Harriers hanging onto 3rd spot in the Westward League

Exmouth Harriers men's and ladies' teams continued to mount their sustained challenge on the Westward League Cross Country status quo last Sunday (9th February). The women were 7th before this latest round, which was the 5th of the 6 in the series, and after it had clawed themselves up one space to 6th. This was largely due to us being able to field the largest ladies squad after the local Exeter event in December, with 5 Exmouth ladies taking part and earning valuable points. Although there are only 3 counters each round in the ladies section, subsequent finishers are by no means dispensable: they play a vital role in bumping members and potential counters from rival teams down the pecking order and thus limiting their points, so this really is an all round team effort. With two Plymouth teams ahead of them and the final fixture being in that city, the Harriers' ladies can expect to finish the season in 6th place overall as long as we close in a complete team on March 2nd.

The Men’s team had their second highest points total of the winter, which was only good enough for 4th place on the day in a competitive team turn out, but enough to keep them in 3rd place overall. A final position higher than this is highly unlikely as the gap between the two front running teams (Cornwall AC and Bideford AC) continues to grow, but turning out a full team at the final race is vital to ensure that “this season’s surprise package” maintains a podium position. Not forgetting that Exmouth is a considerably smaller club than all the other clubs that currently feature in the top 5 berths, our lads can be justifiably proud of acquitting themselves so well.

This Sunday the women raced for 5km on an extremely demanding course near Bovey Tracey. Show choice at this venue is always a difficult decision, as parts of the route are on grass but others are on muddy, stoney tracks: multi-terrain or fell studs seemed to be the preferred option over spikes for most of our athletes. 

Individually, Cathy Newman continued to outshine many of her (much younger) female rivals and was once again a comfortable 1st FV50 and 7th female overall (of 62 finishers) in just 20:49. Next in was team captain Carly Miller, who deserves credit for her part in the revival of Cross Country racing amongst the ladies at Exmouth Harriers, 29th in 24:38. Carly was closely followed by newcomer, Sarah Jackman, 31st in 25:01. Sarah has recently joined the club on the recommendation of her friend and fellow hockey player, Emma White, and is thus far proving to be a real asset to us with her willingness to try out new events and her show of true team spirit. Then came long-time cross-country stalwart, Dawn Teed, who was 39th in 26:11 and, like Cathy, running in the FV50 section and closing in on a potential podium finish if she performs well at the final round in Plymouth. Dawn has also played a big part in Exmouth harriers increased participation in this somewhat neglected branch of running and this was shown by her commitment to the team in opting for the team cross-country event over her own individual ambitions and missing out on the 4 Trigs, which she dearly loves, and which was held on the same day. In 44th place (26:45), came another veteran and another runner with a gutsy performance, and this was Nicola Kelly, playing a vital role in keeping other team members at bay.

The men’s event was close to 6 miles and contested by 116 athletes. Once again, there was an impressive piece of front running on display from gun to tape with Exmouth's own Tom Merson covering the distance in a sprightly 34:21. Providing he turns out to the last event in Plymouth and puts in a fairly decent performance, he will surely soon be crowned as the winner of the league. The very experienced cross country runner, Tony Hatchard, was 11th in 37:17, posting his highest individual placing of the season thus far and showing that his personal improvement curve is continuing to bend in the right direction . Stalwart Harrier, Dave Stone, was 3rd man over 40 and 24th overall in 39:12, and looks good for a podium position within this category. Adam Miller always had Dave in his sights as a good target to try and hang onto and the invisible piece of string that holds these two together is seemingly getting shorter as the rounds go on, with Adam finishing just behind his club rival in 26th and 39:19. Marc Cox finished 47th (41:36) and Jamie Pearson, on a welcome return to the team, was 57th in 44:00.

Some superb photos, showing the event in its true muddy and rain soaked glory, can be viewed here on Pete Newman's Flickr page:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/97050275@N02/with/12467025183