The Chiltern League of cross-country races finished last Saturday, 11 February with the final race at Wing. It was a crucial race for Chiltern because they were tightly squeezed in fourth place, just behind Vale of Aylesbury and just ahead of Harrow AC with very few points separating the three clubs. On the day, Vale of Aylesbury pulled out all the stops and won the race team prize, beating both Marshall Milton Keynes and Bedford & County, although those two teams had already secured first and second place in the over-all league. Vale of Aylesbury's excellent result secured them their third place in the final table.
Chiltern Harriers had a very good day too. They were third in the team race, with the men's team second behind Vale of Aylesbury. This may be their best ever result. The women were fifth on the day, again just behind Vale of Aylesbury.
At the end, the final points at the top end of the table were this:
| Total | Men | Women | ||
| Marshall Milton Keynes | 13011 | 9605 | 3406 | |
| Bedford & County | 11809 | 8652 | 3157 | |
| Vale of Aylesbury | 11451 | 9543 | 1908 | |
| Chiltern Harriers | 11195 | 9196 | 1999 | |
| Harrow AC | 10376 | 8872 | 1504 |
As the table shows, both Chiltern men and Chiltern women were third over-all, but Vale of Aylesbury men finished second over-all and their strong men's team kept Chiltern to a fourth place in the combined results.
G Suffling of Luton was the winner of the 5 ½ mile race with R Ashe of Harrow AC second. In the women's race, I Thornburgh of Marshall MK was first with P Prescott of Bedford & County second. The Chiltern Harriers men's team which took third place comprised Stewart Ellerby who continued his excellent form to take 10th place in 31m:53s, Eddie O'Gorman having an excellent race for 13th place in 32m:01s, Derek Brown 34th in 33m:42s, Kingsley Nanton 43rd in 34m:47s, Tony Sheldon 49th in 35m:11s, Nigel Derby 52nd in 35m:24s, Mark Fallowfield-Smith 66th in 36m:21s, Adam Jones, 70th in 36m:44s, Pete Wootton, 76th in 36m:55s and Gary Walford, 77th in 36m:56s.
The women's team which finished fifth comprised Laura Butt, who is running very well at the moment with an excellent 7th place in 25m:51s, Rhona MacDonald 22nd in 27m:42s, Claire Stubbings 24th in 27m:54s and J Mills 32nd in 29m:53s.
Team Captain Gary Walford summed things up: - "This was a very good day for Chiltern Harriers. The men and boys team combined finished second on the day, and third over-all in the league. In both cases this was our best ever result. The team finished fourth in the league placings - again our best ever result. And getting pipped by Vale of Aylesbury for third place gives us something to aim for next year. Congratulations to them, and to the winners - Marshall Milton Keynes."
Chiltern Harriers next event is the National Championships at Parliament Hill Fields in London on February 26.