THE sixth and final round of the 2019/20 Southern Cross Country League season was held at Alice Holt.

Rescheduled because of recent storms, an impressive number of runners lined up at the start to tackle the 4.8-mile course. Among them were 20 Alton Runners, a remarkable number considering the number of club members volunteering at The Vitality Big Half in London on the same day.

Club member Stephen Clow said: “It was great to be back with the yellow tribe after so many storm cancellations recently, and good to see such a big turnout.

“The weather was fabulous, particularly after the recent storms. It was a crazy run, flying downhill on the tracks and then walking up the muddy hills. I loved it!”

And he added: “It was good to see new members running as well – a great welcome to the club.”

Relatively new to running, Jonathan Cook said: “It was my first cross country race and I doubt it’ll be my last. I really enjoyed it. There’s nothing like getting out into the open expanse and pushing barriers you didn’t think possible.”

Some of those barriers common to trail racing certainly featured on the day, as Adrian Lambeth recalled: “It was a tough course, starting deceptively easy on a fast gravel track before descending down to fetid bog. It only got harder from there on steep accents and deep, deep mud making getting a foot hold hard.”

Ryan McGreavey agreed, saying: “I don’t think I have ever seen that much mud in one place. They said the Lord Wandsworth race was meant to be bad for mud but this felt like it was on another level!”

Taking the top spots for Alton runners were Naomi Shaylor and Steve Drysdale, with Eli Dawson and Di Byrne claiming second places in their respective categories.

New member and first club finisher Steve said: “I was expecting something like the Alice Holt parkrun but a bit longer, but we soon got into some steep, muddy trails, which were great fun – at least when I look back at it now.

“I didn’t lace my left shoe as tight as I should have so very nearly lost it to deep sucking mud a few times and almost went over on a sharp turn near the end but managed to stay on my feet and somehow had enough left for a sprint finish.

“It was definitely hard work though and I reckon I’ve seen enough of the mud for this winter now!”

The next race organised by Alton Runners is the Alton ten-mile road race on Sunday, May 3.