Sherman Cup / Davison Shield, 31st January 2026

For the first time in three years, we arrived at Temple Park for the Sherman Cup/Davison Shield fixture without fresh memories of having run round the course in reverse a month earlier, with the North East Championships being hosted in Middlesbrough instead.

After a few weeks of brutal weather, the sun was already out as we arrived, taking the edge off the cold, with little wind to speak of. Great conditions for running, right? Almost. At cross-country, mud is to be expected, and despite Temple Park being one of the least undulating courses, it has more than made up for this in recent years by being ‘slightly’ boggy in places.

The start area didn’t really hint at what was to come, with an initial canter across a sunny stretch of grass, and up a short incline. Descending down the other side into the trees, the fun began in earnest, as we were confronted with a quagmire. Despite the path being very wide at this point, leading us on a long, gentle downhill, the majority of the pack cleaved towards the edges, trying to avoid the deeper bogs and puddles in a quest to stay moving and upright, while attempting not to receive a poke in the eye from a branch.

Emerging from the treeline, most continued to hug the verges until the next short hill, which offered some respite from the deep, clinging pools of mud, sucking hungrily at our shoes, threatening to take them off altogether (more on that later). A quick up and down saw us dropping down a very slippery, narrow section towards the muddy brook. This was just about jumpable, but followed by an awkward scramble up the other side, which was both steep and incredibly slick, churned up by the hundreds of runners that had gone before.

The going from here until the end of the lap was relatively easy, with the long flat stretch on tarmac (soundtracked by the clatter of spikes) thankfully leading to firmer grass, with much less bog to deal with.

Our two juniors acquitted themselves well, with the shorter route for the under 11’s meaning Danielle O’Brien was able to avoid all the aforementioned trickier parts of the course. Charlotte Kerr wasn’t so lucky, as her race saw her complete one full lap, and indeed, lose one full shoe, which she had to stop to reclaim. Even so, she still did incredibly well to overcome this setback and finish only just over halfway down the field.

Onto the women’s race, where Sarah Kerr had a very strong run, finishing in a more than credible 24^th out of 207 finishers. Sarah led home our 8-strong ladies team. Due to the unique nature of this standalone fixture (team points are scored in groups of 3 for both men and women, with seniors and vets in separate competitions despite all running together, and everyone starting at the same time, no staggered packs) our first 6 veteran women across the line were the point-scorers, with Yana Bevan the sole ‘youngster’, running purely for pride.

Finally to the men, where due to late withdrawal, we were left with two seniors and two vets, meaning all four of us were also unable to score, and just running for the hell of it. Mark Anderson was our first finisher, followed by Till Weber giving another very strong performance in only his second cross-country outing.

After almost losing the tent to a tornado last time out, the unusually clement conditions meant there was zero drama as it was easily put up and taken down. Thanks to all the Claremont bakers, who as ever outdid themselves, the mound of deliciousness meaning there was more than anyone could manage, plenty of leftovers!

The next Harrier League fixture is at the considerably more picturesque Alnwick at the end of February, with the National Championships a week before at Sedgefield.

Under 11 Girls
Position	Runner	Time
31	Danielle O’Brien	6:25

Under 13 Girls
Position	Runner	Time
23	Charlotte Kerr	15:28

Women
Position	Runner	Time
24	Sarah Kerr	27:35
85	Nicki O’Brien	31:58
107	Anna Round	33:34
113	Yana Bevan	34:07
129	Sarah Williamson	35:15
176	Gill Milne	39:44
188	Cath Robson	42:46
190	Ann Smith	43:14

Men
Position	Runner	Time
86	Mark Anderson	39:56
111	Till Weber	41:28
146	Laurie Johnson	43:38
215	Mark Flynn	50:23