North Midlands Cross Country League – Rd 1, Markeaton Park, Derby

The 2019-20 XC season kicked off on Saturday 12^th October with the opening round of the North Midlands Cross Country League at Markeaton Park, Derby. A fine autumnal afternoon meant near perfect conditions for racing. The moderately undulating approximately two mile loop used for the races held up remarkably well considering the volume of recent rainfall, with only a couple of short sections noticeable muddier than in previous years.

With many of the club’s runners planning to take part in the Perkins Great Eastern Run the following day, Grantham Running Club couldn’t field its strongest possible team at Derby, which made the unfortunate start line cancellation of the Peterborough race even more galling.

The women’s race took place before the men’s at 1:50pm. First home for GRC in the 6km race was Michelle Parczuk in 31:06, running well on her cross country debut to finish 85^th overall and inside the top ten in her age category. She was followed in 102^nd by Caroline Davis in 32:11, who had already run a parkrun in the morning and had intended to run the Great Eastern Run the following day. Women’s Team ^th and fourth in her age category. Behind Sarah, Kate Marshall (38:17) finished 174^th, Tracy Webb (39:16) 183^rd, and Diana McDonald (43:51) 194^th. The senior team are in twenty-fourth place overall in the standings, the Veterans team in eleventh.

Barney Stretton

Captain Sarah High ran another fine race to finish 137 (34:37)

The men’s race, officially listed as 10km but in reality around 300 meters shy of that distance, began promptly at 2:20pm with the usual stampede to establish a strong race position. Undoubtedly the GRC performance of the day came from young new GRC recruit Barney Stretton who, in his first cross country race in several years since he left school, went off quickly and was able to maintain his form, coming home an excellent 54^th in 35:14. This is just ten places outside the best ever North Midlands XC finish by a GRC member in what is a highly competitive league.

Following Barney was experienced cross country campaigner Chris Limmer, who ran strongly to finish 67^th, less than a minute behind Barney. Grant Davis began strongly, splitting Barney and Chris in the opening stages, but he unfortunately slowed with a recurrence of an injury that saw him finish down in 198^th. He did fair better though than Matthew Kingston-Lee, who had made his way through the field to be on the shoulder of Barney before he succumbed to a long-standing injury that saw him retire at the end of the opening lap.

Behind Grant, Gav Meadows returned to racing after his Berlin Marathon exploits, finishing 208^th. Fellow Berliner Jack Dodwell finished 244^th. Chris Armstrong came home not far behind in 249^th. Daniel Howson was 265^th, Chris Toon was 277^th, and Andrew MacAllister 294^th. Subject to confirmation, the Senior Men’s Team finished 15^th overall, the Veterans team twentieth and, sadly, last, thanks in part to MKL‘s DNF.

The next round of the North Midlands Cross Country League takes place on Saturday 9^th November at West Glebe Park, Corby.