Belgrave and Shaftesbury Barnet capture English cross-country relay crowns

Belgrave Harriers’ women and Shaftesbury Barnet’s men won the senior titles on a busy day of racing in Mansfield

Belgrave Harriers retained their senior women’s trophy, with their anchor runner Kate Axford fastest overall, while Shaftesbury Barnet added the men’s title at the Saucony English Cross Country Relay Championships at Berry Hill Park in Mansfield on Saturday (Nov 2).

With five podium places, Aldershot were adjudged the best overall club, while Chelmsford had three podium places in the young athletes’ races.

Conditions were pretty much perfect for the racing despite a little early drizzle, in stark contrast to the weather and going last year.

Women

The story was much the same as last year as Belgrave Harriers retained their title and Aldershot took both minor medals.

Such was the superiority of the holders that even if Aldershot had put their best three runners in their A-squad they would still have only finished second. As it was, their B team just held on to third from a fast-finishing Bea Wood for Cambridge & Coleridge.

Belgrave had a steady start with Nadine Donegan back in sixth, as Herne Hill’s Lucy Jones stole the early honours. She said: “That is the best run that I have had in years and is a credit to the coaches at the club.”

Then Sarah Astin, a member of the winning team last year, took Belgrave up to the lead mid-race with a 9:53 clocking. She said: “I felt strong and kept fighting.”

This was ahead the Aldershot B team’s Amy Griffiths, whose 9:49 stood as the second best of the race.

It was then left to former hockey player Kate Axford to complete the job, as she did last year, with the fastest lap time of 9:36 for the 3km lap.

Belgrave’s anchor said: “I felt like I needed to push but it is so nice to be in a team race.”

British Athletics Cross Challenge races and then a possible Euro Cross spot are hopes in Axford’s diary for the next two months.

Aldershot’s A squad then called on Niamh Brown to salvage some pride on their third and final stage and her 9:53 spilt was equal third fastest with Astin and Blackheath’s Niamh Bridson-Hubbard, who gained five slots on the last lap to sixth.

Deeper in the field there were notable runs from Amelia Quirk, who ran a 10:07 for Bracknell, and Jess Warner-Judd, who ran an encouraging 10:01 time mid-race for Blackburn after suffering focal epileptic seizures during races earlier this year.

The Olympian said: “I needed a outing as it’s been three months since my diagnosis and I have probably always had epilepsy as my sister has it and it runs in a family.”

Women (3x3km): 1 Belgrave 29:40 (N Donegan 10:12, S Astin 9:53, K Axford 9:36); 2 AFD 30:38 (M Jordan-Lee 10:12, K Estlea-Morris 10:34, N Brown 9:53); 3 AFD B 30:53 (P Roessler 10:20, A Griffiths 9:49, K Brown 10:44); 4 Cambridge & Coleridge 30:56 (L Shanahan 10:29, K Lowery 10:34, B Wood 9:54); 5 Loughborough Students 31:02 (C Dannatt 10:24, E Muzio 10:31, E Parker 10:08); 6 Blackheath & B31:07 (C Sharp 10:20, M Squibb 10:55, N Bridson-Hubbard 9:53); 7 Belgrave  B 31:22 (I Wolsey 10:17, K Popadich 10:45, S Hicks 10:21); 8 Sale 31:23 (L Armitage 10:20, J Spilsbury 10:54, M Davies 10:10); 9 Herne Hill  31:31 (L Jones 10:00, H Keenan 11:11, S Tooley 10:21); 10 Reading 31:54 (L Church 10:03, N Harris 10:48, E Howsham 11:04); 11 Leeds 32:02 (D Corradi 10:40, E Curran 10:49, S Stockton 10:34); 12 Thames Valley 32:13 (C Buckley 10:07, N Edmunds 11:19, L Sterritt 10:48); 13 Loughborough B 32:21 (A Coffey 10:46, C Young 10:45, J Norkett 10:51); 14 Thames Hare & Hounds 32:36 (E Weir 10:38, B Murray 11:13, C Hammett 10:45); 15 Belgrave C 33:08 (M Corden-Lloyd 10:53, S Hewitt 11:04, M Canham 11:12); 16 Mansfield 33:14 (L Coleman 10:35, H Gill 11:33, N Yates 11:07); 17 WSEH 33:17 (A Barbour 10:13, N Thompson 11:12, K Clutterbuck 11:53); 18 Charnwood 33:24 (K Parker 11:13, Juliet Potter 10:56, A Seager 11:15); 19 Peterborough & Nene Valley 33:30 (G Holloway 11:03, H Knight 11:26, M Peel 11:03); 20 Salford 33:37; 21 Herts Phoenix 33:42; 22 Loughborough 33:57; 23 Norwich 34:01; 24 Trafford 34;14; 25 Rotherham 34:25; 26 Steel City 34:18; 27 Hallamshire 34:25; 28 York 34:30; 29 Tonbridge 34;35; 30 Blackburn 34:35

Fastest lap: Axford 9:36; Griffiths 9:49; Astin/Bridson-Hubbard/N Brown 9:53; Wood 9:54

92 teams finished

Men

Shaftesbury also came from behind after the first lap, as Isaac Hirschman-Chandler was way down in 16th after their 5km two-lap opener.

Liam Dee then moved them up to sixth by halfway before Dylan Thomas finally took the black and white striped vest to the front on the penultimate lap. Then it was Jamie Dee who completed the job and a comfortable 19-second victory over Bedford & County. He said of his team-mates: “They did all of the work.”

With a consistent squad who were all within 12 seconds of each other, Bedford had a steady start before hitting the silver medal position with one stage to go. Then Harry Brodie took over from their fastest man Ben Alcock’s 15:00, before Jack Goodwin confirmed their medals at the finish with a 15-second margin over 2023 champions Cambridge & Coleridge.

None of the leading teams to finish troubled the timekeepers much on the first lap and none of their runners were in the top half-dozen fastest runners.

Those honours were led by Morpeth’s Rory Leonard, whose 14:31 took them from ninth to fourth on the final stage. Earlier, the north easterners had Scott Beattie run 14:48 for equal sixth fastest but they sorely missed their long-serving Carl Avery who, said Leonard, had run a 2:17:09 personal best marathon a few days earlier in Frankfurt.

Earlier in the race, the Milton Keynes Distance Project’s Wheeler twins, Charles and George, had held the front of the field. Charles ‘won’ that first 5km leg with a 14:45 time that was to remain the third best time of the race.

He said: “I have been training in Fort Romeu and here decided to push from the top of the hill.”

He was just ahead of York’s Angus McMillan who was fastest last year and who was also given 14:45 for equal third best overall, albeit a few hundredths down.

After his effort George said he had paced the Valencia Half-Marathon to 8km six days earlier at 59-minute pace, then waited for two minutes before pacing the 65-minute pace runners to the finish. Brother Charles had won the Wolverton 5 a week earlier to head the 5-mile rankings for the year at 23:04.

Their club then fell away as Shaftesbury, Bedford and Aldershot’s Ellis Cross, who ran a 14:48 split, went through.

Somewhat further down, the former double English National champion James Kingston ran 14:42 for second fastest on the day after moving from 19th to ninth.

Men (4x5km): 1 Shaftesbury 60:11 (I Hirshman-Chandler 15:17, L Dee 14:56, D Evans 14:58, J Dee 15:02); 2 Bedford & County 60:30 (E Blythman 15:12, B Alcock 15:01, H Brodie 15:12, J Goodwin 15:07); 3 Cambridge & Coleridge 60:45 (T Keen 14:56, J Escalante-Phillips 15:02, J Gray 15:30, C Elson 15:18); 4 Morpeth 60:51 (A Brown 16:02, S Beattie 14:48, P Winkler 15:32, R Leonard 14:31); 5 Aldershot Farnham & District 61:00 (C Charleston 15:31, J O’Connell 15:08, E Cross 14:48, S Eglen 15:36); 6 Highgate  61:05 (S Ghafari 14:59, J Allen 15:24, A Lepretre 15:04, R Poolman 15:39); 7 Bracknell 61:13 (R Harvie 15:28, S Halsted 15:18, B Wills 15:36, Z Seddon 14:52); 8 Hallamshire 61:25 (A Manthorpe 14:52, T Power 15:20, D Haworth 15:40, A Heyes 15:34); 9 Tonbridge 61:34 (B Murphy 15:36, J Higgins 15:42, T Higgins 15:36, J Kingston 14:42); 10 Ashford 61:40 (L Small 15:10, A Hasan Ogeto 15:11, W Zerom 15:57, J Small 15:23); 11 Newham & Essex Beagles 61:50 (O Adedeji 16:04, F O’Brien 15:39, C Brisley 15:00, J Cann 15:09); 12 Salford 62:04 (A Ediker 15:27, D Barratt 15:44, R Smyk 15:36, C Davidson 15:19); 13 Highgate B 62:15 (T Fawden 15:37, P Chambers 15:36, F Grierson 15:30, J Young 15:33); 14 City of York 62:21 (A McMillan 14:45, J Tucker 16:11, T Shaw 15:51, D Neary 15:34); 15 Leeds 62:28 (J Sagar 15:32, M Bostock 15:48, E Bovingdon 15:33, R Allen 15:37); 16 Milton Keynes Distance Project 62:37 (C Wheeler 14:45, G Wheeler 14:56, M Nicolle 15:56, M Lovell 17:01); 17 AFD B 62:49 (T Chandler 15:29, L Stone 15:36, L Prior 15:54, T Doran 15:52); 18 Birmingham U 63:41 (T Bilyard 15:30, O Smart 15:14, J Geddes 17:05, L Rawlings 15:54); 19 Gateshead 63:50 (L Minale 15:32, C Johnson 14:53, L Liddle 16:27, D Richardson 17:01); 20 Bristol and West 63:54. 21 Tonbridge B 63:58; 22 Leeds B 64:00; 23 Bed C B 64:22; 24 Mansfield 64:30; 25 Highgate C 64:32; 26 Newark 64:54; 27 Norwich 65:00; 28 Blackburn 65:02; 29 Radleigh 65:14; 30 Shaftesbury B 65:29

Fastest lap: Leonard 14:31; Kingston 14:42; C Wheeler/McMillan 14:45; M Ramsden (B’burn) 14:46; Beattie/Cross 14:48

146 teams finished

Junior men

Radley won the under-20 men’s race. but only just, as Peterborough & Nene Valley’s Harry Hewitt almost caught them on the line.

They had gone ahead mid race on their 3km lap when Johnny James improved Oliver Conway’s fifth place to the head of the field and then Quinn Miell-Ingram finished things off as all three ran within six seconds of each other.

Hewitt built on earlier work by Sebastian Beedell, to almost snatch victory after an 8:42 timing that took the fastest lap of the race honours.

Earlier, Brighton Phoenix B team’s Alexander Sproston had surprised with a third spot and an 8:47 split behind stage one ‘winner’ Sam Mills’ 8:44 for Leeds and Norwich’s Henry Jonas’ 8:46.

Mills, who was his club’s only runner said: “It was closer than I would have wanted, but today was a good sharpener.”

U20 (3x3km): 1 Radley 26:39 (O Conway 8:52, J Johnny 8:57, Q Miell-Ingram 8:51); 2 Peterborough & Nene Valley 26:39 (T Preston 8:58, S Beedell 9:00, H Hewitt 8:42); 3 AFD 26:55 (M Pickering 8:53, J Pearce 9:02, O Smith 9:01); 4 Invicta East Kent 27:09 (J Keir 8:59, A Dack 9:01, J Stevens 9:11); 5 Chelmsford 27:20 (W Steadman 9:09, J Grange 9:09, R Tuck 9:03); 6 Shaftesbury Barnet 27:23 (S Greenstein 9:02, R Gayer 9:15, G Stubbs 9:07); 7 Blackburn 27:29 (D Thompson 8:57, B Stratton 9:26, D Smith 9:07); 8 Brighton Phoenix 27:31 (O Wallek 9:26, S Stapley 9:06, M Waterworth 9:00); 9 Taunton 27:47 (D Fisher 9:01, N Heal 9:38, D Millard 9:09); 10 Wirral 27:47 (A Poulston 9:29, W Sutcliffe 8:58, E Brady-Jones 9:20); 11 Cambridge & Coleridge 27:51 (C Benyan 9:21, L Conway 9:12, E Taylor 9:19); 12 Vale Royal 27:53 (R Price 9:11, J Wilson 9:32, I Leydon 9:11); 13 Chelmsford B 28:00 (W Nuttall 9:10, G Martin 9:19, F Rattray 9:32); 14 Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow 28:02 (F McGrath 9:02, G Thomas 9:19, S Colley 9:41); 15 Ipswich H 28:02 (S Tilley 9:05, M Fisher 9:15, I Fothergill 9:43); 16 AFD B 28:05; 17 Loughborough 28:12; 18 Phoenix 28:16; 19 Blackheath & B 28:24; 20 Tonbridge 28:27

Fastest lap: Hewitt 8:42; S Mills (Leeds) 8:44; H Jonas (Norw) 8:46; A Sproston (Phoe B) 8:47; N Campion (Bed C) 8:49; Miell-Ingram 8:51

66 teams finished

Under-17 men

Salford Harriers won the under-17 men’s event over three 3km laps and had to rely on second leg runner Evan Grime’s race fourth best 9:02 and anchor leg man Jack Marwood’s 9:07, to see off Blackheath & Bromley.

Blackheath too came through from some way down and had to thank Jed Starvis and finally Joseph Scanes for their silvers.

Earlier, some laps had been posted on the opener with City of Norwich’s Michael Clark, with 8:57 and Matthew Drummond-Clark’s 9:00 the best but they were later upstaged by Luke Dunham’s 8:56 race best time.

One of the biggest gainers of the day had been Chelmsford’s Jacob Hurrell, whose equal fourth best time of 9:02 took his club up 30 places to ninth on stage two.

U17 (3x3km): 1 Salford 27:40 (B Burton 9:33, E Grime 9:02, J Marwood 9:07); 2 Blackheath & Bromley 27:59 (J Hill 9:28, J Starvis 9:15, J Scanes 9:17); 3 Preston 28:09 (M Drummond-Clark 9:00, M Fraser 9:06, L Kane 10:04); 4 Mansfield  28:14 (J Ryan 9:10, E Holden 9:41, J Nugent 9:23); 5 Tonbridge 28:24 (O Head 9:32, E Prendergast 9:36, T Bawtree 9:16); 6 City Of Norwich 28:26 (M Clark 8:57, M Parsley 9:56, W Percival 9:33); 7 Trafford 28:33 (P Aron 9:13, T Austin 9:41, F Dobson Emmas 9:39); 8 Herts Phoenix 28:35 (B Murphy 9:37, L Dunham 8:56, M Benveniste 10:03); 9 Blackburn 28:35 (O Gill 9:21, S Aspey 9:34, J Wood 9:42); 10 Chelmsford 28:56 (A Kelly 10:06, J Hurrell 9:02, H Wright 9:50); 11 Chiltern 28:59 (A Hughes 9:21, A Suleyman 9:59, J Holdsworth 9:41); 12 Rotherham 29:04 (M Bacon 9:13, D Reeve 9:59, A Bedford 9:52); 13 Bromsgrove and Redditch 29:05 (S Hembry 9:34, W Hembry 9:56, G Wagstaff 9:36); 14 Hercules Wimbledon 29:10 (N Fernandez 9:48, A McGuigan 9:35, P Panchev 9:48); 15 WGEL 29:17 (H Stockill 9:39, O Eaton 9:48, L Norden 9:51); 16 WSEH 29:17

Fastest lap: L Dunham (Herts P) 8:56; M Clark (Norw) 8:57; M Drummond-Clark (Prest) 9:00; Grime/Hurrell 9:02; Fraser 9:06; Marwood 9:07

75 teams finished

Under-15 boys

Cambridge & Coleridge had their Finn MacLennan home second on the first 2km stage with a 6:38 split before Harry Cantell took them into the lead and Harrison Pearson finished things off.

However, their lead boy was only tenths of a second down on Burton’s Ewan Withnall’s leg ‘winning’ time that was also rounded up to 6:38, but the club slipped back as Herne Hill came through. Withnall said: “I pushed it all of the way after he slowed around a corner.”

Teddy Murphy was close for Dacorum on the first leg and his 6:39 was third best overall and their eventual third place yielded their first national medals after an unfortunate disqualification for allegedly being paced in the English road relay at Sutton Park four weeks earlier.

U15 (3x2km): 1 Cambridge & Coleridge 20:15 (F MacLennan 6:38, H Cantell 6:50, H Pearson 6:47); 2 Herne Hill 20:32 (C Holmes 6:43, L Roch 6:59, T Clerkin 6:51); 3 Dacorum 20:39 (T Murphy 6:39, T Pritchard 7:05, O McDonald 6:56); 4 Southport Waterloo 20:44 (W Delamere 6:47, E Clark 7:16, C Still 6:42); 5 Hallamshire 20:44 (E Hannay 7:02, H Kirkman 6:59, T Thake 6:44); 6 Blackheath & B 20:59 (J Shaw 7:04, D Horgan 7:00, K Farrell 6:56); 7 AFD 21:00 (J Procopakis 7:06, D Orbell 7:02, B Rivero-Stevenet 6:54); 8 WG&EL 21:04 (D Arnold 7:07, G Watkins 6:52, L Freedman 7:05); 9 Macclesfield  21:28 (J Ireland 6:49, G O’Donnell 7:20, T Wood 7:19); 10 Burton 21:30 (E Withnall 6:38, L Shaw 7:37, L Boyce 7:17); 11 VP&TH 21:33 (K Hussein 7:05, M Robert Sancho 7:13, A Lessard 7:15); 12 Herts Phoenix 21:40 (J Summers 7:08, S Mazur 7:16, F Hollings-Yates 7:17); 13 City Of Portsmouth 21:43 (O Knipe 6:49, J Klepacz 7:42, L De Giovanni 7:13); 14 Bracknell 21:48 (B Lucas 7:40, E Langley-Aybar 6:54, J Legg 7:14); 15 Tonbridge 21:48 (C Warren 7:08, E Brooks 7:21, S Galliard 7:20); 16 Charnwood A C 21:51; 17 Trafford 21:53; 18 Herne H B 21:53; 18 Lincoln W 22:02; 20 Tonbridge B 22:10

Fastest lap: MacLennan/Withnall 6:38; Murphy 6:39; Still 6:42; Holmes 6:43; Thake 6:44

69 teams finished

Under-13 boys

The title went to Preston Harriers by seven seconds over Liverpool, after Jack Turner took them ahead mid-race and then Harry Hopkinson finished things off.

The fastest laps went elsewhere and were all on the first 2km stage.

There, it was Wakefield’s Thomas Hastings who edged it with the quickest time of 7:13, over Solihull & Small Heath’s Zak Rush (7:14) and North Shields Poly’s Noah Penfold.

U13 (3x2km): 1 Preston 22:31 (A Yates 7:23, J Turner 7:24, H Hopkinson 7:44); 2 Liverpool 22:38 (B McEvoy 7:15, M Myles 7:52, S Lambert 7:31); 3 North Shields Polytechnic 22:59 (N Penfold 7:15, P Davies 7:43, T Hale 8:02); 4 Hercules Wimbledon 23:14 (I Derian 7:43, T Hennigan 7:47, M Harrison 7:45); 5 Wakefield 23:31 (T Hastings 7:13, H Tolson 8:11, S Swan 8:08); 6 Blackheath & B 23:37 (E Aldridge 7:28, Z Poulier 8:06, D Mein 8:03); 7 Bingley 23:44 (T Griffiths 7:52, T Jebb 8:03, C Porteous 7:50); 8 VP&TH 23:48 (H Dimmock 7:52, L Togher 8:08, M Cinesi 7:49); 9 Solihull & Small Heath 23:59 (Z Rush 7:14, J Larkin 7:57, A Albarel 8:49); 10 WSEH 24:03 (A Evans 7:28, F Fraser 8:07, F Grehan 8:28); 11 Wirral 24:07 (F Reese 7:48, T Smout 8:06, R Boyd 8:14); 12 Bedford & County 24:12 (T Harper 8:29, H Nevzat 7:53, E Gibbs 7:50); 13 Derby 24:15 (O Segal 7:35, W Saunders 7:55, T Newboult 8:45); 14 Reading 24:21 (W May 7:55, I Paviour 8:27, N Mazieres 8:00); 15 Impact 24:27 (E Victor 7:40, M Inman 8:36, H Myerson 8:11); 16 Lincoln Wellington 24:34; 17 Sale 24\;36; 18 Hallamshire 24;37; 19 Milton Keynes 24:39; 20 Preston B 24:40

Fastest lap: Hastings 7:13; Rush 7:14; McEvoy/Penfold 7:15; Yeats 7:23; Turner 7:24

55 teams finished

Junior women

Birmingham University had dominated the Manchester University relays a week earlier and here did the same.

They led from the start after Eleanor Strevens gave them a first lap lead over Cambridge & Coleridge’s Jenny Leggate on their 2.5km lap, with a third quickest 8:28, before admitting: “I didn’t feel my best.”

Alice Bates then kept them ahead before World Cross runner Jess Bailey finished things off with the second fastest under-20 lap of 8:07.

The margin of victory was over a minute and more than enough to see off the challenge of St Albans Striders, whose anchor leg runner was Paris Olympian Phoebe Gill.

Gill’s final time of 8:05 was enough to take the fastest lap plaudits and she said: “I felt quite good”, adding on her winter plans: “I will do the leagues before Christmas and then move indoors over 400m.”

For St Albans, Antonia Jubb had moved them up to eighth before Gill just brought them home for silver ahead of Holly Weedell’s Vale Royal.

U20 (3×2.5km): 1 Birmingham U 25:08 (E Strevens 8:28, A Bates 8:34, J Bailey 8:07); 2 St Albans Striders 26:16 (S Jacobs 8:59, A Jubb 9:14, P Gill 8:05); 3 Vale Royal 26:17 (E Bushill 8:41, G Roberts 9:03, H Weedall 8:33); 4 WSEH 26:27 (J Ridley 8:38, E Bartlett 8:49, R Clutterbuck 9:01); 5 Salford 26:38 (F Murdoch 8:58, E Platt 8:42, S Roiditis 8:59); 6 WSEH B 27:03 (E Davey 8:58, J Heller 8:52, C Dewar 9:14); 7 Cambridge & Coleridge 27:12 (J Leggate 8:35, R Green 9:48, I Mansley 8:51); 8 Rotherham 27:41 (L Harris 9:04, A Fearn 9:06, M Walsh 9:33); 9 Birmingham U B 27:47 (H Blundy 8:49, W Baker 9:19, E Yelling 9:40); 10 Loughborough 28:21 (E McLennan 8:55, C West 9:41, A Young 9:46); 11 Sheffield & Dearne 28:22 (H Davies 9:34, G Brown 10:02, E Inch 8:48); 12 Dacorum 28:23 (P Gray 9:22, L Collis 9:48, I Frost 9:14); 13 Epsom & Ewell  28:28 (S Lomas 9:21, L Brown 9:54, A Bloomfield 9:14); 14 Salford B 28:39 (E Bartalotta 9:23, N Mason 9:49, I Appleby 9:28); 15 Chelmsford 28:47 (L Morgan 10:18, K Beaton 8:49, R Vinton 9:41); 16 Preston 28:59; 17 Gateshead 29:01; 18 Derby 29:13; 19 Tonbridge 29:42; 20 York 29:44

Fastest lap: Gill 8:05; Bailey 8:07; Strevens 8:28; Weedell 8:33; Bates 8:34; Leggate 8:35

33 teams finished

Under-17 women

The in-form club in this age group are Lincoln Wellington’s trio and after Isla Porter had to just concede to on the opener, Faith Taylor and, finally, Ellarose Whitworth saw them home for victory over Aldershot.

That first leg had seen St Edmunds Pacers’ English Schools 800m fifth placer Bella Taylor just squeeze home ahead, as the two women were the second and third fastest of the race. Despite the almost perfect going under foot, Taylor said: “There was muddy corner.”

The fastest split went to Aldershot’s Katie Pye who moved her club up from ninth to the silver medals with an 8:30 fastest lap as Chelmsford took third from Windsor.

U17 (3×2.5km): 1 Lincoln Wellington 26:33 (I Porter 8:42, F Taylor 9:07, E Whitworth 8:44); 2 AFD 26:58 (M Jobbins 9:12, K Ealden 9:17, K Pye 8:30); 3 Chelmsford 27:36 (L Wilkin 9:04, D Stollery 9:05, S Shipton 9:28); 4 WSEH 27:46 (M Fieldsend 8:56, G Colley 9:18, Y Grant 9:33); 5 Cambridge & Coleridge 27:47 (K Shaw 9:02, C Hughes 9:16, I King 9:30); 6 Stoke 27:53 (G Burge 9:17, T Thursfield 8:54, D Cowden 9:42); 7 Warrington 27:58 (I Wharton 9:07, H Hull 9:52, E Heavey 9:00); 8 Salford 8:00 (S Hutchinson Thompson 9:31, J Wright 9:01, D Slattery 9:28); 9 Rotherham 28:01 (G Turner 9:15, G Igoe 9:06, I Waugh 9:41); 10 Milton Keynes 28:28 (S Chapman 9:03, L Webb 9:56, K Webb 9:30); 11 VP&TH 28:58 (L MacDonald 9:28, M Panoutsou 10:02, R James 9:28); 12 Wreake & Soar Valley 29:14 (R West 9:25, L Donaghey 10:19, V Rudkin 9:32); 13 Liverpool 29:20 (B Hughes 9:38, I Doran 9:54, E Redmond 9:49); 14 York 29:27 (K Setchell 10:03, I Madden 9:47, S Robertson-Dover 9:37); 15 Saint Edmund Pacers B 29:37 (I Moore 9:40, A Winstanley 9:57, T Wooldridge 10:01); 16 Cornwall 29:37; 17 Preston 30:04; 18 Norwich 30:06; 19 Derby 30:07; 20 Milton Keynes 30:13

Fastest lap: Pye 8:30; B Taylor (St Ed) 8:41; Porter 8:42; Whitworth 8:44; Thursfield 8:54; Fieldsend 8:56

40 teams finished

Under-15 girls

Aldershot were adjudged the best overall team over the 10 races but their only win came in the under-15 girls’ race and they did it coming from behind thanks to Poppy Guest and Kitty Scott with the fastest two laps of the three by 2km race.

It was Guest’s 7:23 who moved them from ninth to second with a stage left to run and she said: “I wasn’t sure that I would get her,” but all was then okay as Scott’s 7:10 overall fastest lap sealed the win, despite her saying: “I was scared!”

This victory was over a consistent Chelmsford whose Jorjia March secured the silvers over Windsor, whose Kara Gorman had ‘won’ the first stage ‘race’ in the age group’s third best time of 7:24. This was after Chelmsford had an early lead before losing out over the second half of the stage.

U15 (3x2km): 1 AFD 22:09 (M Robertson 7:38, P Guest 7:23, K Scott 7:10); 2 Chelmsford 22:28 (E Harrold 7:25, A King 7:38, J March 7:26); 3 WSEH 22:31 (K Gorman 7:24, Z Allan 7:35, T Ferguson 7:33); 4 Sale 23:20 (O McManus 7:58, R Heywood-Young 7:41, B Soper 7:42); 5 AFD B 23:34 (K McBride 7:33, N Walmsley 7:43, A Rattray 8:19); 6 Rotherham 23:45 (M Schofield 7:51, H Bacon 7:54, M Holmes 8:00); 7 Chelmsford B 23:51 (E Kelly 7:55, L Sanford 7:58, F Philipps 7:59); 8 Wreake & Soar Valley 23:53 (M Mullett 7:34, E Hart 8:00, S Evans 8:20); 9 York 24:01 (B Lewis 7:25, L Davey 8:24, H Lovett 8:13); 10 Hercules Wimbledon 24:08 (I Harrison 7:45, B Eminson 8:21, F Harper-Tee 8:03); 11 Blackheath & Bromley 24:13 (A McDonagh 7:56, E Debruyn 7:52, S Mossi 8:25); 12 Derby 24:18 (O Lee 7:27, A Lincoln 8:18, S Wheeler 8:35); 13 Mansfield  24:24 (C Whysall 7:53, L Mason 7:53, M Slack 8:39); 14 Sale B 24:25 (M Boyer 8:06, C Wetters 8:06, I Anderson 8:14); 15 Birtley 24:26 (O Murphy 7:34, K Graham 8:29, N Graham 8:24); 16 Kettering 24:29; 17 Stoke 24:31; 18 Tonbridge 24:35; 19 Lincoln W 24:38; 20 Leeds 24:46

Fastest lap: 1 Scott 7:10; Guest 7:23; Gorman 7:24; Harrold/Lewis 7:25; March 7:26

71 teams finished

Under-13 girls

It was close in this age group over a 2km loop but Madison Kindler secured the gold medals for Brentwood Beagles with a final stage 7:25.

This was not only the age group fastest but also saw her club up from 10th, to a narrow win over Lincoln Wellington whose Holly Norris was third best overall with a 7:53 effort.

Earlier, Ellie Blackhurst had ‘won’ the first stage for Preston Harriers with a third fastest overall time of 7:57.

U13 (3x2km): 1 Brentwood Beagles 24:19 (A Twydell 8:28, S Bickerstaff 8:27, M Kindler 7:25); 2 Lincoln Wellington 24:21 (A Ronnie 8:15, E Goulsbra 8:14, H Norris 7:53); 3 Chelmsford 24:37 (I Kehoe 8:04, O Martin 8:24, B Cooke 8:09); 4 Saint Edmund Pacers 24:51 (S Bolton 8:00, I Johnson 8:25, A McVittie 8:27); 5 Warriors Pentathlon 4:57 (E Beddow 8:19, D McVicar 8:22, I Beddow 8:16); 6 Liverpool 25:07 (M Ford 8:30, D Rushton 8:13, H Peers 8:25); 7 Hallamshire  25:15 (C Bailey 8:35, N Watkinson 8:40, J Thake 8:01); 8 Bracknell 25:21 (H Lucas 8:09, M Hamilton-Martin 8:56, T Davies-Dixon 8:16); 9 Mansfield 25:26 (O Wright 8:07, E Clifton 8:21, M Manson 8:59); 10 Herne Hill 25:30 (M Millar 8:34, I Carter 8:44, S O’Brien 8:14); 11 Corby 25:31 (E Griffiths 8:00, M Moore 8:55, F Ives 8:37); 12 Bingley 25:33 (B Bailey 8:29, C Pedley 8:42, H Carter 8:23); 13 Derby 25:51 (C Hodge 8:07, J Lenton 8:37, A Wheeler 9:08); 14 Portsmouth 26:07 (R Baker 8:58, F Klepacz 8:14, E Fowler 8:56); 15 Stoke 26:21 (M Edwards 9:08, M Forrester 8:51, Z McNamara 8:24); 16 Saint Edmund Pacers B 26:30; 17 Wreake 26:30; 18 Blackheath & B 26:32; 19 WSEH 26:45; 20 Warriors B 26:40

Fastest lap: Kindler 7:25; Norris 7:53; E Blackhurst (Prest) 7:57; Bolton/Griffiths 8:00; Thake 8:01

63 teams finished

Note: all times have been rounded up to the whole second

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