The first Southern Cross Country League (SCCL race of the 2025–26 season was hosted by Basingstoke and Midhants AC AC (BMHAC) at Silchester and sees Liss Runners looking to defend their title.

The opening race was an 8.4km circuit through ancient woodland and heath - one of the cleaner courses on the calendar (enjoy it while it lasts, the mud is coming!).

We had an excellent turnout, with 27 Lissers (sorry not all made the team photo) taking to the start line and, as always, a fantastic support crew out in force, snapping photos, cheering and chasing the little Lissers around the woods.

It was brilliant to see so many new faces making their cross country debuts, as well as a few familiar ones returning to the racing scene.

There was a bit of mid-race drama when some of the lead runners went off course, and unfortunately one of our own got caught up in the mix.  Still, the squad’s overall depth and strength shone through, delivering excellent team scores for both the ladies and gents.

The ladies team came a fantastic first, with the Men 4th.  Overall, this placed Liss joint first with both Basingstoke and Fleet & Church Crookham.  What a great start to the season, but it looks like there's going to be a number of teams capabable of winning the league this season.

Team Liss

Ladies - Caroline Brown, Emily Durrant, Mollie Dyer*, Rosie Dyke, Millie Hoare, Jane Jeffreys, Lucy Jenkinson*, Jackie Lloyd, Karen Potts*, Catherine Seager, Anna Wemyss, Alex Wilkinson, Amy Woods*

Mens - Steve Armstrong, Tom Bennie, Andy Brown, Steve Clay, Chris Dettmar, Simon Dimmock, Kev Durrant, Tom Frost, Neil Hancock, John Harefield, Andy Paton, Paul Turner, James White, Tom White

* Lissers making their club debut at the SCCL