As TBH were co-hosting this fixture I was picked up by Morag at 7:15, and arrived at the race course in driving rain with hints of snow. For the next couple of hours, it continued to rain on and off, staying fairly cold whilst we set the course up. I’m pleased to say that come 11:30 when the juniors started turning up, things had improved greatly, and it turned into a fairly pleasant (all be it a little windy) afternoon, just in time for the junior races starting.
We had yet another great turnout by the TBH juniors, with yet more first timers completing these testing courses convincingly, and also closing teams in the U13 Boys and Girls age categories.
The U11 Boys were first up, with an XC newbie Henry Pickett covering the 1200m loop in 6:55, followed closely behind by Joe Eggett in 7:00 and Laurence Hattaway backing them up in 7:26.
Next up were the U11 Girls with Ruby Colver coming in in 27th place, in a time of 6:45 and Laura Whitman a few places behind (48th in a time of 8:02).
Next to run in the U17 Boys race, over an approximately 3 mile, 2 medium lap course, was another XC newbie John Carr who finished an excellent 11th place in a time of 18:42 being backed up by Kieron Wilkinson (21:47) in 31st position, who bravely struggled over the finish line after wrenching his knee.
Amelia Short was our only representative in the U15 Girls race, over the 2 mile, 1 large lap course. She came in 23rd with a time of 15:24.
The last junior races were the U13 ones (also over a slightly short 2 mile course), and the sun was even out at this point.
The Boys were up first with Zak Kettle first Tyne Bridge in 38th place in a time of 13:33 from the Fast Pack (having to give a 1:40 head-start to the slow pack), followed in next by Jake Moir in 42nd place from the slow pack (15:20) and David Carr right behind him in 43rd place in a time of 13:42 with Isaac Pickett backing them up with a time of 20:33. This gave them a team placing of 9th which built on their performances at earlier fixtures.
Finally the U13 Girls were off with Lucy Walton leading the charge (and possibly earning herself a promotion to the fast pack) in 10th place in a time of 15:13. Amber Maynard was next in in 27th position in 16 minutes dead, followed by Hope Moir in 57th place in 17:48. This gave them a team position of 7th overall, another great result for the U13 girls.
I was very impressed with the turnout and efforts made at this fixture, so let’s build on that, and have really good representation at the next fixture, which will be at Aykley Heads, Saturday 17th November. More information is available here.
Dave Moir
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