Full of dread, people woke up on Saturday monring – 23rd November – and surveyed a scene of snow, wind, rain and a combination of all three in some cases. Would the cross country be on? What is Storm Berta going to do? What impact will it have. What impact has it had? The weather forecast for Sefton was clear – wind dropping to 10mph from 9.00am with light rain during the day and snow being washed away – and that is exactly what happened as huge numbers descended on Sefton Park to compete in this years Cross Challenge event, which included qualifying races for the European Cross Country Championships and the local leagues – Red Rose, Mid Lancs, Merseyside and Liverpool schools. There was mud. Lots and lots of it. But, this is cross country, in winter, in the UK. Yes the conditions were hard, but that didn’t stop massive numbers of athletes turning up and getting stuck in. Blackburn Harriers had 67 athletes registered for the day, but the weather took it’s toll, along with illness and final numbers were down as a result to 45.
All photos on Blackburn Harriers Facebook Page – HERE
Cross Challenge Results – Mid Lancs Results – Red Rose Results
The enthusiasm of the U11 youngsters never fails to surprise me. 182 girls and 198 boys for these races across all the leagues and schools competitions.The Harrier lost six U11’s on the morning finishing up with just three – Sophie Douglas having a fine run to finish in 8th place in the Mid Lancs with a time of 8.53 along with team mate Pippa Blackburn in 30th place running 10.01 – followed by Harry Holden running 8.44 in the U11 Boys race and placing 24th. Well done to all of them. One hundred and thirty two girls and one hundred and eleven boys lined up for the U13 races where we lost all our U13 Girls, some of whom were down to do the Town Schools cross country on the same day, but saw them cancelled. In the Boys race Max Unthank placed 15th in the Mid Lancs running 12.12 with team mate Theo Addy crossing the line in 21st spot (12.57).
Sophie Douglas (1768)
In the U15 Girls, we had eight registered to run on the day witjh just four making it in the end. Millie Jordan took 5th place in the Mid Lancs running 12.03 alongside team mates Agatha Taylor in 13th (12.37) and Lottie Hesketh in 30th place running 13.19 – Millie, Agatha and Lottie combining to take 4th place in the team race. All four lads registered for the U15 Boys made it resulting in another good run from William Grundy who placed 4th in the Mid Lancs in a time of 10.41, backed up by team mates Theo Robinson in 11th running 11.38, George Holman in 15th (11.52) – all of our three counters placing inside the top ten – and Tom Falencki in 27th (12.32) – which meant that the boys finished 2nd team on the day in the Mid Lancs with 18 points behind Preston with 15.
L-R Agatha Taylor – Millie Jordan – Lottie Hesketh
William Grundy – Theo Robinson – George Holman – Tom Falencki
One hundred and sixty two athltes in the U17 Men’s race – won by Salford’s Jack Marwood in 14.17. Positions here are overall and not the same as positions in the respective Mid Lancs and Red Rose Leagues. Oliver Gill was first home for the Harriers in the Mid Lancs – 3rd place running 15.15 with team mates Sam Aspey (4th) in 15.32; Jack Wood in 9th (16.12); Henry Ward (10th) in a time of 16.14; Ethan Cutler running 16.34 in 16th; Loucas Lancashire in 30th place (18.50) and Owen Donnelly running 20.25 in 38th position. Just one U17 Woman on the day for the Harriers – Isabelle Perry who ran 19.51 in 11th place in the Mid Lancs; And, in the U20 race, Evie Taylor took 84th spot in 19.45. U20 Jack Lamb running in the Senior men’s race placed 6th in the Mid Lancs results for U20 men in a time of 32.08, the race being dominated by athletes from Lancaster University who had two full teams out, taking 1st and 2nd team places as the only Club with full num ber or equired finishers.
Oliver Gill (779)
Evie Taylor (1802)
These positions are overall and not the same as local Mid Lancs or Red Rose finishing places.U20 Isabel Holt went in the U20 qualifying race for the European Championships and had a fine run, taking a top ten place in a time of 16.20. In the U20 Men’s qualifying race Dexta Thompson came home in 56th spot (14.52) alongside Daniel Smith running 15.06 in 73rd, Ben Stratton in 114th (15.48), Umair Rafiq (149th) with a time of 17.12 and Hayden Mercer running 17.18 in 152nd position.. Also running in the qualifying races, this time in the U23 Men’s race was Matt Ramsden who ran 18.21 in 18th place with team mate Ben Makin running 20.16 in 82nd.
Isabel Holt
Matt Ramsden (3631)
The Senior Women’s team took 3rd place in the team race for Mid Lancs out of twenty four participating Club teams and was led home by Jess Warner-Judd in a time of 28.59 with Helm Hill’s Sharon Taylor in 2nd (33.43) and Rossendale’s Hannah Jarvis in 3rd (35.10). V40 Rebecca Ward was next home in 9th position (38.10) and was 1st home in the V40 age category too. New member Mary O’Gorman was next home in 25th place (39.51) – this being her first race for the Club and her first cross country race since January 2020. V45 Jenny McAndrew was running her first race since October 2021 and had a good run (44.57) in finishing 58th out of the 112 strong field.
Jess Warner-Judd (1225)
As in the Senior Women’s race there was a comprehensive win in the Senior Men’s race by Ross Harrison in a time of 27.31 from Rossendale’s Grant Cunliffe in 2nd (28.21) and Rossendale’s Joseph Johnston in 3rd (29.12). Ross led the team home to a 3rd place finish oiut of 26 Club teams competing on the day. Backing Ross up were team mates Paul Bradshaw in 2th place (31.40), V45 Chris Davies in 28th running 31.43 and taking 2nd place in the age group category, U20 Jack Lamb in 32nd place (32.06), V45 Richard Addy running 33.07 in 43rd, V60 Chris Balderson in 137th (39.19), V55 Mark Almond running 39.53 in 147th place, V50 John Aspey making his debut over cross country in 201st spot (44.47) and V55 Keith Gill also making his debut in cross country, with a time of 45.17 in 206th place.
Ross Harrison (1337)
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Katie Buckingham was shining in the weather yesterday, even though the day was dominated by wind and rain. Katie was running the Battersea Half-Marathon organised by RunThrough and was part of the Battersea Park Running Festival covering 5k, Half-Marathon and Marathon. Katie was involved in organising and working on this and with all the excess energy she has, then ran the Half-Marathon. Over 1300 runners in the Women’s race – won in a time of 82.53 by Chloe Dooley. Katie had a good day – placing 28th overall in a time of 96.03 and was over three minutes faster than her last one – after the race, Katie told us “it was good fun & super flat! Very windy and wet in places, and with 3000 people being across 5 laps, got quite busy with weaving/overtaking, but made for a good atmosphere despite being a bit repetitive!”
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