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Report by Matt Hammond
Scunthorpe athletes mixing with the best in England
Sat 31st October, 2009 saw Scunthorpe and district Athletics club entered two teams in the Saucony English Cross-Country Relays. This was the 20th running of the event which is held at, Berry Hill Park, Mansfield
Over the years, the event has grown in stature and this year’s event saw record entries with an impressive 138 squads in the women’s race and is arguably England’s finest cross-country team competition. The unseasonable dry and warm weather saw a soft , dry and very soft course which attracted entries from as far a field as Bristol and Liverpool.
Like the road relays which were held a few weeks prior Scunthorpe showed their strength by submitting two teams of ladies although this time the teams had to be changed around slightly due to non availability. Team consisted of 3 athletes running in relay legs around the 3km cross country course. The composition of the teams was decided on the athlete’s times from the road relays.
The opening legs were run by Donna MARSH and Jane KEMSHALL , Donna was first home for the A team handing over in 46th place however and excellent run by Jane saw her only 8 seconds back and handing over in 51st place.
Next up for the A team was Sarah KEMSHALL obviously not wanting to be out done by her sister she set a blistering pace running the fastest time of the day by a Scunthorpe athlete and moved the team up 12 places to 34th. On the second leg for the B team was Racheal FISK , Racheal had missed the road relays due to work commitments and is probably better known as a track athlete. But she still managed a good time handing over in 57th place.
The last leg was completed by Claire MORLEY , who is a relatively new comer to the club but is fast improving she did exceptionally well to hold onto the places made up by Sarah and brought the team in , in 36th place. An excellent result when competing against the top teams in the country The B team was brought in by the ever reliable Fiona FISK who had seen her daughter Racheal run the previous leg. Although Fiona couldn’t match Racheal’s time she should be proud of her efforts and brought the team home in 59th place and were the 13th B team to finish.
After the event the clubs cross country captain Donna Marsh said ‘this was an excellent performance by both team in what is the biggest Cross Country Relays in the country and always proves to be very competitive’
Pos Time Team
36th 35:18.70 Scunthorpe & Dist AC 'A'
Leg1 Name Leg2 Name Leg3 Name
11:38.10 (46) D Marsh: 11:19.05 (34) S Kemshall: 12:21.55 (36) C Morley
Pos Time Team
59th 39:41.05 Scunthorpe & Dist AC ‘B’
Leg1 Name Leg2 Name Leg3 Name
11:46.65 (51) J Kemshall 13:20.75 (57) R Fisk 14:33.65 (59) F Fisk
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