North East Cross Country Championships

A proper cross country course was the order of the day...plenty of mud, lots of climbs and great competition.   Fair play to the organisers this was a cracking good course in a great venue at Cramlington.

Really enjoyed the whole atmosphere and the challenging course.   Felt like I ran a lot stronger race than previous week at Croft and worked my way steadily through the field throughout the race.  Enjoyed a good battle all the way round with fellow club mate Vic Brudenell who proved too strong on the final lap and finished eleven seconds and one place ahead of me.    Despite my best efforts to shake him off he is in great form at the moment after his recent 33.23 Abbey Dash success.  For me it was all about the "Vets" and 5th place vet sounds ok to me but offers a bit of "room for improvement" as I look forwards to 2012 and a push to get a "vest" at the British and Irish Masters International in November 2012.    Probably an outside chance at the moment but who knows.....

Vets in front of me were Ian Twaddle (13th), Stewy Bell (23rd), Phil Sanderson (24th) and Vic Brudenell (31st).   Ian and Stewy both represented England at the recent Vets International so I have targets to aim for.  Two of the runners behind me also raced in the recent International although one was a Scottish International and was in the Vet 45 category.  Food for thought though I wonder if I have any scottish ancestors?

Winner of the senior men was New Marske Harrier Ricky Stevenson while Rosie Smith was a clear winner of the Senior Ladies race.   Results.....

http://www.noeaa-athletics.org.uk/FileUploads/norh_east_xc_results_2011a.pdf

Good team effort as well from fellow North York Moors AC runners as we fielded a full senior mens team and placed 9th overall.

A few weeks of random training for me now with the focus on the start of Marathon training in January and the remaining cross country races of the season as well coming thick and fast in the new year.

Well done to local athlete Mark Shaw of New Marske Harriers who competed for Great Britain in the European Cross Country Champs and finished 17th in the Junior Mens Race and was part of the Gold Medal winning team...fantastic!