AFTER AN eight week break from the first cross country fixture at Tanfield, it was back to business this weekend despite the extreme weather conditions.

A total of 42 members (11 Juniors, 8 Ladies and 23 Men) made the short journey to Aykley Heads in Durham for the season’s second North East Harrier League Cross Country fixture.

The challenging course was made even more difficult with bitterly cold, wet conditions and plenty of deep mud to boot.

Our Juniors continued their impressive form. In the Under 11 boys race, first home in 24th place was Ethan Welsh in 5.53 followed by 33 Evan Domville 6.03, 36 Jacob Carter 6.06, 48 Harry Askwith 6.23, 50 Ashton Bridgewater 6.25, 66 Ellis Bridgewater 6.47 and 72 David Edwards 7.01.

In the Under 11 Girls race, first Crook girl home in 36th place was Megan Hauxwell in 6.36 closely followed by 45 Emilie Clarke 6.49. In the Under 13 Girls race, Lauren Etchells finished in 28th position in 17.06 while in the Under 17 boys race, Jordan Rawlins finished in 30th position in a time of 31.19.

In the Senior/Vet Ladies race, out of 398 finishers our first counter home was Jo Beckett who completed the 2-lap course in 33.15 from the slow pack which earns her promotion to the medium pack. Second lady home was Joanne Raine in 109th position who clocked 31.05 from the fast pack, 127 Malou Lonsdale 35.21 and making up the fourth counter was 187 Lizzie Wood running 32.46 from the fast pack. Other results were 192 Eleanor Spencer-Regan making her XC debut in 37.00, 268 Lynsey Manifold 39.48, 275 Sharron Hogarth 39.57 and 329 Julie Thompson 42.32. After two fixtures, the Senior/Vet Ladies team currently lie in 9th position of Division 2.

In the Senior/Vet Men’s race, out of 592 finishers our first six counters home completing the 3-lap course were Carl Chapman in 31st place running 37.52 from the fast pack, 54 Chris Auld running 38.49 from the fast pack, 72 Jason Bridgewater 44.11, 101 Steven Carter 44.49, 103 Graham Spowart 44.49 and 125 Paul Brennan 45.30. Other results were 174 Dave Best 41.24 (fast pack), 180 Mark Nichol 46.27, 182 Sam Beckett 41.32 (fast pack), 192 Rob Teasdale 41.44 (fast pack), 236 Kev Saville 47.28, 270 Geoff Hewitson　48.16, 352 Eric Moore 50.56, 448 Paul Smith 54.13, 453 Michael Robinson 54.31, 461 Chris Clynes 55.05, 469 Jason Marr 55.35, 480 Graham Laverick　56.06, 530 Percy Parkin 59.29, 551 Steve Manifold 62.23, 560 Matthew Hargraves 63.26, 569 Ken Cawkwell 64.51 and 587 Allen Purdham 71.18. After two fixtures, the Senior/Vet Men’s team currently lie in 7th position of Division 1.

On Thursday evening, Natalie Mulholland and Jayne Henderson competed in the 60m Indoor Track meeting at Gateshead Stadium with Natalie posting a time of 8.86 sec (V40) and Jayne clocking 9:02 sec (V50) which puts them 6th and 5th nationally in their age groups for 2015. They are both aiming to compete in the Scottish Championships in February.

With most runners saving their energy for the gruelling cross country race in the afternoon, it was a quieter than normal parkrun on Saturday morning. At Durham parkrun, Paul Smith finished in 24.37 while Brian Ford completed his 100th parkrun in 37.19. Meanwhile, at Riverside, David Goodfellow finished in 16th position in a time of 22.56.

On Sunday, Ken Cawkwell, Paul Smith and Darren Fairclough travelled to Cowpen Bewley Woodland Park in Billingham to compete in the second annual Gavin Duffy Memorial 5K trail race, which is also part of the Stockton Winter Trail series.

Crook AC meet every Tuesday and Thursday evening at Peases West, Crook at 6.15pm. Junior sessions are held on Thursday’s at 6.00pm. For more information, please visit www.crookac.co.uk or follow us on Twittter at @crookac

Submitted by Craig Downs