Lancashire Cross Country Championships

Well it has certainly been a busy month and holiday period. So much so that I just do not seem to have had time to write any more on the blog. However, after the events of yesterday I felt I had to get the laptop out and say a little. Below is the early report sent to Isle of man newspapers today a fuller one will be in the Manx Independent later in the week :-

Manx Harriers Magnificent Seven.

Manx Harrier athletes won 7 medals at the Lancshire Cross Country Championshps on Saturday 5/01/07. The party of 28 competitors, spectators and officials all acquitted themselves fantastically but the medalists take pride of place. Sarah Astin was the first to make the podium in the under 15 grils race winning by nearly a minute. Her team would also have won a medal had it not been for the late withdrawal due to injury of Polly Rogerson. All in the party hope that Polly is well and running again soon. Next onto the podium was Sarah's sister Gemma who ran very well to claim the Bronze medal in the Under 17 Ladies event and lead her team mates of Rachael Franklin and Bronwen Kaneen to the silver medal. In the Senior Ladies event Gail Griffiths came 7th overall and took the silver in the ladies over 40 race. This is a great result and underlines Gail's development in the last 18 months or so.

The senior men's event boasted the biggest field of the day by far with 119 finishers including 8 A teams. Keith Gerrard dominated the race winning by over a minute. He lead the team of John Halligan 7th, Kevin Loundes 12th, Ed Gumbley 16th, Nigel Armstrong 17th, and Darren Gray 26th. to the team Gold ahead of reigning champions Blackburn. This is the first time the local club have won the trophy since 2004 and is the 7th time we believe that the team gold has been brought back to the island. The medals were rounded off by silver for Andy Fox in the over 45 race.

A few other points worth mentioning.

The senior ladies team of Gail Griffiths 7th, Sarah Nelson 18th and Bridget Kaneen 23rd. came 4th in their team race only 7 points from the podium.

The Senior men's team would still have won Gold without Keith's first place and counting 7th. finisher Gianni Epifani in his place. Gianni and Andy would have counted in the second placed team had they been in that club and similar can be said in addition to those two of Mike and Russell regarding the third placed team.

Indeed the second 6 Manx Harriers men scored 324 points - Gianni 26, Andy 31, Mike 33, Russell 42, Dave 87 and Les 105. If B teams were counted in the competition this would have placed the lads in 6th. position.

Also worthy of a mention is Katie Astin in the under 11s. Katie only just makes the age group and so was one of the youngest in the field. She is obviously able to follow in the footsteps of her older sisters and finished in 6th. place only 30 seconds behind the winner.

I am not 100% sure but would estimate the following recieved Lancashire call up letters for the intercounties. Only those in the first 5 are ensured of a place but the others will be in line for selection for this prestigious event.

Sarah Astin 1st, Hannah Scarlett 11th, Gemma Astin 3rd, Rachael Franklin 9th, Gail Griffiths 7th, Keith Gerrard 1st, John Halligan 7th and Kevin Loundes 12th.

A few extra points of interest :-

* It was noticeable that the Manx Harriers A team was the only team in the men's event to include no vets 40 or over! Indeed the squad contained 5 athletes between the ages of 21 and 27. This looks good for the short to medium term future.
* Of the 119 finishers in the mens event 77 were Vets.
* Of the 45 finishers in the Ladies event 36 were Vets.
* Most of the junior events had fields of 25+ which is healthy enough.
* Under 20 men and women were very much depleted.
* As for Manx Harriers we had 10 youngsters entered - 1 U13 Boy, 1 U11 Girl, 1 U13 Girl, 4 U15 Girls and 3 U17 Girls.

I feel we have to be concerned as to the serious decline in interest in middle and long distance running among the young in general and also on the Isle of Man. This event may not be the best barometer for the state of Manx Cross Country in the Junior Ranks as other factors like time, proximity to the festive season and cost can come in to play. But it may be worth asking what more as a sport can we do to tackle this question ie. How can we get as many youngsters involved as possible?

However I feel we have to finish on a high after such a great day yesterday. It was great to see the years rolled back and a Manx Harriers team bring back the Senior Men's shield to the Island. Lets hope this squad stick at it and take the 7 titles we have now won in this age category (I think - perhaps the stattos out there will give the full info!!!) into double figures or more.

Lastly - Not quite sure what the full total of Manxies at Blackburn was with families and supporters being there also but it was not just a magnificent 7 more like 30!!!

A full report noting all competitors and their performances will be posted tomorrow or Tuesday and will appear in Thursday's Independent.

More details to follow soon regarding the English National XC Champs on 23/02/08.