The second race of the 2016/17 Derby Runner Cross Country League was on Sunday, 13 November. The venue was South Charnwood High School, Markfield, organised by West End Runners. Hinckley’s adults were well represented, with 9 ladies and 16 men turning out in their blue and white vests.
We were spoiled with glorious sunny weather and the ground was quite soft from recent rains. To ease congestion there was a split start, meaning the men set of at 11:02 am (after a two minutes’ silence for Remembrance Sunday) and the ladies followed at 11:10.
The race started in the school field before heading out into woods and fields (with cows as an additional obstacle!) and finishing back at the school. A single lap of about 5.5 miles.
Leading the field for the Hinckley men was cross country specialist Ben Harding in 5th place, following from his 2nd place a fortnight ago. Ben Masser put in a strong effort to finish 48th, spurred on perhaps by the knowledge he was ahead of his dad Dave Masser. Joe Langham looks to have learned from experience not to start too far back in the pack, and advanced to 68th place (compared to 144th last time).
5th and 6th home were the two Marks —- Cox and Frost -— both running in their first cross country race since joining the club. Completing the scoring team of 8 were Tom Wormleighton and Simon Earley, just pipping Harry Langham who vowed to catch Simon next time. Jon Strong followed — having run the 15 miles from Hinckley to reach the race, together with Sally Henderson — and then Rolf Hoelmer, back in action for the club after an injury layoff. Greg Pollard, Matthew Lunn (also in his first XC race) and Will Pither all finished close together, followed by new men’s captain Richard Guest, and Ian Sylvester our top V60.
Hinckley’s ladies were led by Rebecca Gould, who worked her way through the field to 10th place, catching Bethan Padbury who came 11th. Kate Perkins followed in 23rd place and also brought the post-race cookies. Jenny Green was on a flyer in 60th place, ahead of fellow ladies’ captain Céline Guery in 71st and first vet Michelle Fowler in 74th. They were followed by Sally Henderson, Emma Thompson (who only joined the club in the last few weeks), Charlotte Sinclair and Andrea Earley. Special mention also to Megan Cox who ran in Barrow Runners colours, pending official transfer of first-claim membership.
Of the 26 clubs taking part, Hinckley’s ladies team came 3rd, the men were 8th, and the combined team was 7th.
Our thanks to West End Runners for organising this fantastic race.
The next cross country league race is on Sunday, 27 November 11am at Bagworth Heath. All Hinckley Running Club members are invited to take part. Entry is only £3 per person and no pre-registration is required – just turn up and run! Further details will be published on the website and on the Facebook group.
Report by Nick Moore
Cross country dates for your diary
Sunday 27 November – Bagworth Heath (organised by Desford Striders)
Sunday 11 December – Bradgate Park (organised by Roadhoggs)
Sunday 15 January – Sinai Park (organised by Hatton Darts)
Sunday 19 February – Allestree Park (organised by Derwent Runners)
Sunday 5 March – Bosworth Battlefield (organised by Hinckley Running Club – please try to save this date as we will need lots people to run and to help with the race!)
Thanks to Ed Nixon for these photos, I have selected just a few here but Hinckley Running Club members can see all of the photos inside the club’s Facebook group.
