Off Road Double Header – XC and TNT

The weekend of the 7th and 8th January saw a club off-road championship double header.

7 Harriers (3 ladies and 4 men) took on the best of the Yorkshire Cross Country scene at the Lightwater Valley Theme Park.

The ladies were first up with a route of approx. 5.1 miles.  Reena Mistry lead the 3 ladies home in 88th place and a very strong time of 40.49.  This also gave her 20 points in the 2nd division.  Clare Evans was next in 118th and a time of 45.09 and top points in the 1st division.  Then Samantha Scarlett came home in 137th (47.32) and a solid 19 points in the 2nd division.

Next up came the mens race on a slightly longer course at 6.4 miles.  Alec Francis was 1st Harrier home in an excellent 60th and a time of 38.17, which gave him top points in the 2nd division.

The battle for next Harrier was epic with only 7 seconds splitting Michael Vargas in 40.01 (90th) and Philip Goose in 40.08 (93rd).  They were also 2nd and 3rd in the second division.  Jimmy Sheldon came home in 146th in a time of 42.41 and claimed top points in the 1st division.

The following day 29 Harriers (17 ladies and 12 men) took on the Temple Newsam 10 miler.  This included Clare, Samantha and Michael who were doing the double header.

The first half of the route is fairly fast but it gets tougher in the second half when we hit the hills on a route which uses part of the PECO course.

1st Harrier home in a very impressive 6th place was Michael Vargas which is extra impressive after running the day the before. Top points in the 2nd division were an added bonus.  Next home in 20th place and claiming top points and the 1st division championship was Scott Watson.  This was his 5th top score of the year.

Michael Taylor, Jack Rose and Curtis Broadhead all had strong 2nd division point scoring runs before James Vickers came home in 177th.  This was enough to claim the Premier league title after a solid year which included 2 top scores, 1 2nd and 3 3rds.  John Hayes took top points in the 1st division with another solid run.

In the ladies Rebecca Gray was showing that she is back to fitness with an excellent 93rd overall and in doing so claimed the Premier league title with her 4th top score from 4 starts.

Lois Gardner took top points in the 1st division coming home 2nd Harrier lady in 253rd with Honor Baldry taking top points in the 2nd division.  This helped her claim the runner up spot behind the new champion Samantha Scarlett who’s double point score left her out front.

Next up and the final round of the club off road championship is the PECO round at West Park.  Still plenty to run for.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11oi6MshdKpIQiosSg3E-mM14TxEn6r5lj_Dm5PI3HUg/edit?usp=sharing