All North-East Cross Country Runners know that Thornley Farm XC in the Harrier League is one of the toughest fixtures of the calendar – there are several tough, steep up and downhill sections, you can get bogged down in waterlogged clay, there is a fence to hurdle. Thornley Farm XC Relays on the other hand cuts out most of the hills, has predominantly flat sections and you only have to complete one lap – easy !! For some reason however, it is a lot tougher!

This year we were proud to enter three U15 junior teams alongside two senior women’s teams, two senior men’s teams and a veteran men’s team. We hadn’t been able to enter junior teams in previous years but given the strength of our current juniors we were not only able to field strong teams, but the junior coaches believed that we had a good chance of a medal – we also believed that our seniors were also strong enough to be contenders.

As usual, the juniors were up first and we assembled at around 11 am for 11:35 (U15 Girls) and 11:40 (U15 Boys) start. The Junior Coaching team had debated our approach and tactics during the week, particularly as we have six very strong U15 boys to put into teams. We hadn’t told the boys how we were going to choose teams prior to the day and gave each a bib, a team and gave instructions to each on their role. We adopted the same approach with the three girls – we gave each a bib and gave instructions to each on their role. The nine were brilliant – there were no complaints, each understood their role, each knew where they fitted into the plan – again, easy, yeah !!

At this point, you can probably guess the outcome? You now know our juniors well and see them each week? You know the guys who are going to bring us the championship medal?

We did bring home the medal – a bronze medal for the U15 Girls. Each was brilliant. Mary Parkin (fastest on the day) executing her role perfectly – run your fastest, even if you are in the lead make sure you don’t slow to give the others the best start possible; Hannah BAQIR – you will probably be first when you start, don’t panic, just run and keep going as fast as you can as they will be chasing you; Freya McKinnon – the field will be spread by the time that you start, you will probably be running on your own for most of the race just keep going and run as fast as you can ………. 3^rd place – a Bronze North Eastern Counties medal – plan executed – well done girls !!!

For the boys, it didn’t quite go to plan. Heaton Harriers B in 5^th (Jake Smith, Alex Hill, Joseph Brown), Heaton Harriers A in 6^th (Finley Smith, Johan Haniffa, Alex Smith). There was a fantastic finish in the last 100 metres with Alex Smith looking to hunt down Joseph Brown: Joseph with a knowing crafty look over the shoulder putting in that final burst to beat the A team by 6 seconds. Maybe not the expected result but as all cross-country runners know – races don’t go to plan: we lose shoes, we have bad runs, we get lost, we fall, we go the wrong way (Mary Parkin !).

As all cross country runners also know, we celebrate our team members’ successes and support each other when things don’t go to plan. We had nine, thirteen and fourteen-year-olds who did just that without asking – they are a fantastic team and parents, coaches and club are proud of you all.

For the seniors and vets, the details are unfortunately a bit more sketchy because as I was running in the vets’ race, pre-race prep and post-race analysis took over.

Next up, was the Senior Women’s teams, with the Heaton A team of Holly Matheson, Magda Szczepaniak and Charlotte Redhead in 13^th place and the Heaton B team of Lisa Van Heereveld, Vicki Addison and Angela Craggs home in 18^th place. I can’t unfortunately add any personal comments on the details other than to say that all that I spoke to post-race agreed with how difficult the race was – especially the top field.

Following up was the combined Junior and Veterans Men’s races with a credible 7^th place from Lee Daglish, Jason Wall and John Sturman – Lee being the fastest of the day, with John seconds behind. All three of us had given our all and Lee declared it the most difficult 3k he had ever run.

Then on to the seniors and for those that are not aware, we have a number of new kids on the block in the senior teams not only challenging at the top end but setting the standards. This was epitomised by Chris Larkin who led the team out in the third fastest time of the day to give Heaton A the lead in the race at the end of the first leg. Whilst we were unable to retain the lead, our team of James “Tigger” McKenzie, Eddie Knight and David Young came home in 4^th place, just outside of the medals – a very strong performance. Our B team of Alex Bradley, Liam Murnane, Bryan Ankers and Jonathan Smith came home in a creditable 16^th place as a long day came to an end and the tent came down.

Overall, an eventful day for all of the teams with notable performances from Chris Larkin, Mary Parkin, our U15 Girls Team (Freya McKinnon, Hannah BAQIR, Mary Parkin) and an overall fantastic Heaton team effort.

For all those ready for more mud the next XC fixture in the Harrier League is on Saturday (25th Nov) at Aykley Heads.

A massive thank you to Jason Wall for this race report and David Daniel Young for the photos below.