WITH cross country season in full swing, several juniors and two seniors from Richmond and Zetland Harriers headed to a very muddy Kiveton Park in Sheffield on Saturday, January 8 for the Yorkshire Cross Country championship.

In the U13 boys, Rhys Robinson finished 21st in 12:01. In the U15 boys, Sam Archer finished 35th in 15:43, Ollie Middleton 39th in 15:57 and Thomas Carter 43rd in 16:21. The team finished in ninth place. In the U15 girls, Olivia Jackson-Bowers finished 34th in 18:19. In the U17 men's race Thomas O’Mahoney finished in eighth place in 18:54 and has qualified to run for Yorkshire in the Northerns at the end of the month.

He was closely followed by Joseph Reeve, tenth in 19:02 and Joshua Hammett 15th in 19:19. The team finished in second place. The U17 ladies and Shannon Robinson finished 11th in 17:53. Charlie Stephenson finished fourth in the U20 men's race in 21:59. In the Senior Ladies race, Jenna McGrevey finished 33rd in 31:03 and Jake Stephenson finished 24th in 33:11 in the Senior Men's race.

The following day, there was more mud when athletes headed to Ormesby Hall in Middlesbrough for the fifth race in the NYSD league series. The first race of the day was the U11 boys and Sam Carter finished fourth in 5:53. In the U11 girls and Katheryn Fletcher finished seventh in 6:27. In the U13 girls, Matilda Ellis finished fifth in 13:13 with Isla Simpson close behind in sixth in 13:18. In the U15 boys, Ollie Middleton was the first Harrier back in fifth place in 11:13, Oliver Rogerson ninth in 11:58 and Henry Wright tenth in 12:43. The team finished in second place.

Phoebe Haw finished eighth in 14:32 in the U15 girls' race. Next was the U17, U20, Senior and Vet Women's race and Rebecca Simpson (V40) finished 14th in 26:13, Nicola Simpson (V45) 17th in 26:48, Alana Teasdale (U17) 22nd in 27:49, Elaine Watters (V45) 36th

In 30:10, Pauline Whittaker (V55) was 49th in 32:04. The team finished in fourth place. The last race of the day was the U20, Senior and Vet Men's race. Scott Wardman (Sen) was the first red vest back in third place in 35:36, next was Tony Lambert (V50), 15th in 37:39, Steve Middleton (V45), 19th in 38:12, Mark Forrest (V55), 21st in 38:37, Paul Ellis (V50), 37th in 40:00 and Paul Simpson (V45), 46th in 40:50. The team finished in second place.

There was good team spirit at the North Yorkshire schools County Cross Country Championships on Saturday, January 15. In the Junior boys results Oliver Rogerson finished 22nd in 14:55, Henry Wright 27th in 15:02, Jack Vasey 36th in 15:27 and Edward Player 39th in 15:40. In the Inter boys results, Josh Hammett finished third in 19:32, Ollie Middleton 17th in 21:35, Thomas Carter 26th in 22:34 and Riley Harrison 34th in 23:42. Charlie Stephenson finished second in 20:15 in a very tight Senior boys' race, just one second behind first.

In the year seven girls, Charlotte Jackson-Bowers finished 23rd in 11:47, and in the Junior girls' race Matilda Ellis finished 24th in 12:35, Isla Simpson 31st in 12:58, closely followed by Phoebe Haw, 32nd in 13:00. The Inter girls race saw Shannon Robinson finish third in 14:34, Sinead Noon 15th in 16:53, Olivia Jackson-Bowers, 16th in 17:07 and Holly McCowie, 18th in 17:15. Alana Teasdale finished tenth in the Senior girls race in a time of 17:00. Tom O’Mahoney finished third at the Durham schools cross country and Joe Reeve finished fourth – both boys are through to represent Durham in the next round.

The Brass Monkey Half Marathon took place on Sunday 16th January, the annual road running event with a flat and fast route loops southwards from York Racecourse to Appleton Roebuck and back. The near perfect running conditions resulted in some astonishing times. First Harrier back and making the podium was Rob Scott, who finished third overall in a time of 65:40, a massive PB and a great start to the year. Carl Jones was aiming for sub 70 minutes and he did just that in a time of 69:54 to finish tenth overall and first in his age category and he made his way into the V45 all time records.