Hailsham, Eastbourne and Hastings athletes produce fine finishes in road and cross-country races

Two members took part in the Sussex Downs Half marathon.

Starting from Plumpton racecourse, the 21k course took runners up and over the beautiful South Downs.

With challenging climbs and picturesque views, Hailsham Harrier Michelle Hollands was joined by friend and team-mate Felicity Williams to celebrate her 50th birthday weekend.

The ladies crossed the finish line together in 2:48:04.

Along a blustery Brighton seafront, the rain stopped and the sun shone for Harriers duo Karen Breese and Maria Stanford as they joined 1,200 runners to race the Brighton 10k.

Both ladies put in fantastic performances with Karen finishing in 1:02:43 and Maria in 1:08:30.

Up the road in Crowborough, 18 Harriers joined local clubs to run the 35th Crowborough 10k and 5k on Sunday morning.

In the 5k event, Ross Brocklehurst and partner Aislinn Darvell made short work of the undulating course to take the win for the men and the ladies with spectacular times.

Ross ran 18:04 and Aislinn 20:47. Don Currie finished in 23:42, claiming first in age.

In the 10k, which forms part of the Sussex Grand Prix set of races, Hailsham Harriers had one of the largest team turnouts of the day.

Men's captain Carl Barton was the first Harrier home in 41:38, followed by Lianne Leakey, who was third place lady and first V35 in 43:03, with Los Burrett hot on her heels in 43:21.

Ladies captain Helen O'Sullivan finished as first V45 in 46:21 while Dan Shipton put on a strong performance on the Crowborough hills to finish in 48:43.

Audrey Haddon 49:14, Andy Ruffell 51:18, Chris Little 51:51 and Gary Smith all finished with seconds of each other as they sprinted up the final hill.

Doug Wood 55:04, Sam Neame 55:23 and Dean Layen 56:25 looked strong as they crossed the line, this being their first time on the course.

Frances Delves in 57:19 took the win in the ladies’ V70 category, while Victoria Little 57:20 and Alan Hide 1:08:23 completed the magnificent Harriers team effort.

Hailsham Harriers are a friendly running club for seniors and juniors. If you would like to find out more, please visit hailsham-harriers.org.uk

EASTBOURNE ROVERS

It was a busy cross country weekend for the Eastbourne Rovers juniors when some competed in the second Sussex Cross Country League fixtures at Ardingly and others made the journey to the British Cross Challenge in Milton Keynes.

The British Cross Challenge is a league of four events attracting many of the best athletes nationally.

The race was great preparation for the young Rovers athletes leading into the South of England championships on December 10 in Oxford and the inter-counties final in Loughborough in March.

Fin Lumber-Fry was the first Eastbourne Rover to race and he didn’t disappoint placing well up the field in fourth, just 10 seconds behind second place.