The third leg of the Red Rose Cross Country League formed part of the trials for selecting the GB team for the European Cross Country Championships to be held in Turkey next month.
The weather was far from Turkish with Storm Bert creating a good layer of mud over quite a firm surface in most parts of the course.
Tod Harriers’ only entrant was Paul Brannigan who narrowly failed to make the GB team for the Europeans, just 384 places short of qualifying.
Branny finished in a time of 40.06 for the 8 kilometre course, a successful day out and he also met the challenge of finding the one route back home that wasn’t underwater.
The men’s race consisted of 536 athletes and was won by Tomer Tarragano in 24.44. The ladies race was won by Kate Axford, a former hockey international who started racing in 2023!
This was a phenomenal event covering age groups from U11 upwards and containing international athletes and future Olympians.
Cross Country is the best way to improve fitness with its unrelenting pace and difficult conditions underfoot. This is borne out by the fact that most successful middle and long distance athletes use XC for speed endurance to underpin performances in the summer season.
by Branny