Its winter , its cold , its muddy , its cross country !!The eagerly awaited first round of the Manchester XC League took place at Heaton Park last week.
For those who are new to the club , the league is the amalgamation of the old Cheshire XC League and the Manchester and District XC League : The two leagues merged some six years ago.
The series comrises five races .
Match 2 – Sunday 21st November – Sherdley Park, St Helens
Match 3 – Saturday 4th December – Boggart Hole Clough, Blackley
Match 4 – Sunday 2nd January 2011 – Woodbank Park, Stockport
Match 5 – Saturday 12th February – Clayton Vale, Manchester
Start times and distances:-
- Ladies generally 13:50 and 8k
- Men generally 14:30 and 9.6k (but check each event in case of changes).
Its very different to road racing as you plough through mud and woodland with a large support from spectators and team mates alike , as men cheer on the ladies and vica versa .Again with two divisions , competition is high, but its great camararderie .
The club has fared well in the league over recent seasons particularly the men winning the vets event for a number of years in succession . For once Heaton Park was damp and we arrived to drizzle , not the bright autumnal days of recent years . The ladies were out in force while the men were a little down on usual numbers . Mike had a wedding to attend ( his own ) , while Tom was best man : Malcolm was nursing an injury from too much racing up and down the bye pass , Rob was AWOL and Damian selling running shoes !! But we had many good men to stand in !!
Nearly 150 raced in the ladies event with 2008 champion Clare Stevenson making an eagerly awaited comeback appearance and having a tremendous race to finish 7th.
Sally in 25th and Sharon Johnstone in another comeback 27th with Nicki in 40th completed the "A" Team counters.
Some great tussles followed with Christine 44th , Jane Mulrayan 49th and Sally Johnston seconds behind in 50th.Kate and Claire placed 55th and 56th with Sarah 78th.Sharon Jones 82nd , Ang 84th and Huma 91st.Nina and Julie were right on their tails in 91st and 115th.With runners coming in thick and fast only seconds separated numbers of runners .
Our A team finished 6th , our B team 11th and C team 16th from 30 teams finishing . Our vets team placed second and we even had a D team finish 15th out of 24 teams finishing .Well done ladies , a great showing.
After all the excitement attention turned to the men where a quality field lined up with 296 finishers.For the spectator it was marvellous to see the Norman brothers battling out for the victory , neck and neck after two laps with Andy coming out on top on the third and final lap .
Jim was first home in 32nd with Stuart 34th.Trevor Morris 63rd , Ray 97th , Rob Gilbert 105 and Ian Smallwood 130th made up the A team placing 9th out of 37 teams.
Our B team all played their part and placed 27th ,145th Mike Cooper , 160th Steve Smith , 162nd Andy Watts , 195th Geoff Gilbert , 198th Gavin and Don 206th. Owen made a cross country appearance in 222nd and the reliable Trevor 295th .
The good news ……Our vets team won , with the B team 15th and C team 23rd.
A big field and of a high standard …..Sherdley Park comes next .
Thanks to all that supported .
Nick.