Northern Cross Country Championships, The Hebden and C25K, 2023

Saturday 28th January saw Witton Park, Blackburn play host to the 2023 North of England Cross Country Championships.

The mild weather and cloudy but clear skies made for good running conditions for the athletes from Derby to Newcastle and everywhere in between.

In the blue ribbon event, an undulating grassy 11.5km / 7.13 mile course lay ahead of the 499 Senior Men who lined up to push themselves around 3 big laps of the park.

Danny Bennett was the first Rochdale vest back, finishing 225th in a time of 45:26, followed by Richard Stirzaker in 296th after 48:24.

In the Senior Women’s race 270 runners tested themselves around a 7.4km / 4.59 mile course where Jennifer Ransome was first Rochdale Harrier back over the line in 153rd with a time of 38:31. Anna Blomfield completed the three laps in a time of 41:50 in 198th with Danielle Dignan shortly behind in 199th after 41:57.

Meanwhile, over in West Yorkshire a group of Harriers were taking on The Hebden, a popular Fell event offering a 24 km / 15 mile or 33 km / 22 mile challenge.

John Bramwell opted for the longer distance starting in Mytholmroyd and visiting Midgley, Pecket Well, Blackshaw Head, Stoodley Pike and Cragg Vale recording over 1,300m / 4265 ft of elevation returning back under the five hour barrier in 4:54:58.

David Bell, Jeff McCarthy, Jenny Brown, John Mayall and Kay Welsby all stuck together throughout the shorter route which follows a similar path, but makes its way back to Mytholmoyd straight from Stoodley Pike, cutting out the additional seven mile Cragg Vale extension.

The team all registered over 900m / 2950ft in elevation and enjoyed a good day on the hills stopping the clock at 3:28:16. Continuing his comeback from injury, Mark Walker completed the route in 4:56:00

Henry Pickup took the off road trail event to the extreme and tested himself at the Petzl Night Runner 10km / 6.2 mile night race.

Setting off into the dark and the fog at 7:00pm, the route tackles rough, boggy moorland above Rivington and challenges the runner’s wherewithals to stick to the correct route. Henry made it back in one piece after 58:40 in 42nd place.

The Club’s January 2023 ‘Couch to 5k’ scheme is going strongly and the New Year fitness enthusiasts are building fantastically, sticking to the programme with four weeks now complete.

This weekend also sees the return of the Club’s Road Race Championships as a minibus of Harrier’s will make their way over to the Dewsbury 10k Road Race full of enthusiasm and PB aspirations for the season ahead.