McCAIN WORLD CROSS COUNTRY TRIALS incorporating UK INTERCOUNTIES & UK CROSS CHALLENGE FINAL

Cofton Park Birmingham Saturday 13.03.10

It is an honour to represent one’s club or school and so to be picked to run for one’s county is very special. Several of our members were chosen to represent Lancashire at the Inter Counties Championship held at Cofton Park in Birmingham. It was a rolling fast course on firm ground with virtually no mud. Before I left for Birmingham they said on the radio that the temperature would reach 15C. They lied, it didn’t and it remained cold all day.

Before I arrived, the second race was the U13B, where Jake Walley in 14^th led the Lancashire team to 11^th place. Bradley Yates was 4^th counter in 55^th place.

I arrived just as the Senior Women’s race was in progress. Freya Murray representing Scotland East won her first UK Inter Counties title (pictured), ahead of Steph Twell representing Hampshire. Sarah Ridehalgh (Accrington) in 78^th led the Lancashire team to 15^th place, with Gemma Unsworth 3^rd counter in 120^th and Carolyn Robbins in 176^th place.

In the U15B race Ben Everson, 114^th place and 2^nd counter, was disappointed with his performance and Dan Quarmby was 151^st and 4^th counter, with the team finishing in 27^th position. Early on in the U17W race Sam Smith and Bianca Pedersen were leading the charge from the start, with Bianca getting a mention from the course commentator as she briefly led the race. Bianca finished 41^st, leading the team to 10^th place, with Sam finishing 194^th.

The U20W scored the first podium success with a team silver medal, led home by Annika Jarman (Lancaster & Morecambe) in 16^th, with Hannah Bateson (Lancaster & Morecambe) 15^th, Gemma Astin (Manx) 21^st and former BWFAC member Kristie Leybourne (Newham & Essex Beagles) 32^nd. Abi Lucas was 63^rd. Luke Berry finished 161^st in the U20M race.

In the U13G race the Lancashire team was 12^th with Elizabeth Greenwood (Blackburn), first counter in 8^th. Molly Betmead was understandably a little nervous at the start after her bad experience at the National cross country two weeks ago at Leeds, but she put it behind her with a good performance to finish 62^nd and 2^nd counter, with Alisha Johnson in 113^th.

Jack Scarr in 35^th led the U17M to 11^th place. Florie McLeish (Preston Harriers) in an excellent 6^th place led the U15G Lancashire team to a commendable 4^th position, with Lauren Gowland in 29^th and 2^nd counter and Amelia Beaman in 63^rd.

Before the final race, the Senior Men’s, Phil Leybourne, team manager of Lancashire, was confident that the Lancashire senior men’s team would perform well. Mo Farah (pictured) (Newham & Essex Beagles), after a cautious start, staying in the leading group, but at halfway he made a decisive move and soon stretched his lead to over 100 metres. He won the race by 40 seconds, with Andy Vernon (Aldershot, Farnham & District) 2^nd and Moumin Geele (Newham & Essex Beagles) in third. The Lancashire team of Ben Lindsay (Aldershot) 12^th, Simon Deakin (Leeds City) 15^th, former BWFAC member Antony Ford (Sale Harriers) 17^th, Ben Fish (Blackburn) 24^th, former B&F member Martyn Cryer (Woodford Green with Essex Ladies) 54^th and Tom Cornthwaite (Blackburn) 78^th won the 6 man team competition and together with Martin Roscoe (Leeds City) 104^th, Gary Priestley (Horwich) 118^th and Marc Hartley (Staffordshire Moorlands) 142^nd they also won the 9 man competition as well.

I was last at Cofton Park in 2005 when the English National was held. I ran that day and was pleased with my run – I was only lapped by the winner Glen Tromans; don’t knock it, that was success for me! The course for the Inter Counties seemed completely different to the course five years ago, although I do remember it being undulating.

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SPRING 5K & WINTER WARM-UP MEETING

The next day it back to the Stanley Park Arena for the inaugural Spring 5K and the first outdoor track & field meeting of the season. Winter Warm-Up described it well as there was a cold northerly wind blowing.

It was a successful start for the 5K, despite several other competing road races. It was won by Paul Manion of Astley & Tyldesley in 16:32 (pictured), with John Wright second in 16:37 and first MV45. Marcus Quarmby in 6^th (17:19) was first JM(17). Trevor Uttley (1^st MV45) and training partner, Chris Lloyd kept each other company in 8^th and 9^th places respectively with 17:49 and 17:50.

At the Inter Counties Gemma had a cold and was coughing after her race and was not intending to compete in the 5K, but a number was available and the previous day’s cross country seemed to have cleared her passage ways. She duly competed, winning the ladies race in 18:43. Second was Julie Buckley (FV50) of Penistone Footpath Runners in 19:01, with another member of the Lancashire team, Katie Trickett of Clayton-le-Moors Harriers, third in 19:16. Carolyn Robbins (FV50) who had also competed in the Inter Counties was 4^th in 19:33. Stasia Bligh was the next woman with a PB of 19.37 with 14-year-old Jodie Ferguson two places and 12 seconds further back.

Amongst other BWFAC members who were competing who picked up prizes were Tanya Ashworth in 42^nd, 1^st FV35, 21:43; Laura Lawler in 51^st, 1^st FV40, 22:19; Bob Newman in 65^th and appropriately 1^st MV65, 24:34; Liz Routledge in 67^th, 1^st FV45, 24:44; Hilary Goorney in 86^th , 1^st FV65, 28:34; Jenny Ryan in 92^nd , 1^st FV55, 30:20.

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There were exciting races and field competitions at the Winter Warm-Up, too many to describe in detail. However there was a few that particularly caught the eye. Jordan Dixon with 30.6 in the U13G 200m and Tash Gardner in her new age category U15 won the 200m in 26.9 and was 2^nd in the 100m with 13.2. Also in a new age categories in the U17W in the sprints was Sophie Riley winning the 200m 26.2 and in the same distance now in the U20W category there was a very close race between Katy Wyper and Lucy Mansfield coming 1^st and 2^nd respectively but recording the same time of 26.1. Omar Frederick was in an equally close race with Tom Bradbury of Preston Harriers in the 100m, both recording the same time of 11.4 (pictured), with Omar getting the nod. The same two contested another tight race in the 200m, again with the same times of 23.4 and again Omar was judged the winner. With close contests like this in the sprints it looks like being an exciting season on the track.

Lydia Critchley easily won the U17W 300m with 42.7 and Sam Lamb the U17M 800m with 2:12.1. In the field Grant Myerscough won the senior men’s shot putt with 14.33m and in the U17M Peter Bridge won with 10.46m.

David Wood

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