Midland/Birmingham League 3/12/22

12 December 2022

Pittville Park staged the second round of the Birmingham and Midland Cross Country Leagues. The event was organised brilliantly by Harriers endurance manager Andrew Kaighin, and saw clubs from all around the Midlands area take part with around 200 competitors in each race. 

The women’s race took place first with athletes covering a 6.4km course. including two river crossings. After Harriers took the team win and individual 1-2 in the first fixture hopes were high on home turf, Coventry however had other ideas bringing a strong team featuring international level athletes. The team ran well nonetheless and finished in 3rd, just 4 points behind 2nd and keeping the overall lead in the league at the moment. Rachel See was the 1st Harrier home in 5th, Kate Alhadeff  improved her previous result by one position finishing strong in 9th. Petra. Vymetalova and Ellie Balfe completed the scoring team in 16th and 24th which also meant they finished as 5th and 8th master. Jo Wilkie ran well to finish in the top 30 in 29th place, 11th master. The masters team improved on their 3rd place finish from fixture one with a 2nd place finish in Pittville and was completed by Nicolas Whiteman in 31st overall and 12th master. Hannah Randall and Angela Pippard finished in 52nd and 54th while Mell Schofield and Jodie Hatton-Belliard ran well to finish in 74th and 79th. 

Next up it was the turn of the men with three river crossings and around 10km of running ahead of them. For the 2nd fixture in a row Max Kelly was the leading Harrier across the line in 38th. Jamie Bell took 3rd U20 in 44th overall. Just 6 seconds separated Rupert Denny and Harrison Miles in 51st and 54th. George Sheppard and Tom Evetts rounded off the A team in 61st and 68th. This meant the A team finished in a solid 9th place. The B team took 5th thanks to Andy Gore in 79th (4th M50), Roger Mullins in 101st, Darren Dempsey in 122nd, Steve Bradley in 145th, Nick Fowles in 152nd and Ross Swain in 166th. M60 athletes Michael Ede and Mike Shelton finished in 5th and 7th in their age categories and 171st and 174th overall. The club also produced a Masters team that finished in 8th.