Harriers in fine form on Heaton’s hill

Following hot on the heels of the season opener at Leigh last week, Saturday saw our runners take to the field on a familiar course at Heaton Park for the second race in the inaugural Lancashire Rose Cross Country League. Conditions were near-perfect on the day with the bright October sunshine lending just enough warmth to the runners, spectators and those supporting the event.

Blessed with the weather, there was a tangible buzz about the field. Heaton Park is a notable cross country course for the exhilarating charge down the hill at the start. As you might guess, what goes down…well, at some time will go up again – and with Heaton Park there is always the challenging hill climb to look forward to!   After the thrilling start, the course takes in the usual mix of fields and wooded sections you might expect from cross country – although when running the course, you can be forgiven for thinking there always seems to be that extra field or extra section of woodland to go! In the Senior races, the course includes two laps for the Women and three large laps plus one small lap for the Men.  

The event proved a huge success overall and Rochdale Harriers enjoyed a solid showing, with the club fielding 29 runners at the event. There were some fine performances and from members who were fairly new to cross country or who were returning to the discipline after a number of years’ absence.

Onto the results. Rochdale had a strong contingent of 8 runners competing in the junior category races and were represented across most of the age categories. In the U12 Boys category Nicholas Meadowcroft was new to cross country and was running in only his second race for the club. Nicholas finished in 5:49 in 40th position out of 54 runners over a 1.4k course. Well done Nicholas. In the U14 age category race over a 2.9k course, Thomas Bond ran superbly in the Boys race, coming home after 12:20 in 16th position out of 50 runners. In the corresponding Girls race, Amber Arch ran her first cross country race, performing admirably and finishing after 14:02 in 26th position out of 49 runners. In the U16 age category race over a 3.6k course Alexander Ready finished in 15:48 in 21st position out of 30 runners among the Boys, whilst in the Girls race Lily Hirst finished in 15:52 in 9th position, with Lola Whittaker finishing in 17:35 in 18th position in a field of 23 runners. And we have to say, those juniors really do throw themselves headlong hurtling down that first hill!

In the U18 age category race over a 5.8k course Ben Hadfield continued his impressive form, finishing in 22:47 in 5th position out of 13 runners in the Men’s race. In the Women’s race Lottie Peacocke showed again her consistency, finishing in 26:42 in 8th position.

In the Senior Women’s race, which was also run over the 5.8k course, Rochdale was represented with aplomb by 9 runners, with some notable age category wins to report. Among the Senior Women, Stephanie Harrison was first back, after 25:15 in a very creditable 7th position. Steph also came second in her age category of V40 and she was a returnee to cross country racing after a period of absence. Following closely behind Steph was Juliet Smith after 26:10, in 13th position. Juliet was first in her age category of V50. Jennie Ransome was third lady back for Rochdale, after 29:42 and Jennie also came first in her age category of V60. The women’s race was represented by a further six runners from Rochdale, coming home in this order: Susie Hirst (30:31), Zara Stefk (30:13), Anna Blomfield (30:19), Ruth Fearn (31:27), Louise Eadsforth (35:31), and Sally Cooke (36:51), the latter making her cross country debut. Anna came first in her age category of V65. The Rochdale Ladies team came 5th in the team standings – another wonderful achievement. The V70 Male category race was run over the same 5.8k course, where Ian Aitchison finished in 3rd position in 31:19.

The Senior Men’s race wrapped up proceedings for the day. This race was run over 9.4k and included the infamous hill climb four times, featuring one small field lap and then three large course laps. Rochdale was represented by 11 runners in a field of 141 finishers. Danny Bennett was the first Rochdale vest home, after 36:24 and in 17th position. Danny also came first in his age category of V55. Rob Scott came next, after 40:29, followed by Andrew Whitehouse in 41:52. The remaining runners from Rochdale came home in this order: Johnny Lawlor (43:47), Harry Page (45:57), Gary Williams (47:08), Richard Woodside (47:24), Neil Hirst (49:15), Chris Gee (53:19), Matthew Cox (57:03), and Neil Eaton (57:38).

After a busy but rewarding two weeks of cross country, the next major event for the club is the Derwentwater 10 mile road race in the Lake District, which features as the last race of the year in the club’s Road Race Championship.