Northern Cross Country Championships 28th January 2006

Witton Park, Blackburn was the venue for this year’s Northern Cross Country Championships on Saturday 28th January, where clubs from the whole of the north of England competed. Richmond and Zetland Harriers had 14 athletes, who made the trip and had an excellent day out in the process.

Amy Coulson (L)& Maddy Winzer(R)

The course was fairly wet and muddy in places, but made for a good venue, with weather to match. As usual, the younger age groups got proceedings underway, with Fergus Roberts setting the pace in the Under 13 Boys race finishing 14th overall and team mate Thomas Allen in 50th place. The Under 13 Girls also had two contenders, with Maddy Winzer finishing in an excellent 15th position and Amy Coulson, having a good, strong run in 151st.

Doug Roberts was the sole entrant for the club in the Under 15 Boys category, maintaining his superb Cross Country form this season, by finishing in 13th place from 199 competitors. Jane Thornton was another Richmond and Zetland representative in the Under 15 Girl’s race and had a fine run after recovering from an injured leg, finishing in 158th position. The third member of the Roberts family, Jessie, was in action in the Under 17 Women’s event and ran positively to take the tape in 39th position.

Although the Under 17 Men were not represented, James Brownfield-Pope flew the flag for the Harriers in the Under 20 Men’s competition. James showed good form to cross the line in 80th place over the 8 km course, while Cara Penfold enjoyed her day out, also clocking up 80th place in the same age group for the ladies. The Senior Women covered a distance of 8K and had two very willing and able athletes take part. Paula Copeland was on form again and pleased to finish in the top half of the race in 126th position, while club coach and team mate, Fiona Hughes took 142nd place.

There were 579 competitors in the Senior Men’s race, which was run over a distance of 12K and provided a true test for those taking part. Richmond and Zetland had three athletes line up to tackle the course, with Jon Orange being the pick of the bunch, finishing in 44th with an outstanding run. Paul Roberts, the fourth and final member of the family competing at this event, took 206th position, rounding off a great set of results for them. The effervescent Mike Brooks eased his way round, taking 382nd place and completing the men’s trio.

RZH Results: Under 13 Boys – 14th Fergus Roberts & 50th Thomas Allen. Under 13 Girls – 15th Maddy Winzer & 151st Amy Coulson. Under 15 Boys – 13th Doug Roberts. Under 15 Girls - 158th Jane Thornton. Under 17 Women – 39th Jessie Roberts. Under 20 Men – 80th James Brownfield-Pope. Under 20 Women – 80th Cara Penfold. Senior & Vet Women – 126th Paula Copeland & 142nd Fiona Hughes. Senior & Vet Men – 44th Jon Orange, 206th Paul Roberts & 382nd Mike Brooks.

Northern Indoor Championships Sheffield

Another athlete, with a rather different goal in mind, Ken Harker, was in action again at the Northern Indoor Championships at Sheffield. Furthering his quest for a place in the finals at the World Indoor Masters Championships in Austria, Ken finished 4th in his 800m heat in a time of 2.02.8 and narrowly missed out on a place in the final. Fellow Harrier James Wardman meanwhile, had a busy afternoon, finishing his 800m heat in 1.59 and making the final, where he ran a new PB of 1.57.4 and finished in 5th position overall.