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National Cross Country Championships

Steve Vernon

Steve Vernon finished third in his first senior outing at the Championships.

Stockport Harriers had great weekend at the National Cross Country Championships with a contingent of 29 athletes along with their parents traveling down to compete at Parliament Hill, London.

The men's race was especially great to watch as Steve Vernon finished third in his first senior outing at the Championships, beaten by flatmate and training partner Peter Riley of Leigh Harriers who won the race, making it a great day for the Northern clubs.

Both of them had great support from the Stockport crew who have got to know Pete and Steve well over the last few months and stayed on to watch them both presented with their trophies and medals.

All the teams put in great performances on one of the toughest courses in England but they all enjoyed the tough climb up Parliament Hill and the famous London backdrop.

The under-17 women's team were 7th with Jess Coulson producing another outstanding race in 4th backed up by Rhea Fallows in 81st, Rachel Malbon 83rd, Carley Stansfield 88th and Ruth Jenyon 123rd.

Also 7th were the under-15 girls' team thanks to Leah Kay in 14th, Lucy Mcloughlin 22nd, Sarah Kay 72nd, Michelle Wiblin 143rd and Charlotte Barber 151st.

Under-13 boys' team finished 8th with Sam Riley 45th, Jack Nixon 68th, Harry Long 81st and Cameron Murphy 133rd.

Other results

Under-13 girls: C. Pendlbury 191st and Rebecca Hetherington 195th.
Under-15 boys: Nathan Ludlaim 217th, Phil Nixon 218th, David Thomson 234th and Liam Turnbull 314th;
Under-17 men: Jacob Corrigan 40th, Steven Pearson 74th and Simon Bennett 76th.
Junior men: Andy Nixon 79th, David Hicketts 117th and Jon Walch 129th.
Senior men: Steve Vernon 3rd, Bill Shone 511th and Ben styles 808th.

Girls under-15s start

Everyone enjoyed the tough climb up Parliament Hill and the famous London backdrop

Jenny's return

Jenny Murray

Jenny Murray made a welcome return to racing in her first race since last October's Nairobi Marathon where she suffered a stress fracture to her foot. She was first woman in the tough Huddersfield 10k in a time of 39.29 despite recent illness in the previous week and is now hoping to get back to some sort of normality in her running.

Last weekend Jenny together with Jenny Knass, Vicky Buckley, Estelle McGuire, Liz Bowden and coach Phil McCann attended Bud Baldaro's GB Marathon Training Camp held in the Forest of Dean. Speaking were the likes of UKA's Alan Storey and Spencer Barden along with British marathon runners Hugh Jones, Steve Brace and Paul Evans also giving advice. The running sessions themselves were highly beneficial and some will be added to the Ladies' squad training repertoire. Some of the best British men and women were there including Tracy Morris who was about to be jetting of to Melbourne for the Commonwealth Games.

Jenny Murray who gained her first GB vest at the Nairobi Marathon in the 'Greatest Race on Earth' series, the others being in Mumbai, Singapore and Hong Kong, found out that the team had won overall and will be receiving medals, a great reward for Jenny.

As she will not have had enough time to train for the London Marathon since her injury. Jenny was asked at the camp if she would like to be one of the pacemakers at London to take a certain pack through to halfway, another added recognition for her.

The next event the girls will be the Wilmslow and Liverpool half marathons, both on 19th March, the latter including the AAAs Women's Championships and the squad will have teams in both.

Greater Manchester Schools' Championships

Greater Manchester Schools team winners

The winning Stockport Schools' team in the Senior Boys' race at the Greater Manchester Schools' Championships

Stockport's junior runners were in action for the Stockport Schools' teams on Saturday in the Greater Manchester Schools' Championships at Cannon Slade School in Bolton, with eleven winning selection to run for the Greater Manchester team at the English Schools' Championship final at Mansfield on March 25th.

In the Junior Girls' Michelle Wiblin was 4th, Michael Logue 7th in the Junior Boys', Jess Coulson 1st, Leah Kay 4th and Lucy McLoughlin 8th in the Inter Girls', Ross Millington 3rd and Steve Pearson 6th in the Inter Boys', Rhea Fallows 4th and Claire McMurdock 5th in the Senior Girls', Andy Nixon 1st and Jon Walch 8th in the Senior Boys'.

Toni MacintoshNew recruit Toni McIntosh (picture right) competed in her first road race in Stockport Harriers' colours after coming back from injury. She finally got through her first race this year without any further reaction. Toni finished 10th open lady and 13th overall in a time of 30-43 with the winning time for the ladies being International Liz Yelling with 26-01, it was a good workout for Toni who was very pleased with her performance. Now it's back to a more intense training to see if she will be in good shape for the London Marathon in April.

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