The first English Cross Country Relays took place in 1985 with just three events; Under 17 Men, Junior Men and Senior Men. The event was held at Crystal Palace for the first few years before moving permanently – conveniently for us Sheffield folk – to Berry Hill in Mansfield in 1989.

This year, on the 38th anniversary of the event, more than 1000 teams were entered over the 10 races, with 187 in the senior men’s event and 132 in the senior women’s. The course is great for spectating, with some exciting finishes; in the under 20 men’s race Radley hung on to beat Peterborough by just 0.1 of a second – very glad I wasn’t doing the timekeeping for that one!

Jim checking out the finishing straight

]The event always attracts top athletes from across the country, with Olympians Jess Warner-Judd competing in the senior women and Phoebe Gill in the U20 women, plus under 23 European 10000m gold medallist, Rory Leonard, moving Morpeth from ninth to fourth on the final leg of the senior men’s race.

Conditions were fairly benign  with mild weather and dry conditions underfoot.  The course still packs a punch though, with its constant undulations and turns – a single 3k lap for the women and 5k over two laps for the men.

Rob on the first of many hills

Striders were well represented in the senior events, with the maximum allowance of 3 men’s and 3 women’s teams taking part.  A fine performance in particular from the Women’s A team who finished in 26th place, with Abbie running a strong first leg just a week after her Chengdu half marathon in China.  Some fine team selection by the Team Managers also meant that pretty much everyone was moving steadily forward through the field on their legs.

Pre-race tactics

Relays are just great!  Definitely worth doing this one if you get a chance.

Senior Women – Winners: Belgrave Harriers in a time of 29.39

Striders ResultsPosition