Alex and Victoria Richmond had mixed fortunes over this interesting sounding 12 mile XC course which included steep hills and waist deep bogs. Alex lost the lead in the ladies race in one of the aforementioned bogs but hung on for third, Victoria meanwhile picked up a sprained ankle for her efforts.

New members Maree and Jane celebrated their new TH&H membership with their first race for TH&H ladies crossing the line together in around 54 minutes.

In the event formerly known as the KIMM (this year held in the Galloway Forest Park in southern Scotland) Chris Daniels and Simon Wurr finished 17th in the elite category out of 70 teams. Nick Maloney shot through the field in the B class on day two to finish 52nd out of 300 whilst Andy Robinson battled through injury to finish 65th in the medium score out of 260. All categories involve teams of two completing a long distance orienteering course in a mountainous area carrying full camping kit for an overnight stay. None of the above are planning returning to the area in the immediate future!

Matt Jones triumphed around Kunning Lake (Beijing) in the China Mobile 10k organised by the 2008 Olympic Committee winning by a margin of 3 mins.

Sonia and Rachel crossed the line together for first and second spot.

Second team captain Chris Hutber scored an unexpected victory over hosts Bank, K&P and some of the TH&H first team, with a well judged run over the Bank course. Chris was followed home by new member and Westminster pupil Alex. Rumours that flags had been removed leading the early leaders astray have yet to be substantiated..... The ladies captain led the ladies home with Maddalaine and Liz not far behind.

Sonia OSullivan put in an impressive 10mile time of 56.40 to place ninth place lady in less than ideal running conditions. Hugh Shields also ran strongly for 57:17 and 58th / 3rd M40.

Well done to Benita Johnson who took nearly 90 seconds off the Australian marathon record in finishing third in the Chicago Marathon in 2:22:36.

Jim Cox-Nicol ran 3h 00.30 and Jeremy Denny ran 3h 47.33 in this popular marathon.

Naomi Warner kept up the fine record of Thames ladies in this race with a clear victory.

Thames and Oxford University fought out a competitive contest despite both teams losing personel to the relays at Sutton Park. Oxford prevailed 102-151 in the 7.5 mile race, and provided the winner in Martin Bishop. Dave Symons delivered a superbly judged effort to come though the field for second. Winner of the varsity match last year, Courtney Birch, showed that she will be hard to beat again by winning the ladies race in a very impressive time.

Men

                                   OUCCC CUH&H
1   Martin Bishop          40:35     1	
2   Dave Symons            41:13           2
3   Bryn Reynolds          41:20     3	
4   Joe Mercer             41:26     4	
5   Nick Juravich          41;47     5	
6   Steven Grainger-Bevan  42:21     6	
7   Larry Mathews          43:57           7
8   Henry Alty             44:14           8
9   Oliver Hughes          44:41     9	
10  Matthew Lynas          44:57           10
11  Michael Osborne        45:14     11	
12  Simon Molden           45:33           12
13  Tucker Murphy          46:24     13	
14  Martin Bell            46:33     14	
15  Ed Catmur              46:36           15
16  Paddy Wallace          48:02     16	
17  Chris Daniels          48:07           17
18  Michael Evans          48:18           18
19  Alan Gibbons           52:22           19
20  Michael Theophilos     52:35     20	
21  Robin McNab            56:32           21
22  Elizabeth Stavreski    57:06           22
23  Theo Ruigrok           57:52           
24  Muhammad Yaqoob        58:20     	
25  Andy Robinson (b/m)    58:32           
                                     102   151

1  Courtney Birch            OUCCC   23:32
2  Lucia Gibson              OUCCC   25:11
3  Christine Schleppegrell   OUCCC   27:32
4  Kat Orekhova              OUCCC   27:40
5  Maddaleine Ansell         TH&H    29:02
6  Becky Swarbrick           OUCCC   29:19
7  Maureen Poole             TH&H    31:47

Thames finished 43rd at Sutton Park with a make shift team that required two late changes in the 48 hours before the race. Given our lowly placing at the Southern 6 Stage (28th) this represented an improvement but it is still some way below the level that the club is capable of producing. It is hoped that we can be stronger for the challenges that lie ahead.

John McFarlane ran a strong first leg and the clubs fastest with 18:05 for the undulating 5.85 km route. The Captain was unable to prevent a flood of elite runners coming scything past but Andy Weir gained three places with a strong run on leg three. Nic Gould and Al Kennis shored up the second half before Steve Paddock brought the club home in 43rd.

43rd	TH&H		1h 56.15

1. J McFarlane		18:05	(19)
2. S Wurr			18:51	(30)
3. A Weir			18:39	(27)
4. N Gould		19:50	(35)
5. A Kennis		20:28	(39)
6. S Paddock		20:21	(43)

Pete Woodburn ran 2h 41.35

Toby Sykes completed this gruelling event (10k run - 30k bike - 5k run) in 2h 13.07 and 30th place.

Matt Jones flew the saltire in the hotly contested Beijing marathon. Despite the presence of armed guards every 100m of the route and the somewhat erratic nature of the traffic control (not to mention a cold) Matt Ran 2h 41:35. Matt will be be back in the UK in the New Year and we hope to see him at some of our fixtures during this period.

Naomi Warner and Sonia OSullivan led Thames home with 3rd and 4th spot and, with Maureen Poole, took third team spot. Nick Malynn was first Thamesman home in 56 minutes, with Tim Nightingale not far behind.

1.	Simon Kasimili (Kenya)	48.37
18.	Nick Malynn		56.07
133	Tim Nightingale		66.04

1.	Olga Kamaiyo (Kenya)	55.58
3.	Naomi Warner		57.25
4.	Sonia OSullivan		58.39
	Maureen Poole		79.58

Ben Reynolds was 9th in a time of 15:21.

Cambridge University fired the first shots in the build-up to the Varsity Match with a narrow victory over Thames. Impressive performances saw Paulo Natali and Will George comfortably beat marathoners John McFarlane and guest Huw Lobb. In the ladies race university Club Captain Clare Day led from the front.

Men

                         CUH&H   TH&H
 1 P Natali      37:28     1
 2 W George      37:33     2
 3 J McFarlane   38:38             3
 4 H Lobb        39:39             4
 5 M Armstrong   39:44     5
 6 J Kelly       39:52     6
 7 A Weir        40:27             7
 8 M Grant       41:01     8
 9 D Talbot      41:57             9
10 D Symons      42:33            10
11 N Gould       42:48            11
12 S Dobin       42:57    12
13 A Duncan      43:07    13
14 J Burrows     43:14    14
15 S Rutherford  44:10    15
16 A Kennis      44:15            16
17 L Mathews     44:30            17
18 S Paddock     44:50            18
19 S Molden      44:59            19
20 R Palmer      46:52    20
21 G McCombie    47:14    21
22 R Mathie      47:20    22
23 L Richardson  47:53    23
24 T Beer        49:31            24
25 G Yeats       52:46            25
26 R McNat       56:45            26
27 M Coley       57:52    27
28 D Justins     61:25            28

CUH&H 139
TH&H  161

 1 C Day          24:29
 2 C Forbes       24:37
 3 P Keen         24:52
 4 G Rutherford   25:00 (Guest)
 5 H Brice        25:05
 6 L Spence       25:10
 7 H Owles        25:37
 8 T Peters       25:39
 9 C Bounds       26:15
10 H Mort         27:34
11 V Hsu          27:48
12 J Mackey       28:13
13 K Freund       28:15
14 L Dixon        28:41
15 C Nance        30:14
16 C Mactier      31:09
17 J Cowen        31:53
18 C Scott        32:22
19 K Ingle        32:57

Thames veteran runners put up a good show over a fast and dry course. Anna Garnier was a clear winner of the V50 category whilst Kate Symons (V35) and Alison Carpenter(V45) won silver medals. Keith Spacie won gold in the M70 in a time that would also have won the M65s whilst Hugh Shields Mike Farmery and Rick Turner were also up in the top places in the mens race.

Ladies (3.8miles)
1.	Ceri Diss		HHH		22.22	V40
2.	Clare Pauzers	HHH		23.30	V40
3.	Clare Nicholson	Stragglers	23.51	V35 
4.	Kate Symons	TH&H		24.19	V35(2)
9.	Rachel Disley	TH&H		25.00	V40(4)
11.	Anna Garnier	TH&H		25.04	V50(1)
12.	Alison Carpenter	TH&H		25.12	V45(2)

Well done to Bethan Hopewell who won the ladies race in 19 minutes dead and also to Will Cockerell who won the mens race sporting the saltire.

Chris Finill covered 228.36 km in the European 24 hr track championships to finish 6th. Lying in 4th at one stage Chris still clocked an impressive distance in the 22-man field.

Tom Kingsnorth won this event in 44:40

Ben Reynolds stormed to victory in 67:33 - his fastest time for 10 years.

TH&H ladies put up a strong challenge with TH&H A placing third just behind Belles and Ranelagh and TH&H B placing first B team in eleventh. Lucy Hassell ran a great race for first lady home and Alex Richmond made an impressive Surrey League debut for the club with a top ten finish. With nothing in it between the top three clubs it should make for an interesting further three fixtures....

Epsom Downs 3.16 miles (Division 1 placings)

1.	Lucy Hassell		TH&H		18.41
2.	Christine Wellington	Belgrave 		19.16
3.	Emily Nelson		Epsom 		19.23
9.	Alex Richmond		TH&H		20.00
20.	Bethan Hopewell 		TH&H		21.01
21.	Rachel Disley 		TH&H		21.03
27.	Kate Symons 		TH&H		21.32
37.	Vicki Webb 		TH&H		22.00
38.	Anna Garnier 		TH&H		22.01
47.	Alison Carpenter		TH&H		22.27
70.	Maddaliene Ansell 		TH&H		23.38
71.	Karen Jones		TH&H		23.38
99.	Elizabeth Stravreski 	TH&H		25.10
112.	Maureen Poole 		TH&H		25.39
146.	Chris Robinson 		TH&H		32.52

Team Results
1.	Belgrave		62
2.	Ranelagh		67
3.	TH&H A		78
11.	TH&H B		263

Despite the club rallying to field 15 runners in the opening Surrey League Thames were unable to get close to reigning champions Herne Hill who dominated the match at Brockwell Park. However with several new members making their debuts in the league and some star runners keeping their powder dry for the time being there is no reason why THH cannot fight back from their current 4th place.

John McFarlane ran well for 4th only 13 days after the Toronto marathon whilst the Captain sneaked inside the top 10 after a big charge on the second lap. Andy Weir indicated a welcome return to form and James Cordwell ran extremely well after running the Berlin marathon two weeks earlier. Close packing in the mid-order was rounded off by Pablo Lazo and Steve Paddock whilst it was great to see Tim Beer don the saltire rather than his golfing garb. Herne Hill now take a seemingly unasailable lead on to Coulsdon (11 Nov) but no doubt the saltires will be stronger later on in the season and will challenge Belgrave and Ranelagh.

1	J Mays		SLH	25.58
4	J McFarlane		26.43
8	S Wurr			27.35
18	A Weir			28.05
29	J Cordwell		28.49
44	A Howse			29.40
48	N Gould			29.55
60	D Symons			30.21
67	P Lazo			30.26
72	M Gilbertson		30.42
76	S Paddock			31.36
102	D Moore			32.22
104	S Hill			32.26
111	M Farmery			32.50
125	N Maloney			34.00
127	T Beer			34.14
162 finished


Team
1	Herne Hill	157 pts
2	Belgrave		314
3	Ranelagh		378
4	THH		395
5	SLH		452
6	Stragglers	499
7	Guildford & G	604
8	Reigate		607
9	Dulwich		689

Tom Samuel was 5th in this annual event which covers 4.5 miles on Wimbledon Common. Close behind him was fellow TH&H member Tyrone Cummins who finished a stunning 10th. 149 runners competed in total.

Tom Kingsnorth won the race in 33.31 with Hugh Shields 3rd & David Crowther 25th to win the team prize. Robin McNabb also ran strongly for 45:28.

Benita Johnson ran a swift 70.14 for second place whilst Naomi Warner ran 78.27.