The Westward League Cross-Country got underway on the 13th October with the first of 6 fixtures of the season being held at Redruth School, in Cornwall. At over 100 miles each way, this may seem like a long way to travel for what can amount to only 20 minutes of running, the level of competition at the Westward League events is unlike any other you will find in the South West and the support from fellow team mates makes it a great club day out.
Harriers laid down the hammer for their local rivals with a set of solid performances over the rather uninspiring, but tough 8km course with a series of short, sharp climbs and descents. Most of the Exmouth athletes were running on tired legs as they had already taken part in the Parret Trail relays the previous day. So, bearing in mind the less-than-ideal preparation for this round and that both an individual's and a club's weakest score from the six fixtures can be dropped for the final rankings, the results were extremely encouraging.
Individually, for the women, over a two lap, 4.9 km, Carly Miller was 26th in 23:37 and Dawn Teed 35th in 25:22. With my (Ellie) calf playing up slightly from the previous day's exertions, causing me to withdraw on the morning, this unfortunately left Carly and Dawn short of a full scoring trio of counters in this first round, but with the option of dropping a fixture’s score later and an awful lot of points still on offer, all is by no means lost for the ladies team.
The men raced over 8.1.km. Rob Orton was our first finisher, seventh in 28:35, with Tony Hatchard 16th in 29:31 and Dave Stone 20th in 29:55. This trio were supported by a slightly under-the-weather Adam Miller, 35th in 31:01, and the recently returned and not yet at full fitness Jamie Pearson, 36th in 31:05. These five were the team counters and brought the team home in 3rd place overall, behind strong Bideford AC and Cornwall AC squads.
Although outside of the 5 counters, other Exmouth runners are still vital to the competition, as they can push rival team members down the standings and prevent them from gaining points. Playing their part in the team effort were Hugh Marsden, who completed the race in 33:42 for 65th, and Jim Wyatt (puzzlingly labelled as Over 55, although in fact over 70!) was 20th in 46:30.
In the Veterans competition Stone was third Over 40, Marsden fourth Over 50 and Wyatt seventh Over 60 (although in fact over 70).
The next event is in Newquay on 10th November. It would be great to get another strong men's team to this event to defend our third spot and try and make some headway on 2nd and 1st. Having a full compliment of ladies there too would also be great. We car share and petrol is claimed back off the club. It's a fun day off with fellow teamies and there are no entry fees as these are paid for by the club, so you literally have nothing to lose by giving the cross-country a go!
The men's team at Redruth.
And the depleted ladies' team!
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