Cross-country runners have splashing time

11:39am Tuesday 18th November 2008

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Sunny weather heralded a deceptive start to two cross-country leagues.

At Nell Bank, the Peco Cross-Country League held its first meeting of the season, while at Temple Newsam, the West Yorkshire Winter League kicked off.

The fields below Middleton Woods were heavy and the becks almost required a lifeguard on hand.

For the first time, the league held a junior cross-country challenge race for girls and boys aged 11 to 16.

Twenty-one youngsters joined in, more than half from the home club, Ilkley.

Organiser Pete Shields said: “Well done to the host of juniors who ran the very arduous fields. What a wealth of young talent we have!”

Ilkley were delighted with top-five finishes by Tom Adams and Jamie Hutchinson, with Sabine Hauswirth first lady home, and, they believe, Alison Bennett in second.

In the seven-club Winter League, Pudsey Pacers were quick off the mark, with the men taking first place in front of a strong Stainland Lions outfit.

Pudsey’s ladies were fourth, though only a few points separated them from Dewsbury, Stainland and Leeds-Bradford Triathlon club.

Baildon’s Quentin Lewis was a fine fourth behind a Stainland trio of ‘second-claimers’ from Calder Valley.

No surprise that Pudsey’s Karen Pickles won the women’s race but Baildon’s Emma Hinkles, dropping down from her preferred half-marathon distance, was an impressive 15th.

The Ilkley race had, in addition to the juniors, a record turnout of 260 for the senior race, while the Winter League event had 227 finishers.

Both leagues offer tougher conditions, and often single-lap courses, compared with the fast parkland loops of the elite leagues.

The post-race hospitality, showering and other facilities at places such as Nell Bank are perhaps crucial aspects to the success of these leagues.