Chris Quine, who was forced to miss the event through injury and recent illness for only the second time in the 11 years that Manx Harriers have been attending the championships, reports from Blackburn.

No sooner had New Year celebrations finished, than athletes were lining up for the Lancashire Cross Country Championships at Blackburn. With their annual trip, Manx Harriers made sure that some of the spoils were brought home to the island on Saturday night.

Held over a tough course which includes an energy sapping 400m hill, the Manx continued to make their mark and a number are now hoping for selection for the Lancashire team for the Inter Counties Championships to the held in March.

First in action were the under 13 boys and under 13 girls who were all making their debuts in off Island cross country competition. Despite all being understandably nervous beforehand, they all coped very well and did not let the occasion get the better of them, the boys being rewarded with a team bronze medal.

Jordan Cain ran a very mature race, starting steadily and looking very strong on the hill to claim 11^th place. He was supported by Tom Bateson (15^th), Michael Callister (16^th) and Richard Seed (19^th). There were 33 finishers.

The girls did not want to be outdone by the lads. In a field of 45 runners, Nicola Cooil was very impressive to finish 8^th with Sophie Knox 17^th, Bronwyn Kaneen 29^th and Leanne Garrett 38^th. Unfortunately, this was not quite enough for a medal – the girls finishing 4^th in the team race.

All of the youngsters will have gained greatly from this experience and are chomping at the bit for more competition like this.

Next to compete were the under 15s. After a very steady start, Andrew Newton really started to move through the field. With about 1000m to go he was up to 9^th and his progress continued in the closing stages picking up two more places for 7^th place. He was rewarded with a letter for possible inter counties selection. It should be noted that in the corresponding race three years ago, Keith Gerrard finished in 9^th place.

Lee Butterworth started a little quicker but dug in well to hold onto 12^th place. Ben Brand had breathing difficulties and showed determination to keep going to the finish, coming home in 17th place. Who is to say that with hard work and determination these lads cannot emulate Keith’s achievements in years to come?

In the girls event Ciara Kaneen was another making her of Island cross country debut. She finished mid-field in 19^th place.

Another with a big future in running should he decide to concentrate on it is Chris Shimmin. In the under 17s event, he ran with the leaders until about half way. Despite losing touch with the leaders, he consolidated his position in the second half coming home in 6^th place and therefore gaining an invitation for the inter counties event.

In the corresponding event for girls, Dawn Georgeson ran with typical spirit for a mid race position of 12^th place. 

Despite these successes there was still a feeling that there was more to come from the older athletes in the squad and they did not disappoint. In the women’s race, a very nervous Cal Partington made a steady start. Once into her stride as her confidence developed, she started to gain places and with about a mile to go held 7^th place. She lost a place on the last mile but nevertheless was very pleased with her effort and will hopefully look forward to more of-island competition in the future. As a bonus, Cal was awarded 1^st in the veterans 35-39 class.

Having watched her daughters in action, Bridget Kaneen also competed and ran gamely for 32^nd place from the 50 finishers.

The senior men (including veterans) and under 20 men started together, the seniors running 7 miles and the under 20s 5 miles. Keith Gerrard – a first year under 20 – went straight to the front of the field and by the end of his five mile stint held a lead of about 200m over the leading senior. Who is to say he could not have won the senior race? This was arguably the run of the day in any age group male or female and drew gasps of astonishment from many in the crowd as the young Manx runner left the older runners trailing.

In the senior men’s’ race itself, Keith’s training partner Darren Gray had a storming run to finish in 11^th place. Again, great reward for his hard training – Darren finished 34^th in this race two years ago and 65 last year.  Just behind him Gianni Epifani was 15^th and old warhorse Andy Fox 16^th.

The question now was how fast would the team close in its six runners? With Murray Lambden 28^th, Mike Garrett 29^th and Nick Percival 38^th would this be enough to regain the team title? The answer was yes – rivals Clayton-le-Moors had to wait until 59^th for their 6^th runner to finish thus handing victory to Manx Harriers by 11 points.

There were more awards in the veteran’s races – Andy Fox 3^rd over 40, Murray Lambden 2^nd over 45 and Dave Newton a very surprised 2^nd over 50.

So completed a very successful day for the island club. Lots of money is invested by the club in supporting this event and it is great to see this being rewarded.

Thanks are due to Andy Fox for organising the trip and to all the officials and helpers who supported the athletes. 

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