With some members partying on into the night it could have been a depleted team that turned up for the latest round of the Derby Runner Cross Country League on a cold clear morning at Grace Dieu near Shepshed. As it happened Ivanhoe again had a great turnout of 30 runners, and there was a fantastic team spirit, especially since Martin had taken the gazebo and club banner and Teresa had organised hot drinks and cakes at the end…..very welcome on such a cold day. The course is about 5.5 miles and has short sharp uphills, a few uphill ‘drags’, long downhills and a mixture of woodland and field running with 2 stream crossings…plenty to contend with and unfortunately there were a few casualties at the end for the first aiders to deal with. Men’s results It was amazing that Ramzi Sidani even made it to the race despite his efforts the night before in the bar and on the dance floor, and even more impressively still finished first for the club, coming 54th overall in a time of 35:06. Zak Meakin had a great run to come in next in 65th overall with a time of 35:43. As Zak is a 2nd claim member for the club he did not count in the team score with Ian Bolton our next counter coming 82nd in 36:24, with Martin Yeomans, club personality of the year next finishing 99th in 37:19. Gerard Eivors finished next, placing 107th in 37:38 with Nick Rowles not too far behind coming 119th in 39:16. Unfortunately further mens’ times were unavailable as there were too many runners ‘in the funnel’ for the timekeeper to cope! Finishing postions were recorded and an Ivanhoe ‘bunch’ finished close together next, with Andy Jeyes coming 232nd, Dave Morse 234th, Andy Pawley 235th and Roger Beavan 236th. Kev Wright was not far behind, 250th followed by John Shaw in 255th, Alan Edwards 269th and Keith Baron 300th, Tim Sturla 315th and Karl Saville 321st completing the team. Ivanhoe men came 16th out of 21 teams, with Hermitage coming top dogs. Women’s results Lucy Arkinstall made a welcome return from University in Durham to come in first for Ivanhoe ladies in a fantastic 9th place with a time of 40:13….well done Lucy! Rosie Dear was next in 43rd in a time of 43:56, with Zoe Allery close on her heels coming 45th in 44:06. . Harriet Roberts was just behind Zoe in 46th in a time of 44:13, and due to her running 2nd claim Laura Graves became our 4th counter in 76th in a time of 47:04. . Tracey Smith had a great performance to get 80th in 47:13, with Victoria Smith also having a great run coming 85th in 48:05 .Teresa Talbott was next, 99th in 49:00, with Amanda Bradbury just behind, 100th in 49:09, and Ellie Shaw 101st in 49:12. Ali Sturla was next in 50:42, coming 110th, with the ever young Sally Jeyes 123rd in 52:07, Heather Swan still smiling in 128th with a time of 53:19 and Lucy Roberts completing a fantastic team effort to come 131st in 54:17. There were 20 teams competing for the women and Ivanhoe came 10th with Barrow coming 1st. Overall, Ivanhoe came 16th out of 19 teams with Hermitage leading today. Hopefully the team can improve on these positions with an even larger turnout for the next race at Bosworth Battlefield on 16th February.