Leng and Hodgson race to victory in Alnwick
SNOW FAILS TO DELAY EVENT AGAIN
DANIEL Leng led from start to finish to claim victory in the final Start Fitness North East Harrier League fixture at Alnwick Pastures.
The home-based Nottingham University student saw off his rivals over the undulating course set out by Alnwick Harriers under the impressive backdrop of Alnwick Castle.
The original fixture, which was scheduled for two weeks earlier, was postponed due to the extreme weather conditions, but at the weekend, despite a few blustery snow showers, nearly 1,000 competitors braved the bitterly cold weather to contest the 10-race programme.
Under-foot conditions were near perfect despite the heavy rainfall during the week and it was Alnwick Harrier Leng who was never headed, leading from gun to tape to claim a rousing victory by over a minute.
Leng cut out a lonely figure over three testing circuits and though the ‘fast’ lads closed him down significantly towards the finish he still claimed a comfortable win.
Chasing him home were Morpeth duo Karl Taylor and Sam Hancox to complete the one-two-three.
Taylor gave Leng two-and-a-halfminutes start, while Hancox gave the winner five minutes and though the pair cut back the deficit significantly at the completion of the 10.5km contest they couldn’t quite make up the deficit.
Hancox was rewarded with the fastest overall time of the day with Gateshead’s Conrad Franks chasing him for that honour just five seconds behind.
Despite the inclement weather, there were 345 finishers which, while down on previous fixtures, is a testament to the strength of crosscountry running in the North East at present.
While Hancox couldn’t quite make it through to pole position that certainly wasn’t the case in the senior women’s race where fellow Morpeth athlete Jane Hodgson defied a 3min 10sec penalty to work her way through the 200-plus field for a comfortable 1min 43sec victory.
Competing over two circuits, Hodgson’s Morpeth team-mate Helen King was the early leader going into the second lap followed by Sunderland’s Michelle Avery.
However, early on the final circuit Hodgson overtook the leading duo to move into first place where she extended her advantage with every stride before coming home a clear winner.
King and Avery managed to hang on to second and third places despite being chased home by the fast-finishing Danielle Smythe (Heaton) who managed to claim the second fastest time of the day behind Hodgson.
Hodgson, a member of the county team which finished fifth at a mudbath Inter-Counties in Loughborough the previous weekend showed she had fully recovered admitting after crossing the finish that she felt more comfortable on this occasion.
“Last week was horrendous,’’ exclaimed Hodgson. “However, here today the course was surprisingly dry which was a relief really.”
Hodgson, who finished in second place last year despite posting the fastest overall time, added: “I really like this course and I’m really happy with my run today for I felt good throughout whereas last week I didn’t feel as though my legs belonged to me!’’