First off were the masters women, followed by the masters men. Both female (Jane Giles, Freda Summerfield, Jackie Phillips) and male (Steven Medd, Kevin Connolly, David Dawson) teams finished 4th, out of the medals but with very credible runs across both teams.
Then came the turn of the senior women. They were led off by Gillian Manford (2nd fastest leg of the race) who handed over in second place to Katherine Downie who closed the gap by 10 seconds but still in second place, then finished off by Beth Curran who brought the team home in a brilliant silver medal position!
Finally, a very strong senior men’s team really showed that strength. The always reliable Conrad Franks ran first leg, handing over to James Cripwell in 2nd place. James kept Gateshead in the hunt, handing over in 3rd to National XC Champion Calum Johnson who ran a stunning leg. Calum’s leg was the fastest of the day by an incredible 31s which hauled Gateshead into first place. Dan Alexander then ran a great leg to keep the team in gold medal position!
We also had a senior men’s B-team of Peter Grimoldby, Chris Parkin and (making his Gateshead debut) Phill Jamieson. Sadly, an incomplete team which was comfortable inside the top 20 after three legs.
Well done and thanks to all our athletes for taking part and to the organisers and volunteers who make these events possible.
Steven Medd
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