Congratulations to Peter Field who romped home to first place in the 2025/26 Winter Handicap Series with a whopping total of 31 points. Hallie Lisle took a well deserved second place with 23 points and Charles Convery claimed the last step on the podium with 16 points. The fastest run of the series for the men was completed by Stevyn Mills with a time of 29:00, just five seconds faster than Matt Jarvis (29:05) and a minute ahead of Euan Heaney in third spot (30:01). Rebecca Barnett claimed the speed title for the women with a time of 36:56, with Penny Abbott in second place (38:33) and Debbie Mangan just seven seconds further back in third (38:40). Congratulations everyone, and a huge thank you to the series timekeepers, Bob and Merv , who turned up in all weathers, armed with stopwatches and clipboards. Their dedication is incredible and the series simply wouldn't happen without them. Now, as the evenings get lighter, we turn our attention to the Summer Handicap Series. Peter Field (far right) claimed 1st place, with Hallie Lisle (second right) second and Charles Convery (second left) third. Bob (left) and Merv (front) were our stalwart timekeepers.

Our Winter Handicap race follows a circular route around Fleet, starting and finishing at the Crookham Park Community Centre. View the Route on Strava HERE. These timed monthly events involve runners setting off at intervals, based on their last effort across the course, or their predicted 10K finish time if new to the Handicap. The fastest runners set off last and the basic idea is that everyone finishes at roughly the same time. The series involves a system of points - the higher you finish, the more points you score - and these are totalled up across the series so that we have a winner and runners-up by the end of it. A fantastic way to race with your club mates and an event that really can be won by anyone, here are the latest results 2025/26 Series Race 1: 15 September, 2025 Race 2: 23 October, 2025 Race 3: 20 November, 2025 Race 4: 22 January, 2026 Race 5: 19 February, 2026 Race 6: 12 March, 2026 2024/25 Series The 2024/25 Series saw five races completed over the course of the winter, with some fierce competition throughout. 2023/24 Series The 2023/24 Winter Handicap series was the first to use the current route. 2022/23 Series The 2022/23 Series was the last to use the old Winter Handicap route, skirting around Velmead Woods and venturing up King's Road before returning via the lengthy Aldershot Road. 2021/22 Series The 2021/22 series included a whopping 7 races!

Words by Aaron Webb, winner of round 3. Conditions were cloudy and humid in round 3 of the Southern Cross Country League at Bourne woods. A turnout of 11 from the club made up a small but determined team. As we all lined up, the start line was a sea of colour with athletes in club vests huddled, desperately trying to stay warm and out the wind. The gun went and several sharp corners and narrow muddy tracks saw plenty of nerves and jostling for position. I decided to go out hard leading from the off, on the basis that a fairly muddy course meant finding the fastest (and driest) line with limited space. The fast start meant I didn’t have to worry about squeezing past people in the later stages of the race. Heading out onto the main loop  at kilometer 2 (now in second) gave way to long muddy sections and a brutal climb at kilometer 3. I managed to power up the hill and settled into a fast but comfortable pace to try and chase down the leader. With about 2 km to go, and back in the lead, I looked round to see an empty path behind me. However it was still too early to celebrate as I knew those behind would be finishing fast, so I pushed on with my legs now starting to burn.  Less than 1km to go, at the top of the final climb I look back to see a sizable gap to second and third. “Could this be it? Can I actually win?”. Rounding the final corner and with a quick sprint to the finish I had done it. Finishing 1st overall and delighted to see Alex Thompson take second place. A one-two for the club!! Within 5 minutes though I was rather cold again and had to layer up and seek shelter under the catering gazebo. Overall, this was one of those races where resilience mattered. The weather and course won’t live long in the memory, but the results certainly will. A very solid day’s work from the club with full teams in the male and female race.

Fleet and Crookham Athletic Club had strong representation across nearly all races at the South East School's Inter County Cross Country Championships on Saturday 31st January 2026 . Aaron (far right, in Hampshire red colours) mid lap Athletes from Hampshire competed against Berkshire, Sussex, Surrey, Essex and Kent to race at Writtle College in Essex. Hampshire had a fantastic day, winning 4 out of 6 age groups, and winning overall by nearly double the next county. Five athletes were from our club. Congratulations to you all, an inspiration to us all. Bonnie B - Junior Girls Arthur T - Inter Boys Bethany H - Inter Girls Aaron W - Senior Boys Sydney V - Senior Girls Full results and further details here; https://www.hampshireathletics.org.uk/hampshire-success-at-south-east-schools-inter-counties/ Bethany at the finish

Words by Matt Jarvis The Ryde 10 miler is a standout fixture in the Hampshire Road Race League (HRRL). Hosted by Ryde Harriers, the event took place on 1st February; a damp and gloomy day. As it's part of the HRRL, there were highly competitive club runners from across Hampshire and the South Coast, hoping to gain points for their teams. Fleet & Crookham AC was represented by 4 runners, Rebecca Barnett, Mickael Hegesippe, Alison Moore and myself, Matt Jarvis. Sadly, Stevyn had to pull out after an injury flared up during his warm up session, which was disappointing for him. We managed what we could on places to try and recover some points, due to not being full teams. Starting at 11am, with a few brief glimpses of sunlight, just opposite Ryde Castle, 535 runners set off on the single-lap course of testing hills and country lanes with approximately 600 feet of total ascent! Me absolutely loving the hill we’ve just been up, knowing there are more to come A flat first km along Ryde esplanade and around the canoe lake before the climb begun. I hit the first hill way too fast, with a km pace of 3:22 - Classic Matt! The route then heads inland where we faced a series of short, sharp inclines followed by descents which kept our heart rate high! Around halfway there is a steep climb called Nodes Point, which was challenging and quite testing on the legs. The final quarter, however, was a relief to be running downhill and back onto a flat section towards the harbour again, allowing for some serious acceleration. The team at the peak of Nodes Point. I think I can confidently say for everyone there that this hill was the toughest! I was pretty chuffed with my performance, breaking the 65-minute barrier, setting my 10 mile pb on a course known for its difficulty, and securing 33rd place overall. The rest of the club team finished as follows: Rebecca 1:09:46 Mickael 1:11:42 Alison 1:34:24 The medal itself is of excellent quality and design, depicting the route that we ran. First medal of 2026 in the bag, hopefully many more to come! To conclude, it was an overall enjoyable run, that was well organised, enthusiastic marshals and friendly atmosphere. Shame the weather wasn’t as bright as the marshals’ smiles 🙂. Famous for being hilly, it was a rewarding race that will test your legs so I’m definitely considering running it again. Full results here: https://www.rydeharriers.co.uk/results/

Louis B completed his first heptathlon at the South of England Combined Events Championships held at Lee Valley on 13-14 December. Louis B at the SEAA Heptathlon The event included 60metres, long-jump, shot put, high-jump, 60metre hurdles, pole vault and 1000 metres. There were lots of firsts for Louis to overcome – first 60m, first shot put, first 60m hurdles at a new (scary!) height of 99.1cm, first pole vault comp and first 1k. It was also his first time competing at U20 age group. Due to age group changes he’ll move to U18s in April. This experience was just about learning and seeing how it felt to put together two days of competition. Whilst some events didn’t go to plan, he has lots of positives to take from the experience and showed great resilience to keep going and push on.

Conditions were tough from the gun in round 5 of the Hampshire Road Race League at the Victory 5 mile as 11 from the club made it to a wet and windy North Harbour car park on the outskirts of Portsmouth. Persistent rain and a stiff wind made it a proper test of grit, with standing water in places and headwinds on the more exposed sections of the course. The route itself offered little in the way of variety or shelter, but it certainly rewarded discipline and hard work. As we all lined up, the start line was a sea of colour with athletes in club vests huddled, desperately trying to stay warm and out the wind. This was of course a fruitless exercise, as the heavy drizzle and exposed location gave no hiding place from the elements. Within a couple minutes of the gun going I was warm though. As we weaved our way around lap 1, several sharp corners and puddles saw plenty of nerves and jostling for position; try and minimise course distance whilst keeping the racing shoes as dry as possible. I decided to sharpen my elbows and go out hard, on the basis that all the corners meant finding space was important. And so it proved as the course narrowed after 1 km. Those additional places gained meant I didn’t have to worry about squeezing past people. Heading out onto lap 2 it was much of the same, wind, rain and hard work. I managed to find a small group of 4 to work with, and settled in to a challenging pace. As soon as I thought about the pace and the pain, I started drifting off the group so I got my head down and tried to focus on my form; “High knees, good carry. Stay tall and on my today. Stop thinking about the effort, it’s hard for everyone. Except maybe that AFD guy, he looks like a proper runner. What am I doing up here with him? Why did even bother to do this race? Maybe pain is something more? Am I injured? Damn, focus! Follow. Rhythm. Pass with the tailwind.” Greg Wright in full flight heading into the finish With 2 km to go, I pushed on, notably on a short rise leading to the narrow path again - the only slope of any real note on the course. Less than 7mins of effort, let’s go! A little worried I might have gone too early - but confident that any idea of a sprint at the end was never going to happen - I managed to drop  the remaining 2 I was with and bridge over to 2 others who we were slowly catching. I stuck with them until about 400m to go, where I planned to give it a bit more grunt, only to realise there really was no more and that was that, hang on for another 90 seconds and see it home. I finished 77th overall and 7th V40, coming away with a 5 mile PB in 29m 30s. Water, mince pie and medal in hand, I went over to cheer others in. Within 5 minutes though I was rather cold again and had to find shelter. Sorry to miss some of you at the end, it really was not a day to be loitering! Very quick team photo (L-R Becky, Jemima, Clive, Greg, Leanne, Nick, Matt, Imogen) Missing: Stevyn, Alison, Alex  Overall, this was one of those races where resilience mattered more than romance. The weather and course won’t live long in the memory, but the results certainly will. A very solid day’s work from the club and with full teams in the male and female race, we should see ourselves climb up the league again. Full results here https://live.sportsystems.co.uk/results.aspx?CId=20246&RId=12278&EId=1&dt=1&top=3 words by Matt Hinshelwood

'Twas the night of the Christmas Handicap. There were Santa hats aplenty tonight as over 100 seniors and juniors joined forces for our annual Christmas Handicap race over 2km, followed by secret Santa and hotdogs. All made possible by our amazing volunteer time keepers, marshals and helpers

There was an incredible turnout at the Southern Cross Country League race at Alice Holt Forest last weekend, with 36 runners taking to the muddy trails around the Forestry Commission land, coming home in joint first place alongside Haslemere Border AC. In bright sunshine, the giant Fleet and Crookham Team also saw some fantastic personal results, with Caitlin Millar topping the table and claiming first spot in the ladies race, while Alex Thompson, Aaron Webb, Ewan Heaney and Richard Williams all finished within the top ten for the men. With other club runners helping to push those from other clubs down the field, the final result was a well-deserved joint first for the Club. Well done everyone, and special mention too to baker-of-the-day, Matt H, for the post-race millionaires shortbread!

Two big races in the main club competitions in Hampshire Cross Country League and the Hampshire Road Race League, with a strong representation from the club and some brilliant results across the two days. Hampshire League – Wellesley Woods, Aldershot First up on Saturday was the Hampshire League Cross Country, over at Wellesley Woods – virtually a home race. AFD did a great job of hosting round 2 of the league on the same course as last year. We had Superb representation in both the Female (10) and Male (13) senior races.  Firstly, great numbers of athletes out, and secondly what a fantastic atmosphere there was in the club tent, the envy of many teams, noted as opposition athletes were (genuinely) cheered in by a sea of red, white and black. It was so good to see familiar faces and some who haven’t raced in a while, the club vest suits you all! Conditions were mixed, with heavy fields and grippy trails in the woods making it hard work throughout, but not too much of a slog. In the women’s race, the seniors had the best result so far, finishing 9th overall (out ALL teams!) and 2nd in division 3. For the Vets it was a solid 5th position. The men scored well in both the seniors and the vets, finishing 9th overall in the seniors, and 5th in the vets, just 5 points behind AFD in 3rd. The old adage of every point counts really does when you’re fighting with the big clubs (does that make us a big club?). Overall results are difficult to follow, and with an unknown number of races remaining, it’s hard to know how they will score the league overall. Also the women’s results don’t have an overall league for the first two races (at time of writing). But it’s fair to say we’re punching well above our weight in both mens and women’s senior and vets leagues. We’re in the top half of league 3 for the women, potentially top 2nd or 3rd. Hopefully we’ll know more in due course. For the men, the seniors are comfortably 6th in Division 1, and 3rd in the vets league. When you consider the clubs we’re surrounded by, we should be very proud of this. In the vets league we have AFD breathing down our backs in 4th place! We’re also currently ahead of Basingstoke. These results are all down to the whole team. Every single athlete. We are in a very strong position in seniors and vets leagues, and with at most 2 fixtures left to play, we really want strong teams out for the remainder of the season. Post race Cookies and brownies were provided by husband and wife, Greg and Leanne. Thank you both! My kids were every so slightly wired that evening. HRRL – Gosport Half We also saw a team of 10 of us out Sunday for the Gosport Half Marathon on Sunday. There were a few pairs of tired legs from yesterday’s cross country, but spirits were high during the epic warmup (imagine stacked man throwing limbs to 90s dance bangers on a stage in the breezy south coast air!). Debbie’s single-word description of the course was accurate; boring. But no real complaints were heard as 3 pb’s were recorded by Stevyn Mills (1:18:48), Jonny Brewster (1:29:12) and Debbie Mangan (1:40:14) amongst some terrific running by the seaside. Greg Wright took a quite brilliant 4th, a day after a 10km cross country. That’s just showing off in my book. Back home in just over an hour, definitely one to consider if you want a fast half next year. Rebecca Hinshelwood’s (1:39:31) highlight was the bongo band somewhere along the sea front. Not many races can offer you that! I missed out on ice cream and a fish supper, but made it back just in time to walk the dogs. This is the life of a part-time athlete. Please consider racing for your club. We all win when there are more of us in the race, wherever you finish.

Season Overview What a start to the autumn season! From hilly roads to muddy trails, our runners have shown grit, determination, and plenty of team spirit. Here’s a look back at the highlights from September through early November—and how these results set us up to achieve our season goals. Overton 5 Mile – Sunday 7th September The season kicked off with the Overton 5 Mile, a rarely raced distance that gave plenty of opportunities for PBs—but this was no easy course. After a downhill first kilometre, runners faced relentless undulations and even a mid-race downpour to cool things off. Despite the challenging conditions, our men’s team stormed to first place in the league with a combined score of 68 from four runners, while the women secured second with 186 points. A brilliant turnout of sixteen club runners set the tone for the season. This strong start in the Hampshire Road Race League puts us firmly on track for our goal of finishing in the top five overall. SEAA Road Relay Championships – Saturday 20th September Next came the SEAA Road Relay Championships, an iconic event that saw us competing against some of the most prestigious clubs in the South East. Our senior men’s team of Greg W, Stevyn M, Aaron W, Alex T, Ryan P, and Giorgio C, alongside our senior women—Penny A, Leanne K, Amy B, and Lindsay W—gave everything on the fast, competitive course. The vets men, featuring Mike H, Jonny B, Charles C, and Mickael H, even managed to beat local rivals Hart Road Runners, which was a huge highlight of the day. Racing against elite clubs left us feeling proud and a little awestruck, but it also showcased the depth and determination within our squads—qualities that will be vital for success in both cross-country leagues and the HRRL. Bournemouth XC – Hampshire League – Saturday 11th October Our first cross-country fixture of the season took us to Bournemouth, where dry conditions made the course feel almost like a road race. This led to one of the day’s funniest moments: Matt Hinshelwood confidently told his whole family to wear trail or road shoes, insisting spikes weren’t needed—before giving in to peer pressure and wearing spikes himself! Despite the unusual conditions, our men’s team finished an impressive sixth in Division 1 with a score of 219, a fantastic result in our debut season at this level. The vets men secured second place with 32 points, while the women finished eighth and the vets women ninth. With twelve men and nine women making the long trek, this was a brilliant turnout and a strong start toward our goal of keeping the men in Division 1 and pushing the women toward promotion. Fleet 10km – Sunday 26th October Our home race was a true celebration of Fleet & Crookham pride. Huge thanks go to Becky Hinshelwood for an outstanding debut as Race Director and to all the volunteers who gave up their chance to race to make the event a success. We had thirty-six runners in the 10km, including five men finishing in the top twenty, and thirty-eight runners in the 5km, including a fantastic showing from our juniors! While Fleet 10km isn’t part of the HRRL, it highlights the incredible depth of talent across our senior squads—and the juniors are hot on our heels. This event showed that Fleet & Crookham AC is thriving at every level. Benyons Inclosure XC – Southern League – Sunday 2nd November The first Southern League fixture brought drama and success in equal measure. Our top five men all went the wrong way after a confusing sign mishap, causing frustration and disappointment—but they recovered brilliantly to help the team finish third overall with a score of 64. The women’s team delivered a superb second-place finish with 45 points, and when the scores were combined, Fleet & Crookham AC finished joint first overall. With sixteen men and twelve women turning out, this was a fantastic display of commitment and resilience. Joint first in the opening Southern League fixture puts us in a brilliant position to achieve our goal of finishing in the top five overall. Season Goals Hampshire League XC: Men to stay in Division 1; Women aim for promotion. Southern XC League: Finish in the top five overall. Hampshire Road Race League (HRRL): Finish in the top five overall. So far, we’re hitting the marks: ✓ Men holding sixth in Division 1 after Bournemouth. ✓ Women building momentum for promotion. ✓ HRRL results from Overton keep us competitive for top five. ✓ Joint first in Southern League after Benyons—dream start! ✓ Fleet 10km shows our depth and future strength with juniors coming through. Shoutouts Jemima Hinshelwood & Aaron Webb for stepping up to senior racing. Giorgio Coppola for stellar performances (and those race vlogs!). Leanne Wright, Matt Hinshelwood, Aaron Webb, Lindsay Webb for making every XC and Road Race League fixture so far. What’s Next Sun 16 Nov: Gosport Half Marathon (HRRL) Sun 23 Nov: Bourne Woods (Southern XC) Sun 7 Dec: Victory 5 Mile (HRRL) Sun 21 Dec: Lord Wandsworth (Southern XC) Let’s keep the momentum going—Fleet & Crookham AC is making waves this season! Keep training hard, keep supporting each other, and let’s smash those goals together.

34 Juniors made their way to Eastleigh for the first sportshall competition of the year. With teams from Southampton, Portsmouth, Aldershot, IOW, New forest and Winchester the competition remains very competitive. The juniors were brilliant both individually and as a team producing some amazing results which the club are very proud of! Some highlights are as follows; Under 11 Girls team – FIRST place (4 placed in the top 10) Under 11 girls Fearne Strong (first appearance for F&CAC) – Overall WINNER Under 13 Boys team – FIRST and SECOND place Under 13 boys – Austin Voaden THIRD overall Under 13 girls – Leah Schembri – Overall WINNER Some fantastic results and great team camaraderie. We would encourage all juniors to sign up to Match 2. Match 1 Under 11 Girls Match 1 Under 11 Boys Match 1 Under 13 Girls Match 1 Under 13 Boys Match 1 Under 15 Boys Match 1 Under 15 Girls