Alex Gibbins celebrated becoming a father by winning the Blackheath & Bromley Open 10km cross country race at Hayes, which included the Club Veterans Championships, the latest Bennett Cup handicap race and a mob match against Beckenham Road Runners.

In fact the Club had the first five finishers with Alex winning by 46 seconds in 37.06 from youngster Richard Webb with Gareth Evans 3rd, Tom Desborough 4th and Neil Ayrton 5th. Sarah Belaon was the first woman from the Club in 33rd overall, the second female to finish.

In the mob match the Club scored 1359 points to Beckenham Road Runners 1397 while in the vets championships there were victories for David Beadle in the over 40s; Neil Ayrton over 50s, Graham Coates over 60s and Tony Pontifex over 70s. Sally Haffenden won the over 35 womens race with Claire Austridge taking the over 45s title and Maz Turner the over 55s.

First in the handicap race was Tom Desborough with David Carton second and Sally Haffenden third. In the overall Bennett Cup Handicap series after five events David Carton leads on 230 points with Nigel Bulmer second on 212. With four races still to go there is still everything to play for as Barry Wetherilt and Steve Pairman are both locked together in third on 211 points and a further four athletes have over 200 points.

The next race in the series is the prestigious Club 10 mile cross country championships which take place on February 2 at 10.30am.

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