IT was the penultimate weekend for cross-country and Springfield Striders were involved in two races.

The climax of the calendar came at Parliament Hill Fields on Saturday where thousands of runners took part in the National Cross Country Championships.

The Striders fielded teams in the senior men and women events. First home for the white and yellow vests, on a quagmire of a course, were Mark Edwards and Rebecca Pittman.

In complete contrast on Sunday 150 runners took on an equally challenging course in the Mid Essex League fixture at Little Baddow.

Nikki Brockbank eased to victory in the ladies’ race. Men’s captain Stuart Raven rallied the troops as the Striders needed to win on the day to keep the pressure on league leaders Leigh on Sea.

Raven set a fine example as he finished second and along with Chris Burgoyne, Paul Dobson, Lee Martin, Stuart Putt, Tommy Careless and Alex Benson the men took top spot to leave all to play for in the final race at Highwood next week.

The road runners were also out in force at the Tarpley 20 and 10-mile races. Retaining the team prize were Mark Newton (4th), Tom Cammack (5th) and James Smith (7th). There were personal bests for Adam Richardson, Simon Miller and Dave Littleson.

Paul Bridges’ 60th marathon was notable as he beat the 3.5 hour barrier for the first time. He clocked 3:29:08 at the Hugin Challenge marathon.