For those wanting an easy cross country run after all the Christmas food and drink were very disappointed, me included. This race was very tough. With all the recent rain the course was very muddy and then factored into that were the rolling hills and a nice head wind to cool you down on parts of the course!!!!
We managed to field a ladies team and two men’s teams which was great as a few people had to pull out prior to the event either through injury or illness.
The ladies were first to tackle the course and put up a good showing against a strong field, which included teams from Worcester AC, Bromsgrove & Redditch AC and Halesowen AC. The ladies race was 6k in length and first home for TeamBPJ was Becky Hardie closely followed by Jemima Lowe who was making her debut for the Black Pears and Julie Hall completing the team of three. Well done to Julie for completing the run as she had not been well over the Christmas period.
Ladies Results
| Position | Time | Name | Race No |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 0:31:50 | HARDIE, Rebecca | 283 |
| 27 | 0:32:39 | LOWE, Jemima | 285 |
| 47 | 0:40:53 | HALL, Julie | 287 |
The men’s race was next up, it also included some new faces to the Cross Country scene these included Neil Devereux and Steve Jones, both were sporting very shiny new spikes!!!! This was to change very quickly…
We managed to start the race with 13 competitors, unfortunately Darren Salisbury couldn’t make it due to illness, but he was there to cheer us on along with a number of other Black Pears.
The race started at a pace and it was soon to be realised that this was not going to be a walk in the park!!! after the initial 100 meters, the runners were soon hitting the mud, water and steep inclines. This was a hard slog around the course and after the first lap it soon dawned on everyone that a further 3 laps of this boggy course was going to be very tough. And this it proved.
Again the results were amazing, especially from a team of people who had not competed in Cross Country before this season. Quote of the day came from the match referee when I asked him a question about one of our team members.
Ref – What team are you from?
Me – Black Pear Joggers!!
Ref – Who are they!!!
Well Match Referee you know who we are now as Black Pear Joggers came 4th in the County Cross Country Championships beating Stourbridge AC and only just being pipped to third by Worcester AC.
A great team effort by all who competed and a special thanks to all that came along and supported the crazy runners, it was very much appreciated.
Men’s Results
| Position | Time | Name | Race No |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | 0:40:39 | THOMAS, Bart | 198 |
| 28 | 0:42:48 | CHILDS, Paul | 196 |
| 32 | 0:43:32 | FITZGERALD, Matt | 192 |
| 38 | 0:44:13 | ATTWOOD, Chris | 197 |
| 40 | 0:44:45 | ANDREWS, Clive | 204 |
| 46 | 0:46:13 | TAGGIO, Leonardo | 202 |
| 55 | 0:47:33 | HARRIS, Chris | 194 |
| 69 | 0:52:35 | BESSANT, Dave | 199 |
| 70 | 0:52:40 | DEVEREUX, Neil | 195 |
| 73 | 0:53:45 | McGUINESS, Paul | 201 |
| 74 | 0:53:52 | KEMP, Richard | 203 |
| 80 | 0:58:18 | JONES, Steve | 193 |
For the full results please go to www.worcaaa.org.uk/results/xc/2013-2
The next fixture is on Saturday 2nd February 2013 @ Plock Court, Gloucester. Details of race times to follow.
The men’s team consists of the first six to cross the line but we want as many people as we can get as most teams were putting out up to three teams.
The ladies team only require three ladies, so I’m sure we could easily put out three teams as we have some good quality ladies at our club.
If you require any further info then contact Chris Harris (Cross Country Organiser) via Facebook or e-mail [email protected].
