Results clear as mud from Marl Pits double
THEY say when the going gets tough the tough get going. That was certainly the case for the third South East Lancs (SEL) and Red Rose (RR) cross country league races at Marl Pits on Saturday, with storm Isha wreaking havoc.
Due to the SEL fixture at Marl Pits being cancelled earlier in the year when the ground was frozen solid and dangerous for racing, it was decided to hold both the SEL and RR fixtures together at Marl Pits.
The two-race series was combined, due to a lack of time available as the County and National Cross Country Championships are being held soon and they mark the end of the cross country season.
The SEL has been experiencing computer problems and as a result, only the RR race results can be reported on here.
Not that I am complaining, because it could have been difficult explaining the results, since some Harriers compete in both leagues, some in the SEL only, or others in the RR only.
By the time the ladies and men’s races got underway, the course had turned into a mixture of frozen ground and seriously thick mud, masquerading as super glue.
Nine Harriers competed in the RR league race, with Lily Hirst coming 14th in 9m, 50s.
In the U15 Boys Race, Noah Small finished 11th in 19m, 19s. Just to illustrate how complicated it could get reporting on two races, both also ran in the SEL league race with Lily coming 7th and Noah 6th respectively. Follow me?
In the U15 Girls Race, Lottie Peacock finished 9th in a time of 21m, 29s.
Six Harriers Ladies competed in the Ladies Race. First home was Juliet Smith, 12th in 26m, 41s, followed by Jennie Ransome, 21st in 29m, 3s,
closely followed by Zara Hirst, 23rd in 29m, 38s.
Then, not too far behind, was Molly Howell
in 26th position, in 30m, 26s. Danielle Dignon came home in 30th position in a time of 31m, 22s and finally in 34th place, Susie Hirst in a time of 31m, 57s.
The Ladies Team came 3rd overall, comprising of Juliet Smith, Jennie Ransome, Zara Hirst and Molly Howell. In the Ladies Vets category, again the team achieved 3rd place (Juliet Smith, Jennie Ransome and Susie Hirst).
Four Harriers men ran in the Senior Men’s race, with Daniel Bennett being first Harrier back in 22nd place, with a time of 36m, 24s. Chris Gee, 77th in 45m, 17s, Neil Hirst, 80th in 46m, 10s, Matthew Cox, 95th in 51m, 20s. The Harriers team achieving 7th place in the Senior Vets team placings.
Next up as mentioned earlier is one of the big cross country events of the season, the Northern Cross Country County
Championship races, which are being held at East Park, Sedgefield, County Durham on Saturday. After which the final SEL cross country fixture is held.
Although there were very few races over the Christmas/new year period, it didn’t mean the Harriers weren’t kept busy, it’s a period of planning for the new racing season. All the races for the Fell Grand Prix (FGP) have been decided, along with the road championship races, plus the dates for the Harriers own organised races (Wardle Skyline, Three Day Event, 10k, Hades Hill etc).
These are held locally and this year for the Wardle and Hades Hill races, there will be a prize for the first local runner. If you fancy running in any of these or the other Harriers races, just pop onto Rochdale Harriers website (https://rochdaleharriers. org.uk).