Shrewsbury Athletic Club runners have competed in the third fixture of the North Wales Cross Country League at Dolgellau. Despite strong individual performances, the Club slipped to 4^th place on the day, still leading Division 1 by the smallest of margins but needing a strong turnout for the last two fixtures at Shrewsbury and Oswestry if they are to retain their League title for the fourth consecutive season. The team were led home by Jim Hickinbottom in 7^th place with Dan Elliot 15^th, Robert Fox 21^st, Gabe Morris 25^th, Graham Jones 49^th and Antonio Gasparinho 55^th completing the team scorers. There were age category successes for Jim Hickinbottom 1^st Veteran Over 35, Robert Fox 2^nd Veteran Over 35, Gabe Morris 3^rd Veteran Over 35 and Graham Jones 1^st Veteran Over 60. The Masters' Team finished 1^st on the day and are currently 1^st in the Series. The Over 65 team finished 3^rd and comprised Pete Savill 3^rd despite recovering from injury, Duncan Rose 14^th and Tony Scales 23^rd.

The Club are hosting the penultimate fixture at the Roman Road Sports Centre Meole Brace Shrewsbury on Saturday January 11^th.

Results:

7 Jim Hickinbottom 36/00(1V35), 15 Dan Elliot 36/31, 21 Robert Fox 37/44(2V35), 25 Gabe Morris 38/12(3V35), 49 Graham Jones 39/58(1V60), 55 Antonio Gasparinho 40/21, 61 Adam Burgoyne 41/12, 89 Matt Wooden 43/47, 110 Andy Lewis 46/27. Over 65: 3 Pete Savill 31/47, 14 Duncan Rose 39/01, 23 Tony Scales 53/05.

On the international scene, two Club runners competed in the Valencia Marathon, with Jon Bowie producing a personal best time of 2/28/09 in 164^th place and 14^th in the Veteran Over 40 category and Paul Jones 323^rd in 2/36/50 and 10^th in the Veteran Over 45 category, in a field of over 21,000 runners.

Report Compiled by Tony Scales