A total of 8 Seniors and Veterans travelled to Loughborough to represent the club at the Midlands Cross Country Championships on Saturday 28th January at Prestwold Hall.
The Senior Ladies race was held over 8.8km and consisted of 2 large laps of the undulating, and in places muddy, farmland course. We had just two competitors in this race with Rachel Wakefield achieving her best ever position at the Midlands Championships, first home in 123rd position in 46.09 and Amy Whitehurst competing in her first race since November finishing in 179th position in 53.06. Congratulations to both ladies on their performances.
The Senior Mens race was one small and three large laps and was ‘slightly’ longer than the advertised 12km, ending up at 15km. As well as the ‘extra value for money’ distance the men also got to enjoy the only downpour of the day during their race, which helped make the, by now muddy course, muddier! Our first finisher was Stephen Ratcliffe, having another strong run in 88th (58.28), with Tim Twentyman moving through the field after a steady start to finish in 162nd (63.11). Next in was Neil Gerrity who also achieved his best ever position in the Midlands Championships in 188th (64.41). Martin Bailey was next in 262nd (69.55), Mark Cotton just missed out on the top 300, finishing in 301st (73.38) and Paul Wakefield completed our team of six in 356th (81.54). Due to the increased distance and resulting confusion with lapped runners these results are subject to change. We do not as yet have a team position but will update the report when they are finalised. Well done to our six Senior/Vet men on completing a team and representing the club at the Championships. Thank you to Julia Bailey for the photos.