‘Storm Brian’ landed properly ten minutes before the men’s start and the 40+mph squalls hit hard on those of us worrying about when to take a layer or two off and warm up. Obviously the course was churned up by the junior races in the morning – but much more so by the last lap of the men’s race. Although the women didn’t have quite the same breeze to contend with, they provided early warning of the dangers of over-doing the start. Of our three complete newcomers to cross country (Kath, Mel, and Gwenan), Kath gave it a good go for the first 2 miles and was closing up on Emma at one point before gravity took hold. Emma was not quite herself but pulled through later on while Victoria and Ceri B mixed it up front with a big group of their peers. Sioned dropped out last year but was 4th counter here and guided Mel through the tough bits with Sali in pursuit. Menai made up a lot of ground to gain another victory over Anwen and it was not surprising that Gwenan couldn’t stay with them just 2 weeks after her 4h38 marathon (on very little training). In another month it might be different! Vicky played it safe with a steady start and effective progress, probably her best run in this League for years.
Similarly handicapped by the marathon in his legs was Shaun H – but you wouldn’t have known it by this performance. Joe W confirmed that his good Wrexham run was no one-off, and Tony W was close again. Dan J is another one with lots of potential – and Glen is hanging on to the youngsters despite his big effort in the Fell relays last week. Lots of respect for Vic and Owen in almost identical positions to two years ago when they were our best two runners. Martin C showed why he is a Masters’ World Championship Bronze medallist at Cross Country (in very different conditions) as he set the pace for another slightly less elderly person. Some of their magic is needed for the rest, though my impression (biased by personal decline) is that this League is a lot stronger than in previous years – particularly at the back!!
Women (after taking out the men over 70 and male youths)
31st Victoria
38th Ceri B
43rd Emma
56th Sioned
57th Mel
63rd Kath E
68th Sali
77th Menai
81st Anwen
92nd Gwenan
108th Vicky
115 women finishers. Team position 5th (provisionally) which wipes out the deficit between us and Shrewsbury AC and Telford. Unfortunately I suspect that they can put out much better teams for the last two fixtures (in their backyard) but we need to make the most of their reluctance to travel next month at Bangor to avoid relegation.
Men
20th Shaun H
29th Joe W
39th Tony W
49th Glen
54th Dan J
56th Vic
64th Owen
82nd Martin C
84th David B
121st David D
123rd Tony B
127th Duncan
131st Gerwyn
139th Chris
159 finishers.
