The Thames ladies made a welcome return to the field at Milton Keynes, placing 15th on the day. Ruth Clifton was our quickest once again, with Claire day not far behind. Dorchie Cockerell and Anna Garnier both made welcome returns to the team after injury.

15 Thames Hare & Hounds	2:16:23			
    1 Ruth Clifton	20:21	9		
    2 Claire Day	20:39	8		
    3 Dorchie Cockerell	22:42	9		
    4 Anna Garnier	23:40	11		
    5 Vikki Filsell	23:01	12		
    6 Maureen Poole	26:00	15

The Thames men put in a memorable performance to place 4th in the South of England at Milton Keynes. Stand out performances came from Nick Altmann who rolled back the years to anchor the team and James McMullan with 2nd on the opening leg and our fastest long leg. Full results are here, summary below.

1. Newham & Essex Beagles 'A'	4:17:46
2. Highgate Harriers 'A'	4:18:43
3. Woodford Green & E L 'A'	4:20:03
4. Thames Hare & Hounds 'A'	4:20:56			  
     1 James McMullan	24:37	2		
     2 	Martin Shore	17:39	6		
     3 John McFarlane	25:32	7		
     4 Julian Rendall	17:45	5		
     5 Phill Sly	24:55	6		
     6 Ian Harkness	17:52	6		
     7 Ben Reynolds	26:22	6		
     8 Simon Wurr	18:10	6		
     9 Andrew McNamara	26:26	7		
    10 Gordon Pierce	18:04	6		
    11 Matt Jones	26:01   5	
    12 Nick Altmann	17:33	4

Thames Hare & Hounds 'B' (incomplete)				
     1 Nic Gould	26:12	17		
     2 Charlie Wallace	21:09	29

It was a beautiful afternoon in Richmond Park and well done both to Anthony Doolittle for winning the handicap and for Simon Molden for being fastest over the course. Andy Weir closed second in both. Results below

		Handicap	actual time	net time
Anthony Doolittle	00:12:06	01:05:04		00:52:58
Andy Weir		00:04:24	00:57:48		00:53:24
David Walsh	00:34:40	01:28:21		00:53:41
Simon Molden	00:02:45	00:57:36		00:54:51
Matt Lynas	00:05:30	01:00:33		00:55:03
Andy Howse	00:06:03	01:02:49		00:56:46
Nic Gould		00:07:42	01:04:31		00:56:49
Chris Daniels	00:05:30	01:02:48		00:57:18
Jon Salmon	00:19:48	01:17:58		00:58:10
Tim Nightingale	00:19:48	01:18:18		00:58:30
David Symons	00:04:24	01:06:27		01:02:03
John Bryant	00:51:43	01:54:16		01:02:33

When: Monday 21st March, 19:00 Where: Pure Sports Medicine clinic, David Lloyd Leisure, Bushey Road, Raynes Park London, SW20 8TE Cost: Free Full details see here

It was half marathons galore for Thames runners today with those at Reading joined by four more at Fleet. Martin Shore led the way in 71 minutes for fourth, closely followed by a pb from Matt Jones and a sub 75 run from Chris Wrighton. Slightly behind was Nick Altmann having completed a duathlon the day before.

5.  Martin Shore   71.11
7.  Matt Jones     71.49
18. Chris Wrighton 74.35
73. Nick Altmann   81.25

Andrew McNamara made a welcome return to racing with a fantastic run to finish in 36th place inside 71 minutes. He was backed by four other Thamesmen and a solitary Thames lady, all within 1:24 minutes.

36.  Andrew	Mcnamara	01:10:40
78.  Toby	Pearson		01:16:16
117. Richard	Todd	        01:18:49
138. Oliver	Mytton		01:19:41
171. Anthony	Doolittle	01:21:12
236. Ruth	Clifton	        01:23:27

Nic Gould and Claire Day represented Thames along the Roman Road in Cambridge. Nic was second overall behind Will Mackay of Cambridge, with both taking a slight detour at half way. Claire was second lady behind Polly Keen. Results below.

Roman Road Run (9.53 miles)

1. Will Mackay CUH&H  53.42
2. Nic Gould          54.09
3. Sam Ashcroft CUH&H 55.01
12. Polly Keen CUH&H  59.38
14. Claire Day        62.32

A few Thames runners were out in rather damp conditions at Dunsford Park for this 10 or 20 mile event. John McFarlane put in a comanding performance to lead from gun to tape, with Will Cockerell a little behind in 3rd. Captain Nic Gould made a solid debut over 20 miles in fifth with Lilly Griffiths running well to place 4th lady in the 10 mile race.

Spitfire 20

1. John McFarlane  1:50.39
3. Will Cockerell  1:56:34
5. Nic Gould       2:00:41

Tempest 10

1.  Nick Morgan (Waverley Harriers) 58:24
33. Lillias Griffiths 1:14.33

Many congratulations to Ben Reynolds who secured his first National title with victory in the M45 race in Birmingham. Full results are available on the BMAF site here

Despite it being their second leg of the day for half the team, Thames put up a creditable performance to place 17th team. Quickest Thamesman of the day was Robin Brown running for Cambridge. Thames results belowk, full results available here

Thames team, 17th:

Leg 1: Nic Gould    18:55
Leg 2: Andy Arbour  20:43
Leg 3: Robin Brown  19:22
Leg 4: Simon Molden 20:12

Other Thames times:

Robin Brown (CUH&H) 18:47
Chris Daniels (OUCCC Old Gits) 19.27
Simon Molden  (OUCCC Old Gits) 19.35
Martin Bishop (DTC 1) 19:40

The Thames ladies continued their winning ways, the TH&H ladies team of Antonia Burt, Ruth Clifton and Claire Day all ran pbs and placed second ladies team (behind Kenya). Lucy Macallister, running for first claim B&W,placed fourth lady, also with a pb, finishing close on the heels of sole TH&H male representative Gordon Pearce.

Gordon Pearce		1.13.41
Lucy Macallister		1.13.42 (B&W)
Antonia Burt		1.22.10
Ruth Clifton		1.22.31
Claire Day		1.23.47

Julia Bleasdale, running for Middlesex, put in a fantastic run to finish in 5th place and gain selection for the World Cross Country Championships. Also in the Ladies race was Ruth Clifton who ran strongly to place 66th and was part of a bronze medal winning Surrey team. In the mens race, James McMullan and Martin Shore were in action for Surrey and Robin Brown for Northern Ireland. Results below.

Senior Men

1.   Andy Vernon (Hampshire)
27.  James McMullan (Surrey)
133. Martin Shore (Surrey)
184. Robin Brown (Northern Ireland)

Senior Women

1.  Charlotte Purdue (Hampshire)
5.  Julia Bleasdale (Middlesex)
66. Ruth Clifton (Surrey)

A select group from Thames, Bank of England, Kingston & Poly and Stragglers contested this race over the five mile course including the water splash. Thames took the team victory with three to score. Full results below.

Matt Jones		        28.07
Nic Gould		        28.47
Chris Daniels		        30.59
Alexie Calvert-Ansari	        31.17
Matthew Hyett	        K&P	31.23
Anthony Budarkrewicz	K&P	32.24
Dan Pescod		        33.11
Ian Callander	Stragglers	33.28
Rhodri Davies		        34.28
Gavin Jones	Bank	        35.26
Andrew French	Bank	        35.38
Chris Hutber		        36.34
Steve Sandham	Stragglers	36.54
Peter Giles		        39.13
Simon Levy	Bank	        40.03
Nicky Atkins	K&P	        41.28
David Walsh		        42.18
Chris Glew	Stragglers	44.47

3 to score:
TH&H 6
K&P  27
Bank 36
Strg 39

Race this Saturday, 5th March over the five mile course, starting at 2.30pm. Runners and pioneers both needed!