NEHL Aykley Heads, 25th November 2023

It was a dry, bright, cold day as the North East Harrier League said goodbye to Aykley Heads as a venue – the redevelopment of County Hall meaning that it will no longer be available. I think it is fair to say that Aykley Heads, although seen as tough and hilly, was a popular course that offered a nice mix of woodland, fields and undulating, often muddy, paths.

Despite all the recent rain, conditions underfoot weren’t too bad with just a few patches of heavy mud for the runners to contend with. The first challenge for our women’s team was having to make up for lost time as they were caught up in a fairly chaotic start. Having been sent back and told the start would be delayed by 20 minutes, it came as a shock to see the race underway only 10 minutes later. By the time any of the Claremont contingent arrived at the start line, the medium pack was setting off!

It was, therefore, no surprise that the first three sky blues were the three starting from the medium and fast packs as all the others lost at least 2½ minutes! The A team was completed by the fast-improving Holly Porter, who has taken to cross-country like a duck to water. Our 13 strong female contingent included two cross-country debutants – Cate Walker and Aoife Monaghan. Both seemed to enjoy their experience despite the problems at the start and Cate brought oranges for us all to share post-run, obviously trying to give us a healthy option to go alongside all the cake!

The men maintained their record of fielding a full team with at least one reserve – so things are looking up! This time, Laurie Johnson led the Claremont contingent home – having previously swapped 2nd and 3rd place in the sky blue race with Roberto Marzo. Mark Anderson split this duo, running from the medium pack.