Wooden Tops Photographs
The very many photos taken by the race photographers from the British & Irish Masters Cross Country International , Dave & Eileen Woodhead are now on their website http://www.woodentops.org.uk/index.php?topic=home&subtopic=morephotos&photoyear=2025. If anyone wants to use the photos, they should credit Dave and Eileen Woodhead.
England Leeds the way at Masters International
Making the most of home advantage England easily regained the overall title from Ireland winning the majority of the individual and team titles on offer in a very wet Roundhay Park in Leeds in the 36th running of the event which first began in 1988 and is now one of the premier masters cross-country races in the world.
That event had started with just three men’s categories (M40-50) and two women’s (W35-40) but now has ten men and nine women’s stretching from V35 to V80.
England won 13 of the 18 team titles on offer on the day to Ireland’s two and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland’s one.
England won 11 of the 19 individual titles with Ireland winning three, Scotland and Wales two and Northern Ireland one.
The event on Saturday was affected by Storm Claudia with many Irish and Northern Ireland athletes unable to travel the night before due to flight cancellations which necessitated the races being delayed by a hour to enable them to fly in to Leeds in the morning.
The heavy rain also affected the course and the steep descent on each 2km lap became very hazardous and despite the organisers best efforts to find safer alternatives or warn athletes, many fell heavily or almost came to a standstill to ensure they stayed upright.
The course, used many times for the English National, also featured the gruelling and renowned Hill 60 on each 2km lap which suited only the strongest cross-country runners in each age group.
However the event organised by England Masters with race and event directors Steve Watmough and Sue Cordingley both past winners, was well received by the athletes with UKA CEO Jack Buckner the main guest and he handed out awards at the dinner and presentation at the Queens Hotel Ballroom.
Next year’s race returns to Dublin.
Race 1 M65/W65 plus
The first race saw an overall win for Wales’ BMAF champion Ifan Lloyd as he defended but he did so only by the narrowest of margins in one of the most exciting races of the day .
Close behind – and given the same time – came his team-mate David Warren while third spot went to England’s Eric Southam who was only three seconds back for his best ever result.
English trials winner and European medallist Malcolm Eustace sustained a heavy fall on the descent and hit his head and had to drop out.
Scotland’s former European 10,000m champion David Thom was fourth.
The team race saw victory for Wales with David James, a 13:33.91 5000m runner and full GB international in his senior days, completing the scoring.
Northern Ireland, who had triple world indoor champion Dave Clarke seventh were third a point behind England in third but well ahead of Scotland and Ireland.
Showing the difference in age groups as you get older, Matt Shields was behind 16 M65s but was a clear winner of the M70s.
The Northern Ireland athlete was making his first appearance in the event since finishing second M60 in 2015.
This time it was Northern Ireland’s turn to go 1-2 with Gerry O’Doherty nine seconds back with England’s trials winner Jonathan Haynes a close third.
Using former winner Terry Eakin, who is now a M75, Northern Ireland picked up a relatively rare team win a point ahead of England.
In the actual M75 event, Wales former Australian-based and world steeplechase medalist David Cundy won easily from current World and European masters 10km champion Ron Cattle who led England to an easy team win.
Ireland led by bronze medallist Pauric Sweeney (not far ahead of Eakin) took second team.
The only England male athlete to score individual gold in the race was M80 world champion Peter Giles and he led home European medalist Geoff Newton and Richard Bloom as England had the top four but there was no team contest in this age group.
It was professional musician Giles’ fourth win after previous successes in the M70s and M75s.
Monica Williamson led an English one-two-three in the W65s as the home nation dominated individual and team.
Fifteen years after she won the W50 race from Sue Cordingley she gained her first win since though she consistently has placed highly.
Again, former winner and event director Cordingley followed her home though this time 34 seconds in arrears.
Former UK 10,000m champion Jill Harrison who was also in the winning England W50 team fifteen years ago, was a clear third ahead of defending champion Pauline Moran of Ireland who was chasing her sixth victory but moves to the W70 next year.
Scotland beat Ireland for second place by a point.
Ireland did though take individual in the W70s.
English-based European champion Christine Kennedy won by over a minute from team-mate and Irish trials winner Jo Martin with England’s defending champion Sue Haslam third. ‘With three in five though England pipped Ireland with Dot Kesterton fourth and Maggie Statham-Berry fifth as Ireland had to wait for 11th for their final scorer. This result was different to what was announced on the night. Wales were third.
England failed to score a team in the W75s with multi world and European champion Sarah Roberts their only representative.
Margaret Glavey, third W70 last year, here won by 70 seconds as Roberts couldn’t match the Irish athlete on the hills having only done one previous cross-country.
That was at the Europeans where her conqueror Eileen Kenny of Ireland failed to show this time.
Scotland led by Jeanette Craig in third took team silver.
Photos courtesy of woodentops.org.uk
Race 2 W35-64
Scottish 2006 Commonwealth Games competitor Morag Millar was an easy winner of the main women’s race over 6km.
The 2003 World Youth 800m finalist, who turns 40 in a few months, has been in sparkling form in 2025 winning the overall Scottish 5km title in 15:54 and the Scottish short-course 4km the week before this week against her nations best seniors.
She led from the start here but it was only on the second half she significantly eased away from fellow W35s Ireland’s Sinead O’Connor (the 2022 winner) and England’s much improved trials winner Katie Latham.
The year before in Northern Ireland Latham had finished just 31st overall.
Scotland not only took the individual W35 title but the team honours too with backing from former champion Jennifer Wetton, Olympic marathoner Freya Ross (moving down an age-group from the W40s and Sandy McDougall in the four to score event with Ireland and England completing the medallists.
Former European senior champion Gemma Steel made her debut in the event and she took W40 gold after a race-long battle with W45 winner and fellow English competitor Kelly Edwards.
Steel won her category by 37 seconds from Ireland’s Noeleen Scanlan and Scotland’s 2022 winner Sara Green.
With Nicola Sutton, Julia Jagger and Lindsay Skinner giving England four in six, they won easily from Ireland and Scotland.
Edwards led home Irish trials winner Dymphna Ryan, the 2023 W40 champion and 2019 overall winner Kirsty Longley who fought off a challenge from defending champion Michelle Kenny in another high quality race
With four in ten, England won the team again with something in hand from Ireland and Scotland.
England also won the W50 individual and team event.
Kate Rennie won her third W50 title in a row previously only achieved by multiple winners Karen Marshall, Fiona Matheson and Clare Elms.
Rennie has also won the W45 title in the past and last year came third overall in Belfast but not quite at home on the steep downhills she finished 13th overall but won her category by 50 seconds.
English team-mate Mary James matched her second in the trials and BMAF Champs (W45) with her best ever big race performance.
With former European 800m champion Nikki Sturzaker fourth, England again won easily but did have a nervous wait for 14th for their final scorer, Ruth Thackeray as Scotland and Ireland took the other team medals.
Former multiple overall women’s winner Clare Martin is not in the shape that has seen her win eight titles in the past but she made a welcome return to the event and was a non-scorer and finished 16th.
Kate Ramsey gained a BMAF and Masters International W55 double with a hard-earned win to improve on her second of last year but her first win in the event.
Over the first half, five-time winner Annette Kealy headed her with the Irish runner and multi major medalist who had won the past two W55 races curiously only being added to the Irish team after a late withdrawal. However, Ramsey, a much better descender, ultimately won by 14 seconds with Joanne Stanfield third and Sharon Dixon sixth, England again won easily from Ireland and Northern Ireland.
According to the age-grading the best quality event in all the men’s and women’s events, was the W60 race with three of the top seven performances over the whole day.
Defending champion Clare Elms almost missed the event after illness post European Masters and then a back problem which meant very little training in the weeks prior to the event.
She started cautiously especially on the descents but 10 seconds clear after a lap she opened the margin to over a minute before easing back on the final lap.
The win was her her seventh over all the age groups and gave her her 13th individual medal and her performance would have medalled in the younger W55s.
Five-time winner and a former overall champion Niamh O’Sullivan came in second 55 seconds in arrears but the Irish woman, who is 63, was adjudged to have produced a better performance than all the other age group winners bar Elms.
Ireland also had third through regular medalist Kay Byrne.
England’s Katrina Oddy was fourth making it equal on two runners but Ireland’s Sharon Cahill sixth edged Caroline Wood’s eighth so England had to settle for second well ahead of Scotland which gave Elms her 15th team medal in the event.
Race 3 M50-64 race 8km
The first race over four laps saw a runaway win for Scotland’s Jim Tole who left the opposition over a minute behind.
Two years ago Tole missed out on M45 gold by just four seconds but here a few days after his 50th birthday, he dominated with a 34 second lead after one lap which he stretched to 63 by the second and 76 on the third before enjoying a final lap of honour as his pursuers slightly reduced the huge lead.
Gareth Raven, a 2:18 marathoner in his prime, who was top five in the Euro masters 5000m and cross-country last month, finished strongly for second.
Rob Hope, only fifth in the English Trials, was a surprise bronze medalist but he was a regular British Mountain international and winner of many UK fell races and the tough course clearly suited him.With Chris Blackburn fifth and Tole’s conquerer in 2023 Jan Bailey sixth, England won very easily from Ireland and Scotland.
The M55s, which was only three to score, saw even more England domination as they clean-sweeped the medals.
Two days after his 55th birthday, recent European M50 5000m runner-up Tony O’Brien led home Francois Rafferty who showed improved form after sixth places the previous two years.
The eight-time winner Tim Hartley was a very clear third, 43 seconds ahead of the best of the rest who was Stephen Allen who led Scotland to second ahead of Ireland.M60 Andrew Leach made a strong defence but he was unable to get the better of European champion Pauric McKinney who had previously won both M50 and M55 categories and the Irishman won by five seconds as the pair finished just ahead of the younger Hartley.
The pair finished an astonishing 102 seconds ahead of bronze medalist Stephen Watson who excelled after two fourths in the previous two BMAF Championships.
With John Convery eighth, England won again this time from Ireland and Wales who were led in by world masters 1500m silver medalist Dave Williams in fourth.
Race 4 M35-49 8km
After the earlier races later starts, the organisers tried to make up time by starting this just five minutes after the M50 plus race and just like that race, England again won all three team races but this time won all three individual races too.
It was no surprise that 2023 winner Lee Gratton won again having finished top ten in the English National.
Ten seconds clear after a lap became 20 seconds at halfway before he eased back a little to finally win by 23 seconds.
Even so he still caught over 40 of the 64 starters of the previous race who had started five minutes earlier and didn’t quite get the attention he deserved at the finish lost among many of the earlier race.
There was big battle for second with Scotland’s David Wright excelling in his event debut finishing just ahead of England’s Dan Garbutt who was also debuting.Trials winner Ben Robinson, who was a world masters medalist last year, just missed out on the individual medal but did win a team gold alongside Richard de-Camps as England packed four in the top five as Ireland and Scotland were some way back in second and third.
Ireland’s second scorer was the 2020 English Derby winner Serpentine’s jockey Emmet McNamara who finished seventh to continue his improvement in the sport.
It was pretty much the same England dominance as well as team order in the M40s and M45s.
Finishing fifth overall, Karl Darcy won the M40 race by 39 seconds in his event debut and he led home 2024 winner James Connor while Ireland’s Niall Shanahan just got the better of recent European medallist Carl Hardman with John Hutchins completing the English scorers in seventh.
Just behind Darcy came M45 winner Alastair Watson who produced the top age-graded male performance of the weekend.
He retained his title at the age of 48 for his third victory overall as he won by 37 seconds from Scotland’s Neil Lafferty who has improved over the last four years from 21st to ninth to fifth and now second.
Fellow Scot Grant Baillie who was fourth in 2019 and 2023, finally won an individual medal by nabbing third.England still won the team with something in hand with Ian Fisher, Mark Gittins and Jon Hart in the top nine backing up Watson.
