Having given ourselves plenty of time to get the meeting point for the 6:30am departure we were left scratching our heads when there was no coach present. Some frantic checking of emails confirmed it was booked for the correct day so we called the company who informed us the driver had been stuck at some traffic lights – phew!
The rest of the journey proceeded smoothly and having decamped at Witton park, Blackburn Paul Colver commented on quite how hilly the road to the venue had been – I think this was psychological tactics to be honest! But, having walked the course, we realised that it was a tale of two halves. A flat section that led to a big, big hill followed by a long descent onto another flat section. The course looked in pretty good condition apart from the bottom of the hill that was best described as Somme-like!
First to run were the U17 men who had one large and one small lap, 5.9km. First home for TBH was Zak Kettle in 47th place in a time of 22:40, next was David Carr in 75th place in a time of 23:52 and Jake Moir was our third counter in 85th place and a time of 24:41.
Next up were the U15 boys who had to cover 4.3km which was one large lap. Freddie Palmer was 1st home for TBH in 52nd place with a time of 16:43, followed by the fast-improving Jake Parker (who had also managed the Accrington parkrun in the morning!) who just managed to sneak into the top 100 in 99th place with a time of 18:26. Third counter for TBH was Liam Whitelaw, just behind Jake, in 105th place in a time of 18:45.
Next to face the mud were the U15 girls who had one large 4.3km lap to complete. Ruby Colver came home in 100th place in 21:29, Naimah Michla was 111th in 22:22, Alanah Perowne (who chose the optional mud bath treatment) was 121st in 22:42, and Ruby Ditchburn was 130th in 23:15 – finishing with just one shoe! The four runners closed a team and they came 10th team in the North of England. Well done girls.
The U13 boys had one “small” (as described by he organisers) loop of 3.2km to run. Henry Pickett was first home for TBH in 84th place in a time of 14:10. Aidan Whitfield was close behind in 127th place in 14:40. 3rd for TBH was Ernie Bigg in 110th place in a time of 18:14. He was followed home by his brother, Marcus, in a time of 19:23. The four boys closed a team and came 13th in the North of England. Fantastic work. Also, a special mention to Charlie Kilgour who had been under the weather all week but came to support his fellow runners and cheered them all on – great sportsmanship.
Last to run were the U13 girls who ran the same 3.2km course as the U13 boys. Anna Carr (95th), Eliza Palmer (96th) and Poppy Colver (100) all made it into the top 100 with 15:49, 15:53 and 16:01 respectively. Photo of the day is surely Poppy’s enthusiastic thumbs up! Although Eliza’s “gift” to her Mum made me smile!
After the racing the refuelling started and the chip butties (yes, that is a thing Liam) seemed to be top of the agenda. Strangely, none of the kids seemed to be drawn to the desperate selling tactics of the frozen slushy man – “coals to Newcastle” sprang to mind.
I hope I managed to capture pictures of all of our runners. If i didn’t then it’s because they’re just too fast! It’s worth reminding everyone that these champs cover the entire North of England so our athletes can rightly claim their achievement as being in the top 50, 100, 150, 200th etc in the entire North – quite a statement!
And a final thank you to all the juniors who gave us great racing, great fun and were great ambassadors of the club. Well done.
Ian
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