Jonathan's 2009 Race Report:
With recent snow and ice leaving much of the Chiltern countryside awash with water, Sunday's Hardwick X-Stream cross-country race was always going to one of the toughest for years. However, local athlete Eddie O'Gorman failed to read the script. The Chiltern Harrier stormed around the claggy six-mile course to win in 32m 12s - and take his first-ever Hardwick victory. Organised by Aylesbury's Bearbrook Joggers and Whitchurch Cricket Club, the Hardwick attracted an impressive entry of 261 athletes for the annual race over a challenging course at Manor House Farm in Hardwick. The route for the Up & Running Aylesbury and Storm Records-supported race was cut short by 500 metres after organisers ruled that one of the three water crossings was too deep to pass. When the race got underway, O'Gorman - three times a runner up on the Hardwick - immediately hit the front with Paul Farmer of Ampthill and Flitwick Flyers keeping him company. The duo were inseparable for much of the six miles over ploughed fields, dirt tracks and grassland but O'Gorman's strength told in the end and he reached the finish 30s ahead of his rival to claim the spoils and the cash prize for being the top male finisher. The class of O'Gorman and Farmer was illustrated by how far they finished ahead of third-placed athlete, Fabian Downs. The Chiltern Harrier was a full three minutes behind O'Gorman at the finish line. Other athletes that were victorious in the men's category included Stephen Earley (Bedford Harriers) who scooped the V40 veterans' honours in 36m 17s, John Nelson (Alchester Running Club) who topped the V50 times in 38m 11s and Bearbrook Joggers' Brendan Cradden who was the fastest runner in the V60 category after clocking a time of 46m 42s. The ladies category was just as competitive at the Hardwick and it was Bearbrook Joggers' Michelle Dublon who emerged victorious on 'home' soil to add to her success a day earlier at the final round of the Chiltern Cross Country League in Luton. But her winning time of 44m 08s was only four seconds faster than her team-mate Maria Russell could manage, while unattached runner Chloe Oldfield marked her competitive off road debut by coming home third overall, a further 20 seconds behind. In the veterans' categories, Laura Butt (Chiltern Harriers) took the V35 honours in 44m 53s, Jacqueline Grundy (Gade Valley Harriers) was the fastest V45 finisher in 50m 30s, while Hilary O'Shea (Abingdon Amblers) sealed the V55 category in 52m 11s.