The second round of the Derby Runner cross-country league saw 43 Ivanhoe Runners in action at Markfield. The ladies team had a storming day, claiming first place overall in front of West End Runners and Hinckley. Led home by the Armstrong sisters, Ellie claimed a brilliant 3rd place and Isobel 5th place to set up a great victory. Sarah Terry had another fantastic run for 14th overall and with Faith Tipper in 28th the scoring four were all well positioned. Backing up well and pushing other teams scorers back is all part of the team tactics in this league, and Emily Wideman coming home in 38th, Rosie Dear in 58th, and Becca Hobbs in 86th did just that.

Following them home and having a strong run was Tracey Powell in 107th, just ahead of Emily Partridge 109th, Carolyn Osborne 121st and ladies cross-country captain Teresa Talbot 124th. Sarah Malone ran well for 150th, followed by Helen Smith 164th, Trish McPherson 181st, and Lucy Allsop 199th. Just outside the top 200 was Grania Towle, enjoying her run for 202nd despite a long race the previous day, while Michelle Withey enjoyed her second cross-country race for Ivanhoe as she finished in 209th. Sonia Hoult ran her first cross-country race for Ivanhoe in the company of Katie Fox, and they finished in positions 231 and 232.

Leading the men home in 51st place was Ramzi Sidani, followed by new member Chris Lockhart 63rd, Matt Brocklehurst 73rd, Gerard Eivors 77th and men's captain Nick Rowles 79th. The top scoring eight male runners were completed by Phil Stevenson 94th, Alastair Burgwin 122nd and Osian Flowers 129th.

Coming home 9th for the club was Andy Lindley in 152nd in his second cross-country run of the weekend, followed by Tom Smith in 176th, Mark Bradford 179th, Pav Mazur 185th and men's cross-country captain Martin Yeomans 197th. Mark Parker ran a solid race to finish 200th, ahead of Andy Jeyes 228th, Tim Moore 276th and Dave Walker 298th.

In his first race for the club Mark Hoult did well to finish 309th, ahead of Mark Eydman 328th and Keith Baron 347th. This team performance saw the men finish 9th overall on the day and 3rd in Division 2.

The excellent women's and men's performances saw the combined team based on 7 men and 3 ladies, finish a fine 5th.

Written by Kevin Sanders - last updated on 17/11/2016