Race 2 of the Reebok Cross Country Challenge at Birmingham - Saturday 30th October 2004

Jessie Roberts

Jessie and Douglas Roberts have both moved-up an age group, into the Under 17 Women and Under 15 Boys respectively and, whilst enjoying the challenge, appreciate the opposition afforded both by being “a year young” and in higher level of competition. Fergus, the third of three, recently enjoyed his tenth birthday and has joined the Harriers but wasn’t able to run as UK Athletics Rules state that competitors in such X-C fixtures must be age eleven, or older.

The Senneleys Park course at Birmingham is a proper X-C course with hills, mud and streams to contend with and it was a day for the mud larks - to call it soggy, after a week of rain, was a serious understatement. The Under 17 Women ran with the Under 20s over 4K and Jessie placed 34th in a time of 21:03, a little more than 3 minutes behind the winner, Sian Edwards of Kettering, bronze medallist over 3000m at last year’s English Schools Championships. The Under 15 Boys raced over 3K and Douglas also finished in 34th place behind Richard Peters of Westbury.