Spar European Cross-Country Championships 2017

The two Morpeth Harriers who competed in the Spar European Cross-Country Championships,
which were held in Samorin in Slovakia on Sunday 10th December 2017
acquitted themselves well respectively in highly competitive quality events.

Mhairi MacLennan finished an excellent ninth in the Under 23 Women’s posting a finishing time of 21m26s,
which proved to be just over a minute adrift of race winner Alina Reh of Germany, who retained her title.
MacLennan was also agonisingly only twenty-four seconds adrift of being part of Great Britain’s winning squad, who were led home by English National Champion Jessica Judd of Chelmsford, who finished third.

Scott Beattie meanwhile, was also only a mere four seconds outside Great Britain’s
scoring three in the Under 20 Men’s event, finishing 27th in 19m14s,
only thirty-five seconds adrift of Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who won the event.

Led by home by Wrexham’s Matthew Willis, who finished fourteenth,
Great Britain finished sixth in the team race in this event, behind winners Spain,
​only seven points adrift of Bronze in a close tussle.