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Cross country racing returned to the North East at Farringdon on Saturday afternoon, with the return of the annual Sunderland Cross Country Races for Young Athletes and Relays for Seniors in Sunderland. A low-key curtain raiser for the forthcoming season, there were nevertheless Silver medals for both the club’s Senior Men’s and Senior Women’s teams, with a 1st, a 2nd and a 3rd in the Young Athletes races. The 1st place was down to Oliver Tomlinson, a winner by a commanding margin of over 30 seconds in the Under 15 Boys, with U/17 Ryan Davies coming home 2nd in the U/17 race having taken a fall en route and finishing behind Elswick’s Elliot Kelso. The 3rd place came courtesy of Jacob Thompson in the U/11 race, with Eli MacSparron finishing 13th. Also competing were Emma Tomlinson, who just missed out on a medal in the U/13s when finishing in 4th place, brother and sister Thomas and Molly Roche, and Michael Leeson. Thomas was 16th in the U/13s Boys, where Michael Leeson was one place behind, and Molly 16th in the U/15s Girls. In the Senior Women’s Relays, for teams of three, there was a welcome return to competition for the club for Veteran Morag Stead, whose 11 minutes 4 seconds on leg 1 put the club in an early lead. Jane Kirby ran a game 12m 52s on leg 2 which gave final leg runner Rachelle Falloon something to chase down on the final leg. In the event, her time of 11m 15s saw the club back up to 2nd and finishing half a minute behind winners Birtley Harriers, with Houghton in 3rd. Final event of the day was the Senior Men’s Relay, this time held over four stages, and once again it was a Morpeth vs Birtley showdown. Joe Anderson ran 9:13 on leg 1 to come home 3rd, behind early leaders Tyne Bridge and hosts Sunderland Harriers. Youngest competitor for Morpeth, and in his first race with the Seniors to boot, was James Tilley, whose 9:24 very much kept the club in contention, although he also faced the challenge of Birtley Harriers, for whom Chris Perkins’s 8:21 was by some margin the fastest time of the day. Connor Marshall dipped under the 9 minute mark with a strong clocking of 8:56 on leg 3, which saw Morpeth at the sharp end of affairs with Birtley a strong 2nd. Last leg saw a terrific tussle between experienced runners for both clubs, with Morpeth’s Sam Hancox (8:45) pipped by Birtley’s Adrian Bailes (8:29) and a youthful team having to settle for another well-deserved set of Silver medals.  The senior women and men at Sunderland, who both claimed Silver medals  Comments are closed.
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January 2025
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