INSIDE TRACK Oh by George, Heaton stalwart signs up again
ROUTLEDGE HEADING TO THE CAPITAL
CLOSE to 10,000 entries have been received for the 10-race National Cross-Country Championships on Hampstead Heath in two weeks time.
Certainly not for the first time, among those seeking to contest the senior men’s championship - which has 3,428 would-be starters, including around 150 from the North East - is Heaton Harriers’ stalwart George Routledge.
It will be the 16th time – the first was in 1950 – the championships have been held in the capital’s Parliament Hill Fields and for Routledge it will be another pilgrimage to rub shoulders with the country’s leading crosscountry exponents.
He first took an interest in the National when it was held on Newcastle Town Moor in 1986 and since then has only missed two or three and the obsession has remained ever since.
Three years ago, when the championships were last held at the iconic venue, Routledge was last to cross the finish line in 2,007th position - but that has not dampened his enthusiasm for another crack.
“I love everything about the National, it is my favourite crosscountry race especially when it is held on Hampstead Heath,’’ said Routledge, who was also the last man home when the championships were held there in 2012.
“There is something magical about the event, it is always a tough course but even though I now finish at the wrong end of the field I still come away with lots of pride.
“Mind you, while the Heath is always tough - especially with the long uphill start - I have been in tougher Nationals.
“Anyone who took part when the National was held at Alton Towers will never forget the horrendous conditions that day.
“We have tough courses here in the North East but Alton Towers was unbelievable. “In fact, it was so bad there were talks the meeting would be abandoned midway through it was so bad.
“I still enjoyed it, though - that is after I got my breath back of course - and I was not last that day.
“I think I finished with a dozen or so behind me.’’ Routledge, who takes on a number of admin jobs with the North East Masters’ AA, is one of 10 competitors from Heaton Harriers who will travel to London on the morning of the race and return, more than likely caked in mud, later in the day after their gruelling 12k outing.
As well as Heaton, Morpeth, gold medalists when the championships were held in Sunderland in 2013 and who were the second team last year just four points adrift of Tonbridge, have entered 16 names and could go close again. However, they will have to manage without the services of Jonny Taylor, who was their first counter in eighth-place 12 months ago in Nottingham.
An interesting entry for the Northumbrians, though, is Ian Hudspith, who has not raced over the country since finishing 58th when the National was held in Castle Donnington in 2016.
Despite that, the Commonwealth Games representative will be a welcome asset to the squad which will have five of last year’s silver medalists on the start line.
In all, 24 of the region’s clubs will be represented in the senior men’s race alone - Gosforth are taking 13 while Low Fell, South Shields, Sunderland, Tyne Bridge all have 10 – and in total in the 10 races the North East has nearly 400 athletes making the trip to London for the greatest cross-country spectacle ever. SUNDERLAND Harriers’ enjoyed a winning double at the North East Masters’ Cross-Country Championships in Darlington when Kevin Jeffress and Alice Smith came out on top in their respective contests.
Jeffress, who posted a pre-race confidence boost with a superb 60th-place finish against younger opposition in the Northern CrossCountry Championships at Leeds the previous weekend, took control midway through the contest after overhauling fellow Wearsider Ian Dixon.
The in-form Jeffress, named as one of the North East reserves for the Inter-Counties CrossCountry Championships next month, was in no mood to give up his title - and at the finish of the 5.25-miles he had opened up a gap of 34 seconds to claim the winner’s trophy for the fourth time in a row.
Smith, meanwhile, made it a winning debut after moving into the masters’ category this season and like Jeffress had to shake off her main rival, Darlington’s Bernadette Caygill.
However, she managed to see off the opposition in fine style to open up a gap of more than a minute at the finish to win the 35-40 category - Caygill claiming the top 40-45 award.
The over-65 men competed with the women over the 3.5-mile course and first home in eighth place overall was Elswick’s Mark McNally, who showed a clean pair of heels to his rivals despite contesting the 70-75 age group.
Further down the field there was a battle royal in the 80-85 section with Heaton’s Reg Checkley managing to come out on top by a matter of just nine seconds after he managed to see off a welcome visitor - Scotlandbased Morpeth Harrier Walter Ryder.