PECO XC Season Summary 2025/2026

Mike Vargas, HPH’s resident archivist of all things PECO, has written up the following summary of another fantastic season of cross-country running for the club…

Women’s team

Participation: 45

Performance:  for the second year in a row it was in their own hands coming into the last round but pipped by Abbey, so that is certainly consistency.  It would seem just a few more of the faster women turning out when it matters might secure a title.  2 round wins is the best the women’s team has achieved in a season so that’s certainly something to celebrate.  The women certainly seemed closer to Abbey then in previous years.

Men’s team

Participation: 62

Performance:  Well, clean sweep, 5 wins, best ever individual round score (120).  The men are really in a healthy position with strength and depth of squad (annoyingly for your truly, I’m not really required these days).  The clean sweep has been achieved once by Wharfedale and 4 times be Valley (including 3 in a row), so great to be part of the ‘invincibles’.

Women’s vet team

Participation: 21

Performance: 7th, so trending down from last years 5th, 3rd the year before and relegation previous to that.  We had 4 penalties this season, all for 65+ athletes lacking.  So this is a category we need to promote PECO to, any runner over 65 will be massively important to improving the teams fortunes, as well as either recruitment or getting existing members out from the 45+ and 55+ categories.

Men’s vet team

Participation: 37

Performance:  5th, a fairly consistent story of the 4 years since promotion being 4th-6th.  Also, no penalties for the 3rd successive season. To improve and start competing with the big boys of the league we need recruitment of or getting existing members out from the 45+, 55+ and 65+ categories.  It’s a similar story to the women’s vet team with not a massive pool of runners over 45 turning out, which does make anyone over that age very important and that may need selling to people in those categories at next seasons PECO.  On the plus side with a few younger runners getting older, our M35 category is absolutely stacked!