A summary of the Inter-Counties Cross-Country results on a fine day at Wollaton Park in Nottingham, with very dry and firm ground (despite all the pre-event drama about waterlogging which proved to be completely false) are as follows:
Harry Stennett was the local representative in the Lancashire team, in his first year in the U15 age group at the Inter-Counties Cross-Country.
The course at Wollaton Park in Nottingham was dry and firm nearly all the way, making for fast racing.
It was remarkable that Harry even made it to the start line.
He had been very unwell in the days leading up to the race, and those who travelled with him by ferry and car on Friday vouched for the fact that he was still in a bad way 24 hours before his race.
In the circumstances he did remarkably well to complete the race as he was literally ‘running on empty’.
His 165th place finish does not reflect Harry’s great ability, and hopefully he will be feeling much stronger for the English Schools race this coming Saturday.
Two Manx representatives in U17
There were two Manx representatives in the Lancashire team in the U17 Men’s race, with Sam Perry and Lucas Stennett each in their second and final year in the age group.
Sam had a fine run to finish in 27th place, and it’s an indication of the standards he sets for himself that he was disappointed with his placing.
He was holding a position just inside the top 20 on the first of two laps of the undulating terrain, with two sharp climbs on each lap.
He lost a few places towards the end but it was still a very good run in a classy field. It’s worth remembering that he was 115th last year.
Lucas Stennett, like brother Harry, had been unwell in the days leading up to the race, and paced the race accordingly.
His 178th place finish was a reflection of his difficult week, and like Harry he gave it everything he had and did very well to stick at it and get round for the team.
This race produced Lancashire’s best team result of the day, finishing fourth and not far behind the bronze medallists.
Inter-Counties U13 Boys
One of the performances of the day from the Manx contingent came from Seamus Hall, who was making his Lancashire debut in his first year in the U13 age group.
He looked so cool and composed running in the highest quality field he has encountered to date.
He finished in 96th place in a field of nearly 300 of the best cross-country runners in the country (including Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as England).
It really was a fantastic run, one of the best by a Manx athlete at this event over the years in the U13 Boys race.
Only David Mullarkey in 2013 and Harry Stennett in 2022 have finished higher, and Seamus matched Harry’s 2023 placing.
A terrific run by a young athlete who seems to have a good race temperament as well as a lot of ability.
Inter-Counties Senior Men
Alan Corlett was our Lancashire representative in this race, which doubled as the GB selection trial for the World Cross-Country Championships later this month.
The course was firm and fast (contrary to the pre-event horror stories of waterlogging!), and it was also mis-measured for all the races.
This one was considerably shorter than the advertised 10k, evidenced by Alan’s time of 28:56.
Alan ran very consistently throughout and finished in an excellent 71st place in a field of 285.
This is his second highest placing, his only higher one being 58th in 2019 – which was the last time he contested this event.
Al always wants better and I think felt he would have liked a slightly higher placing, but he played a full part in Lancashire’s eighth place finish in the team event. That was without their top three runners, one of whom was Ollie Lockley.
Two recent Easter Festival competitors were up in the leading group for most of the race.
Scott Stirling, who last year became the first athlete to set a sub-30 10k road time on the Isle of Man at Port Erin, won the bronze medal and was millimetres behind the silver medallist. Jack Millar, who competed in the 2022 Festival, was fifth.
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