2013 English Schools Cross Country

16th March 2013 - A great result for my daughter Katie - 4th place in the Inter Girls race, she ran a very smart race and came through the field as the race progressed, cementing her 4th place in the final half mile.  Winner Annabel Mason is a GB Mountain running international and Harriet Knowles-Jones, winner of the u15 Inter Counties XC was second.

Katie now gets to run for England in the Home Countries  International match being held in Llandelio, Wales  on 23rd March.

My son Alex as not so fortunate as he was spiked early on and half lost his shoe and sustained a cut to his heel - fortunately only superficial. He finished 151st.  Danyy Ray was solid with 93rd in the Inter Boys and Ed Mason had a great run for 61st in the Junior Boys.

The Blizzard

A red weather warning was issued on Sunday for the impending blizzard on Monday, so I packed plenty of options for my Monday commute and left for swimming on the MTB at just before 7:00.  Snow had started falling but the sleet and rain that had preceded it meant that it wasn't yet sticking. 

The wind was up though and it was a slog into the wind on the MTB.  As the morning progressed so it got windier and the snow started to stick, then trees came down, the buses stopped running and finally the schools closed.   The children came to my work first and then headed off to walk home in the blizzard.

By the time I left for home there was anywhere between 4 and 6" of snow on the ground and massive snow drifts piling up from the wind around the island, blocking roads and stranding cars.  My ride home was quite uneventful, I stopped and took some photos', didn't fall off and went off roading down the muddy lane - now the snowy lane.

A little more snow on Tuesday and the island was in lock down so I walked into work.  A van was stuck in the lane opposite our house penned in by roof high snow drifts front and back.  The children had great fun playing in the snow.  I tried out my YakTrax shoe snow chains and found they worked really well as the pavement snow became compacted.  Worked out in a quiet gym at lunchtime and enjoyed the walk home as the wind was easing and behind me.  Spent a rare evening in front of the telly watching a film.

The airport remained shut till Wednesday afternoon and displaced people are finally getting back to the Island.  Certainly it was a blizzard to remember - 5 days later and roads are still blocked by drifts, 66 trees are reported to have come down - it seems to be mainly conifers or evergreens whose foliage caught the snow and the wind did the rest.

2013 Inter Counties - March 9th Cofton Park, Birmingham

It was a pretty good showing by the Guernsey athletes but as always there are some ups and downs. Louise Perrio had probably her finest cross country race to place 20th, just 90 seconds down on international marathoner Louise Damon, and just 60 secs down on Steph Twell (5th). Good packing, including Sarah Mercier's 41st place gave Hampshire the team win. To be disappointed with 10th place in the u15girls race show's my daughter's high expectations - she put herself in the right place in the first 1/3rd of the race but could not follow through. Consolation prize is being called up for the South East England team for the Virgin London Mini Marathon. My son Alex produced the best performance of the season with 20th place in the u13boys race - first Hampshire finisher. The race is so competitive that just 10 seconds faster would have put him the in top 10. The upcoming Danny Ray who I am coaching finished 27th in the u15boys - a great performance for his first year.

2013 Inter Insular Cross Country

Sunday 24th Feb - Footes Lane, Guernsey.
On a freezing cold day with flurries of snow, the Guernsey team set about the continuance of the dominance of Guernsey endurance running over our Channel Islands counterparts - the Crapauds.  In true Guernsey donkey style the men's team stubornly kept a firm grip on the 'Boots' trophy with a 1-2-3 setting up a comprehensive 20th consecutive win.

Steve Dawes did the honours in leading the team home, Mike Wilesmith was just 20 seconds clear of me in second and I took third.  I was the only member of the Guernsey winning team from 1994 running which I can be quite proud of.  I felt great on the day and wish I had perhaps tried to hang onto Mike a little longer on the early laps as not much changed after half way.

Not to be out done the women also did a 1-2-3 with Louise Perrio leading Sarah Mercier and Nat Whitty to the clean sweep.

My children Katie & Alex won their respective races and we had a good showing of junior team results.
Next up for my athletes and children - Inter Counties XC in Birmingham on 9th March 2013.

Southern Counties Cross Country

Parliament Hill, London, Sat 16th Feb 2013
The team performed really well in some really muddy and heavy going conditions. The highlight was my daughter Katie's 2nd place in the u15 Girls race.  Louise Perrio found the mud heavy going and not suiting her style but it was still a great performance to finish 12th in the senior ladies. 

The rest of our junior teams faired well at this high level competition.  Danny Ray - for whom this is his first year of 'proper' athletics was 11th in the u15 boys and my son Alex was 14th in the u13Boys with Hugo Bisson not far behind in 27th.

The rest of the juniors enjoyed their races and gained valuable experience at this level of competition.  It is great to have a number of athletes of the right calibre to take to an event like this.