2014 National Cross Country Championships – report

English National Cross Country Championships at Wollaton Hall and Deer Park Nottingham. 22nd February.


Great running from our Ladies and Men at the Nationals , a fantastic event with good  running in the  parkland of  Wollaton Hall (except the muddy  bit later in  video!).DSC_0044

Our Ladies did tremendously well finishing as 36th team of 83 to finish. Nic Vogan was 183rd, Cassie Holmes 227th, Caroline Warrington 269th and Bryony Parkinson 454th, of 708 of the nations finest to finish.
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The Men also had a stormer as a team finishing in the six to count competition in 56th of 127 teams. Running were Chris Roberts 446th, Giles Hawking 592, Darren Hendley 642nd, Neil Stabbs 654th, Barry Atkinson 692nd, Tom Ratcliffe 754th, Steven Gow 1347th and Dan Birch. There were 1657 pretty committed runners in total.

After the muddy mayhem at this year’s Northern’s and the mud and snow double whammy at last years Northern’s and Nationals it was nice to be able to run on luxuriant grass with breezy but Spring like weather conditions. We were blessed with a classic cross country course offering a scenic and  undulating challenge. After the thunderous stampede of the mass starts, the course  rose  up to the Elizabethan Hall,then  sped down a long descent where tree trunks had thoughtfully been lain across the course to give us or very own Bechers Brook, skirted some bracken strewn woods, ran beside a rather pleasant lake before the obligatory muddy bit took it’s toll.  The Men ran the course over 3 laps and the Ladies a bit less.

Although it was great to see our local rivals City of York AC fielding runners with some good success in the Junior races, their mud dodging seniors  were pitifully under represented, failing to present either a Men’s or Ladies team. So far this year we have trounced them at the Yorkshire, Northern and National Cross Country Championships, the keystones  of Amateur Athletics for many.

In the Mens we were the highest placed North Yorkshire  Club and fourth Yorkshire club,  our Ladies were fifth of the Yorkshire clubs and again the best of North Yorkshire.

Men’s race won by Steve Vernon and the Ladies by Gemma Steel.  Full results here