SEL Cross Country League Completed, 2026

Saturday 17th January, 2026, saw a return to racing for Harriers following the Xmas break. The fourth and final race of the South East Lancs (SEL) Cross Country League was held at Heaton Park. Nineteen Rochdale Harriers competed at Heaton park. The following results are all provisional and some errors were noted in the official version which are yet to be corrected.

On the Junior side, Lily Hirst had a great run, finishing 4th (12 min 31 sec) in the FU13 category, Alex Reay, competing in the boys race, finished 11th in 24 minutes, 20 seconds.

Nine Harriers ladies competed in the ladies race, with Danielle Dignan being the first Harrier to finish, in a very creditable fifth place with a time of 33m, 32s. Next, in 11th position, was Juliet Smith (L50), in 35m, 42s. Zara Hirst was next back in 21st place and a time of 37m, 27s, followed by Jennie Ransome, 24th, in 37m, 48s. Next placed was Louise Mayall (L35), 27th, then Susie Hirst (L50) in 33rd place. Sharon Annable posted 40m, 05s (37th), Ruth Fern 42m, 32s (47th) and Sadaf Saeed 46m, 50s (63rd).

The Harriers ladies team achieved 2nd placing out of 12 (Danielle, Juliet and Zara). The over 40’s team came 3rd from 9 (Juliet, Jennie and Susie) and the ladies over 50’s team came 1st out of 7 teams. Overall a very good performance by the ladies in the team placings. So they should be proud of themselves.

In the men’s race, which is longer than the ladies, eight Harriers took part, with Andrew Whitehouse being the first back, 33rd in 41m,21s. Then came Rob Scott (V40), 40th in 42m, 37s, Ian Dale (V60), 50th, in 45m, 7s. In 60th place was Pete Butterworth (V55), in 48m. Not far behind was Ian Aitchison, 62nd, in 48m, 7s. In his first race back after injury, cross country regular Neil Hirst posted 50m, 20s (68th), Matt Cox clocked 54m,10s (83rd) and Ray Dalby crossed the line in 63 minutes to finish 94th. In the senior men’s, the team finished 7th from 9 (Andrew, Rob and Ian). The over 40’s 7th from 10 (Andrew, Rob, Ian). In the over 50’s category the team achieved a creditable 3rd from 7, whilst the over 60’s came 3rd out of 3 teams.

The individual SEL league placings after four races for Harriers are as follows:

U13 girls, Lily Hirst 4th, U13 boys, Alex Reay, 8th, U17 women’s, Lottie Peacock, 2nd, so a big well done to Lottie for achieving that placing. In the ladies over 20 category Danielle Dignan came a very good 5th from 57 overall. With Jennie Ransome finishing 13th, Zara Hirst 19th, Susie Hirst 21st and Sharon Annable 26th. Overall a very good performance by the ladies over the season. In the vets 40-44 age category, Sadaf Saeed achieved a creditable 7th placing, whilst Susie Hirst did very well in coming 3rd in the vets 50-54 category. Going one better in the vets 55-59 category, Sharon Annable achieved 2nd placing, so cheers to Sharon for a very good result. Pride of place and the biggest cheer goes to Jennie Ransome and Ruth Fearn, who came 1st and 2nd respectively in their vets 60-64 age category. A fantastic achievement for both Harriers ladies.

Team wise, the Harriers ladies placings were as follows: over 18, 2nd from 11, over 35, 3rd from 8, same position for the over 45 age group, from the same number of teams. There was a spectacular performance from the over 50’s team, who came 1st from 11 teams.

Over to the men and individual placings after the four race series, which were as follows: senior men, Pete Butterworth 36th, Chris Gee 41st and Ian Aitchison 47th. Chris also came 4th in the vet 50-54 age category. Whilst in the vet 55-59, Pete Butterworth achieved an excellent 3rd place. This was also the same placing in the vet 65-69 age group for Ian Aitchison. Team wise in the over 18’s, Harriers came 6th from 10, over 40’s again 6th from 10 and in the over 60’s an excellent 2nd from 6 teams.

Sadly at the moment this could be the last report on the SEL, as it may be no more. After being in existence for over 113yrs, as with all clubs, they are very dependent upon volunteers and this year saw the retirement of the organiser of the SEL, along with our very own Colin and Brenda Robinson, who have been timekeepers since time immemorial , through good and bad weather. A massive well-earned thanks to Colin and Brenda for their valuable contribution to the SEL. Hopefully replacements will step into their very big shoes to take up the baton.

X-country aside, racing is thin on the ground at this time of year. Sat 11th Jan saw Phil Lockett (V40) run in the Heaton Park Half Marathon, finishing 28th from 435 runners, in a time of 1hr, 39m, 59s, coming 11th from 80 in his age category. Sunday 18 Jan, again saw Phil in action along with Sadaf Saeed, both running in the very scenic Montane Delamere Trial 13. Phil running it in a time of 1hr, 39m, 59s, achieving 28th position. Sadaf ran it in a time of 2hr, 19m, 28s, finishing in 240th place.

This Saturday coming (24th Jan 2026) sees the first of the “Big” X-country events, “The Northerns”, with a relative short journey to Pontefract, with runners using the horse race course.