In a rare break in the weather, the sun shone on the righteous at the Derbyshire XC champs on 6th January at Bulwell Hall in Nottinghamshire.
Unfortunately the very tempting water feature that greeted us on the way down the drive was not part of the course but there was still plenty of mud and fun to be had – apparently.
Great performances from our Juniors with George Careless (u11), Rosie Cartwright (u11) and Frank Cartwright (u13) all running brilliantly. For all 3 it was their first XC outing, and made even better for Frank who received one of the hallowed brown envelopes for Derbyshire selection.
Jacob Jones (u15) also had a great run, finishing in 19.14, and Logan Fairey in the same race, running for Derby AC, ran 17.17.
For the older lot, both the women and men took home the vet team gold medals, and the men the vet team bronze medal.
Our vet womens team were Hayley Gill 2nd OA and 1st V45 (30.45), Lucy Taylor 5th OA and 2nd V35 (34.45), Lottie Riddle 7th OA and 3rd V35 ( 35.04) and Rebecca Curtis-Hall in 39.15.
Nicky Dick also shone, finishing in 40.55 and 1st V55
For the men, David Robertson ran a great race in the senior category, finishing 35th in 46.46. Daniel Haworth was 1st overall in 34.59 overall. We won’t mention the fact he ran for Hallamshire Harriers as in his heart he will always be MAC !
Our winning vet men’s team were Luke Beresford 10th OA and 1st V35 38.48, Jose Guiterrez 15th OA 3rd V35 40.09, Chris Shelton 16th OA 41.00 and Colin Davenport 18th OA 41.25.
Our bronze medal team were Matt Jackson ( 44.25), Bob Foreman (47.17) , John Thorpe (48.25), Darren Spibey (51.15). Bob Foreman was also 1st V65.
Mick Moorhouse (56.32) and Rob Curtis (60.56) both put in excellent performances with Mick 3rd V65
Despite being told to move to Derbyshire on several occasions, Geoff Cooper remains firmly on the other side of the border (for now) and ran for Nottinghamshire as a V55 in 59.01 and 116th OA.
Thanks as ever to everyone and to Becky for the banana bread.
