Herts Phoenix Cross Country at Stanborough Park
On 14th Jan 2023 Better Stanborough Park welcomed back the Metropolitan Cross Country League for their 2023 race at the park.
For the last 5 years Herts Phoenix has successfully hosted a fixture staged on the north side of Stanborough Park. Stanborough Park is an ideal venue for a cross country race with varied terrain including woods, hills, cambers and this year plenty of mud.
Setting-out the course is a challenge under the best of circumstances, but the atrocious weather that greeted the team in the early hours of that morning, made it much more difficult. Dragging wheelie bins full of stakes up muddy slopes; looking at course maps; lining up the stakes in heavy rain; and then threading marking tape in strong winds, slowed progress considerably.
None-the-less the course was ready, also just sufficient marshals and officials were in place, for the races to start on time at 12:02. Fortunately the rain had subsided a little by the time the U11 Boys got underway, followed a couple of minutes later by
The U11 Girls. These young athletes are well supported by parents, and the marshals spend as much time keeping the course clear of spectators as they do directing the runners. In no time at all the leading runners appeared, the winner’s time being 5:30 for this 1,600m course.
Next up were races of 3,000m for the U13 Boys and U13 Girls. The boy’s race was won in 11:30 by George H, the team race being won by Hillingdon AC. The girl’s race was won by Jorjia M of Barnet & District, the team race being won by Trent Park.
Next up were the races of 4,200m for the U17 Men and U17 Women. However, the men’s race actually ended up being much shorter when, partly due to momentary loss of concentration by a marshal, the leading runner headed for the finish rather than turning into a second lap. As he was followed by the rest of the field and thus everyone ran the same distance, the result stood.
The women’s race was a more straightforward affair, with Kiera S of Herts Phoenix in 5th place leading the Herts Phoenix team to a win.
In spite of the weather conditions and the covid drop off in numbers, the Senior Women’s and men’s races race attracted a good number of runners, with over 518 finishers between them.
The team at Stanborough look forward to welcoming Herts phoenix back in the future.
All pictures courtesy of Mark Easton, markeaston.zenfolio.com