Main event this weekend was the third round of Surrey Cross Country League matches. Both the men and the women were in action at Mitcham Common, a new venue for almost everyone involved.
The senior women were on first and were running the same distance as the men, a three lap course whicxh was advertised to be 8.4 km but which seemed to be a bit longer. Anna Gilmore was the first Walton runner home, the first time she has done so, with Fiona and then Jo close behind. They finished 4th, 6th and 8th in 37.05, 37.12 and 37.41. Lizzie was next home in 41.25 for 32nd place with Lucy in 58th 44.38. the team finished 3rd on the day and moved up to 3rd in the league.
There were no junior girls running so next up were the boys. Edmund ran well for a best ever finishing position of 4th under 15 running 15.45 for a 4.2 km course. Oliver Coppolletti unfortunately arrived 30 or 40s after the race started but set off in pursuit of the field. He managed to overtake the last runners and finish 3rd under 13 boy recording a time of 17.19.
In the mens race Jon Hamblen was sharing the lead with one other runner for most of the race, half way round the last lap Jon pulled away from his rival but then had to stop with an achilles problem. This meant that Conor was the first Walton finisher in 10th place (2nd under 20) in 31.31, closely followed by Warren with a season’s best performance, 13th 31.46. Andrew was next in 18th, 32.11, then Duncan 26th, 32.41, Rob, 36th 33.03, James 39th 33.19, Jon L 50th 33.48, Wai 54th, 33.51, and Chris Ness 62nd 34.18. Tenth scorer for Walton was Jon Hamblen who walked the remainder of the course to finish in 35.09. Then we had Richard 35.19, Jon Cook 36.37, Bart 37.59, Chris De Mauny 38.20, Laurie 39.01, Bryn, in his first ever cross country race, 45.13 and Malcolm 46.15.

The team came 2nd on the day and are 2nd in the league to Clapham Chasers, 11 points behind (889 to 900) with one match to go. Men’s team photo attached, thanks to Bart and Sophie.

The final match for both Men and Women is on Saturday 9th February at Denbies Vineyard near Dorking.