 Carl Avery in action at Bolesworth Castle Thirteen Morpeth Harriers travelled across to the North West on Saturday to take part in the 2023 Saucony National Cross Country Championships, held in the grounds of Bolesworth Castle, south of Chester, close to the Welsh border.
The ancestral home of the Barbour family for over 160 years, the undulating course was a marked contrast to the many hillier and muddier venues experienced in past seasons, with one of the main challenges this time to negotiate some sections of long rough in the park land. Despite not bringing home any medals, the club once again gave a very respectable account of itself and was at the front of teams from the region. Best placed finishers were in the Under 17 Boys, for whom Liam Roche placed inside the top 20 in 18th place, recording 21 minutes 54 seconds for the 6 kilometre course. Liam was supported by Elliot Kelso in 47th position (22:36) and Bertie Marr in 60th (22:57) with Joe Close 119th (24:02). The team finished 5th overall, a strong placing, especially considering the absence of the squad’s two fastest finishers in the Northern Championships last month. Winners were Aldershot Farnham and District, for whom 2nd placed James Dargan was first back, with Shaftesbury Barnet’s Henry Dover 1st in 20:39 Morpeth’s other team performance came in the final event of the day, the Senior Men’s race over 12 kms, where nearly 1500 runners finished. Led home once again by Carl Avery, who has been in excellent form all Winter, the team finished just outside the top ten, 11th of 99 complete teams from across the country. Carl was part of a leading group at the sharp end of the race from the start, finishing in 11th place overall in a time of 36:56, less than a minute behind race winner James Kingston of Tonbridge AC, who won by a margin of six seconds from Jack Gray of Cambridge and Coleridge AC with David Stone of Shaftesbury Barnet in 3rd. The team prize was won, perhaps unsurprisingly, by Leeds City AC, whose sixth counter was 41st with the team winning by a margin of over sixty points from Cambridge and Coleridge, with Tonbridge in third. Carl was supported by Sam Hancox, having a much better run this time in 80th place (38:54), a rather under the weather Phil Winkler (102nd in 39:37), Matty Briggs (128th in 40:04), Connor Marshall (177th I in 40:48) and the indefatigable wheel man Andrew Lawrence (252nd in 41:52), with the club third from the North of England behind Leeds City and Salford Harriers, and first from the North East. Tyne Bridge were 60th and Sunderland Harriers 83rd , with Gateshead not fielding a team. In the U/15 Boys race over 4kms, Oliver Calvert ran well to place 11th (15:12) with club colleague Oliver Tomlinson putting recent injuries scares behind him in 49th (15:56). A shame the club couldn’t get four out, as the team would have had a good chance of top ten or higher. The race was won by Wolverhampton and Bilston’s Owen Ulfig in 14:40 Oliver’s sister Zoe placed 161st in the U/13 Girls race, where Birtley’s flying youngsters were one short, sad proof that it doesn’t just happen to us when we look well set to place. The Senior Women’s race over 8 kms was won by Sarah Astin of Belgrave Harriers in 29:28 ahead of Charnwood’s Gemma Steel (29:33) and Blackheath and Bromley’s Niamh Bridson-Hubbard (29:43). Team honours went to Charnwood AC ahead of Aldershot Farnham and District and Sheffield Hallamshire Harriers, with Leeds City 4th. Tyne Bridge were the only NE team to complete, in 21st position with Amy Fuller in 99th position. NECAA winner Philippa Stone of Middlesbrough AC was 18th in 31:07. Meanwhile Cat Macdonald travelled North of the border to Callendar Park, Falkirk for the Scottish Cross Country Championships, where, representing Bellahouston RR, she had an excellent run to finish in 10th place in a time of 39:40 for the 10 kms course. The race was won by Scout Adkin of Moorfoot Runners in a time of 37:15. Comments are closed.
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