IT was extremely cold for the Leighton Buzzard Athletics Club runners on top of Wigmore Hill as the wind whistled across the park that sits next to the airport.
Many participants would probably have been hoping to be on the flights taking travellers off to warmer climes, but the weather didn’t stop the best turnout for a cross-country meet for many years in Luton.
More than 50 Leighton Buzzard AC runners made the short trip down the motorway to one of the flatter venues on the calendar and there were some outstanding performances on the day, but as ever the club achieved fantastic success just by getting everyone out and giving fantastic support to each other throughout the event.
The Clays – particularly Nick and Mandy – should be thanked. At every cross-country outing they are the first there to set things up and support all those taking part, and are the last to leave at the end of the day.
They do this because they are hugely committed to the club and the sport, but it should never be taken for granted, particularly on a day like this one, when the wind froze fingers and toes all across Bedfordshire.
There were 13 U11s who came along for the first two races and the standout performance came from Ellie Rabbits who finished 20th out of 89 runners, having started very fast and got amongst the top few at the first corner.
The rest of the young team were involved in good battles with lots of other runners and put in some great runs. Melissa Chapman (68th), Chloe May (77th), Millie Hawes (81st) Jess Hawes (82nd) and Danielle Taylor (88th) all added hugely to the team spirit and development amongst the youngsters, the final three all making their first club appearances.
The U11 boys team was full of sons of senior members, with only one out of seven not having that cross to bear.
Dominic Grimshaw led the team home for the fourth time this season with a strong run in 46th place and on his debut, Harry Bell just held off a spirited challenge from Harrison Philpott as they finished in 57th and 60th places respectively.
Max Rose (65th) and Scott Towell (66th) ran all the way together, ahead of Joe Inchley (72nd) on debut and Joe Bidlake-Hull (79th).
In the U13s there were two runners in each of the two races. For the boys, Kieran Philpott continued his superb season in which he has finished 41st, 40th, 40th and 39th in his four races and just pipped Henry Mead in 44th. Both have been the only two runners and ever present so far this season, which is testament to their efforts.
In the girls race Sarah Plummer had a superb run to gain her best result of the season so far in 14th place and the equally ever present Penny Grimshaw gave great support to come 63rd.
In the U15 girls race, despite the withdrawal of Becca Mead during the run, Izzy Bidlake-Hull continued on to earn points for the team in 55th, while in the boys Patrick Clay came 52nd as the only representative.
All four of the U17s who came out for the race were rewarded with their highest placings of the season.
Tom Boozer closed out the team of four in 24th place and just 24 seconds behind Joe McGarry in 22nd. Charlie Mead was a further 22 seconds ahead in 19th place as Jordan Clay was first home for the boys with a great run to finish 10th on the day.
This earned them 6th place as a team, ahead of Harrow, Oxford and Windsor.
Leighton had an absolutely fantastic turnout of eight senior ladies, despite Amy Inchley deciding that spectating was the sensible option.
The first four ladies had their best positions of the season, and that was reflected in the team result of 7th on the day out of 14 teams.
Making a return to running after a few months out, Lynn Boddy was 5th home in 55th place, while Fiona Towell put in her strongest performance to date by taking 63rd in a sprint finish.
Lorraine Holloway-McLean and Anna Mead once again ran the course together and took lots of points from all the finishers behind in finishing in 70th and 71st respectively.
All these extra runners take points away from other teams who finish behind, so are vital to the cause.
Both Gail Duckworth and Jo Breslin sneaked in their best performances of the season to be first and second back in 17th and 27th, but Jane Sauer ran a superb race as she ran lap one with Amelia and then worked strongly through the field to overtake the best part of 20 other runners. Jane’s 31st, combined with a brilliantly paced run by Amelia to finish 40th, made a huge difference to the team.
However, the team performance of the day undoubtedly came from the senior men. Leighton Buzzard AC have the smallest senior section of any club in Division One, but back at Wing last year they finished a fantastic 6th on the day.
This time they took a magnificent 3rd place, with Chiltern, Tring, Luton, Bedford, Aylesbury and Oxford blown away by a swathe of purple and yellow as only table topping Milton Keynes and Harrow finished ahead of them.
There were some strong runs on the day from lots of people, but the success was down to having everyone at the venue, earning points and taking points off other teams.
A special mention must go to Billy Mead who led the team home for the first time with a fantastic run in 35th place.
The club’s success at Luton means Leighton sit in 9th place overall going into the final fixture of the season at Wing on February 9.