We had an amazing 36 Juniors and Teens sign up for all the cross country races, but we only had 24 race on the day including four who just signed up for the Cirencester Park event. This was mainly due to it being half-term holiday for Gloucester schools and many children being away. Despite the half-term for Gloucestershire, there were good size fields and good runs from all the children, wherever they placed, recognising that some are better at endurance running than others
The first race of the day was the Under-13s race and we had a split field. With only two girls (Eleanor and Amy, right)running we didn’t have a Team, which was disappointing, but was overwhelmed by the great turnout by the boys (9).
With three complete teams, we had more runners than any other club and we led the way home, with three baths in the first five places, giving us a massive 30 point advantage after the first event : Joe, Ben and Robbie. If they can keep fit and available, they are going to take some beating.
For some of the children, it was their first experience of league XC, somewhat more challenging than running around the edge of a school playing field, but they all said they enjoyed it.
After the U13s, it was the turn of the Under 11s, where again we had a good turnout (11), but again dominated by the boys (8). Our Junior membership is much more even. In a big field (88) we didn’t have anyone in the first twenty but we did pack well in the middle of the field.
Although times can be dependent on conditions this race was practically the same as last year’s time, so we can see progress in our runners, e.g. Aria was ~15% faster than last year (the first three this year were almost identical in time to the first three last year). Our first runners home were the two Forbes boys (Heath & Otis), Elliot Fountain, Ted Lockhart and Finley Garrett. Our first girl home was Annabel Campbell, daughter of another of our Club’s faster runners.
For the last two Junior races: U15s and u17s we only had one competitor in each:
Isabella and George, respectively.
Isabella came in second, not far behind the C&CH runner, so could challenge for the overall Championship in the next three events. George finished just outside the top quartile, a really good result for him, as XC isn’t really his strongest event.
For those who like to follow the results of previous Juniors, Isobel Watt’s result is included. Isobel, an ex-Teen, has just run her first race since the summer due to injury.
RESULTS
U13s:
U11s:
U15s:
U17s:
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