PECO XC Rnd 2

A cold frosty morning greeted 27 men and 15 ladies who were running for the Hyde Park Harriers at West Park for the 2nd round of the PECO Cross Country.

What was more worrying for the runners was how much mud would be out there after the amount of rain that had fallen before hand.  This and the time of year explained the slightly lower numbers but still an excellent turn out.  It was a one lap course just under 5 miles, the early part was round the edge of the football pitches before heading off into the trees.  As always a few hills, with a fair bit of mud, especially the later part of the course when you re-joined the early part but the reverse direction.

First HPH runner home was Stan Karanasios in 29th, with Oliver Leonard  34th and Liam O’Brien 39th.  As always there was some excellent battles through out the field, and great to see some new faces.  Scott Watson, Philip Goose, Tom Pollard, Tom Eales and James Booth were the remaining point scorers.

For the ladies Monica Padilla chased Rachel Bourne down and just got past at the end but it was a good score for the top 2 in 28th and 29th.  Lucy Rider, Lois Gardner and Vicky Houghton were the following point scorers. We unfortunately lost Claire Geeson to injury after a fall.

When the final results came in the men were 4th in the premier league which leaves them 5th out of 7 after 2 rounds but only 1 point behind 4th and 2 behind 3rd, so plenty to play for.  The B team scored well and were 3rd out 19.

The Ladies team were 5th out of 7 which also leaves them 5th overall in the 1st division.  There B team came 17th out of 25.

Many thanks to Phil Hammond for the excellent photos.