There were a number of terrific performances from the Harriers at the English National XC, held at the iconic London Parliament Hill location, and as is usual for this location, the conditions were very heavy going, with deep mud throughout the course, coupled with the hilly terrain the races proved to be very challenging the athletes competing.
First race off was the U17W with Elsie Robinson top scoring for a fantastic 43rd place over the 5k course. Robinson who is still working and making good progress getting back to her best form, made a good start, sitting inside the top 20 from the start. Perhaps paying for the fast start during the tricky hill which greets the athletes within the first 100m out of the pen she dropped back slightly during the latter stages but ran a strong race to well inside the top 50 in 21:43. Also running well and competing at her first national XC was Demi Locker, who was just ahead of Robinson in the opening km but also perhaps paid the price for the fast start? Locker rallied and finished in a fine 80th position in 22:36, reversing the defeat she suffered by her old training partners from Charnwood AC at the county championship earlier in the year in the process. Julia Buzuk finished in 270th place as the final Harrier.
U17 Elsie Robinson a fine race for 43rd Place
The U13G race produced the performance of the day with Jemima Davey finishing in 11th place with a superb race. Davey the southern counties XC champion was prominent throughout the 3k race but was struggling to stay with the leaders after the series of steep hills, but she finished strongly in 13:02. Jess Lamb making her debut at a National championship suffered the indignity of falling right at the start, and consequently found herself well down the field during the opening km. Working hard she managed to reclaim many of the lost places to finish like a rocket in 161st place (14:59), with Clara Booth in 193rd place (15:18) also enjoying a superb Championship debut to show she is making great progress since joining the squad over the Winter. Keris Hooker struggling for grip ran well for 359th place, with 393 athletes competing.
Jemima Davey with an outstanding run for 11th place in the U13 Girls race
In the corresponding U13B race, Harlee Hooker ran a terrific race in his first National Championship to finish in 148th over the 3k course in 13:53 to top score for the Harriers. Zachary Scott & Oliver Smith also ran well for 186th place (14:09) and 251st place (14:43) respectively, in the 397 strong field.
U15 Maggie Gancheva who recently set an indoor 800m PB, raced very well over 4k to finish just inside the top 100 in 19:16 her best ever finish in a National Championship. Evie Brooker struggled a little with the conditions but ran well for 263rd in 19:44, 353 athletes competed.
In the U15B race saw Dylan White top score in 260th place, with james Clutton in 367, and in the U17M race there was a spirited run from Lucas Rogers who enjoyed a fine race for 146th , with Ellis Johnson in 272nd place.
Steph Lawrie enjoyed a fine race at the Scottish National in Falkirk, finishing in a splendid 50th place in the senior women’s race held in Callendar park over 10k After a difficult winter with an ankle ligament tear (x2), and off just 5 weeks of training. Emily Williams competing in her last XC race as a U20 junior athlete ran well over the 6k course for 88th place.
Steph Lawrie competing in the Scottish Nation with a fantastic 50th place finish in the Senior Womans race
In the U20 M race Josh Geddes ran his first full 10k XC championship course and did well finishing in a fine 146th place, while in the gruelling senior men’s full 12k championship course with over xxx people competing there was a trio of harriers who braved the challenge, top scoring was Josh Cannell 948th with a solid race in 58.39, with Rafal Buzuk and Jack Watson running well for 996th (59.26) & 1327th (1:04.07) respectively.
It was a terrific day racing over one of the most challenging XC courses in the country, well done to everyone who competed.