Race Date: Saturday 25th January 2025
Whilst Storm Eowyn ravaged Ireland and Scotland, the sun came out in Cheshire at elegant Tatton Park with its Neo-Classical Mansion, exquisite gardens and 1,000 acre deer park as Steel City fielded complete teams in both the women’s and men’s events. General consensus was of an enjoyable course and although there were a couple of short stretches of deep mud, the rest was very runnable grass or trail making it fast. The one short hill on each lap (twice for the women, three times for the men) again made for a fast track.
Sarah Thorne in action pleased to get in front of league rival Caroline Brock by seven seconds.
In the women’s race Sarah Thorne was on a mission to catch the eye of the Lancashire selectors having been advised that she was a possible for a county vest having done well in their championships at Witton Park, Blackburn, earlier in the month. Getting away from Caroline Brock, who resorted to the tight hamstrings section of The Runner’s Book of Excuses, a quick look at the results suggest that not all of her potential Inter-Counties rivals ran at Tatton so in with a chance and we look forward to hearing the decision of the Lancashire selectors. At the other end of the race it is understood that one of the Steel City women ended up off route by missing a turn but was soon picked up by a marshal and led back onto the course. In her defence this was a section where it was hard to spot the course flags if you didn’t have someone to follow.
Women 7,900m (Two large laps)
| Pos | Name | Cat | Time |
| 1 | Lauren Heyes (Hallam) | SF | 00:26:54 |
| 53 | Sarah Thorne | SF | 00:31:46 |
| 58 | Caroline Brock | F40 | 00:31:53 |
| 165 | Karen Clark | F60 | 00:41:08 |
| 201 | Carol Beattie | F70 | 00:46:31 |
Leeds won the women’s team medals by a street with 26 points whilst the Steel City women closed out in 19th place with 477 points. There were 211 finishers.
Ben Jones, with painful knee, showed great courage and tenacity to finish the race.
In the men’s race Seth Kirby continued his recent run of form with Naeem Stevens putting in a good shift having had a little bit of a rest from training and racing over the holiday period. Ben Jones came into the race with an already uncomfortable knee which was hurting with every step by the end of lap one and continued to deteriorate as the race progressed. With pain registering at 8/10 he nearly dropped out but managed to finish the course which was indeed heroic but perhaps not that wise. It is hoped that he hasn’t caused any lasting damage. Richard Pegg was actually on hand planning to only run two laps unless anyone dropped out en-route and would do another to ensure that there was a full team of scorers.
Men 11,750m (Three large laps)
| 1 | Angus McMillan (York) | SM | 00:35:57 |
| 160 | Seth Kirby | SM | 00:43:27 |
| 166 | Naeem Stevens | SM | 00:43:44 |
| 205 | Robert Cook | SM | 00:45:35 |
| 273 | Ben Jones | SM | 00:48:55 |
| 286 | Malcalom Baggaley | F40 | 00:49:43 |
| 327 | Ian Stinson | F50 | 00:52:53 |
| dnf | Richard Pegg | F65 | – |
It was a much closer affair in the men’s team race with with Salford holding off Leeds by only eight points whilst Steel City’s men finished in 25th place only 15 points behind rivals Sheffield RC with 1417 points. 389 finishers
The camera never lies for here is 1318 Richard Pegg in action. Absent from the results he dropped out after two of the three laps as he had to help clear up. A new entry in The Runner’s Book of Excuses.
Full results are here to find out how our rivals in the South Yorkshire League fared Northern Cross Country Championships 2025 Results