Well done to everybody who competed in Saturday’s Harrier League fixture at Thornley Hall Farm.
The bad weather did not relent at all throughout the afternoon. Conditions on an already tough course quickly deteriorated with runners having to contend with long stretches of mud and surface water as well as the steep hills and treacherous descents. It was difficult for the organiser to adhere to the timetable with some of the later races being delayed by 30 minutes or more.
In the first race, we had several strong performances in the under 11 Boys with William Wells finishing 2nd, Oliver Ozeoke 9th, Sonny Lewins 12th and Alfie Cook, in his first race for the club, 32nd. Our only runner in the under 11 Girls was Anya Crowder who finished 2nd, keeping up her record of first three finishes.
In the under 13 Boys, Oliver Douglass, in his first club race of the winter. finished 3rd. Running from the fast pack, David Race came in 5th and was 3rd fastest overall. He was followed, also from the fast pack, by Liam Easthaugh in 12th position who secured 2nd team place. Olivier Eltringham also did well, finishing 40th.
Ines Curran was an impressive 2nd in the under 13 girls. Scarlett McMillan was a creditable 30th.
Scarlett’s brother Charlie ran through to 4th from the fast pack in the under 15 boys, only 13 seconds behind the fastest runner. In the under 15 girls, Amy Baker, new to the club this season, continued to improve in 16th place.
Will Dixon was our only runner in the under 17 boys running strongly from the fast pack to finish 10th.
The best team performance of the afternoon was the under 17/20 womens’ first place with Jessica Leslie finishing 1st, running from the medium pack, followed by Nicole McIlvaney, 3rd and Lucy Cottee, 6th. Also running from the medium pack, Emma Dixon did well to come 12th.
Only three of our women completed their race. Danielle Prizzey finished 27th, followed by Maggie Lorraine, 80th, and Karen Johnson, 212th.
We did manage to finish a team in the mens’ race with Kevin Connolly 39th overall, Peter Grinoldy 58th, Steven Medd 89th, Ross Christie 118th, Stephen Gray, 155th and Jeremy Armstrong 231st.
Thanks again to everybody who turned out and to the league officials and marshalls.
Gordon Bell
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