In a joint NECAA/NEMAA promotion, 58 masters teams took part in the championships, postponed from January 16th, at Thornley Hall Farm, Peterlee, over a reasonably flat and firm 2860m ‘agricultural’ course on a bright ‘winter’s’ morning in April. Everyone taking part – runners and officials alike were obviously delighted to be part of the return to competition event.
Durham club Elvet Striders came out on top medal wise with team silver and bronze. Tyne Bridge’s Scottish Masters Cross Country Internationalist Alison Dargie led the first leg home in the fastest leg time (12:14). Second on leg 1, North Shields Poly went on to win decisively almost one minute clear of Elvet, closely followed by Elswick Harriers.
Unlike the women’s race, the top three teams finished within 30 seconds of each other. Sunderland Harriers took the honours leading from gun to tape but only 2 seconds separated runners up Darlington from Elvet. Michael Barker leading Sunderland home (10:09) on leg 1 ran the quickest time of the day. Full results are available on both the NECAA and NEMAA websites.
Archie Jenkins