West Yorkshire Cross Country League race 4 - 10th December
The West Yorkshire Cross Country league reconvened for the finale at Oulton Sports Club, Rothwell on Sunday. It wouldn’t be cross country without mud, but this wasn't just any mud; it was the kind of mud that had ambitions of becoming a world-class shoe suction device. It had a strategy—wait patiently, then ambush unsuspecting runners, attempting to steal their shoes with a determined slurping sound.
Well done to all those competing both in this race and the previous races in the season, we look forward to more great performances in the Yorkshire, Northern & National Club XC champs in the new year.
Final race athletes
U11 boys - James Neil (5th), James Sutcliffe
U11 girls - Beatrice Powell , Autumn Good, Casey George, Orla Maden
U13 girls - Lily Atkinson, Alesha Atkinson,
U15 girls - Kitty Harrison-Sargent (1st)
U15 boys - Eli Cattermole (4th), Sam Keighley (8th), Beau Clark, Kai Sladden, Tom Wright
U17 ladies - Nia Harrison-Sargent, Jayde Mcgregor
U17 men - Will Cattermole
Senior ladies - Katrina Oddy
Senior men - Lee Cattermole, Andrew Greenwood, Ken Montgomery, Maksymilian Stytsun
League Team prizes
A special mention for the U11 girls who finished 3rd place team overall and the U15 boys who won the 1st place team prize!
Junior highlights in the overall individual results
James Neil (U11 boys) finished in a fine 7th overall, only missing out on 6th place on count back.
Beatrice Powell (U11 girls) finished in a great 10th place overall, and showed immense determination in the final race crossing the line with only 1 shoe!
Lily Atkinson (U13 girls) finished in a good 11th overall, closely followed by sister Alesha in 15th.
Kitty Harrison-Sargent secured a fabulous 2nd place overall in the U15 girls and 1st place in the final race!
Meanwhile in the U15 boys, Eli Cattermole took a splendid overall 3rd place and Sam Keighley placed a great 6th place overall.
Nia Harrison-Sargent finished 9th overall in the U17 women, with Jayde Mcgregor in 16th.
Will Cattermole finished 11th overall in the U17 men.
Senior highlights in the overall individual results
Katrina Oddy won 1st place overall in the Women’s 55+ category
Ben Crowther won 1st place overall in the Men’s 35+ category
Lee Cattermole finished in a fine 4th place overall in the Men’s 50+ category
Finally Halifax Harriers (Senior Men & Women) finished 2nd in the John E Smith Challenge Trophy
Stephen Rainbow led home the eight-strong contingent of Halifax Harriers that made the journey to Lancashire on a very cold Sunday morning for the Myerscough 10; the latest event in the club’s Race Challenge. Stephen completed the fast, flat 10 mile course in 1:02:04, taking 16th place overall and finishing third in the M45 category.
James O’Rourke was next in 1:06:59 followed by Rachael Beaumont who won the F50 category in 1:13:20. There were also age group successes for Rob Hick (1st M65 in 1:19:22), Martin Haigh (2nd M70 in 1:41:32) and David Ingle (3rd M60 in 1:14:35). Other Harriers were Marc Rocheteau (1:17:25) and Rachel Standish (1:21:30).
Will Shines in the Half
A warm sunny evening brought together 5000 competitors to the streets of Benidorm
Both races set off at the same time on a tough undulating course and traversed through the iconic streets and holidaymaker strips of Benidorm with the last 2km packed full of cheering crowds to support runners from all over Europe and as far as South America. There were so many British clubs represented with a Halifax Harrier heading the whole field out for the first half mile.
Harry Johnson finished 5th overall in the 10K in 31.53 1st Junior U23.
Simon Johnson 104th 3rd V55 38.44
April Stewart 190th 42.25
Craig Empsall 228th V55 43.53
Mark Crabtree 341st V65 46.37
The Half marathon followed a lonely route for the 2nd half but Will Stewart conquered the tough course in 1hr 26.11 (113th) followed by Ryan Barker in 1hr 30.50 (218th).