Heaton Harriers were back in Cross Country action on Saturday at the 3rd fixture of the season at Lambton Castle in County Durham.

With plenty of rainy days since the last fixture, the course was certainly muddier than the first two cross-country events at Wrekenton and Druridge Bay and I think this was welcomed by almost all participants. Some described it as clarty but I think the course was churned up nicely in time for the men’s race to make the banks a little difficult to run up and down. Overall everyone seemed to welcome the traditional cross-country conditions.

Men’s race

Starting with the men’s race this time we had 17 tenacious Heaton Harriers out running for the club with two Top 10 finishers! Well done to Louis Head and Eddie Knight for finishing 6th and 7th place respectively in a field of nearly 550 runners. Both will now be promoted to medium pack next fixture. Great running fellas.

There was a welcome return to the team for Micky Mallen who finished in 59th place overall. Completing the ‘A’ team was John Sturman and Lee Daglish from the medium pack and then David Young from the fast pack. Heaton fared better than the first two fixtures and finished in 6th place overall so we’re getting better each fixture and in 8th place overall in the top division.

Women’s race

Heaton Ladies had a decent race finishing in 7th place on the day but it was tight with only 2 places in it between 6th and 7th and only 20 places between 3rd and 7th! First home for the club was Ellie Reed in 27th place followed closely by Sarah Lemon and Laura Percy. Sarah and Laura will be promoted next fixture to the medium pack, well done ladies. Completing the ‘A’ team was Lauren Morgan. In total 10 Heaton Harrier ladies completed the 2 laps so well done to everyone that turned out and ran for the club. This leaves the Heaton ladies’ team in 5th place overall in the top division but still only 3 points separate 2nd and 5th place.

Junior races

In the junior races, we had a Top-3 finish from Jake Smith in the boys U13 race. Completing the boys U13 team was Alexander Parkin and Finley Smith both running from the fast pack. Jake will now move into the fast pack for the rest of the season.

In the girls U15 race Mary Parkin had an excellent run from the fast pack and finished in 6th place overall.

In the girls U13 race we had good representation again from Emily Daglish, Leila Burden, Olivia Daglish and Freya McKinnon who have all turned out and raced at each fixture this year. Well done girls.

Well done everyone who ran. We hope you enjoyed the event and will be back for more.