NEHL Alnwick, 28th February 2026
A popular fixture in the cross-country calendar, the penultimate event of the season took place on the bucolic Pastures, in the shadow of Alnwick Castle.
Despite a few women having to withdraw at the eleventh hour, we still managed to field two complete teams. There was also a single men’s team, a feat achieved in three out of the five Harrier League fixtures so far.
Before any of these entered the fray, it was Charlotte Kerr up first in the Under 13 Girls race. After promotion to the fast pack in October, Charlotte ran well on her first time tackling the full two mile lap at Alnwick, as undaunted by the handicap as she had been at Wrekenton.
Next to step up were the women. Sarah Kerr stormed through from the medium pack, finishing in 20th, and earning promotion to the fast pack for the final race of the season next month (much to her chagrin!) Not far behind, Lena Lou had decided to take it relatively easy at parkrun this morning, compared to last week’s PB-plus-cross-country double-bill, and was rewarded with a fantastic 45th place. So rapid has Lena’s improvement been over the last couple of years, she improved her course time by nearly 15 minutes!
As usual, we ended on the men’s race, matching our season-best total of 7 runners from Wrekenton. A relatively mild and wind-free day, the clouds parted to reveal beautiful sunshine as we trotted round a firm course, that offered only a couple of brief marshy bits to navigate.
Till Weber was our first finisher by some way, going from strength to strength on his third cross-country experience, holding off the charge of Mark Anderson from the medium pack. Even fresher, Chris Swaddling was making his Claremont debut, embracing the mud a little too literally as he took a slight tumble at the second gate. Undettered by a mud-caked leg, he carried on with a fuller appreciation of what cross-country has to offer!
The Claremont baking squad were on typical top form, weary runners spoilt for choice at the spread laid out. Well done everyone who took part, including Tom for his diligent support and photography, disappointed to be missing out through injury. The final fixture will be at Eltringham Farm next month, before we hit road relay season until the autumn.
| Under 13 Girls | ||
|---|---|---|
| Position | Runner | Time |
| 35 | Charlotte Kerr | 20:02 (fast pack, actual time 18:22) |
| Women | ||
|---|---|---|
| Position | Runner | Time |
| 20 | Sarah Kerr | 34:47 (medium pack, actual time 32:26) |
| 45 | Lena Lou | 35:42 |
| 107 | Cate Walker | 37:17 |
| 127 | Steph Towers | 37:45 |
| 137 | Holly Porter | 38:29 |
| 151 | Anna Round | 38:32 |
| 236 | Hazel Juggins | 44:55 |
| 240 | Gill Milne | 45:20 |
| Men | ||
|---|---|---|
| Position | Runner | Time |
| 121 | Till Weber | 46:08 |
| 133 | Mark Anderson | 46:42 (medium pack, actual time 44:11) |
| 198 | Laurie Johnson | 49:38 |
| 220 | Christopher Swaddling | 50:42 |
| 249 | David Lydall | 55:13 |
| 320 | Jamie Harding | 62:22 |
| 334 | Terry Franklin | 68:54 |
