This Sunday saw the final PECO cross country race of the season, and it was relays! This was held in Bramley Fell Park and it proved to be a fantastic day for it. The weather was warm with bright blue sunny skies and very little wind. The ground was also brilliant, soft but not muddy, accumulating in near perfect race conditions for the Bradford Airedale athletes.
As always, the juniors went first and we were very well represented as a club, having 6 junior teams and managing to fill the categories of Under 13 boys, under 11 girls, under 16 girls, under 11 boys, under 9 boys and the under 9 open category. This is an amazing representation and both juniors and their parents should be very proud that we managed to represent the club in all these categories so congratulations.
The junior course was one big lap. A fast down hill start then turned sharply to bring them back up a long hill. The course turned right into woodland, which undulated all the way round to the bank next to the canal. The course turned right at the fork and up the concrete steps to arrive back out onto the field. From there, it was a final right hand turn and a fast downhill finish to the line.
It was both a manic start and a manic hand over for the juniors. The start was very cramped, and having all age categories starting at the same time proved to be very tense. All our did very well at the start, following the advice from Ash to work hard on the downhill and get a good position. The handover scene also proved to be very stressful, especially for Ash, with juniors bustling to get their position on the line for when their team mates arrived. Al the juniors did very well in and remained calm to have a smooth transition between teammates (something I believe they have been practicing in training!).
All our junior teams did exceptionally. Shout out to our under 13 boys team, who won their age category and came 4th overall, only being beaten by under 16 teams which is a brilliant achievement. And to Luca, who had a sprint finish with the City of York runner to get the 5th quickest time overall in all age categories so well done!
Shout out to our under 16 girls, under 11 girls, under 11 boys and under 9 boys, all of whom had a top 10 finish in their respective age categories, which is an absolute brilliant achievement. Solid performances from all of our youth section made the club look fantastic this weekend so well done all. Also, a special shout out to our youngest team: Oscar, Hettie and William, who I believe are all still in this age category next year so we are expecting big things from them next year!
| Team | Leg 1 Runner | Leg 2 Runner | Leg 3 Runner | Overall Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U9 Mixed | Oscar Colley - 11.38 | Hettie Benson - 10.55 | William Speight - 11.09 | |
| U9 Boys | ||||
Again, well done to all juniors! (One a side note, I think we need more creative names next year – our team names are boring in comparison to some of the others!)
Next up were the seniors, who had a lot to live up to compared to the juniors. The senior course was the same as the junior course, with a long lap consisting of an extra section through the woods, and s short lap which was identical to the junior course. We were well represented in the senior category as well, with both a senior male team and a mixed category team.
First up was Gareth and Amanda, who apparently were very keen, being the first 2 runners at the start line. Gareth came 2nd in the first leg, finishing neck and neck with 1st to get the 3rd fastest time overall of the race. This handed over to Chris, who took the lead up the first hill. This maintained our position, keeping 2nd as he handed over to Ash for the final leg. This proved to be a tense and fast final leg, and the Male team came a very respectable 3rd overall out of 64 teams.
Our mixed team also did fantastically well, and manged to come halfway up the table in the mixed category. The mixed team would also like a prize for the best handover, with an Olympic style baton changeover from Amanda to Micheal. An amazing result from our senior teams, especially considering that members of our team were coming back from injury and illness.
Position Leg 1 Leg 2 Leg 3 Overall Category
3/64 Gareth Richardson
– 13.34
Christopher Drake –
15.26
Ashley Colley – 14.46
43.46 Male
47/64
Amanda
Helliwell – 19.31
Michael
Wignall –
19.02
Sydney
Stead –
23.53
1.02.26
Mixed
Well done to all members! Congratulations on a fantastic cross country season!
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