A TEAM of 10 Reading Athletic Club veterans competed in the South of England Masters cross-country championships at Horspath (Oxford) on Saturday.

The course is traditionally a tough one, so the team were surprised to find that the steep hill was not part of the ladies course this time, while the men only had to run the lower part of the hill.

The wooded part of the course was mostly dry underfoot, at least for the first races. The weather was mild, but persistent rain got heavier as the day progressed.

All men aged over 50 raced together over a 10k course. Duncan Prior, in his first cross-country race, put in a great performance to lead Reading AC’s M50 team home in 97th place (56th in M50-54 category).

Gerry O’Driscoll ran well to finish 148th (35th M55-59) while John Whittle, also a cross-country debutant, enjoyed the race as he finished 157th (70th in M50-54 category) to bring the team home in 21st place.

Ladies of all age groups raced together over a 6k course.

Julie Rayfield started confidently, with Sue Francis following closely, but Rayfield opened a small gap on her team-mate which grew as the race progressed. Rayfield finished 24th (13th in W45-49 category) with Francis 29th (16th W45-49).

Reading’s team of W50 ladies was led home by Sian Rollings (62nd overall, 18th in W50-54 category), with Linda Church finishing a pleasing 72nd (22nd W50-54).

The team was completed by new club member Kathy Woods-Pobjoy, who had a great run in her first cross-country race to finish 89th (13th W55-59) to bring the W50-59 team home in fourth place.

By the start time of the 10K race for men aged 40-49, it was raining more heavily and the wooded section had become very wet and muddy.

Andy McDonald ran a well-paced race, with team-mate Darren Stevens close behind for the first 7k.

McDonald had a strong last lap to pull away from Stevens, but both finished well with McDonald 74th (26th in M45-49 category) and Stevens 77th (51st M40-44).

Many of the club’s veterans will be back in action after the festive break at the Berkshire County cross-country championships at Maidenhead on January 7.