English Schools Cross Country Championships 24th March 2007

Sam Wood

Temple Newsam, Leeds was the venue on Saturday 24th March for the English Schools Cross Country Championships and several junior Harriers were in action representing North Yorkshire on the undulating and muddy course. Sam Wood and Marc Scott were amongst the medals once again, assisting the Junior Boy’s team to take the bronze medal in their race, with some excellent running; Sam finishing in 66th place and Marc not far behind in 82nd. Doug Roberts was the sole Richmond and Zetland athlete in the Intermediate Boy’s race, putting in another strong performance to claim 60th position overall in a field of over 326 athletes and taking the North Yorkshire team up to 7th place. His sister Jessie was also part of the Senior Girl’s team and was first Harrier across the line in 101st position, while team mate Jo Adams had a great run to take 141st place. Katie Roberts (no relation) also had an excellent outing, taking 198th on the day, as well as claiming her county colours along with all the other competitors.

RZH Results: Junior Boys – 66th Sam Wood & 82nd Marc Scott, Team 3rd. Inter Boys – 60th Doug Roberts, Team 7th. Senior Girls – 101st Jessie Roberts, 141st Jo Adams & 198th Katie Roberts, Team 15th.

London Marathon Training Races

Two senior athletes have also been busy preparing for the London Marathon, using various races to hone their endurance and pacing ready for the main event on Sunday 22nd April. Darren Cox took part in the Tees Valley Half Marathon in Redcar on Sunday 18th March and although the course is fairly flat, he found himself racing in dreadful weather conditions, which ranged from fierce winds to hail stones and rain. Nevertheless he battled his way around the course to finish in 1.43.17 and take 402nd position from 1113 finishers.

The following weekend on Sunday 25th March, Sarah Gregory opted for the Ackworth Half Marathon near Pontefract, which is a fairly hilly and undulating course, but in better weather conditions. She decided to run it steadily and build on the pace to test out her marathon race plan, which worked well. Running a negative split and crossing the line in 1.39.51, she took 231st place overall from 598 competitors and collected a prize in the female Vet 35 category.

NYSD Road Races - Skipton 25th March 2007

The same day further north, several Harriers opted for the NYSD end of season road races at Redcar, marking the end of the Cross Country season proper. The gold medal-winning Under 13 Boy’s team were not to be outdone on this occasion either and promptly took another victory in the Boy’s 3K race, making it a clean sweep. Fergus Roberts lead the team home in 2nd place, followed by Marc Scott in 4th, while brother Rob took 9th position and Paul Harmsworth 11th, to complete a very successful season’s racing in style. Sam Wood also took a well-deserved 3rd place in the same race, running in the Under 15 Boy’s age group. Kerry Robson was the sole representative in the Girl’s 3K race and had a good outing to finish 28th in 15.44.

Four athletes also took part in the mixed 5K race, with Ray Robson first home in 39th place, with a time of 21.22. Rosie Adams was hot on his heels and only 6 seconds behind in 40th place, producing an excellent run and showing good form of late. Fiona Hughes made a welcome return to competition finishing in 50th place, while Jenny Fenwick promptly took 55th overall.

RZH Results: Boys Race – 2nd Fergus Roberts, 3rd Sam Wood, 4th Marc Scott, 9th Rob Scott & 11th Paul Harmsworth, U13 Boys Team 1st. Girls Race – 28th Kerry Robson. Junior/Senior/Vet Men & Women – 39th Ray Robson, 40th Rosie Adams, 50th Fiona Hughes & 55th Jenny Fenwick.