10th January 2004	BIRMINGHAM CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE - COVENTRY
	Yet again a very small Stoke Team participated in the 3rd Birmingham League fixture at Coventry. Tom Gayle led the way, passing me on the 3rd lap and showing that his 5th place in the Staffs Championships was no fluke. I had to dig very deep for my 36th. Steve Heathcote was higher up on the first lap - and will benefit greatly if he can get more rest from work. Richard Sinclair actually finished this time in perhaps his last race for us. It is a great pity that we have not had the benefit of his talent for the past few years. Andy Prophett and Ian Milner (suffering badly from short spikes on the slippery course) ran as hard as they could to make sure that we did not fall too far adrift of the other teams. Richard Barrington watched out for mishaps and drop-outs to make sure that we would finish six. When I think of how many good runners we have missing at the moment - I wonder at what we could really do. My thanks to Richard and Adrian for sorting out the on-the-day team management. Survival in this league depends on us getting out a much better team out at Leek!  John Danahay
	35. Tom Gayle 36. John Danahay (M40) 52. Steve Heathcote 69. Richard Sinclair 104. Andy Prophett 109. Ian Milner 152. Richard Barrington (M55) Teams 1. Loughborough Uni 2. Coventry 3. Birmingham Uni 4. OWLS 5. Birchfield 6. Staffs Moorlands 7. Tipton 8. Rugby & Northampton 9. Halesowen 10. Kidderminster & Stourport 11. Leamington 12. Stoke AC 13. Trentham After 3 Races 1. Loughborough Uni 2. Birmingham Uni 3. Coventry 4. OWLS 5. Birchfield 6. Tipton 7. Staffs Moorlands 8. Stoke AC 9. Kidderminster & Stourport 10. Rugby & Northampton 11. Trentham 12. Halesowen 13. Leamington	29.44 29.47 30.23 30.54 32.37 33.08 38.26 76 122 184 187 220 232 251 335 325 373 403 405 513 366 471 528 563 574 832 848 1083 1136 1152 1178 1208 1308