OPERATIONAL con-siderations at RAF Barnham last Wednesday nearly resulted in the fourth race in this year's East Anglian Cross-Country League being cancelled at the last minute.

OPERATIONAL con-siderations at RAF Barnham last Wednesday nearly resulted in the fourth race in this year's East Anglian Cross-Country League being cancelled at the last minute.

But fortunately it was possible to put together at short notice an impromptu course which proved to be every bit as challenging and as interesting as those which are usually on offer at this heathland venue. Certainly it presented no problems for the 10-runner contingent representing the Great Yarmouth Road Runners.

Making light of the rabbit holes and other intricacies of the course was first home Richard Blake, making his mark in this league again this year. He was followed home by one of the rising young stars from East Norfolk Sixth Form College, who form part of the team in this league, Jordon Reed - who ran effortlessly and has made considerable progress since the beginning of the season.

Making up the A team were Stephen Houghton and Mike Spragg, fresh from his endeavours at the county championships.

Leading the way home for the

B team was John Bone, a key member of the squad in a number of ways, with Gary Stanley returning in style and Paul Westgate again enjoying the outing.

Unfortunately, for the second time this season, there was no fourth runner to make up the scoring team on this occasion.

The ladies had no such problem as in their case it is just three runners to score, and Alice Wicks, Briony Lowe and Laurie Fox did so in style, all being highly placed in their category and earning valuable points.

Like their fellow students they are now in fine fettle for this week's Norfolk Schools' Championships at Sloughbottom Park in Norwich.

At Folksworth, near Peterborough, were two of the Road Runners for last weekend's 15-mile race, a popular event with a field in excess of 500.

The long distance to the start, the hilly conditions and the windy weather notwithstanding, both Paul Brookshaw and John Hills enjoyed an event in which a fair number of runners dropped out for a variety of reasons.

The next big road race locally is next weekend's Reedham 10, advertised elsewhere in this paper.

Results: EACCL Race 4, RAF Barnham, Wednesday, January 14: 18 Richard Blake 183 points, 23 Jordon Reed 178, 25 Stephen Houghton 176, 31 Mike Spragg 170. Total Team A: 707. 34 John Bone 167, 36 Gary Stanley 165, 39 Paul Westgate 162. Total Team B: 494. 3 Alice Wicks 198 points, 6 Briony Lowe 195, 11 Laurie Fox 190. Total Ladies Team 583.

Folksworth 15, Sunday, January 18: 1 Paul Brookshaw 1-44:39, 2 John Hills 2-12:11.