Conditions at the third fixture of the Suffolk Winter Cross Country League were not particularly promising for the runners at Haughley Park, Stowmarket. It was cold and wet, whilst conditions underfoot were extremely muddy in places. The undulating course also proved to be very arduous, with runners having to run over a very mixed terrain of twisting woodland paths, and open parkland spaces, as well as having to contend with the usual hazards of tree roots.
Waveney Valley Athletic Club numbers were slightly down from the previous two meetings, owing to unavailability of several members, but the seniors still fielded a very strong squad of thirty-eight runners, An all round solid team performance despite the challenging conditions, saw not only the A team maintaining their top spot in the league, but also the B and C teams.
Lee Cook put in his best performance of the season, crossing the line in 4th place with his time of 33:01. Dominic Oliver, who has consistently finished in the top ten, registered 33:26 in 7th place overall. It was great to see Chris Jones back in a Waveney vest, now based in London, where he competes for Harrow A.C., but he started his interest in athletics with Waveney and was keen to compete for his old club in some cross country fixtures, he put in a strong finish to clock 34:17 in 11th place. Jay Lingwood, Dylan Neeve, Richard Moore and Mark Thompson all packed in well to finish in the top 26 placing’s. Richard Moore’s fine run secured him top spot in the V50 age group.
Other notable performances, Chris Pimlott, Martin Horlock and Lloyd Scriven all finished in the top 50 placing’s. Karim Ouaddane despite falling, which resulted in him cutting his leg, still managed to record a creditable time of 38:15 in crossing the line in 57th place.
In the ladies section Rose Nicholson was first home for the club, she finished in 78th place overall and third in the senior ladies age group with her time of 39:06. Ann Millett took second place in the V60’s in finishing in 235th place overall with 47:58.

Senior results:Fourth Lee Cook, 33:01. Seventh Dominic Oliver, 33:26. 11th Chris Jones 34:17. 22nd Jay Lingwood, 35:33. 24th Dylan Neeve, 35:47. 25th Richard Moore, 35:50 (1st V50). 26th Mark Thompson (V40), 35:56. 35th Chris Pimlott (V40) 36:37. 42nd Martin Horlock (V40) 37:35. 49th Lloyd Scriven (V40) 37:51.56th Daniel Harris, 38:11. 57th Karim Ouaddane (V50). 38:15. 58th Graham Watering (V40) 38:16. 69th Tim Earl, 38:49. 78th Rose Nicholson, 39:06. 84th Paul Sullivan, (V50) 39:25.88th Liam Nudd, 39:46. 103rd Peter Andrews, (V45) 40:56. 108th Jon Comyn, 41:17.111th Wayne Freeman (2nd V55) 41:20. 117th Paul Wright (V40) 41:39. 121st Robert Milner 41:44. 124th Leon Neeve 41:52,127th Tim Moore, 42:02. 143rd Colin Galer, 42:58.148th Nigel Herrod (3rd V55), 43:04. 161st Mike Illingworth (V45) 44:01.167th Jason Browne (V40) 44:16. 187th David Mower, (V60) 45:16. 204th Bill Kingaby, (V60) 46:08. 228th David Lewis 47:45. 235th Ann Millett (2nd V60) 47:58. 247th Steve Gibbs (V50) 48:57.
249th Elies Mann (V40) 49:05. 265th Simon Stevens (V45) 49:59.282nd Karle Howard (V45), 51:07. 304th Sarah Norman (V35) 53:01. 330th Stuart Smith (V55) 55:46.
St. Edmund Pacers will host the next race in the series, which will be held at Nowton Park, on Sunday 19th February.

On Sunday, the Suffolk Cross Country Championships were held in the picturesque grounds of
Heveningham Hall, near Halesworth. 
The weather was kind to the athletes but conditions were muddy and slippery and really tested the skills and
endurance of the runners. Representing Waveney Valley Athletic Club in the Under-11 2km and Under-13 3km boys races were brothers William and George Browne, both new to the cross country scene.
William ran a strong race, finishing 9th in a time of 8:56. George, up against an experienced field of  thirty
athletes in his race, did not let his nerves get to him. He started strong and continued to push throughout the race, finishing an excellent 17th in a time of 12:00. A fantastic start for the Browne brothers, and the club looks forward to further races from these talented young runners.
Due to illness and injury, Jamie Besford was Waveney’s only entrant in the Under-15 4km boys race. He started well and continued to keep up the pace and finished a credible 10th in 13:26.  
Harriet Lyman continues to produce impressive performances. In the Under-17 5km women’s race, she finished 2nd in a time of 20:49. 
This Sunday, Haughley Park, Stowmarket is the venue for the third fixture in the Suffolk Winter Cross Country League. From a total of seventeen clubs, Waveney Valley are having a superb season and sit proudly on top of the combined mens and womens A,B and C senior leagues.

Waveney Valley Athletic Club members attended the annual Groggy Doggy cross country races on Boxing Day, in which man’s best friend got to share the limelight with their owners. The races were held on Outney Common in Bungay and there was plenty of mud and water for the competitors to contend with.
One lap of the course was 2.1 miles and in the one lap and dog event Peter Andrews, with Beau, had an very fast run, finishing in third place from over 40 entries in a time of 17:33. Jay Butcher finished in a time of 24:05, Beth Bell 29:15 and Jo Fisk 29:20. In the 2 laps and dog event, covering 4.2 miles, Stuart Spurgeon was placed 9th in 41:49 and Chris Bradford 21st in 46:38. 
One lap, no dog – 24 Cheryl Goymer 28:06. 2 laps, no dog – 5 Matt Jeffries 29:14, 18 Dylan Neeve  34:28, 19 Tim Earl 34:33, 21 Peter Rogers 35:09, 39 Leon Neeve 37:20, 68 Nigel Herrod 40:49, 107 Rebecca Harris 45:40, 113 Suzy Knights 46:43, 114 Stuart Brown 46:48, 141 Jane Hunt 53:47, 142 Rob Knights 53:48. Juniors 13-16 – 3 Harriet Lyman 17:37, 10 Thomas Spurgeon 22:34. 9-12 1.5miles – 11 William Butcher 11:19.
Just before Christmas, Mark Smith journeyed to the south coast to take part in the Portsmouth Coastal Waterside Marathon. From an entry of more than 1,000 runners he finished in 473rd place in a time of 4-09.25.
On Monday, six members competed in the Wymondham 10k. David Mower finished 177th in 46:10, 413 Chris Mills 54:10 PB, 422 Louise Adamson 54:38, 430 Alan Varle 54:56, 480 Jane Hunt 57:47 PB and 611 Angela Mower 1-08.03. 
December 5k parkruns personal bests – Wayne Freeman 20:25, Jon Andrews 23:18, Sue Woolnough 25:49, Jo Fisk 26:13, Oakley Arnould 24:57, Amanda Scarff 26:49, Sarah James 30:47, Angelene Ayers 34:32, Jon Comyn 19:25, Simon Stevens 23:58, Stuart Brighty 26:18, Patricia Tuttle 26:47, Laura Head 31:00, Amie Ogilvie 33:57, Lindsay Howlett 23:44, Charles Hardy 26:29, Lee Roth 26:41, Henry Hardy 31:46, Vaughn Beckham 24:02, Thomas Russell 24:34, Daryl McKeown 24:57, Tina Winney 27:27, George Browne 20:32, William Browne 24:13, Caroline Clamp 30:28, Lisa Cone 30:14, Taela Hodds 36:27 and Mark Thompson 18:42.

Sunday’s annual Turkey Trot 10-mile road race, organised by Waveney Valley Athletic Club, had a sell-out entry of over 400 competitors, with a total of 375 finishers. It was yet another Turkey Trot race record, beating last years previous highest total of 277 by almost 100.
The race, which started and finished near Sir John Leman High School in Beccles, took in the country lanes round Ilketshall St Andrew and Ringsfield and was staged in pleasantly mild conditions for the time of year.
Joe Skipper, one of the region’s best known athletes, won the race in 2014 and he triumphed for the second time on Sunday. The leading runners by the half way point, which included Skipper, Matthew Jeffries and Lee Cook of Waveney Valley A.C., Matt Pyatt of Ryston Runners and Rob Chenery of Ipswich Jaffa, were all in close contention until Skipper gradually stretched his lead to cross the line in first place in a time of 54:22. Jeffries was second in 54:50 and Pyatt third in 55:54.
Laura Shewbridge of Colchester Harriers A.C. was first lady to finish in a time of 1-04:51, her first victory in the
race. Second was Cat Cummings of Wymondham A.C. in 1-09:11 and third Emma Attwood of Stowmarket Striders in 1-12:05.
Ipswich Jaffa won the men’s team prize and Stowmarket Striders won the ladies.
The fancy dress entries was also a record. The trophies were sponsored once again by Wine Vaults of Beccles and the mens winner was Simon Sparkes, firmly attached to ‘ Clive the bear ‘ with Christine ‘ Christmas cracker ‘ Baker the ladies winner.

Age category winners were: M40 Richard Hayes ( U/A ) 58:46, M45 Adam Howlett ( Framlingham Flyers ) 57:45, M50 Andrew Buck ( Sudbury Joggers ) 1-04:25, M55 Alan Jackson ( Ipswich Jaffa ) 1-09:14, M60 Terry Garrity ( Bungay Black Dog R.C ) 1-17:01, M65 Jim Hayes ( North Norfolk Beach Runners ) 1-17:26, F40 Sarah Proffitt ( Felixstowe R.R.C ) 1-18:13, F45 Karen Archbold ( Lowestoft R.R.) 1-13:42, F50 Ruth Gaunt ( Norwich R.R.)
1-18:26, F55 Jenny Sheahan ( U/A ) 1-21:02, F60 Hazel Garrity ( BBDRC ) 1-21:25, F65 Carole Spong
(Great Yarmouth R.R.).

Waveney Valley A.C. results: 2 Matt Jeffries 54:50, 5 Lee Cook 56:26, 26 Sebastian Lakes 1-03.17, 27 Chris Pimlott
1-03.33, 34 Lloyd Scriven 1-04.18, 36 Dylan Neeve 1-04.25, 51 Daniel Harris 1-06.51, 58 Steve Carruthers 1-08.32, 63 Kyle Bowles 1-09.24, 67 Jon Comyn 1-10.13, 69 Leon Neeve 1-10.29, 76 Bob Milner 1-11.48, 78 Paul Wright 1-12.04, 84 Wayne Freeman 1-12.50, 98 Billy Underdown 1-14.22, 149 Lisa Knights 1-19.44, 186 Joe Mayne 1-23.53, 190 Alan Richardson 1-24.04, 204 Rebecca Harris 1-25.49, 206 David Goosey 1-26.33, 240 Stuart Smith 1-30.57, 249 Jay Butcher 1-31.48, 253 Sarah Norman 1-32.13, 254 Mark Smith 1-32.13, 260 Vicki
Archard 1-32.56, 304 Jane Hunt 1-39.00, 320 Gary Elvin 1-41.48, 325 Beth Bell 1-43.39, 352 Demelza Hammond 1-48.55, 375 Donna Milner 2-03.47.

Woodbridge – Cross Country
Waveney Valley Athletic Club senior’s continued their successful start to the Suffolk Winter cross country league, in fielding another strong squad of 51 runners in the second fixture, at Sutton near Woodbridge.
The A combined ladies and men’s team accumulated a total of 2359 points on the day, which resulted in them in moving to the top of the league, they are now 82 points ahead of second place Ipswich Harriers. The club’s B and C teams are also top of their leagues, a brilliant all round team performance from all the seniors, which included a lot of new members competing in their first cross country event.
The one lap course which covered a distance of 4.7 miles, involved runners having to run over some very sandy, undulating health land, which fortunately was relatively dry underfoot, except for one area of sticky mud, which was near the finish of the race. Matt Jeffries was once again the top runner for the club, crossing the line in 3rd place overall, which secured him first place in the senior men’s age group. Just eight seconds adrift was Dominic Oliver who clinched 4th place overall (2nd senior). The rest of the men’s A team packed in well, with all of them finishing in the top 35. Jay Lingwood 25th. Richard Moore 29th (2nd Vet 50). Dylan Neeve obviously found the conditions to his liking in finishing in 30th place overall, which was some forty five places improvement on his performance at the previous race at Framlingham; he was closely followed by Sebastian Lakes 33rd and club captain Chris Pimlott 35th.
In the ladies section, Sam Lines continues to impress in finishing in second place, but was first in the senior ladies age group. Rose Nicholson, still on the come back from an injury put in a solid run to take ninth place overall, was third senior lady. Ann Millett was second in the V60 section and Sarah Norman was third in the V35+ ladies section.
Senior Results:
3rd Matt Jeffries 25:28. 4th Dominic Oliver 25:36. 25th Jay Lingwood 28:43. 29th Richard Moore (V50) 28:48. 30th Dylan Neeve 28:48. 33rd Sebastian Lakes 29:04. 35th Chris Pimlott (V40) 29:05. 42nd Lloyd Scriven (V40) 29:17. 50th Sam Lines (1st senior lady) 29:35. 56th Daniel Harris 29:49. 58th James Drake 29:55. 61st Tim Earl 30:06. 90th Paul Sullivan (V50) 31:25. 91st Steven Carruthers (V45) 31:29. 93rd Jon Comyn 31:32. 107th Peter Andrews (V45) 31:59. 108th Liam Nudd 32:00. 110th Tim Moore 32:05. 112th Rose Nicholson (3rd senior lady) 32:13. 113th Leon Neeve 32:14. 115th Paul Wright (V40). 32:16. 116th Richard Chilvers (V45). 122nd Colin Galer 32:21. 136th Robert Milner 32:45. 160th Mark Smith (V40) 33:58. 163rd Billy Underdown 34:09. 169th Nigel Herrod (V55) 34:25. 182nd Bill Kingaby (V60) 34:51. 191st David Mower (V60) 35:08. 200th Stuart Brown 35:33. 211th Ben Crane 36:04. 234th Stuart Spurgeon (V40) 37:01. 236th Ann Millett (V60) 37:04. 238th Chris Comyn 37:12. 241st Alan Fairs (V45) 37:18. 252nd Simon Stevens (V45) 37:58. 259th Ray Knights (V60) 38:19. 267th Tony Millett (V60) 38:39. 277th Steve Gibbs (V50) 38:57. 278th Sarah Norman (V35) 38:58. 283rd Vladimir Laptikhovsky (V50) 39:06. 287th Kylie Rafferty (V35) 39:16. 289th Anita Drake (V35) 39:21. 310th Roberta Kay ((V50) 40:31. 316th Daryl McKeown 40:46. 324th Alan Varle (V70) 41:10. 350th Karle Howard (V45) 42:24. 361st Louise Harrod (V45) 43:17. 364th James Gooch (V40) 43:54. 397 Kaly Gooch (V50) 48:52. 400th Nicky Illingworth (Lady V40) 49:14.
In the supporting junior race, Waveney numbers were down from the previous race at Framlingham, owing to a lot of them competing the day before in a Suffolk Schools Cross Country Event.
Sam Stevens who is having a excellent winter season, put in another great run to finish in sixth place overall was third in the U15 section with his time of 12:41.
Harriet Lyman, recorded a remarkable double, she finished top in her age group (U17) in the Schools competition the day before, she then went on to win the girls race outright at Sutton with her time of 13:19. Alex Wilson clocked a creditable14:07 in finishing 18th overall (7th in the boys U15). Making her debut in cross country, Oakley Arnould who has competed in several 5km Lowestoft park runs, proved to be just as strong over the mixed terrain at Sutton, took 39th place overall in 16:19 (8th in the Girls U13 section).

Waveney Valley Athletic Club were rewarded at the 2016 Suffolk Sports Awards for their hard
work and dedication. The club, and its longest serving member Brian Boardley, were amongst several high calibre nominations, which led to an assessment panel, which included local authorities, Suffolk County Council and Suffolk Sport, having to make some very hard decisions. 
The event was sponsored by Archant, Harrod UK, Radio Suffolk and Suffolk Sport and the ceremony was held at the Trinity Park Conference Centre in Ipswich. Waveney Valley A.C had been shortlisted in the club of the year category and Brian for the Unsung Hero Award. 
To the delight of club members present, Brian won the Unsung Hero Award, for the volunteer who has made the most outstanding contribution to local sport . His service to athletics in Lowestoft and the Waveney area has spanned almost 50 years and he is well respected by his colleagues and athletes. 
From the eight awards presented at the event, the very next was for the Club of the Year, for clubs which hold a
Clubmark or equivalent NGB accreditation and have worked hard to encourage members of the community into their sport.
Waveney Valley received the runners-up award, second to Ipswich Harriers Athletics Club. 
On the recent road racing scene, twenty members competed in the Southwold 10k, results: 20 Lloyd Scriven 40:03, 32 James Drake 41:23, 43 Steve Carruthers 42:33, 54 Peter Andrews 43:12, 56 Bob Milner 43:23, 112 Matt Baldry 46:26, 197 Rob Knights 49:46, 229 Lindsay Howlett 50:49, 234 Ray Knights 50:51, 239 Suzy Knights 51:06 pb, 294 Laura Cotton 52:49, 340 Louise Adamson 54:21, 352 Alan Varle 54:42, 364 Chris Mills 55:18 pb, 395 Jo Fisk 56:38, 477 Amanda Scarff 1-00.04, 545 Beth Bell 1-02.43, 580 Nicky Illingsworth 1-04.06, 625 Claire Green 1-06.38, 680 Donna Milner 1-14.37.
Other results: Lincoln Half Marathon – Karle Howard 1-55.23, Rockingham 10k (Corby) – Rob Knights 48:38, Karle Howard 53:23 pb, Stowmarket Scenic 7 – Louise Adamson 1-00.54, Alan Varle 1-02.06, Hadleigh 10m – Alan Richardson 1-27.00. 
5k parkrun personal bests: Olivia Gelston 36:38, Emma Branch 36:53, Colin Galer 20:33, Rebecca Harris 23:47, Sarah Norman 25:20, Lee Roth 27:00, Lisa Cone 30:41, Harriet Lyman 19:23,
Andy Ayers 22:15, Simon Stevens 24:18, Daniel Critoph 26:46
and Nicky Illingsworth 30:30.