Windsor athletes shine in the rain getting in 1 last race before 2nd lockdown

In the current climate of Pandemic and lockdowns, races are hard to find and no surprise then that this series of 3 races attracted a large number of WSEH athletes to enter.  Merchant Taylor’s School in Hertfordshire played host to the race organisers, who provided a well organised series of mixed, age-group races – despite heavy rain and strong winds!  COVID rules meant racers had to start in small pods of six runners and chip timing would determine success.

The mixed U11 Boys and Girls kicked off the event, with Windsor represented by some promising newcomers.  George Hilliar was 4^th overall, Zoe Allan 6^th girl (17^th overall), Logan Hardy 26th and Scarlett Rickerby 29th girl (68^th overall) – despite the appalling conditions, all were smiling and are looking forward to future races.

• 

The U13 event saw many more runners (some making their debuts) and more success.  Marcus Hibbins led the field home and was ably backed up by Thomas Taylor in 4^th, Sam Golding 18^th, Evan Hardy 19^th, Sarim Toqeer 20^th, James Farley 21^st, Toby Kimmins 24^th and James McSharry 51^st. 

The girls performed well with Phoebe Fuller 18^th girl (49^th overall), Abigail Farley 24^th girl (54^th overall), Ana Passos 31^st girl (70^th overall) and Stephanie Massie 32^nd girl (72^nd overall).

The U15 runners matched these successes with 4^th and 7^th in the boys – Alex Bishop and Sam Johnston and 1^st and 3^rd in the girls – Rachel Clutterbuck and Freya Ruffels.  Strength in depth was again evident with George Thomas 14^th, Toby Spencer 22^nd, Nathan Rollins 28^th and for the girls Daya Baga 16^th, Eloisa Symmonds 25^th, Annabel Bailey 35^th, Aashni Manek 37^th and Amy Cooper 40^th.

• 

• 

The U17 men achieved success too, with 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th places for Raphael Rivero-Stevenet, Luke Birdseye and Oliver Emment.  They were backed up by Liam Stone 13^th, Finlay Kirk 14^th and Finn Canning 22^nd. 

• 

• 

The U17 women ran well with Charlotte Dewar 6^th, Keshni Manek 9^th, Jessica Hatch 11^th, Tamara Hibbins 14^th, Charlotte Borgars 17^th, Tia Hansford 19^th and Jodie Bongartz 20^th.

The biggest field of the day was the U20 and Seniors with 237 finishers.  Katie Clutterbuck was the club’s only representative at this age group but more than justified her presence with 6^th overall and 1st U20 woman.

Subject to the easing of Lockdown restrictions, December 19^th sees the second round of this 3 race series and Windsor Athletes – boosted by returning athletes from University – hope to see even more success.

John Higgins

WSEH Coach & CWO