National Cross Country Championships Leeds - 21st February 2004

A round dozen runners from Richmond and Zetland Harriers completed the Nationals on Saturday 21st February. The English National X-C Championships were held in the grounds of Temple Newsam Hall near Leeds and the course was a mixture of testing hills with stretches of rough pasture and cloying mud - a good test of strength for all the contestants. A total of more than 4000 runners took part in the day’s nine races, ranging from 3K to 12K, the first starting at 11 am and the last finishing just after 4.30 pm - another impressive day in the athletics calendar and a must for all serious runners.

RZH results: Under 15 Boys - 214th Chris Andrade; Under 17 Men - 88th Nick Zissler; Under 15 Girls - 98th Scarlett Gray & 209th Katie Roberts; Junior Men - 121st Edd Richards; Under 13 Boys - 29th Douglas Roberts; Senior Women - 43rd Andrea Woodvine & 179th Fiona Hughes; Senior Men - 264th Ken Harker, 702nd Shane Gray, 789th Mike Brooks & 1328th Neil Piper.

Snake Lane 10m Road Race 22nd February 2004

Grete Buck was the sole Harrier competing in the Snake Lane 10 mile Road Race the following day, another training race with the London Marathon in mind. Grete reported “not fast but felt fairly good about the run…had a 15 second walk at each drink station but apart from that I didn't stop…my time was 1:34:11 and my position was 550th (with another 72 behind) and 3rd out of 6 in LV0/60 classification...I am happy about this as I feel my training is coming together at last - speed is the next issue!

Louise, Andrea, Fiona & Sarah

BUSA Indoor T&F Championships Nottingham 28th February 2004

Andrea Woodvine travelled to Cardiff with Nottingham University on Saturday 28th for the BUSA Indoor T&F Championships. This was her first experience of racing “on the boards”. Andrea won her heat of the 3000m in10:30 and was 4th in the final in a PB of 10:06.

Open Cross Country Meet Barton-upon-Humber Sunday 29th February 2004

Louise Jackson and Fiona Hughes continued their X-C season, journeying to Barton-upon-Humber on Sunday 29th February to compete in the annual Open X-C Meeting. The course was two large laps on parkland, totalling 2½ miles, a sprint compared to the Nationals last week. In the combined Junior/Senior Ladies race, Louise finished 4th overall and 3rd Senior in a time of 15:57; Fiona was 10th and 6th in 17:07.