Humberside Cross Country Championships 2010, Thornes Park, Wakefield

20th February 2010

Hannah conquers her nerves to impress on county stage

Reports by Matt Hammond

Saturday 20^th February finally saw the running of the first combined Yorkshire and Humberside cross country at Thornes Park, Wakefield. The event had originally been due to be run in early January but had been delayed due to the wintery weather the region suffered at the start of the year. This time the organisers managed to beat the weather by 24 hours as the heavy snow didn’t arrive till the Sunday. The competitors were treated to a frosty but sunny winter’s morning around the hilly park and wood land.

Unfortunately the Scunthorpe and district team was somewhat diminished due to several of the original entrance now been unavailable due to injuries and prior commitments. However 5 young members still made it to the start line. The races were run as a combined event with the Yorkshire and Humberside championships run at the same time. This in turn meant the races had up to 100 competitors in each race.

First on were the youngest entrants Ross EDGAR and Mitchell BAINES in the under 13 boys. The boys have only just moved up from the under 11’s and in Mitchell’s case was giving nearly 2 years away to the elder boys. The boys both looked a little nervous at the beginning and made a slow start. However both grew in confidence and made steady progress through the race with Ross finishing 8^th in Humberside and 44^th overall, Mitchell was 16^th in Humberside 56^th overall.

Next on were the under 15 girls which saw Beth EDGAR and Hannah DUNKERLEY contesting the 2.5 mile course. This was Hannah first major championships having only just started running at the end of last summer. She is still struggling to cope with pre race nerves but is slowly learning to channel these nerves to her advantage. It was Hannah who made the quickest start and was well up in the field when they reached the first hill. However it was Beth’s experience at running the hills which saw her surge ahead and finished 7^th in Humberside and 40th overall. Hannah then produced an excellent sprint to make up several places and finished 10^th in Humberside and 45^th Overall.

The final competitor was Josh REID in the under 17 boys who produced the highest finish of the day amongst the young competitors when he finished just outside the medals in 4^th place, 33^rd overall.

Scunthorpe Ladies lead the way

Scunthorpe and district ladies have continued their good form this winter on the cross country with some excellent results.

First saw Sarah KEMSHALL and Clare MORLEY run at the Northern Cross country champion ships which were held at the end of November at Wilton Park, Blackburn. The race saw nearly 250 entrants from as far afield as Gateshead and Liverpool. In a field that saw many international athletes it was Sarah who showed her excellent winter form and finished in a brilliant 33rd place. Not to be out done Clare who has constantly improved this winter ran a creditable 63^rd place. Unfortunately for once the ladies were unable to field a full team or they would have been on for a top 10 team place 

On Saturday 20^th February Sarah and Clare were then joined by Emma CLAYTON at the Yorkshire and Humberside Cross country championships at Thornes Park, Wakefield. This was the first running of a combined Championships. The event had originally been due to be run in early January but had been delayed due to the wintery weather the region suffered at the start of the year. This time the organisers managed to beat the weather by 24 hours as the heavy snow didn’t arrive till the Sunday. The competitors were treated to a frosty but sunny winter’s day around the hilly park and wood land course.

The ladies lined up in a field of over 110 competitors and this time it was Emma who took pride of place finishing second in the Humberside championships and 11^th overall. Next home was Sarah with  4^th place in Humberside and 21^st overall. The team was completed by Clare 6^th Humberside place and 47^th overall.  This excellent grouping by the ladies meant they were first Humberside team home.    

Unfortunately the Scunthorpe and district team men’s team was somewhat diminished due to several of the original entrants now been unavailable due to injuries and prior commitments. With nearly 220 starting the men’s race, it was left to Dave Vickers to fly the flag for Scunthorpe. Dave had a solid run and finished in 122^nd place overall 17^th in the Humberside championships.