We had a splendid turnout at the first harrier league meeting of the season with 26 men and 19 women. In spite of the dismal wet weather in the preceding days, we were blessed with near perfect conditions – blue skies, bright sunshine, a cooling breeze and a smattering of muddy puddles.
There were some notable absences from the men’s team, but despite that we were able to produce four complete teams of six and an incomplete team of two. Amongst the team were some newcomers to cross country, so thank you to them for giving it a go. We do hope you will return as you all ran admirably meaning that the Elswick team finished in a respectable 10th in the second division. Congratulations to Jamie Styles and Chris Mason who made the big transition from running in the under 17s to the senior category, and finished in our top six hence they scored for the team.
10th (A) Mark Turnbull, Scott Brady, Jamie Styles, Paul Jones, Joe Higgins, Chris Mason
(B) Steve Addison, Chris Pearce, Rob Emson, Michael Clegg, Rob Lambert, Paul Taylor
(C) Lee Coulson, Daniel Nettle, Jonathon Newcastle, Robert Young, Peter Dawson, Joe Hall
(D) Simon Lynch, Rob Wilson, Michael Palmer, Peter Jobson, Stephen Naylor, Jeff Emmerson
(E) Jason Meecham, Aidan Cairns
There was some trepidation amongst the women as we embarked on our first race since promotion to the first division. However, like the men, we had a good turnout of runners ranging from our most experienced cross country racer Jude Nutt to a posse of first timers from Les’ beginners group. Louise Jones had a particularly good first race managing to finish in the B team. There was a lovely reception for the trio of Tracey Redhead, Dawn Harman and Dionne Milburn as they crossed the line with linked hands held aloft. Thanks again to everyone who contributed to our finishing position of 6th team in the first division.
6th (A) Amy Fuller, Cath Lee, Andrea Banner, Judith Nutt
(B) Felicity Smith, Bella Pearce, Hannah Marshall, Louise Jones
(C) Amy Heptinstall, Kim Matthews, Melissa Bateson, Sarah Addison
(D) Emma Dance, Amy Brown, Michelle Coleman, Laura Clegg
(E) Tracey Redhead, Dionne Milburn, Dawn Harman
Post race smiles for the senior women and over 60s runners.
Check out Ian Harman’s FB posts for a very comprehensive collection of photos of the race.
Many thanks to Ann and Richard Lee for ensuring the tent was taken to Wrekenton and erected for all of our runners to use and to Coach Tom Hanson for taking charge of the tent at the end of the race.
Noel Stoddart our championship director has posted the Inter club cross country championship rankings on our Facebook page.
Next in the series is this weekend – Sunday 6 October – Druridge Bay. This is an excellent course with fewer climbs than Wrekenton. Trail shoes should suffice if you have yet to avail yourself of cross country spikes. Hope to see as good a turnout as Wrekenton.
Andrea Banner
Thanks for the excellent report Andrea.
Might be worth acknowledging the fact that the Men aged 65 plus can race over the shorter distance with the senior and Veteran women. They are listed in the women’s results as not counting in the team race but are given finish results from the various packs.