NE Cross-Country Championships, Aykley Heads, 10th December 2016

Injuries and late holiday bookings depleted the Claremont contingent for this year’s North East Cross-Country Championships, and our original entry of 14 was down to 8 runners on the day. With there being 4 of each gender, we still had a complete ladies team, but unfortunately were short of the 6 men required. At least it meant that there was more of Mandy’s delicious cake for everybody!

Aykley Heads is a tough course with plenty of up and down sections and I had memories of it being an absolute mud heap when I ran it a couple of years ago in the Harrier League. As championship courses are longer, I was expecting a hard run, especially when we had all that heavy rain during the week. The day turned out to be unseasonably warm and, although muddy in places, it could have been a lot worse! Still 3 laps of hilly terrain, with one climb that seems to go on and on and a steep one near the end of the lap, is enough of a challenge whatever the weather. The course had been advertised as 8K for the girls and 12K for the lads, but we all measured it to be shorter, with the full lap being a bit short of 4K and the final lap being shorter still.