kingston (92).

Croydon Harriers had a team in the under 13 boys race with individuals in the under 15 boys, under 17 women and senior men's races.

Clive Jenner led Croydon's under 13's to 28th team position finishing in 148th place in 15.26 over a very muddy and in some places treacherous 3000 metres course. He was followed home by brother Mark, 164th in 15.41. Mark Elsworthy gave good support to take 177th spot in 15.56, whilst 11 year old Ian Horn was involved in a blanket finish to take 180th with 15.57 in spite of "putting my foot in a pothole"

Jack Appleton produced a good performance to finish 83rd from a field of 232 finishers in the under 15 boys race of 4500 metres and Sophie Chapman, a new signing for Croydon ran 26.51 to take 87th in the 5000 metres under 17 womens race, a good time for the heavy going.

Congratulations are due to The South of England Athletic Association for sticking to tradition by not reducing the distance of the senior mens' race from 9 miles (to 71/2 miles or less as did the Midlands and the North of England Athletic Associations).

Croydon Harriers senior mens' hopes were dashed when several members were unable to take part owing to injuries and work commitments, and only five were able to toe the starting line.

Deron Fagan had one of his best races to date, improving by 79 places on his last "Southern" in 1996, to finish 124th with 57.26, probably worth about 52 minutes in better conditions. Julian Dillow led a trio of Croydon's Veterans taking 61.14 to finish 260th just ahead of Dave Warren who got 166th with a dogged 61.30. Norman Hemming (Vet.45) dug in grimly and was 487th with 66.02 and Gary Lomas was fifth home for Croydon, surprised that it was a lot easier than anticipated over the 9 miles taking 737th in 72.26 from a finishing total of 1015 runners.

Deron Fagan was again Croydon Harriers' leading runner when the Club took part in the 100th running of the South of the Thames Cross Country Championship race held on a bright, sunny day over a seven and a half miles fast course in Spring Park and Sparrows Den at West Wickham. Deron made his usual confident start and was in 4th or 5th spot for about a lap and a half, before the effects of his recent strong run over 9 miles in the Southern Counties Championship started to tell on his reserves and he fell back in the field to finish a creditable 44th in 38.33. Team mate Julian Dillow (V40) ran his usual strong race, although not too happy about the steep downhill gulley negotiated three times but made steady progress through the field, nearly catching up to Deron at the finish and strode confidently in to 49th spot with 38.53. Barry Cooke made a last minute decision to run after a period of sickness, an injury sustained at home and was pleased to get 82nd in 40.55 in spite of having to stop to replace a shoe.

Norman Hemming (Vet.45) could be called "Storming Norman" after battling round against some close competitors including team mates Gary Lomas and Keith Brown but he drew away from them all in the later stages to get 106th in 42.40. Gary and Keith could hardley be seperated, Gary just edging home in 43.08 for 115th with Keith 116th in 43.09 to complete the scoring 6 man team and take them into 11th place with a total of 512 points. Croydon won the Special Medals awarded to the first team to finish having not placed in the last 10 Championships or won the "Specials" in the preceding 5 Championships.

Mike Vickers (Vet 45) missing out on the medals was 170th in 51.40 having arrived just before the start due to working in the morning, but looked his usual happy self.

All runners finishing the race were presented with an attractive commemorative mug and in the evening The South of the Thames Cross Country Association held a Centenary Race Buffet at the promoting club Blackheath Harriers' Headquarters, where winners of previous Championship Races were present, including Frank Sando (Aylesford Paper Mills) 1952, Charlie Walker (Belgrave H.) 1951, John Snowden (Surrey A.C.) 1961, John Roberts (South London H.) 1974 and Dennis Holden (Cambridge H.) 1953 who ran again at West Wickham and was 172nd

in 52.10. Past winners of the District "Junior" races present included Bob Treadwell (Redhill & Surrey Beagles AC) 1979 and John Baldwin (Blackheath H.) 1966.

Croydon Harriers were represented by Pat and Ken Crooke (Past President of the Association in 1985/86).

Wimbledon Common

Injuries and illness struck at our chances of making it up to Division I next season. We were in 4th overall after the first three matches and needed to claw back 101 points on Met. Police and 29 on West 4 H. to get into the top two places but ended up in 5th on the day and still 4th overall. Yacin Yusuf had an outstanding run to come home first in 23.18, 41 seconds clear of Rob James (DMV), leading from the start.

Our next 6 finishers backed up well: 21. Deron Fagan 26.02, 23. John Fitzpatrick 26.06, 26. Julian Dillow 26:11, 27. Mike Dawson 26.19, 34.Dave Warren 26.42 and 47 Barry Cooke 27.24. The other 3 scorers were all in the 80's (83. Ian Statter 29.04, 84. Keith Brown 29.04 and 89. Gary Lomas 29.14. Non scorers: 92. Norman Hemming 29.22, 115. Andy Del-Nevo 31.40 138 Mike Donnellan 36.37 and Chris Scott 36.52.

Two of our most enthusiastic under 13's turned up and ran well to finish 2nd to Epsom & Ewell - 2. James Harrison 14.40 and 3 Mark Elsworthy 14.55. Croydon were 2nd team overall - 1 E&E 135, 2 Croydon 428, 3 DMV 457. The other 6 clubs did not show all season so were allocated points of 520 each for equal 4th.

Senior Men Final Result

We had some low turn-outs but hopefully we can make a much better showing in the coming months. We should be the top team in Division II for 1999/2000.

Croydon Harriers Seniors scored 8948 points for 88th team from 131 to close.

Mike Dawson was first home in 46.59 in the first "National" to be run over the shorter distance of 71/2 miles. Other team members: 600 Dave Warren 48.36, 730 Barry Cooke 50.00, 1003 Norman Hemming 53.08, 1046 Keith Brown 53.35 and 1159 Gary Lomas 55.10 for his first "National".

1560 runners finished.

James Harrison had another excellent run to take 2nd spot in 12.41 leading Croydon into first team placing in the

under 13's race. Mark Elsworthy was timed at 13.27 just ahead of Clive Jenner 's 13.37 for 5th and 6th respectively. Mark Jenner completed the scoring with 14.05 for 9th place. Croydon Scored 22 points, with Epsom & Ewell H and Sutton & District AC both on 33 for equal 2nd. Kingston & Poly. were 4th with 42. Final league result -Teams 1st. Croydon Harriers , 2nd equal: Sutton & District AC and Epsom & Ewell H. James Harrison was the individual winner overall with Mark Jenner taking the runner's up award. In the under 15's Croydon took 3rd team spot with Mathew Hall 4th (12.12) and Luke Elsworthy 9th (14.55). The team was 3rd for the season. Croydon had one runner in the under 11's - Josh Hall was 8th in 14.28.

The first event was the under 13 boys race over one lap of the relay course. James Harrison came 5th in 14.07 with team mate Mark Elsworth 6th in 14.18. This gave them 3rd team behind Sutton & District AC and Epsom & Ewell Harriers. They were also 3rd team overall. The Senior Men's Relay was over 4 laps of 2.1 miles and Croydon lived up to the great expectations held in advance when finishing 2nd to Boxhill Racers.

Jon McCallum gave them a good start on lap one going into an immediate lead and powering his way round in the fastest lap by an official league athlete of 9 min. 50 sec.

Guest runner Keith Cullen of Chelmsford AC, 4th in the previous week's National Cross Country Championships at Newark, ran two legs for Hercules Wimbledon's non-scoring "C" team. On leg 2 he recorded 9.22 and followed it up with 9.40 on leg 4.

Jon handed over to Deron Fagan 12 seconds in advance of Paul Haywood's 10.02 and Deron ran a great leg (10th fastest in 10.53) to hold off A. Green of Boxhill (10.46) by 5 secs. Mike Dawson had the misfortune to run on the same leg as Boxhill's track star Simon Fairbother (10.05) and in spite of running 14th fastest (11.07) was in 2nd at the take-over in 31.50 to Boxhill's 30.53. John Fitzpatrick had his usual "power run" to record an excellent 10.48 bringing Croydon home 2nd in 42.38. This team performance lifted Croydon from 6th in the league to 3rd with 25 match points behind Boxhill (36) and Hercules Wimbledon (29).

Croydon's "B" team was an all veteran affair - Robin Dickson (V50) gave his all to get 16th spot with a stylish 12.24. Stan Collie kept up his high standard with the 2nd fastest Vet 50 time of 12.05, handing over in 10th to Julian Dillow, Croydon's "Top 40" Vet who stormed round in 11.14 to 9th over a minute clear of Crawley "B". Norman Hemming had a solid run of12.31 to maintain 9th and brought them home in 48.14. The "C" team was one short of the 4 required - Barry Cooke tested his fitness after injury to run 11.26 for 8th on stage one. Gary Lomas was 9th with 12.27 on lap two and Ken Crooke (V70) ran the third lap in 22.22 for 21st spot with his first run for 18 months after a back injury.

Yacin Yusuf had a torrid battle with Blackheath Harriers international runner Dave Taylor for the whole of the race. Coming to turn into the finish in Lloyd Park it looked as if Taylor was going to get away, but Yacin hung on and produced a devastating finish to win by one second in a fast 30.07. Next Croydon Harrier was Deron Fagan, 14th in 34.43, just a pace ahead of veteran Julian Dillow (34.46).

Other Croydon Harriers - 18 Martin Walmsley (V40) 35.10, 25 Stan Collie (1st Vet 50) 36.33, 41 Norman Hemming (V45) 38.05, 47 Gary Lomas 38.30, 51 Keith Brown (V.40) 38.41, 64 Heather Fenton (V.40) [1st. Woman] 39.35, 85 Eric Campbell 41.03, 129 Tony Fitzgerald (V40) 44.09,163 Mike Caudwell (3rd V.60) 46.11.

Yacin Yusuf followed up his win in the Croydon 10K Road Race with another outstanding performance to take the East Surrey League Road Race title in an impressive 21.16 for the 4 miles course and led Croydon Harriers to team victory. He was well supported by John Fitzpatrick 5th in 23.29, Julian Dillow 7th in 24.04 and Barry Cooke 9th in 24.12..

Non-scorers for the A team:11 Dave Warren 24.21 and Mike Dawson 24.24. The B. Team was 6th led by new member Juan Carlos Venegas 10th (24.17) with Stan Collie 21st (25.33), Andy Del-Nevo 29th (26.16) and Norman Hemming 30th (26.32). Non-scorer was Mike Donellan 46th in 31.26.

Croydon's Boys under 13 team easily won their race over 1 lap (2 miles) led by Mark Lenzan, 1st in 14.22, supported by James Harrison, 3rd in 14.23. There was a very tight finish for the first three places and Martin Rooney clinched it with his 14.33 for 4th. Clive Jenner placed 11th in 16.14 and Mathew Hall took 13th with 16.23.

The final league team results were as follows:-

1. Boxhill Racers 47

2. Epsom & Ewell Harriers 39

3. Croydon Harriers 37

1. Epsom & Ewell Harrriers 44

2. Sutton & District AC 43

3. Croydon Harriers 41

Mike Dawson had a duel with Antinio Martins of South London Harriers on the first leg and was just ahead by 2 secs. at the take-over with a battling 15.02 to Antionio's 15.04. Croydon's team were speculating that Stuart Major would make this up on leg 2,or 3 but John Fitzpatrick soon opened up an impressive lead on the second stage running 14.34 for the fastest lap of the race handing over to Dave Warren 1 1/2 minutes ahead of S.L.H's A and B teams who were one second apart.. John's run was the fastest lap of the day, and Mike's turned out to be the second fastest. Dave Warren ran a steady 16.21 to bring Croydon A home in 45.57. SLH A took 2nd (46.50), and their B was 3rd (47.28). Croydon Harriers B finished 6th - Stan Collie opened up with a 16.30 stint followed by Keith Brown who took 16.42 and Norman Hemming came home in 16.58 for an overall of 50.10. The C team was not far behind taking 8th in 51.13 just behind Striders B's 51.10. Gary Lomas ran 16.36 on the first leg for the C team and Andy Del-Nevo had a good run with his 16.45 for lap 2. Eric Campbell finished fast at the end of his 17.52.

Final result

1. Julian Dillow 19

2. John Fitzpatrick 16

= 3. Dave Warren 15

= 3. Keith Brown 15

5. Norman Hemming 14

6. Peter Yarlett 13

7. Deron Fagan 12

8. Barry Cooke 11

= 9. Andy Del-Nevo 9

= 9. Gary Lomas 9

Julian Dillow ran in 6 of the scoring events, most of the first ten ran in 5.

27 members scored points over the season's 9 scoring races.

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