Sherman Cup / Davison Shield, 2nd February 2025
We descended on Temple Park once more this Sunday for this sort-of-but-not Harrier League fixture. After the freezing cold of the North East Champs back in December (not to mention the icy experience at Wrekenton 2 weeks ago), it was thankfully slightly milder weather today, with no rain or wind to contend with. I’m reliably informed there was some heavy mud to slog through on parts of the course, but nothing like the waterlogged mess from last year.
Charlotte Kerr and Danielle O’Brien kicked things off, running together again for the first time since October, and putting in a great shift to show their elders how it should be done. Charlotte finished brilliantly in 24th, despite knocking an ankle on a rock during her run.
The women were up next, and with no staggered start, Sarah Kerr was first Claremonter home by some margin, in a fantastic 18th place, also finishing 3rd in her age category. Julie Cross matched the latter feat, with Lynne Cornell managing a 2nd place category finish in her first cross-country of the season.
The men’s race boasted a full debut in Claremont colours for Alex Taylor, marking the occasion with a storming run that saw him over the line first. Like Lynne, Aaron Mansell was also making his first cross-country appearance this year, and Ari Hodgson logged a heroic effort to complete the course, despite having pulled out mid-race at Wrekenton only a fortnight previously, with a problematic achilles.
With this being a one-off event, where 3 runners make up a ‘team’ for points scoring in each of the Seniors and Veterans categories, we managed a decent haul of two complete vet teams for the women (Jenny Roberts sprightly youthfulness cancelling out the possibility of a third), and one of each category for the men.
To add to those already mentioned, there are further heroics that must be commended. Firstly Chris Jones, who arrived before anyone else, 3 hours before his race, and pitched the tent completely on his own! It has never looked more sturdy! Chris also expertly supervised its collapse at the end, and again, I have never seen the process go so smoothly.
Due to team captain stupidity a ‘clerical error’, Anton Mirafsari journeyed home to retrieve his running gear and back again, in order to make up a complete senior team, having originally turned up with the intention of spectating. It was only realised once he was nearly back at Temple Park, that we actually had 3 seniors, but team player that he is, Anton still elected to run.
Thanks as usual to all the bakers (who I will not list, in case I forget someone), who even without Gill’s contribution, managed to provide far more than people could eat. Well done to all runners, the potential final fixture at Alnwick will be in a month’s time, though rumours of provisional end-of-March rescheduling for the cancelled Druridge Bay and Prudhoe dates are circulating…
| U11 Girls | ||
|---|---|---|
| Position | Runner | Time |
| 24 | Charlotte Kerr | 04:46 |
| 69 | Danielle O’Brien | 06:15 |
| Women | ||
|---|---|---|
| Position | Runner | Time |
| 18 | Sarah Kerr (3rd V45) | 26:47 |
| 67 | Julie Cross (3rd V55) | 30:11 |
| 108 | Nicki O’Brien | 31:53 |
| 110 | Nina Jensen | 32:01 |
| 134 | Jenny Roberts | 33:10 |
| 136 | Lynne Cornell (2nd V60) | 33:18 |
| 159 | Hazel Juggins | 35:05 |
| 212 | Ann Smith | 41:26 |
| 216 | Cath Robson | 42:12 |
| Men | ||
|---|---|---|
| Position | Runner | Time |
| 92 | Alex Taylor | 37:53 |
| 138 | Roberto Marzo | 40:03 |
| 193 | Chris Jones | 42:56 |
| 201 | Anton Mirafsari | 43:21 |
| 263 | Aaron Mansell | 49:25 |
| 277 | David Devennie | 57:10 |
| 281 | Ari Hodgson | 67:11 |
