James Connor dipped under 31 minutes for the first time, clocking 30:59.

Donald Naylor finished 37th and Ian Harkness 40th in a very high quality trial race in Liverpool.

A hastily-assembled team of four finished 11th out of 126 teams in this popular 38 mile relay from Peterborough to Ely. Michael Johnsons team talk clearly had the desired effect as his charges skipped across the Fenland landscape like a pack of gazelles.

Michael Johnson led the THH challenge with a gutsy run on leg one, before Anna Garnier sped across the longest leg of the day. The Captain pulled Thames through the field and in doing so clocked the fastest time on stage three, before late call-up Frank Dudbridge took Thames into the top ten on the final slog from Welney to Ely. Thanks are extended to Veronica Richards for her chauffeur service, support and post-race fruit juice.

A stirling club performance brought home the spoils against our cross the Park friends and rivals. 54 club members finished for Thames against 52 for Ranelagh with 24 saltires packing the top 30. Middle order strength backed up a strong all-round club performance to enable the club to win the match by 1934 pts to Ranelaghs 2917 pts. Corin Hughes travelled down from Loughborough to compete and it was great to see Matt Jones return from a long injury lay-off. Darren Talbot put last weeks Surrey League behind him and newcomers Tom Kingsnorth (7th) David Moore (29th) and Nick Park (57th) all made very strong debut runs for THH. In addition, 16 year old Tom Samuel excelled with a 42:53 clocking in 13th. Many thanks to Wendy and her team of pioneers who braved the cold, whilst David Palairat did a magnificent job as carver both in the clubhouse and afterwards at the Albert. The next big mob match is Sat 21st January v SLH...

1	Simon Wurr	38.48	THH			   
2	Corin Hughes	39.21	THH			   
3	Phil Killingley	39.28		RH		   
4	Pete Haarer	39.46		RH		   
5	Darren Talbot	40.39	THH			   
6	Matt Jones	40.43	THH			   
7	David Symons	40.46	THH			   
8	Tom Kingsnorth	41.04	THH			   
9	Nick Altmann	41.57	THH			   
10	Nic Gould		42.06	THH			   
11	Larry Matthews	42.14	THH			   
12	Mike Goatley	42.50	THH			   
13	Tom Samuel	42.53	THH			   
14	Chris Daniels	43.09	THH			   
15	Euan Lees		43.14	THH			   
16	Mark Gilbertson	43.15	THH			   
17	Rob Stillwell	43.23		RH		   
18	D Bell		43.25		RH		   
19	P Weir		43.26		RH		   
20	Evan Bond		43.31	THH			   
21	Peter Woodburn	43.42	THH			   
22	Hugh Shields	43.50	THH			   
23	Andy Thomas	43.59	THH			   
24	Alastair Kennis	44.48	THH			   
25	Simon Molden	45.23	THH			   
26	Andy Robinson	45.44	THH			   
27	Chris Owens	45.45		RH		   
28	James Warp	45.49	THH			   
29	David Moore	45.56	THH			   
30	Paul Allen	45.58	THH			   
31	Andy Bickerstaff	46.06		RH		   
32	D Wright		46.10		RH		   
33	Andy MacLaughan	46.13		RH		   
34	Andy Forth	46.15		RH		   
35	Geoff Jerwood	46.17	THH			   
36	Toby Sykes	46.19	THH			   
37	David Powell	46.19		RH		   
38	Richard Turner	46.24	THH			   
39	W Storey		46.29		RH		   
40	Marcus Gohar	46.35		RH		   
41	Rhodri Davies	46.42	THH			   
42	Marie Synott Wells	46.56		RH	(First lady)	   
43	Niall O Conner	47.16		RH		   
44	Collin Frew	47.33		RH		   
45	Noel Stoddart	47.39		RH		   
46	Nick Maloney	47.45	THH			   
47	Ian Higgins	47.57	THH			   
48	Chris Cheeseman	48.15	THH			   
49	Mike Peace	48.19		RH		   
50	Chris Hutber	48.20	THH			   
51	T Maguire		48.44		RH		   
52	David Wilson	49.09	THH			   
53	Richard Hignett	49.42	THH			   
54	Darren Wood	49.58		RH		   
55	John Atkinson	50.05		RH		   
56	Sahar Smith	50.16		RH		   
57	Nick Park		50.17	THH			   
58	Chris Read	50.27		RH		   
59	Tim Nightingale	50.42	THH			   
60	Chris Brook	50.54		RH		   
61	Chris Camacho	51.01		RH		   
62	Rachel Rowen	51.02		RH		   
63	Christina Semple	51.03		RH		   
64	Al Irvine		51.24	THH			   
65	Paul Whitlock	51.50	THH			   
66	Clive Naish	52.04		RH		   
67	Paul Sardar	52.20		RH		   
68	Kate Symons	52.34	THH			   
69	Andy Stainsby	52.41	THH			   
70	Bob Beatson	52.43		RH		   
71	Alan Gibbons	53.20	THH			   
72	G Berry		53.33		RH		   
73	Phil Gilbert	53.37	THH			   
74	Tim Woolmer	53.39		RH		   
75	P Warren		53.49		RH		   
76	Steve Logue	53.51		RH		   
77	Vicky Filsell	53.55	THH			   
78	Roger Wilson	54.06		RH		   
79	Dave Walsh	54.22	THH			   
80	Dave Knight	54.33		RH		   
81	Chris Wright	55.41		RH		   
82	Alastair Caisley	55.45	THH			   
83	Ashley Brutnall	55.53	THH			   
84	Sonia Ronland	56.27		RH		   
85	Martin Clarke	56.37		RH		   
86	Sue Ashley	56.49		RH		   
87	Andrew Johnson	56.56	THH			   
88	Michael Bostmann	57.01	THH			   
89	Robin McManus	57.12	THH			   
90	Ian Bright	57.39	THH		n/s	   
91	Tim Gilbert	58.03	THH		n/s	   
92	Jim Forrest	58.09		RH		   
93	Simon Tyler	58.10		RH		   
94	Louise Piers	58.18		RH		   
95	Tom Raye		59.00		RH		   
96	Julia Fea		59.12	THH		n/s	   
97	Kay Scarpell	59.34	THH		n/s	   
98	Michele Gibson	60.15		RH		   
99	Alan Craig	60.33		RH		   
100	Paul Marshall	60.36		RH		   
101	John Piears	60.42		RH		   
102	Andy Hayward	60.46		RH		   
103	Evlyn Joslin	61.24		RH	n/s	   
104	Brian Cole	65.50		RH	n/s	   
105	Corinne Bishop	66.44		RH	n/s	   
106	Giles Stimpson	66.52	THH		n/s	   
						   
	Team Result scoring 49 a side:					   
	(Back markers omitted)					   
						   
	Thames Hare & Hounds	1,934				   
	Ranelagh Harriers	2,917				   
						 

Mara Yamauchi smashed her PB with a phenomenal 2:27.38 in the Tokyo marathon, moving up to 5th on the UK all time list.

Peter Giles added to his burgeoning medal and trophy cabinet with a magnificent 2nd place. Despite it being a road race championship, the canny Geordies threw in some gravel paths, grassy sections, twisty concrete and icy stretches for good measure. Despite this, none of this was sufficient to stop Peter from claiming the silver medal.

In cold but sunny conditions Naomi Warner won the Brighton 10k in a phenomenal PB of 34:42. Naomi passed half-way in 17:00 and hung on to win by over 2 minutes and finished inside the top 35 overall out of 2000.

Despite two in the first three Thames were swept aside by a resurgent Herne Hill squad who thoroughly deserved their victory. John Macfarlane yet again led the way with an excellent second place with Phill Sly cruising round in third.

Ian Harkness (11) and the Captain (16) provided some middle order presence with Nick Altmann braving injury to record a superb 21st with David Symons a gutsy 26th. Darren Talbot and then a late flurry of saltires in the late 30s/early 40s closed the Thames team. HHH won the match with 182 pts to THH 228 pts which now puts the red & black squad some 74 pts in the clear. Two down and two to come. Time for the secret weapons to come out of hiding...

1	26.28		P Wicks		Belgrave Harriers			   
2	26.42		John McFarlane				 	   
3	26.47		Phill Sly				 	   
11	27.34		Ian Harkness				 	   
16	27.45		Simon Wurr				 	   
22	28.17		Nick Altmann				 	   
26	28.45		David Symons				 	   
30	28.59		Tim Woodthorpe				 	   
40	29.27		Darren Talbot				 	   
41	29.28		Nick Malynn				 	   
43	29.32		Andy Howse				 	   
45	29.37		Andy Weir				 	   
51	29.50		Nic Gould				 	   
52	29.54		Alistair Kennis	
66	30.20		Pablo Lazo				 	   
69	30.40		Larry Mathews

Team
1st	HHH	182 pts
2nd	THH	228 pts
3rd	Bels	296 pts
4th	SLH	372 pts
5th	G&G	438 pts
6th	RP	527 pts
7th	K&P	555 pts
8th	Wal	598 pts

Overall
1st	HHH	363 pts
2nd	THH	437 pts
3rd	Bels	636 pts

It was a day of debuts and come backs for the TH&H ladies with in form Dorchie leading the ladies team to third place with two more fixtures to come in the New Year.

Dorchie (2) (taking the Constantina Dita approach to keeping warm) had a fine race narrowly loosing to eventual winner Emily Nelson on the steep decent from the woods. Rachel (5) put in another great run with Bethan (14)not far behind on her TH&H race debut. Alison (38)ran well pursuing Vicki Webb (43)for most of the race. Kate (52), debutant Vicki Filsell (76), Karen (98) and Di (109) provided essential back up to place TH&H ladies third on the day behind leaders Ranelagh and Belgrave and third overall with two fixtures remaining.

1.	Emily Nelson		18.13 (Epsom)
2.	Dorchie Lee		18.20 (TH&H)
3.	Louise Watson		19.02 (Stragglers)
5.	Rachel Disley		19.08 (TH&H)
14.	Bethan Hopewell		19.51 (TH&H)
38.	Alison Carpenter		21.15 (TH&H)
43.	Vicki Webb		21.33 (TH&H)
52.	Kate Symons		21.53 (TH&H)
76.	Vicki Filsell		22.56 (TH&H)
98.	Karen Jones		24.05 (TH&H)
109.	Di Leakey			25.01 (TH&H)

Ben Reynolds ran 34:11 for 3rd place in the USATF New Jersey Masters 10k off his usual high mileage. Had he been a member of USATF he would have collected $75. Instead he had to make do with a mug.

Peter Giles finished 3rd in the M60 race and helped England win the team title.

A scratch Thames team grabbed silver team medals at Lloyd Park in the South of the Thames Junior race. The captain crept into the top 10 with Nic, Al and Larry in close attendance. Rachel Disley also weighed in with a hard-fought bronze individual medal in the Ladies event and Kay Scarpelli ran well for 35th. Full results below.

Ladies Race

3. 	R. Disley		33:59
36.	K. Scarpelli	42:30

Mens Race

1.	J Mays (Kent AC)	28:25	
6.	S. Wurr		29:16
17.	N. Gould		30:37
19.	A. Kennis		30:44
21. 	L. Matthews	30:53
48. 	I. Higgins	32:18
89. 	D. Pescod		34:35	
102	A. Irvine		35:39

Mark Gilbertson tackled the 40 mile National Trail Running Championships in the Peak District and finished an excellent 5th in 6h 18 minutes.

The Cambridge Ladies and Mens teams posted strong performances exactly a month before the Varsity Match. Rachel Disley yet again excelled herself with a fine victory in the Ladies race whilst David Symons led the Thames mens team home. Nic Gould set a PB for the course and newcomer Sean Donohue ran well on his Thames debut in 26th. Despite our best attempts to engineer a scoring system to allow Thames to appear competitive no suitable methods could be found.

Ladies Race

 
1	R Disley		THH	24:30	   
2	T Peters		CUHH	25:14	   
3	C Day		CUHH	25:43	   
4	K Bowen Lagrange	CUHH	26:30	   
5	S Kummerfield	CUHH	26:46	   
6	K Symons		THH	27:21	   
7	H Mort		CUHH	27:41	   
8	C Gibbons		CUHH	27:48	   
9	B Tanner		CUHH	27:59	   
10	E Thompson 	CUHH	28:13	   
11	E Figures		CUHH	28:15	   
12	W Vandolaeghe	CUHH	28:20	   
13	L Wood		CUHH	28:40	   
14	C Hutton		CUHH	28:52	   
15	M Broster		THH	29:16	   
16	L Kundliffe	CUHH	29:40	   
17	J Van Order	CUHH	29:54	   
18	S Coggrave	CUHH	32:38	   
19	T Steel		CUHH	33:11	   
20	M Buckle		CUHH	33:40	 

Team Result: 3 to score
Cambridge 9pts   THH 22 pts

Mens Race

 
1	P Natali		CUHH	38:28	   
2	W George		CUHH	38:49	   
3	M Armstrong	CUHH	39:31	   
4	P Ward		CUHH	39:34	   
5	O Bristow		CUHH	39:36	   
6	B Hope		CUHH	39:43	   
7	R Hewitt		CUHH	40:25	   
8	D Symons		THH	40:29	   
9	F Malone		CUHH	40:33	   
10	A Bell		CUHH	40:41	   
11	S Wurr		THH	40:55	   
12	D O’Shea		CUHH	41:04	   
13	V Daquet		CUHH	41:13	   
14	N Gould		THH	41:59	   
15	N Malynn		THH	42:27	   
16	R Mathie		CUHH	42:31	   
17	A Brown 		CUHH	42:32	   
18	A McIntosh	CUHH	42:42	   
19	S Benson		CUHH	42:44	   
20	M Simms		CUHH	42:46	   
21	M Lynas		THH	42:53	   
22	M Aldred		CUHH	42:59	   
23	S Rutherford	CUHH	43:22	   
24	J Stewart		CUHH	43:59	   
25	L Harper		CUHH	44:08	   
26	S Donohue		THH	44:14	   
27	S Molden		THH	44:18	   
28	F Dickens		CUHH	44:23	   
29	T Offord		CUHH	44:30	   
30	T Taylor		CUHH	44:31	   
31	R Harris		CUHH	44:33	   
32	H Shields		THH	44:45	   
33	J Gill		CUHH	46:14	   
34	P Leek		CUHH	46:21	   
35	A Duncan		CUHH	46:43	   
36	T Sykes		THH	46:52	   
37	D Pescod		THH	47:06	   
38	A Irvine		THH	48:36	   
39	C Hutber		THH	49:10	   
40	P Scard		CUHH	49:11	   
41	A Robson		CUHH	49:24	   
42	J Smith		CUHH	49:24	   
43	A Ho		CUHH	50:58	   
44	J Jeeves		THH	51:50	   
45	A Carpenter (Lady)	THH	52:24	   
46	J Wong		CUHH	58:18	   
47	I Bright		THH	58:38	   
48	M Coley		CUHH	59:18	   
49	D Jenkins		THH	62:57	 

Team result: 15 to score
Cambridge 153 pts  THH  440 pts