Croydon finished 5th team as a few decided to have a pre-season run over home territory. Peter Yarlett (V45) was 12th in 29.31, with Gary Lomas taking 22nd in 31.40. Others: 26. Keith Brown (V40) 33.08, 37 Mike Caudwell (V60) 38.38 and 49 Ken Crooke (V70) 43.50.

Our young athletes were more successful than their seniors taking 2nd team in the under 13's race and again 2nd in the under 15/17 3 x 2 miles relay.

Under 13 Race: 3rd Ian Horn 12.14 & 4th Nick Saunders 12.16. They got 11 match points to carry forward to the next race.

Under 15/17: 3 x 2 miles Relay - Croydons Paul Hughes (U17) was 3rd Y.A. team on lap 1, but 12th overall because they started together with the seniors, who were running 4 laps. Mathew Hall (U17) ran 11.31 to hold 3rd (13th overall), but Croydon were now 1 min. 14 secs. behind leading Y.A's Hercules Wimbledon "A". Amanuel Tshaye (U17) then took off and stormed through the field overtaking Hercules Wimbledon "B" and 9 senior teams to finish within 2 secs. of Hercules "A"'s 32.40 recording an astonishing 9.56 to finish in 32.42, which was good enough for 3rd senior team over 3 laps. Amanuel's time was only beaten by Paul Haywood of Boxhill Racer's 9.15. Croydon "B" details: 8th team: 8. James Harrison (15)13.12 & 8 Mark Elsworthy (15)12.40.

There was a disappointing turn out for the Senior 4 x 2 miles Relay as only 5 turned up. Barry Cooke got us off to a good start, running 10.16 (equal 4th fastest) on lap 1 for 2nd place. Gary Lomas came in 10th spot with an 11.45 stint and Peter Yarlett picked up a place with his 11.03. Expecting John Fitzgerald for the last leg, Norman Hemming had run 1st leg for the "B" team, but John could not get there, so Norman ran again dropping to 7th with 12.01 for an overall 45.05 team effort.

Our "B" team details:- 17th. Norman Hemming (V45) 11.51 and 22.nd. Ken Crooke (V70) 17.50.

Three Croydon Harriers took part over Ranelagh Harrier's 10 Km. course:-

46. Peter Yarlett 39.24 (12th V45)

73. Norman Hemming 41.28 (21st V45)

135. Mike Caudwell 47.46 (8th V60)

Croydon fielded teams in all three age groups and produced fastest laps in two of them:-

Boys under 13: 3 x 2 miles:

3rd Croydon Harriers 24.48

5 Ian Horn 08.26

6 Nick Saunders 08.50

3 Martin Rooney 07.32

(Fastest)

Non scoring:-

6. Mark Dervish (CRO) 08.42

Boys under 15: 3 x 2 miles:-

4th. Croydon Harriers 23.03

12 Clive Jenner 08.19

6 Andrew Achilieos 07.13

6 Mathew Hall 07.31

11th Croydon H. "B" 24.17

9 Mark Galsworthy 08.00

7 Duncan Johnson 07.52

11 Mark Jenner 08.25

Boys under 17: 3 x 2 miles:-

1st Croydon Harriers 21.17

5 David Barlow 07.35

4 Paul Hughes 07.12

2 Amanuel Tshaye 06.30

(Fastest)

Tiffin School (non-scoring) finished first, credited equal time with Croydon, Amanuel making up 37 seconds on the last leg but just failing to get ahead.

A good all round performance from our young athletes.

We had a very encouraging start to our target of getting into Division I next season when we finished 2nd, just 15 points behind winners West 4 Harriers, scoring 320 points to their 305. Top scorer for Croydon was supervet Dave Dymond, who flew down from Scotland and was in the leading group all during the race. Early on he was about 6th to 8th, with Deron Fagan making his usual charge in 3rd spot on the first lap, Dave's stamina told in the end and he was clocked at 27.59 for 4th. Deron held on gamely for a good 8th place with 28.28. Ian Wright's good run of 34.08 for 7th in the Dulwich 10 Km the previous Sunday was no flash in the pan as he produced 29.02 for a sterling 13th spot. John Fitzpatrick was a few paces behind running 29.07 for 15th only just ahead of Mike Dawson's 29.12 for 17th and he had Barry Cooke stepping on his heels 1 sec. in arrears, with 29.13 for 18th.

Julian Dillow (V40) was next home in 31st with a solid 30.01. With 7 scorers in the first 31 we looked good for a win, but several of our best were not able to get along for this match. Dave Warren (V40) took 60th (31.53) and V.50 Stan Collie was timed at 33.57 for 88th (76th scorer). Andy Del-Nevo won the battle for 10th Croydon scorer with 34.02 in 90th (78), ahead of Keith Brown (V40) 93rd. (34.15) and Norman Hemming (V45) 95th (34.29).

Leading Race details: 1st Paul Haywood (Boxhill) 27.05, 2nd J. Van Wyck (H/W) 27.18 and 3rd A. Moses (Reigate Priory) 27.39.

Teams: 1. W4H 305, 2. CRO 320, 3. H/W 322, 4. RPR 442, 5. BOX 444, 6.

DUL 471, 7. WOK 533, 8. E&E 614, 9. K&P 644.

Young athletes 2.5 miles race:

Only Ian Horn ran for Croydon in this race taking 9th overall, 3rd under 13, and got recorded as 4th team with 115 points, the missing 4 places being allocated 28 points each and added to get a team score.

Julian Dillow's appetite for racing was partially satisfied when he took 3rd place in 34 min. 35 sec. but this did not get him the first Vet prize as Ray Marriott (South London Harriers) took this title in 2nd spot with 34.15 behind regular winner (except for the April race) Dave Taylor of Blackheath Harriers' 31.36. Dave had an easier ride this time as Yacin Yusuf was not participating.

Other Croydon Harriers:-

11 Paul Lovell (V40) 36.52 - [moved away - I have written to see if he is still interested in Croydon Harriers]. 38 Norman Hemming (V45) 40.03, 52 Robert Langridge 41.15, 111 Mike Caudwell (1st V.60) 46.03, 188 Ron Williams (V60) 50.32 and 234 Eric Campbell 55.48.

Jessica Goodwin (U.13) was Croydon's sole representative in the first match, and ran a solid 11.09 for 10th place in a field of 27 to finish. Unfortunately we have no Womens' Team Manager yet, so if anyone wants to come to the rescue please contact Mike Fleet (0181-647 1341) or Ken Crooke (0181-657 4269) A.S.A.P.

Croydon bounced back from a disappointing start at the Relays at Wimbledon, by winning all three age group races. Martin Rooney got things under way winning the Under 13's race over the 21/2 mile lap clocking 17.11, 19 secs. ahead of 2nd placed Keith Parnham (Epsom & Ewell Harriers). Nick Saunders was 3rd in 18.20 and Adam Hall 5th with 19.41.

They were the only full team to finish and scooped the 12 match points for 1st and with 11 brought forward from the Relays, their 23 ranks them equal 1st with Epsom & Ewell Harriers.

The combined race of under 15's & 17's held in conjunction resulted in Croydon's second win of the day. Amanuel Tshaye (U.17), only just made it to the start line, but soon established himself at the head of the field and finished in 15.15 with Stuart Johnson (E&E) in 2nd with 15.32. Andrew Achilleos (U.15) had another good race to take 4th in 16.07 and Mathew Hall (U.15) completed the scoring three in 6th with 16.28. Paul Hughes (U.17 N/S) - 10th in 17,05. Mark Elsworthy (U.15 - B team) was 14th in 17.39.

Team result:

1 CRO 11

2 H/W 17

3 E&E 22

4 H/W-B 35

5 E&E-B 51

Incomplete:-

6 S&D 22

7 CRO-B 13

League position:

1= CRO 23 1= H/W 23

3= E&E 19 3= H/W-B 19

5 S&D 15 6 E&E-B 14

7 CRO-B 11 7 H/W-C 7

Amanuel Tshaye leads in the contest for the Colin McCauley Memorial Trophy with the maximum 24 points from two races.

The Senior, Junior & Veteran Race over 5 miles was won by Paul Haywood of Boxhill in a fast 28.12. Deron Fagan, in contention on the first lap with Haywood and Richard Ward (S&D) was rewarded with 3rd place in 29.55 for another excellent run John Fitzpatrick was 4th in 30.33 and Julian Dillow (Vet 40), 7th in 31.02 was just pipped for 1st veteran by former Croydon Harrier Jim Zaple (H.H.H.- Guest), 6th in 31.00. A good run by Mike Dawson in 9th (31.15) closed the scoring on 22 points, well ahead of 2nd team Hercules Wimbledon' 67.

Croydon's non-scorers were Barry Cooke in 11th (31.23), and new member Esther Casson 32nd in 35.01. (The League now allows women to take part and score)

Croydon "B" team: 28 Peter Yarlett (V45) 34.36, 31 Norman Hemming (V45) 34.53, 33 Andy Del-Nevo 35.05 and 34 Stan Collie (V50) 35.07. - N/S 63 Mike Caudwell (V60) 43.03.

Six Incomplete teams were led by Croydon "C" - 29 Robert Langridge 34.41 and 56 Eric Campbell 40.07.

Other teams: 3 Boxhill (71),

4 Striders of Croydon (74), 5 Epsom & Ewell H. (84), 6 Sutton & Dist (97, 7 Croydon H. "B" (116), 8 SOC "B" (126), 9 Sutton Runners (136), 10 Dorking & Mole Valley (148), 11 E&E "B" (179) 12 SOC "C" (210). Leading League positions after two events:-

1. Boxhill Racers 22

2. Epsom & Ewell H 19

=3. Croydon H. 18

=3. Hercules Wimb. 18

5. Sutton Runners 13

6. Crawley A.c. 10

Senior Men's 6 x 2.8 miles Cross Country Relay:-

Owing to illness & injury we only had 5 runners available on the day. Deron Fagen was due to run the first leg at his request as he wanted to get a fast run in, but team mates were startled to see the race get under way without any sign of him in the pack. He then appeared asking "Has anyone gone off for us?" By this time the field was disappearing over the horizon, so Deron took off his tracksuit top and went off in pursuit. Expecting him to come in well down the field we were pleasantly surprised to see him come in 19th with a time of 15.35. Allowing 11/2 to 2 minutes for the late start, he must have run one of the fastest laps of the day. Peter Yarlett took over and his 16.38 brought us round in 21st spot. Mike Caudwell ran 20.53 for the third leg for 30th and Eric Campbell's 20.03 yielded 31st. Ken Crooke ran the 5th stage in 25.56 for 34th to be recorded as the first of 7 incomplete teams to finish.

Thursday 11th November,1999

Julian Dillow ran for the Home Office as an individual and was 13th in 36.15 from a field of 142, and 2nd Veteran. He mentioned that his "South of the Thames" run later in the week was "a little off form".

"Junior by Standard" Race

Lloyd Park, Croydon

...Saturday 13th November, 1999....

Only six Croydon Harriers turned up for this home based race, which was very disappointing, but we came 17th from the 26 teams to finish. Julian Dillow was first for us in 37th with 30.43. Next was Robert Langridge, 79 th (33.42) closely followed by Peter Yarlett 80th in 33.43. Eric Campbell completed the scoring four in 122nd, timed at 39.14. Non-scorers: 126 Mike Caudwell 41.26 and 135 Ken Crooke 48.42.

Division II - 2nd Match at Priory Park, Reigate

Saturday 20th November, 1999

Croydon Harriers had the best turn-out for several years and won the 5 mile Senior race with 232 points, well ahead of West 4 Harriers, 262 for 2nd. Boxhill Racers took 3rd with 272, Reigate Priory AC 4th with 502. Overall first 4 teams: 1 Croydon 552, 2 West 4H. 567, 3 Boxhill 716 and 4 Hercules Wimbledon AC 885.

Croydon’s scorers: 4 Jon McCallum 28.20, 5 Dave Dymond 28.27, 7 Steve Goss 28.40, 8 Darren Bradley 28.51, 25 Julian Dillow 30.17, 26 Deron Fagan 30.26, 27 John Fitzpatrick 30.34, 29 Mike Dawson 30.38, 54 Dave Warren 32.38 and 56 Robert Langridge 32.40. Non-scorers: 103 Stan Collie 35.43, 105 Gary Lomas 36.03, 117 Eric Campbell 38.11 and 134 Mike Caudwell 41.48

Notable non-scorer was 16 years old Amanuel Tshaye electing to run in the senior race in order to get a more testing run than if keeping with the under 17’s. He came 12th in 29.24 and would have been 5th of our 10 scorers. In spite of being declared as non-scoring he was originally included in the team and this upset the result, which were recalculated later at home by Don Turner, before being sent in the post to all clubs.

Two Croydon Harriers took part in the 2.5 miles combined U.15/U.17 race. Paul Hughes (U17) was 5th in 15.17 and new member Chris Rumsey (U.15) was 22nd in 22.33. They were classed as the 5th team on the day and 4th overall. Ian Horn was our sole representative in the under 13 boys 2.5 miles race finishing 3rd in a good 17.13. He was feeling the ill effects of a kick in the head when playing rugby for his school in the morning, but is so keen on his running that he insisted on taking part. He was classed as 3rd team on the day and overall.

Richmond Park, Kingston

...Saturday 20th November, 1999...

Division II Esther Casson turned out to represent Croydon Harriers and had a good run to take 4th spot in 21.25.

Cross Country Races on Wimbledon Common

27th November, 1999

At 2.00 pm three members ran in the Hercules Wimbledon 5 mile race: Peter Yarlett was 12th in 32.28. Gary Lomas came 18th in 34.12. Eric Campbell was sent off course by one of the marshals and eventually finished 27th in 50.49. Mike Caudwell and Ken Crooke decided on the Vets AC 5.5 miles race which was scheduled for 2.30 pm. , but when they got to the start discovered that this was the womens’ start time. After much discussion and dither the women decided to go with the men, so all went off at 3.00 pm. Mike was 40th in 45.05 (4th M 60) and Ken had a ding-dong battle with Kevin Burnett of Striders of Croydon (M55) getting home in 53.10 to Kevin’s 53.15.

Ranelagh Harriers Cross Country race

5.5 miles at Richmond Park, Petersham

Saturday 4th December, 1999

Only five Croydon Harriers turned up to contest this ten-to-score event. John Fitzpatrick showed good form to take 5th spot in a fast 31.07 in spite of a goodly intake of party beer the night before. Peter Yarlett took 44th in 35.57 which gave him the lead in the Nick Cambridge shield competition with 15 points. Eric Campbell was 81st in 39.49 and moved to 2nd in the Cambridge Shield stakes on 14. Mike Caudwell finished in 96th in 42.33 overtaking several younger runners in the closing stages and Ken Crooke was 108th in 49.32.

Division II - 3rd Match Richmond Park, Kingston Gate area.

Saturday 11th December, 1999

A disappointing turn-out for this important fixture dropped us out of the overall lead into 2nd behind West 4 Harriers. Amanuel Tshaye again elected to run as a non-scorer in the senior race and gave notice of great things to come in the future when he was 2nd to Boxhill Racers star runner Paul Haywood who won in 26.26. Amanuel was timed at 27.56 ahead of some very well known runners including Simon Fairbrother Boxhill’s international track runner (4th in 28.07) Croydon’s scoring team was: 15 Mike Dawson 29.20, 20 Julian Dillow (M40) 29.27, 21 Deron Fagan 29.44, 35 Barry Cooke 30.35, 39 Ian Wright 30.46, 65 Paul Lovell (M40) 32.24, 68 Robert Langridge 32.28, 70 Dave Warren (M40) 32.30, 74 Andy Del-Nevo 32.41, and Peter Yarlett (M45) 32.46. Non-scorers:-101 Gary Lomas 34.27, 122 Eric Campbell 38.49 and 130 Ken Crooke (M 70) 46.51.

Teams: 1 West 4 Harriers 232, 2 Boxhill Racers 314, 3 Reigate Priory A.C. 437, 4 Croydon Harriers 447, 5 Dulwich Runners 480, 6 Woking A.C. 492, Kingston AC & Polytechnic Harriers 511, 8 Hercules Wimbledon A.C. 518 and 9 Epsom & Ewell Harriers 664.

After 3 matches:-

1 W4H 799, 2 CRO 999, 3 BOX 1030, 4 RPR 1381, 5 H/W 1403, 6 DUL 1486, 7 WOK 1547, 8 E&E 1807 & 9 K&P 1833.

Cross Country Races on Wimbledon Common

18th December, 1999

Almost a repeat of the races on the 27th November! - this time Robert Langridge was 12th in the Hercules Wimbledon race in 32.07. Eric Campbell, now knowing the course, took 38th in 37.45. Mike Caudwell preferred the H/W event and was 50th in 41.07.

Teams of three were calculated and Croydon came 4th on 51 points behind: 1st Hercules Wimbledon 6, 2nd Hillingdon AC 34 & 3rd Bank of England 44 and ahead of Ealing & Southall A.C.’s 72.

Ken Crooke ran in the Veterans AC race, again in contention with Kevin Burnett (SOC). Both ran faster - Ken 40th in 51.39 and Kevin 41st in 52.09.

Lloyd Park, Croydon

(Promoted by Croydon Harriers)

Saturday 8th January, 2000

Fine sunny weather made for very successful day and a lot of good cross- country racing took place Croydon Harriers had mixed fortunes, but the best race of the day was the gruelling battle all the way between Amanuel Tshaye and Edward Prickett of Reigate Priory A.C. for the under 17 men’s title over 6.6 kilometres. On the first lap, Amanuel shadowed Edward most of the way, although the lead alternated from time to time. Half way round the 2nd lap Amanuel made a break, but Edward soon got back in contention. In the later stages both made desperate efforts to get clear, but neither was succesful. The pace hotted up all the way to the line but Edward got home in front by the thickness of his vest to take the championship title in 22.58 to Amanuel’s 22.59.

In all the excitement Andrew Jenner’s performance in taking 14th with 27.07 was almost overlooked, but he did well to come in before the field of 28 closed.

Jessica Goodwin was Croydon’s sole representative and had a steady run to take 8th spot in 16.48. 27 finished.

Samantha Yardley entered on the day and finished 21st in 22.25, closely followed by Elizabeth Goodwin - 23rd in 24.05. 30 finished.

Sophie Chapman ran as an individual and finished well up the field in 6th place timed at 24.07. 19 finished.

Croydon’s team took bronze medals scoring 57 points behind Aldershot, Farnham & District A.C.’s 19 and Kingston A.C. and Polytechnic Harriers 56. Martin Rooney led them in with an excellent 5th place in 14.06. Next was the eager Ian Horn taking 9th spot in 14.58, and Nick Saunders 21st in 15.37. 57 finished.

Seven Croydon Harriers ran, but one was in the colours of Oxted School. Jack Appleton, 7th in 17.05 was part of their winning team which scored 52 points. Had he been running for Croydon we would have won the gold medals. Andrew Achilleos had a superlative run and was a close 2nd to winner Andrew Weames of Aldershot. Their times were 16.04 and 16.09. Mathew Hall took 11th in a fast 17.17 with Clive Jenner 29th in 19.08. James Harrison was 46th in 21.23 to close the scoring. Non-scorers: 47 Mark Jenner 21.28 and Duncan Horn 21.36. 61 finished.

Croydon had no competitors in this age group.

Croydon had 10 starters in the three lap race and Deron Fagan was once more the team leader, taking 35th place in 48.14. The course was much tougher than in previous races this season owing to the muddy conditions so that times were relatively slower. Julian Dillow had to leave work earlier than scheduled as the 2.30 pm start was before he had anticipated, and ran to Lloyd Park from central Croydon. He belied his veteran status by taking a good 42nd position in 48.39. John Fitzpatrick made a return to racing after nearly a month off training owing to catching the prevailing "flu" bug, but was surprised and delighted with his 50.20 clocking for 60th. Barry Cooke, also short of training was next home in 51.48 for 72nd. Dave Warren (M40) took 81st with 52.45 and Robert Langridge closed the scoring six with 53.51 for 91st in his first outing over 7.5 miles cross country. The non- scorers: 131 Norman Hemming (M45) 58.25, 141 Gary Lomas 59.37 and 160 Eric Campbell 65.25. Ken Crooke (M70) dropped out after two laps, having spent all day helping with the organisational arrangements. When results were given out on the day Croydon were placed 7th from the 17 to close in. Team manager Ken Crooke made a hasty phone call to the Champ- ionship Secretary after checking the results, to point out that Dave Warren had been omitted from our scoring team. Corrected results: 1 South London H. 73, 2 Thames Hare & Hounds 85, 3 Herne Hill Harriers 98, 4 Boxhill Racers 133, 5 Ranelagh Harriers 237, 6 Croydon Harriers 333, 7 Hercules Wimbledon A.C. 364, 8 Sutton & District A.C. 393, 9 Kingston A.C. & Polytechnic Harriers 429, 10 Elmbridge Running Club 430. 17 teams closed in.

The Surrey Championship awards were presented by the County president Mike Fleet and Croydon Harriers were out in numbers on the organisational side. Stan Rogers, Don Webb and Graham Richardson were there all day to mark and marshal the courses, whilst others were covering all neccessary areas such as car parking, refreshments, timekeeping, recording, starting etc. etc. etc... Without thier help the Championships would not have taken place, and thanks are due to all who gave freely of their time and energy.

Richmond Park, Petersham

Saturday 15th January, 2000

Division II Jessica Goodwin (Under 13) was again Croydon Harriers flag-bearer in the League and had an excellent run to take third place in the good time of 12.58, a mere 26 seconds away from a victory. Through her efforts Croydon are in 6th League position overall.

from Farthing Downs

Saturday 15th January, 2000...

We had two brave souls taking part in this tough Cross Country race. Up at the sharp end Stuart Major (SLH) and Hugh Jones of Ranelagh Harriers took the "major" honours.

Major led most of the way but was being hauled in by former London Marathon winner Jones in the closing stages. Major finished in 55.18 with Jones timed at 55.32. Tony Harran (SLH) took third in 59.01. Gary Lomas was our man in 27th with a pleasing 70.43 and Eric Campbell showed good form over, for him , a much longer than usual distance, with a 73.02 clocking for 33rd from the 75 runners to finish the full 10 miles.

Championship Race

Thomas Bennett School, Tilgate, Crawley, Sussex.

Saturday 22nd January, 2000

We just managed to scrape together a team of six for the Championship race held in the school grounds, including an area of woodland for a testing 10,000 metres course. Paul Lovell, now living in Crawley, was our lead runner and just managed to evade the attentions of Robert Langridge by finishing 86th in 41.24 to Robert’s 87th in 41.26. Gary Lomas was next taking 114th with a firm 44.37, not long followed home by the ever-keen Eric Campbell, who took 124th in 48.31. Mike Caudwell (M60) took the next place for us in 133rd in 52.33. Ken Crooke (M70) was looking forward to another battle with Kevin Burnett (Striders of Croydon) but his shoe got stuck in mud soon after the start, and by the time he got the lace undone and the shoe back on, Kevin was out of sight ahead. Ken nearly dropped out, but decided to carry to complete the scoring six and get a team result, and eventually caught Kevin on the third lap, finishing 140th in 59.49 to Kevin’s 141st of 60.17. 12 teams closed in, and Croydon were 10th with 684 points, behind Striders 9th (543), but ahead of 11th, Lingfield Runners (689) and 12th Deal Triathlon Club (751).

Saturday 29th January, 2000

Parliament Hill, Hampstead Heath.

The nearest approach we made to getting a team result was in the Senior Mens’ 9 miles race. Deron Fagan our lead runner once again clocked 56.05 for 161st position. Veteran M45, Norman Hemming took 504th in 64.38 and Robert Langridge in his debut at this level of competition was not far behind his more experienced team mate closing in at 65.17 for 532nd spot. Eric Campbell made a fast start up the opening hilly section and eventually finished 868 with 75.04. 966 finished the championship race.

Two under 17’s ran in Croydon colours: Sophie Chapman timed at 24.38, was 46th from 103 to finish the womens 5000 metres event and Amanuel Tshaye, a favourite for a top three placing, found it hard going and finished a disappointed 14th in 23.40 over 6000 metres in the mens’ race. 161 finished the course.

Mark Elsworthy was 162nd (21.54) and James Harrison 236th (24.09) from 264 in the 4500 metres race for under 15 boys.

In the under 13’s Ian Horn took 58th in 13.31 and Nick Saunders 105th in 14.16 in their race over 3000 metres. These were both good performances in a field of 224.

Division II - Final Match in Lloyd Park

Saturday 5th February, 2000

Jon McCallum, having recovered from his injury problems had a win over Alistair Moses of Reigate Priory AC recording an excellent 27 52 over ground which had become firm after recent windy weather conditions, leading Croydon to a clear team victory over West 4 Harriers by 185 points to 302. Jon was well supported by Steve Goss, 6th in 29.05 and Sean Sanders 9th in 29.39 with Dave Dymond a good 12th at 29.55. Deron Fagan was 14th (30.34) and Mike Dawson was also well up in 19th timed at 31 minutes exactly, one step ahead of Julian Dillow’s 31.01 for 20th. With Ian Wright 23rd in 31.15 Croydon had eight scorers in the first 25. Barry Cooke 46th (32.50) and Robert Langridge 51st in 33.25 completed the scoring ten giving us a comprehensive win. Non-scoring support team:-

59 Paul Lovell (M40) 33.40, 69 Andy Del-Nevo 34.36, 87 Norman Hemming (M45) 36.00, 99 Dave Warren (M40) 37.26, 100 Eric Campbell 37.30, 119 Nigel Hill 41.57 and 126 Mike Caudwell (M60) 44.51.

Team result on the day:-

1 Croydon 185 2 West 4 302

3 Reigate Priory 313 4 Woking 371

5 Boxhill 420 6 Dulwich 468

7 Hercules.W 665.5 8 Epsom 674

9 Kingston & Poly. 696.5

Final League positions:-

1 W4H 1083, 2 CRO 1170, 3 BOX 1439,

4 RPR 1811, 5 WOK 1903, 6 DUL 1935,

7 H/W 2053.5, 8 E&E 2467, 9 K&P 2518.5.

West 4 H. and Croydon go into Division I , whilst Epsom & Kingston were relegated to Division III in 2000/2001.

In the under 15/17 race over 1 lap of 2.5 miles Clive Jenner ((15) ran 18.17 for 18th and James Harrison 19.12 for 20th.

Teams: 1 H/W 23, 2 WOK 75, 3 E&E 78, 4 CRO 122, 5 K&P 124 & 6 RPR 133.

Final result: 1 H/W 98, 2 E&E 158, 3 WOK 241.5, 4 RPR 393.5, 5 CRO 394, 6 K&P 423.5 and 7 DUL 447.

Martin Rooney ran well to take second spot in 17.53 for the under 13’s 2.5 miles, and Ian Horn took 18.24 for 5th.

Teams: 1 K&P 55.5, 2 WOK 55.5 (Last scorer rule), 3 CRO 98.5, 4 DUL 113.5, 5 E&E 122.

Final result: 1 K&P 209, 2 WOK 285, 3 CRO 447.5, 4. E&E 455.5, 5 DUL 463.

The above results are different to those published after the last race, owing to changes made after some non-scoring runners were found to have been includedin team declarations in error

Saturday 19th February, 2000 in Lloyd Park

John Fitzpatrick retained the Lion Cup for Croydon’s championship in 5^th overall with 39.15 for a tough 10K course over three laps. Julian Dillow was ahead for most of the race but John, making another come-back gradually got closer and in a last minute surge got home 2 seconds clear of Julian’s 39.17. Julian’s consolation prize was taking 3rd M40 in the SCVAC Championship. Next in the Croydon Championship was Robert Langridge who recorded 43.13 to take the bronze medal. Other positions: 21 Norman Hemming ( M45) 44.49, 25 Gary Lomas 46.36 and 30 Eric Campbell 50.31.

In the M50 plus race held earlier Mike Caudwell placed 7th M60 in 55.54.

Racing at the same time as the M50 plus and Veteran Women over a lap and a half were the young athletes, all from Croydon. Clive Jenner (U15) won in 22.21 with a good run from Ian Horn - 2nd in 23.10 for the under 13 championship. Other placings: 4 James Harrison 26.02 (2/15), 5 Nick Saunders 26.52 (2/13), 7 Duncan Horn 28.02 (3/15), 8 Mark Jenner 28.24 (4/15).

Team results for the inter-club race

Scoring 6: 1. Collingwood AC 18 points,

2 Croydon H. 20, 3 Striders of Croydon 42

Scoring 8: 1 Collingwood 46, 2 Croydon 50.

at Stowe Park, Buckingham

Saturday 26th Feb. 2000

Four Croydon Harriers ran in the Senior race held over an undulating 12 kilometres. John Fitzpatrick got to the start line about three minutes before the gun went off, having been in a traffic jam on the way, by which time team manager Ken Crooke had gone forward to get a good view of the most impressive sight in Cross Country Running: the Start of the English "National". Ex Croydon Harrier Robin Dickson of Thames Hare & Hounds came to the rescue by giving John a THH number so that he could run. Robin knew that John would not get in the THH scoring 6, so thought there would be no problems from officials. After all this John was pleased to finish 473rd in 50 minutes exactly. Dave Warren (M40) placed 853rd in 54.51 not far ahead of Norman Hemming (M45) who recorded 56.01 for 867th. Eric Campbell completed the Croydon quartet with 61.39 for 1236th place in his first attempt at the "National". 1418 runners closed in.

Final Match on Epsom Downs

Sunday 12th March, 2000

only results available

Under 15’s Race

Croydon Harriers results:-

2. Mark Elsworthy 11.06, 3 Clive Jenner 12.13, 6 James Harrison 12.49,

8 Samantha Yardley 13.01, 9 Mark Jenner 13.43

Team: 1. Croydon 2,3,6,8 = 19

2. Epsom 1,4,7,10 = 22

4. Kingston 13,13,13,13 = 52

Final League Team results:

1. Croydon 98

2. Epsom 111

3. Sutton 142

4. Kingston 209

Under 13’s Race

Croydon:-

1. Martin Rooney 11.52, 3. Ian Horn 11.02, 5. Nick Saunders 13.03, 7. Malick Dervish 13.28, 8 Robert Agnew 14.51.

Team: 1. Croydon 1,3,5,7 = 16

2. Kingston 2,6,9,11 = 28

3. Sutton 3,14,14,14 = 45

4. Epsom 10,14,14,14 = 52

Final League results:

1 Croydon 72

2. Kingston 103

3. Sutton 162

4. Epsom 188

Under 11’s Race

Croydon:-

5 Jsh Hall 13.18, 14 Rachel Pennington 17.25, 15 Sarah Yardley 18.29.

Team: 4. Croydon 5,14,15,16.

Final League results:-

4. Croydon 203

Final Individuals:-

Under 15’s:-

2 Mark Elsworthy (4,3,4,2) = 13

Girls

1 Samantha Yardley (9,6,10,8) = 33

Under 13’s:-

1 Ian Horn (1,1,2,3) = 7

East Surrey A.A. League Road Relays & under 13’s Race

Box Hill, Dorking

Saturday 18th March, 2000

This was held over one lap of the 2.1 miles relay course Nick Saunders was Croydon’s first home in 2nd place with a good 13.31 clocking. Malick Derwish was 3rd (14.14) and Robert Agnew took 4th in 14.50.

This gave them 9 points to take the team race. After three events they lead in the league with 35 points over Epsom & Ewell’s 23, with Dorking lying 3rd on 23 and Sutton trailing on 19.

Mathew Hall ran 12.11 on the firs leg for Croydon to hand over in 3rd to James Harrison. James, not at the same high level he displayed last season dropped to 6th with 14.22. Jack Appleton picked up the pace and brought the team home into 4th spot with a solid 12.30 clocking to give an overall time of 39.03. Mathew did the 6th fastest lap, and Jack the 9th.

League position after three events:-

1st. Hercules Wimbledon AC "A" 35

2nd. Croydon Harriers "A" 32

3rd. Epsom & Ewell Harriers "A" 30

7th. Croydon Harriers "B" 11.

Barry Cooke led off for Croydon and ran 11.08 for 6th place at the take over in the car park at the bottom of Box Hill. Jon McCallum then cut through the field running the fastest lap of the day in 9.44 to hand over to Deron Fagan within 45 seconds of the leading Sutton & District non-scoring team. Deron Fagan, not to be out-done ran the 7th fastest with 10.40 and handed over

to Robert Langridge with a 7 seconds advantage over Boxhill Racers. Boxhill’s Paul Haywood then ran the 2nd fastest stage of 10.03, quickly overtaking Robert and bringing Boxhill home in 41.42. Robert ran 12.26 and although Sutton Non-Scorers gained a lot of ground, the Croydon team had done enough to secure a good second team placement in 43.58. Croydon’s "B" team finished 11th from 18 to finish clocking 50.34 overall. Positions & times: 13 Dave Warren (M40) 12.06, 13 Stan Collie (M50) 13.00, 11 Norman Hemming (M45) 12.20 and 11 Gary Lomas 13.08. Croydon "C" N/S 18th in 62.51: 14 Andy Del-Nevo 12.24, 16 Gerry Milton (E&E) 13.42, 19 Eric Campbell 18.07 and 18 Ken Crooke M70 18.38.

League positions after three events: 1.Boxhill 34, 2. Croydon "A" 29, 3 Epsom & Ewell "A" 28, 4 Hercules Wimbledon "A" 26, 8= Croydon "B" 10

Sunday 9th April, 2000

from Lloyd Park

Croydon Harriers:-

4 Barry Cooke 35.13, 6 Mike Dawson 35.51, 28 Norman Hemming (M45) 38.15, 33 Duncan Woolmer 38.33, 46 Robert Langridge 39.37, 84 Peter Lill (M50) 41.40, 142 Mike Caudwell (M60) 45.14, 160 Eric Campbell 46.31, 176 Nick Saunders (U13) 47.10.

from Ewell Court Track

Tuesday 11th April, 2000

This turned out to be an all Croydon Harriers race. Martin Rooney won in 14.45 followed by 2. Malick Derwish 15.16 and

3 Nick Saunders 15.28 for a score of 6 points. Robert Agnew was 4th in a non-scorig 16.04. Final League teams:-

1 Croydon 47 points for the "A.J. Brennan Shield", 2 Epsom & Ewell Harriers 33, 3 Dorking & Mole Valley AC 23 and 4 Sutton & Distric t AC 19.

Jack Appleton was Croydon’s first home taking 8th in 13.29 with Mark Elsworthy close up 10th (14.08). James Harrison completed the scoring team in 13th with 14.42. Clive Jenner non-scored in 17th in 16.15. Croydon’s "B" consisted of A. Wood who ran 19.24 for 20th. Team placings:-

1. H.W AC (A) 6, 2 E&E H. (A) 18,

3 Croydon Harriers (A) 27, 4 H.W (B) 28,

5 E&E (B) 45, 6 S&D (A) 12, 7 CRO (B) 17

Final League placings:-

1Hercules Wimbledon (A) 47, 2 Croydon Harriers (A) 42, 3 Epsom & Ewell (A) 41.

------ 7 Croydon Harriers (B) 17.

Boxhill Racers turned out the minimum 4 runners to record an easy win - 1. Paul Haywood 21.16, 3. Mike Airey 22.52, 6. Dave Morris 24.01 and 9. Chris Hogg 24.12 scoring 19 points John Fitzpatrick returned to top class form taking 2nd in 22.11 and Barry Cooke had a good race for 8th with 24.11. Mike Dawson, 11th timed at 24.21 with Dave Warren 19th (25.31) gave Croydon a fine 2nd team score of 39, well ahead of third placed Epsom & Ewell Harriers’ 56. Striders of Croydon were 4th with 64. Others: 5. H/W 80, 6. DMV 81, 7. SOC (B) 106, 8. E&E (B) 122. 12 teams closed in.

Final League result:-

1. Boxhill (A) 46, 2. Croydon (A) 40, 3.

Epsom & Ewell 35, 4. Hercules Wimbledon 34, 5. Striders of Croydon (A) 24, 6.

Crawley AC (A) 20. 18 teams closed in.

After the firs nine events Peter Yarlett had scored in seven and was on course to win, but injury struck, and he was unable to run for the rest of the season. Bad luck, Pete, Best wishes for the coming season

Eric Campbell and Robert Langridge had a winter-long battle for the points, but Eric only missed two matches and while

Robert got more points for making the scoring team, he missed five and Eric got home by one point to score 34 to Robert’s 33. Deron Fagan and Julian Dillow both scored 25 for equal 3rd.

Awards, including medals for 1st, 2nd & 3rd, are to be presented at the Club’s 80th Anniversary Dinner on Friday 17th November at the Old Mid-Whitgiftians Social Club, Lime Meadow Avenue, Sanderstead. (See Notice on Page 1)

Leading results:-

1. Eric Campbelll 34

2. Robert Langridge 33

3. Deron Fagan 25

3. Julian Dillow 25

5. Norman Hemming 21

5. Gary Lomas 21

7. Barry Cooke 20

8. Peter Yarlett 18

8. John Fitzpatrick 18

10. Dave Warren 17

10. Mike Caudwell 17

Other Cross Country Awards to be presented at the Dinner:-

Club Championships

Senior Men

1. John Fitzpatrick (The Lion Cup)

2. Julian Dillow

3. Robert Langridge

Men under 17

1. Amanuel Tshaye (The Lewis Cup)

Boys under 15

1. Clive Jenner (The Greystone Cup)

2. James Harrison

3. Duncan Horn

Boys under 13

1. Ian Horn (Johannessen Cup)

2. Nick Saunders

Women under 17

1. Sophie Chapman (Advertiser Shield)

Girls under 15

1. Samantha Yardley (The Sherry Cup)

Girls under 13

1. Jessica Goodwin (A+ Trophy)