Ten Exmouth Harriers were at Northam Burrows in North Devon for the fourth Brooks Westward League Cross Country fixture last week-end (12th January). The Exmouth senior men's team (this year’s “surprise package”, as they were described in the Cornish press) are hanging on to third place but have not been able to come up with a big enough score yet to make inroads into the scores of Cornwall A.C. and Bideford A.C. who are lying first and second respectively. Team captain, Adam Miller, had hoped that the Westward Ho! fixture would be the place to score valuable points as, due to its remote location and distance from some parts of Cornwall and Devon, there is often a much smaller field that turns out to this round, with runners opting for this one as their 'drop score'. This was in part the case, however, the men's team was not at full strength this time round with Tony Hatchard and Jamie Pearson unable to make it. That said, the Exmouth runners who did turn out all had great runs and finished higher up in the placings than in previous rounds, which certainly limited the points deficit.
Tom Merson led the Harriers to his third victory in the league of the season in an 88 strong senior men’s race, covering the 5.5 mile distance in a time of 29:41. With Dave Stone finishing 12th overall and 2nd athlete over 40 in 32:32, both Tom and Dave now look set for a top 3 individual placing in their respective categories in the series overall.
The course was flat but, unsurprisingly, very soggy with patches of standing water to plough through and muddy ditches to negotiate. Team captain, Adam Miller, was a solid 20th in 33:03 and was chased all the way by Marc Cox, 27th in 34:02. Jamie Palmer, making his first racing appearance after a truly nasty fall and ongoing injury sustained during a training run on Woodbury Common fought hard for 69th place in a time of 40:18 and made up Exmouth’s scoring five. Dave Eveleigh (over 55 category) and Jim Wyatt (over 60) finished 84th in 43:58 and 88th in 54:28 respectively.
Dave Stone (far right) and Adam Miller (far left) in the opening stages of the race.
Marc Cox tackles a boggy ditch crossing - one of the very few features on an otherwise flat course.
The inclusivity of athletics was demonstrated in the senior women's race by Exmouth’s former international and super-star vet 50 athlete, Cathy Newman, finishing second overall to under 17 runner, Emily Ackford, from Plymouth A.C. In a race covering about 3.5 miles, Cathy worked her way through the women’s field of 46 and was closing on the winner when she ran out of distance, clocking 23:00. With her highest individual placing of the season, Cathy too looks to be heading for a top 3 place, but in her case both overall and in the over-50s section. Captain Carly Miller’s performances are still on a steady upwards curve as she continues to gain in confidence at cross-country, this being her second season of the Westward League and now having the benefits of some familiarity with the courses. Here she was 17th of 46 finishers in 26:27, having finished 27th at the equivalent fixture a year ago. Dawn Teed, racing on tired legs after a long, hard Grizzly training run the previous day, was 31st in 29:29 and is not out of the running for an over 50s category medal herself at the end of the series.
The next round is local, taking place at the Parke Estate in Bovey Tracey on February 9th. If you're not racing elsewhere that weekend, the teams would appreciate your support: you don't need to complete the series to gain points for the team as every run by every athlete counts.
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