Schools Area Cross Country Championships - Scarborough - 19th January 2008

Scarborough Comprehensive School was the venue for this years Schools Area Cross Country competition on Saturday 19th January. Fourteen junior Richmond and Zetland athletes took part, from which 4 will definitely represent North Yorkshire at the English Schools Championships at Liverpool. A further 4 will also make the journey to represent North Yorkshire at the Inter-Counties against Cleveland, Durham, Cumbria and Northumberland at Acklam Grange, Middlesborugh, gaining their county colours in the process, with the possibility of also being selected for the final 2 English Schools team places in each age group.

Daniel Overin

The Junior age group races were strongly contended and some excellent results achieved: Fergus Roberts won the race outright for the boys, while James King finished in a fabulous 9th place overall. Daniel Overin also had a great run to claim 15th place and Sam Devlin showed fine form to cross the line in 39th position. For the girls, Amy Coulson was top Harrier in 19th position, recovering well after recently being unwell. Abi Fletcher also took part in the Minor Girls event and had a great outing to finish 16th overall.

In the Intermediate Boys race, Sam Wood finished 3rd overall and George Robinson ran strongly to finish in 9th place, while Tom Allen was close behind in 12th position. Liam Fletcher also put in a great performance to take 20th overall. Doug Roberts promptly took 5th place in the Senior Boys race, while Adam Scott crossed the line in 22nd and is competing well. There were also two athletes taking part in the Senior Girls event, with Jo Adams first home in 6th place and Katie Roberts with an excellent 8th position during her come back from injury.

RZH Results: Minor Girls – 16th Abi Fletcher. Junior Boys – 1st Fergus Roberts, 9th James King, 15th Daniel Overin & 39th Sam Devlin. Junior Girls – 19th Amy Coulson. Intermediate Boys – 3rd Sam Wood, 9th George Robinson, 12th Tom Allen & 20th Liam Fletcher. Senior Boys – 5th Doug Roberts & 22nd Adam Scott. Senior Girls – 6th Jo Adams & 8th Katie Roberts.

North East Masters Cross Country Champs Middlesborough - 19th January 2008

On the same day further north, Ken Harker was taking part in the North East Masters Cross Country Championships at Acklam Grange, Middlesborough against some stiff opposition. Brian Rushworth was the eventual overall winner for the sixth year in succession, however, Ken lead for 2.5 of the 4 laps over 10K, setting the pace and staying with the front runners in the wet, windy and muddy conditions. He finished in the excellent position of 5th overall in a time of 37.03 and 2nd in the MV35 age group.

Brass Monkey Half Marathon - York - 20th January 2008

On Sunday 20th January over the same weekend, Sarah Gregory managed to get a place on the start line at the ever-popular Brass Monkey Half Marathon, starting and finishing at York’s Knavesmire Racecourse. The event boasts a flat, fast course out through the local villages, with the potential for fast times from competitors, who make the journey from all over the country to take part. On this occasion she managed a time of 1.36.53 after a strong head wind for the first 4-5 miles, which put her in 299th place overall from in excess of 1000 runners and although not too disappointed with her time, she is focusing on the longer term goal of the London Marathon, having already undertaken several long runs of over 20 miles, which perhaps meant a fast clocking was not to be this time. The overall winner was local athlete Steve Hepples with a top class time of 1.08.13.