ATW Met League race 3: Young Athletes
A fine but chilly afternoon greeted our runners for this 3rd fixture at Uxbridge where the course was heavy going in places, with one very steep hill to encounter for our older athletes. With the fixture so close to Xmas it was inevitable we would be short of runners but a sickness bug took four of our runners out on the day of competition.
Photos of all races (courtesy of neutral Mark Easton)
The highlight for us was an excellent win for Jodi Ratcliff in the Under 15/17 Womens race. Jodi’s great run last weekend at the Southern Inter Counties, where she was 15th, gave her the confidence to take the race on from the start, and she never looked like losing her lead as she strode home 30 metres up on Shaftesbury’s Kyriacou, who had defeated Jodi by half a minute at Stevenage last month. Edie Preece, so reliable, also ran well to place 10th with Mia Hirons, another reliable athlete, placing 35th but being a bottom year Under 15 girl.
In the first race of the day, the Under 11s, Jimmy Geller had another excellent run for 7th and he is only year 4, and Hollie McArdell, also enjoying a fine cross country season, placed 5th in the girls race.
In the Under 15/17 Men’s race Daniel Rowden went into an early lead and remained in the leading group until a slight twist of the ankle forced our international 800 metre runner to wisely retire. James Wakefield and Harry Cavell were together at the finish, both battling really hard in the muddy conditions to place a fine 20th for James and Harry 21st. I must pay tribute to Taylor Reece for finishing in 62nd place, and a true club man he really is.
In the Under 13 girls race Siena Taylor was our only starter and, although the course was not to her liking, she managed a place in the top half of the field to place 14th.
All the fields were much reduced from the previous two fixtures, but the majority of the leading runners were on show. Our athletes now have the luxury of looking forward to Xmas before embarking on the Essex Championships.