Weekly Report – 19th January 2020

Sunday the 19th of January 2020 was a bright but cold day. The temperature outside was 3 degrees centigrade, but the gentle winter breeze turned that to a degree below zero.

The freezing temperature did not stop members of Sudbury Joggers from attending races.

At Haughley Park near Stowmarket, seven members attended the third of six Suffolk Winter League Cross Country races for the Stowmarket Cross Country.

Haughley Park is an area of 250 acres of well-maintained woodland, parkland and beautifully landscaped gardens and Sunday saw hundreds of runners participating the 5-mile cross country race organised by Stowmarket Striders.

The temperature might have been freezing, but the bright sunny morning had defrosted the ground and gave the runners a wet, muddy and slippery course to run two laps around.

To make the course a little more of a challenge, runners met ditches and fell trees they had to make their way over, including one large log that awaited runners just before a small but steep, wet and sharp incline. This log was found just before the end of each loop of the course.

None of the challenges around the woodland and parkland proved too much of a problem for Andy Buck, Gary Godfrey, Ruth Cowlin, Steve Roberts, Jackie Hann, Charlie Hann and Jonathan Price who teamed up with Newmarket Joggers for the event.

The results of the Stowmarket Cross Country are expected to be published in the coming days and should be available for next week’s report.

Meanwhile, further north in Norfolk, between Thetford and Norwich, Gary Perryman attended the Snetterton Racetrack to run the Snetterton 10k. Perryman set himself a new personal best by finishing in a time of 42 minutes exactly.