With most of the Preston Harriers juniors having a deserved break following the County Championships, and the Northern Cross Country Championships taking place next weekend at Blackburn, only a small number travelled to a wet and windy Lawson playing fields at Blackpool. Conditions underfoot were testing with lots of mud after the thaw and some heavy rain in the few days before the event.

Under 11’s Grace Handley and Charlotte Crook both produced their best performances of the season. Both girls showed experience beyond their ages, picking their way through the field. Grace ran superbly, finishing extremely strongly for a well deserved second place, just a few seconds behind the race winner, while Charlotte improved to 11th place with a determined effort and will be looking to emulate Grace’s performances next season.

Rachael Lever 47th and Emma Shepherd 51st battled bravely to the finish in a large under- 13 girl’s field, while Florie McLeish suffered a rare defeat, at the hands of one of the country’s best under 15 girls, Abbie Hetherington of Carlisle, being narrowly beaten into second place.

Jack Ellis got another run under his belt, finishing a splendid 5th in the under 15 boy’s race. Ellis continues to perform consistently well in this his first season. Kingsley Judd was 18th while younger brother Perry improved to 26th with a courageous run.

Finally, Nichola Jackson maintained the excellent form she has shown throughout the season with an excellent, 4th place finish in the under 17 ladies race.

Marian Hesketh was the sole Harrier in the 6k ladies race, finishing in 47th with 29.22 and it is hoped that numbers improve for the final two events at Hyndburn in February and Barrow in March.

There was better representation from the men, allowing the team to stay top of Division 2. Chris Livesey was first counter and had a great run for 3rd over one small & four larger laps totalling about 10k, in a time of 31.07 whilst Jon Green, having a good season in the country, was 21st in 32.51. Mark Lee was 46th in 35.19 and Dave Parkington 55th with 35.50.

The remaining two team counters were David Barker (59th) & Phil Walsh, in good form at present (71st). Other runners were Kevin Hesketh (75th), John Rainford (93rd), John Griffiths (101st), Alan Appleby (116th and 3rd vet 60), and Michael McLoughlin (161st out of 207 finishers)