Men's SL2 XC 12/11/16
Posted by on 21 November 2016
The largest Straggler men’s turn out in the Surrey League for many years saw 35 on the start line at Epsom Downs on Saturday (November 12th). With a strong team in the scorers we secured 2nd place on the day (304 points) – behind run-away winner Striders of Croydon (160 points) - and a climb from 5th to 3rd in the league table after two fixtures.
On a bracing but dry-ish day, Antony Jackson led the team home with a 6th place finish overall, with the other scorers as follows: Simon Ford, Rob Wilcox, Ben Osborn, Paul Bowden, Roy Reeder, Oliver Bowers, Crispin Allen, Paul Frayne and Donovan Duffy.
Epsom Downs offered a two lap course, with a fast downhill start before a climb to the highest point on the circuit after which came a drop to the end of the first lap and a fast run into the finish line on lap 2.
This was a strong team effort throughout the 35 competitors, with a few Surrey League debutants who will hopefully be back for more.
After two fixtures Stragglers sit 3rd in the table with 741 points, behind Fulham who have 632. Similarly strong Straggler turn outs in the remaining two fixtures could see a tight battle for 2nd place.
There’s also the club XC championships to be contended. After 3 races Roy Reeder leads overall and therefore is also on top in the M50 category. The senior man leader is Tiago Ramos and M40 is Donovan Duffy, but these awards look like they will be hotly contested throughout the winter.
The next fixture in our club championships is the South of Thames 5 miles on Saturday November 26th.
Surrey League race 3 is on Saturday January 14th at Cranford Park.
