A testing hilly course on the South Downs saw Ruth Clifton take a fantastic top ten position at this big event in the cross country season. Both Ladies and Mens teams finished well up in the results.

MENS' CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS

1.	Ben Tickner	49.11	Wells City AC
2.	Phil Wicks	49.15	Belgrave
3.	Jon Pepper	49.25	Enfield & Haringay
45.	Simon Wurr	54.02	TH&H
61.	Ben Reynolds	54.34	TH&H
90.	Brian T-Pelham	55.49	TH&H
111.	Gordon Pearce	56.33	TH&H
200.	Martin Shore	59.33	TH&H
246.	Nic Gould	61.01	TH&H

TEAMS
1. Highgate
2. Bedford & Country
3. Shaftesbury Barnet
12.Thames Hare and Hounds
79 teams competed

LADIES' CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS

1.	Ceri Mitchell	29.44	Southampton
2.	Lauren Deadman	29.49	Havering
3.	Lucy Elliott	30.20	Winchester
7.	Ruth Clifton	31.05	TH&H
76.	Liz Stavreski	35.10	TH&H
89.	Vikki Filsell	35.49	TH&H
214.	Emma Pritty	40.66	TH&H

TEAMS
1. AFD
2. Serpentine
3. Belgrave
8. Ranelagh
9. HHH
11. SLH
15. Thames Hare and Hounds
49 teams competed

Thames unfortunately fell a little short in the Mob Match on Saturday at Coulsdon, losing a 15-a-side contest to South London Harriers by 236 points to 274.
There were, however, some excellent runs, with Thames dominating the race at the front. Tom Samuel produced a strong run to take top spot in his first outing in Thames colours for a while, with Howard Bristow not far behind in third. Ben Reynolds also ran very well and would undoubtedly have won the race had he not been directed round for a third lap. Ed Green prduced a great Thames debut in eighth and mention should also go to Stuart Major, who finished fourth running in SLH's colours.
Many thanks to all who braved the blustery conditions and tough SLH course.

1	SAMUEL, Tom	Thames Hare & Hounds	00:46:13
2	BAL, Pawel	South London Harriers	00:46:20
3	BRISTOW, Howard	Thames Hare & Hounds	00:46:31
4	MAJOR, Stuart	South London Harriers	00:46:42
5	WURR, Simon	Thames Hare & Hounds	00:47:55
6	MOLDEN, Simon	Thames Hare & Hounds	00:48:06
7	LENNARD, Kristian	South London Harriers	00:48:23
8	GREEN, Ed	Thames Hare & Hounds	00:48:38
9	ALTMANN, N	Thames Hare & Hounds	00:49:03
10	GOULD, Nic	Thames Hare & Hounds	00:49:10
11	REYNOLDS, Ben	Thames Hare & Hounds	00:49:53
12	ARBOUR, Andy	Thames Hare & Hounds	00:50:41
13	REISSLAND, Neil	South London Harriers	00:51:10
14	BURDETT, Jim	South London Harriers	00:51:19
15	OGDEN, David	South London Harriers	00:51:22
16	BAKER, David	South London Harriers	00:51:34
17	MARTINS, Antonio	South London Harriers	00:52:43
18	WILKINS, Steve	South London Harriers	00:52:53
19	SEARLE, Stuart	South London Harriers	00:53:06
20	MITCHELL, Paul	South London Harriers	00:54:03
21	CLANCEY, Steve	South London Harriers	00:54:31
22	HALPIN, Alex	South London Harriers	00:55:10
23	HARRISON, Rob	South London Harriers	00:56:34
24	DAVIES, Rhodri	Thames Hare & Hounds	00:56:44
25	HUTTON, Ruth	South London Harriers	00:56:59
26	GENTRY, Ross	South London Harriers	00:58:01
27	BUSH, Nigel	South London Harriers	00:58:08
28	LOWE, Dominic	South London Harriers	00:58:55
29	HUTBER, Chris	Thames Hare & Hounds	00:59:07
30	DAVIES, Andy	South London Harriers	00:59:13
31	GLOVER, Natalie	South London Harriers	00:59:31
32	SALMON, Jon	Thames Hare & Hounds	01:00:53
33	SAUNDERS, Matthew	South London Harriers	01:02:16
34	IANNELLA, Pam	South London Harriers	01:02:20
35	KENT, Toby	South London Harriers	01:02:52
36	VINCENT, Stephen	South London Harriers	01:03:04
37	MITCHELL, Viv	South London Harriers	01:03:21
38	KAH, Sylvie	South London Harriers	01:03:45
39	NIGHTINGALE, Tim	Thames Hare & Hounds	01:04:14
40	EMERY, Peter	South London Harriers	01:04:28
41	CARR, Alastair	South London Harriers	01:04:50
42	ODELL, Sarah	Thames Hare & Hounds	01:06:00
43	DANIELS, Chris	Thames Hare & Hounds	01:06:22
44	WARD, Terry	South London Harriers	01:06:32
45	LEE, Ken	South London Harriers	01:06:56
46	PRITTY, Emma	Thames Hare & Hounds	01:07:10
47	MARTINS, Marketa	South London Harriers	01:08:49
48	NEWLAND, Dave	South London Harriers	01:09:16
49	WILKINSON, Lesley	South London Harriers	01:09:44
50	KUHN, Trudy	South London Harriers	01:09:45
51	WALSH, David	Thames Hare & Hounds	01:11:17
52	WHYATT, Alyson	South London Harriers	01:18:51

Match score (15-a-side)
South London Harriers 236
Thames Hare & Hounds 274

Benita Willis finished as second lady in the Houston Marathon in 2:28.24.

We only have provisional results at the moment; however, the ladies put in another excellent performance in the Surrey League at Coulsdon yesterday. Stand-out performers were Lucy McAlister, who won, Ruth Clifton, who finished hot on her heels in third, and Nicole Clifford in sixth.

1	LUCY McALISTER	THH	31.29
2	EMILY ALDEN	E&E	33.17
3	RUTH CLIFTON	THH	33.23
6	Nicole Clifford	THH	33.33
25	ELIZABETH STAVRESKI	THH	36.42
32	EMILY HOGG	THH	37.00
38	PIPPA MAJOR	THH	37.19
58	VIKKI FILSELL	THH	38.47
76	Joanna Davies	THH	39.27
79	VIKKI WEBB	THH	39.33
80	ALISON CARPENTER	THH	39.44
125	KATE SYMONS	THH	41.50
154	RACHAEL DAVIES	THH	42.55
187	MAUREEN POOLE	THH	44.37

Thames H&H 46
South London H 70
Clapham Chasers 140

League positions after 3 rounds
Thames H&H 263
South London H 363
Hercules-Wimbledon 443

Full results can be found here.

15 Saltires toed the line in unusually benign conditions at Farthing Down. A solid team performance saw Thames consolidate second position in the league. Well done to Martin Shore, Matt Jones and Richard Kowenicki on excellent runs and to Stuart Major for shaking off injury to finish inside the top 20. With one round to go, we now have a 600-point lead over Belgrave Harriers in thid.

1	Chris Busaileh	HHH	28.47
2	Alex Robinson	H/W	28.52
3	Mark Dooley	HHH	29.20
4	Martin Shore	TH&H	29.27
8	Mathew Jones	TH&H	29.41
11	Richard Kowenicki	TH&H	29.54
17	Stuart Major	TH&H	30.12
28	Andrew Lawrence	TH&H	30.56
30	Gordon Pearce	TH&H	30.59
32	Andy Weir	TH&H	31.02
35	Mike Causer	TH&H	31.20
41	Simon Molden	TH&H	31.36
46	David Symons	TH&H	32.04
(54)	Nic Gould	TH&H	32.08
(55)	Andy Howse	TH&H	32.10
(56)	Nick Altmann	TH&H	32.14
(105)	Charlie Wallace	TH&H	35.15

Match score
Herne Hill H 131
Thames H&H 252
Ranelagh H 415

League positions after 3 rounds
Herne Hill H 329
Thames H&H 754
Belgrave H 1378

Full results and league standings can be found here.

It was a Thames one-two in the Country to Capital 44-mile Race from Wendover to Little Venice.
Ed Catmur won in 5 hours, 23 minutes, with Matt Lynas behind him in 5 hours, 35 minutes.

Well done to the Thames ladies who won team gold amongst the vines at Denbies, led home by in form Ruth Clifton in individual third spot.

1.	Georgie Bruinvels	AFD	29.02
2.	Hayley Munn	Clapham Chasers	30.36
3.	Ruth Clifton	TH&H	30.45
15.	Liz Stavreski	TH&H	33.19
28.	Pippa Major	TH&H	34.37
32.	Vikki Filsell	TH&H	35.21
37.	Emily Hogg	TH&H	35.47
52.	Alison Carpenter	TH&H	37.08
73.	Rachel Davies	TH&H	38.55
76.	Kate Symons	TH&H	39.06

Ben Reynolds finished 14th (39.23), with Julian Rendall (39.24) hot on his heels in 15th.

James McMulla led the way for the Thames men in 5th and there were good runs from Matt Jones, Andy Weir, Mike Causer and David Symons. Unfortunately, illnesses meant we were unable to close a team.

1	Nick Torry	Serpentine	38.32
2	Luke Caldwell	Dorking & Mole Valley	38.59
3	James Kelly	Belgrave Harriers	39.09
5	James McMullan	TH&H	39.41
20	Matthew Jones	TH&H	41.51
32	Andy Weir	TH&H	43.34
35	Michael Causer	TH&H	43.51
40	David Symonds	TH&H	44.22
211	Jeffrey Armitage	TH&H	65.28

A fair sprinkling of Saltires were in action in the Lauriston 5-mile race on the last Saturday of the year. Second-claimer, Will Cockerell, running in the colours of Belgrave finished second. However, the performance of the day was from Ruth Clifton, who continued her excellent season by winning he ladies' race, setting a course record in the process.

1	Alex Bruce-Littlewood	Hercules	26.46
2	Will Cockerell	Belgrave H (& TH&H)	27.09
3	Matthew Sharp	Hercules	28.14
12	Ruth Clifton	TH&H	30.29
13	Nathan Martin	TH&H	31.05
15	Charlie Wallace	TH&H	31.37
28	Liz Stavreski	TH&H	33.42
54	David Walsh	TH&H	40.49
55	Simon Leathes	TH&H	41.12
65	David Jenkins	TH&H	46.31
68	Andrew Simon	TH&H	48.07
69	Jeffrey Gordon	TH&H	50.34

James McMullan took victory in the Haslemere Boxing Day Run. Anthony Doolittle reports that "He didn't exactly seem to be suffering when he came past me (spectating)."
Full results can be found here.

You're all very welcome along to our 5 miles and carols tomorrow evening in Putney/Wimbeldon. Details of carolling venues below.

6.30pm  Drop bags at Andy Weir's 
       (2, Wilton Crescent, Wimbledon) run over to Nick's (optional)
 7.00    Assemble at Nick Altmann's (
         7 Ashdown, 7 Cambalt Road, Putney), first carol.
 7.30    Simon Leathes (19, Lauriston Road, Wimbledon)
 7.55    Dorchie & Will Cockerell (12c, Lansdowne Road)
 8.30    Back at the Weir's

Thames hosted the South of the Thames Championship Race over a two-lap 7.5-mile course on the Common. Star of the day was Ruth Clifton, who followed up her inter-counties performance, with another excellent run to take the ladies' title.

1	Phil Wicks	Belgrave H	37:42
2	Dean Lacy	Cambridge H	38:13
3	John Gilbert	Kent AC	38:17
16	Brian Thursby-Pelham	TH&H	41.37
27	Matt Jones	TH&H	42.41
46	David Symons	TH&H	44.37
62	Chris Daniels	TH&H	45.49
61 (W1)	Ruth Clifton	TH&H	46.48
148 (W20)	Anna Garnier	TH&H	53.54
157 (W22)	Vikki Filsell	TH&H	54.39
174 (W31)	Kate Foster	TH&H	58.05
187 (W41)	Emma Bracey	TH&H	61.14
192 (W45)	Emma Pritty	TH&H	62.10

Match score (ladies)
South London Harriers 98 points
Dulwich Runners 122 points
Belgrave H 123 points
Brighton & Hove AC 146 points
Thames Hare & Hounds 160 points

Many congratulations to second claim, Julia Bleasdale, for winning a team gold in the senior ladies' race. Julia was third Brit home, finishing a splendid 13th place in the race.

Mike Causer ran 74:52 in the Bedford Half-Marathon, just ducking inside the London qualifying time.

Thames hosted the Alumni race over Wimbledon Common on 10th December, full results can be found here.

Many congratulations to Ruth Clifton who finished fifth for Surrey at Lloyd Park in 24:54. Ruth was second scorer for the victorious Surrey Team.
Full results can be found here.

In the L40 competition, ladies' vice-captain, Vikki Filsell, ran strongly for ninth in 28:51.
In the L45 competition, Pippa Major emulated Vikki's performance, finishing in 28:32.

The M40 team took the gold medal in the Southern Masters' Cross-Country Championships at Lloyd Park on Saturday. Andy Morgan-Lee led the way with a superb run for second place, only three seconds off first place. He was ably supported by Andy Robinson and Ben Reynolds to take the team event by four points from Newham & Essex Beagles, for whom second-claimer, Stuart Major, ran well for fifth.
The M50 team took eighth place overall, with Jerry Watson finishing fifth in the individual event. It was a big running day for Jerry who then hopped over the Common to take part in the Old Boys' Race.

M40 race

1	John Clarke	Newham & EB	33.34
2	Andy Morgan-Lee	TH&H	33.37
3	Alan Murchison	Winchester & D	33.59
5	Stuart Major	Newham & EB	34.48
6	Andy Robinson	TH&H	34.51
7	Ben Reynolds	TH&H	35.01
9	Andy Weir	TH&H	35.49
11	Andy Howse	TH&H	36.20

Match score
Thames H&H: 15 points
Newham & Essex Beagles: 19 points
Brighton & Hove: 68 points

M50 race

1	Andy Tindall	SLH	37.15
2	Mike Boyle	HHH	37.32
3	Michael Bridgeland	Chelmsford	37.35
5	Jerry Watson	TH&H	37.54
35	Richard Turner	TH&H	42.08
54	Chris Cheeseman	TH&H	45.21

Full results can be found here.

Thames scored a 1-2-3 in the Grim Challenge on Sunday, an 8.5 mile multi-terrain race held on an MOD tank-testing site, with mud, water hazards and camouflage nets to negotiate. Simon Wurr set a new course record to lead the home field with new member, Richard Kowenicki, a fantastic second, and Tom Samuel, making a welcome return to racing, in third. Ashley Brutnall continued his rapid return to form also breaking the hour. 1,945 runners finished.

1	Simon Wurr	TH&H	50.23
2	Richard Kowenicki	TH&H	50.46
3	Tom Samuel	TH&H	50.50
31	Ashley Brutnall	TH&H	58.11

The new TH&H thermal running tops have arrived, they are black with a saltire on the chest with a half zip. The kit list on the website will be updated shortly, but in the meantime for more details please contact: katesymons@live.co.uk. We also have a limited number of silver cufflinks, the perfect Christmas gift...

Thermal Tops: £25
Cufflinks: £110
Vests: £18
New running tights: £15
New track tights: £15
Umbrella:£20
Bowtie: £25 (pre tie or self tie)
Fleece Hat: £10

Postage payable in addition.