Louise's cross country


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07/09/2008

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Louise's Cross-country

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Cheddleton Pudding Run

North Staffs XC League

City Schools Athletics

Wenlock Olympian Games

Schools XC Championships

Running and Athletics 2006

See also 2007 2005

Cheddleton Pudding Run

The Cheddleton 10k pudding run was held on 25th November. For fun runners and those those aged 15 and under there was a 2mile, fairly tough race. Several of the Staffs Moorlands juniors took part. Andrew Marsden was attempting his third win. Louise was hopeful of doing well but in a larger field of runners upto 15 years old, she had no real expectations. The race was a charity race for Cancer Research and all the runners would receive Christmas puddings - hence the name of the race. Some of the runners were in Christmas fancy dress and although there was strong competition, especially in the 10k race, the atmosphere was one of fun.

Everyone had fun and collected their puddings. Andrew achieved his third win and Louise took the girl's trophy. Sammie wasn't running and although some of the Macclesfield team were there not those likely to beat Louise. She managed to stay ahead of Stephie; and Lucie who could also have been a big rival was busy elsewhere. It was the first year a trophy had been awarded to a girl and it was nice for Louise to win it. Especially as it had been donated by a mother in memory of her daughter who had died of cancer and Louise is a little girl who lost her father to a type of cancer.
Pictures from left: Andrew, Jamie, Louise, Stephie, Gareth and Lauren and Louise with her trophy.

North Staffs Cross Country League 2006

Louise is still in the Under 11's (by three weeks) but all her closest rivals from last year have moved up to the U 13s. The first race was on October 7th at Newcastle AC over a flat course - Louise likes hills and worries when it's all flat but there was one very short, steep uphill scramble - and she won by a clear margin. Lucie now in the U13's came second to Danielle Wallis of Maclesfield who was last years winner of the Under 11s. Staffs Moorlands under 11 girls team did very well with Antonia Lewis 8th and Lauren Hancock 9th (Left) counting for the team places with Louise. See results. See all photos

The second race was on 11th November, a bright but very windy day at Park Hall. Something went wrong with the marshaling for the under 11s and the girls ran one meduim lap rather than two small. There was some confusion at the end with Louise finishing first but unsure whether she needed to to another lap - same with the second finisher. Antonia was third, despite suffering a heavy cold, and Lauren a couple of places behind. The results aren't out at time of writing but they must have retained their gold medal position for the team. Lucie was 2nd again behind Danielle in the under 13s. Sorry no photos from Park Hall.

The third race a week later on 18th November was held at Stafford Common. It was a bright, sunny but bitterly cold day. There were again good results for the Staffs Moorlands runners with Louise winning the under 11s, Lauren putting in a fantastic performance, Antonia still suffering from a viral infection running well, Lucie winning the U13s and Sammie taking first place in the U15s. There was disappointment for the U15 boys as, due to illness, injury and a clash of fixtures they were one short of a full team and so lost their chance of a team medal.

After race at Stafford

The final race of the league was held in very muddy conditions at Leek High School on 9th December. Louise made it a clean sweep and comfortably won the under 11 girls race while her rivals from last year battled it out in the Under 13s in which Danielle was a very easy winner but with Lucie doing a good time, spurred on by competition against fellow club member Linden Evans (U11 boys running the same race). Next year Louise will rejoin them and, after a relatively easy year this time, find it a much tougher competition. For photos see The Gallery

Staffordshire Moorlands did very well in this year's league taking gold in the U11s and U13 girls team events, 2nd in the U17 girls team and individual golds for Louise, Lucie, Sammie and Linden.

After a long, muddy day the teams were presented with their trophies by Roy Fowler, founder of the club and former cross country world champion. Picture on right - U11 girls team Antonia, Louise and Lauren with Roy holding the trophies for under17s team silver position which the youngsters collected on behalf of their older colleagues.

Uttoxeter Cross Country September 17th

After finishing the previous season on 15th August in Hanley Park, the new season started on 17th September at Bramshall Park, Uttoxeter. Louise was still in the Under 11's and desperate to win this year, having finished 3rd last year. She was very disappointed finishing in tears in 2nd place with a time of 11' 38'' for the 1.75 mile course. She was in 2nd place all the way, the gap between her and the front runner varying. On the last water crossing of the 1st lap she was only about 1m behind but allowed the gap to open. On her account she gradually closed in and was pushing herself hard to take the lead. She thought that she spotted her chance at the deepest water crossing. I think she was upset because her eagerness overcame her common sense and she tried to take the shortest course through the river to make extra gains. She did just what she had been warned not to do and hit a patch of deep water which combined with her momentum, toppled her over. Instead of gaining, she lost ground (about 10 seconds she says??!!) and, very wet, she no longer thought she could do it - so she didn't. She finished a good 50m behind the winner, with a gap of 11 seconds. Lesson learned!! Still everyone else was delighted with her 2nd place. Fortunately, within a 10 minutes she was playing with her mates and had recovered from the disappointment and was admiring the excellent run of the worthy winner. She'll never know what would have happened if she hadn't fallen, my guess is that the winner would have pushed on even harder if more closely challenged at the finish.

Race Photos

For more photos of the races, including many of the Staffs Moorlands Juniors and Ladies see The Photo Gallery (sorry, no pictures of the men's race, we were in the Bourne's Sports tent looking for new trail shoes for Louise).

Click the home button to return to this page from the Photo Gallery.

Results

See also the full results

2006 Stoke on Trent City Parks Grand Prix

1st Race: Longton Park

On 9th May Louise and her mates ran in the first of the City Parks races at Longton Park. Louise was first U11 girl to finish (28th overall) completing the 2km course in exactly 8 minutes and Lucie was 1st U13 girl a few seconds behind. See full results. Their coach obviously thought that they should have done better as they were heard to say that they hadn't realised it was such a short race and that they didn't know where the finish was. The advice: next time find out about the course first.

Louise obviously took advantage of the sunny weather to set what I think she intends to be her style for the summer season. Wayward hair and pink shades (near right).

Lucie put on a spurt when she suddenly realised that the finish was so close and overtook her team mate Lindsay and another girl from her club to finish as 1st U13 (far right). See The Gallery for more pictures.

2nd Race: Tunstall Park

On 6th June they ran in the second race at Tunstall Park. Lucie finished as 1st under 13 completing the 2km course in 7 minutes 42 seconds and finished Louise 2 seconds behind as first under 11. All the runners did well in the very hot conditions. Louise managed to run the entire race with stitch, making up for her somewhat casual approach to the Wincle Trout Fell Race the previous Saturday. See full results of Park Race and The Gallery for picures.

3rd Park Race: Fenton Park

July 11th saw the third of the Parks races, this time in Fenton park. Louise once again finished as first under 11 girl in 7 minutes 47 seconds a couple of seconds in front of Lucie (1st under 13 girl). Picture middle right: Staffs Moorlands team warming up. For picture see The Gallery.

4th and final race: Hanley Park

The last of the four races was at Hanley park on 15th August. All the Staffs Moorlands junior runners (pictured bottom right at the start) performed well with many placed in the first three for their ages with several winning the overall series including Louise. Lucie was timed unofficially at 7 minutes 31 seconds, her best for the series with Louise about 5 seconds ahead. If these unofficial times are confirmed Louise achieved her personal challenge of averaging less than 6 minutes per mile over the 2Km course. See pictures in The Gallery.


Newcastle Relays
	On 12th August several members of Staffs Moorlands took part in the 4 x 1 mile relays held by Newcastle AC. The U15 girls entered two team and came first and second. Louise had the second fasted time for U15 girls, completing the mile in 6 minutes and 22 seconds. Her team mate was fastest in 6 minutes and 3 seconds. The girls in both teams put in very good performances. See full results.


Berryhill Race
	On Tuesday 1st August the youngsters took part in what should have been a 2Km race at Berryhill, but due to some confusion ran slightly more than 2Km. The picture, left shows the start of the Under 13's race. After extremely hot weather of the preceding few weeks the conditions were chilly and very windy. Louise was overall second in the race, beaten by a boy from Stoke AC, but was first girl. See full results

Stoke on Trent Primary Schools' Athletics Championships 2006
The Stoke on Trent primary school athletics championships were held at Northwood stadium on 14th July. Louise was representing Burslem in 80m, 800m and the 4x100m relay. Her friend Lucie was also in the 800m which she was expected to win. Louise didn't make the final in the 100m, she had a terrible race in the heats and couldn't understand why it went so wrong but remained optimistic for the 800m. The 800m went as expected. Lucie won easily in a time around 2minutes and 40seconds (maybe a little less, I don't have the exact time) and Louise kept her cool and after running the first 600m in third place (picture right) moved easily into second place and finished just under her target time of 2' 49'' in 2' 48.38'' well clear of the third placed runner. Louise ran significantly better in the relay than in the 80m and despite never running together as a team before the four girls managed very good batton changes and finished 2nd. There were many excellent performances and almost certainly many personal bests from among not only the winners but all the other competitors. In my opinion the girl's performance of the night however must go to Lucie who ran an amazing fourth leg in the u12 's 4x100m relay to close a sizeable gap and take first place on the line from the Longton team. Well done Burslem girls, Stoke on Trent Champions (bottom right) and well done everyone else who took part.

Wenlock Olympics


	Wenlock Olympics. On 9th July Louise together with many of her colleagues from Staffordhire Moorlands AC travelled to Much Wenlock to take part in the games. The longest event open to Louise as a 10 year old was the 600m. The track was a two hundred metre track which appealed to her as, for some reason, she thinks three small laps is easier than 1.5 larger laps. The event went straight into the final and Louise ran a well paced race finishing in 2minutes 7 seconds in first place well ahead of the second placed runner (picture top left). She also attempted the 100m and did really well to get in the final where she finished 8th. When she realised she wasn't in the first three places she slowed, not interested enough in achieving a personal best. Lucie entered the 200m and the 800m. She made it through the heats and into the semi-final of the 200m but despite having a faster time in the semis than some of the qualifiers from the other semi final, she failed to make the final. In the 800m she easily qualified for the final where she ran a very sensible race finishing 2nd in a time of 2'48'', slower than her personal best but good in the extremely windy conditions.


				For information on the Much Wenlock Olympics try the following sites: Shropshire Tourist information includes a history of the games The Wenlock Olympian Society where there are more details about the history of the games and its founder. It also includes a full list of the 2006 results


2005/06 Schools Cross Country Championships
	On 23rd March Louise was the gold medallist in the Stoke on Trent inter schools (primary) Cross Country Championships of 2005/6. After an average start to a flat, rather featureless course she settled into 2nd place behind Lucie Farrell of St. Luke's school, Endon and fellow member of Staffordshire Moorlands athletics club. Just over half way around the 2nd lap of the two lap race Louise's stamina and strength prevailed as she took advantage of Lucie beginning to tire and overtook to finish a clear winner. Lucie finished 2nd and Louise's school, St Anne's Primary in Brown Edge won the girls small schools championship (right). Louise and Lucie had the 2nd and third fastest times of the day .... only the winner of the boy's race had a faster time.Earlier Louise and Lucie had shared the gold medal in the Burslem Town cross country championships. Four of the five scheduled races were held, the fifth was cancelled due to snow. Lucie won two and came 2nd in two; Louise likewise. Lucie did better on the shorter faster courses and Louise better on the longer hillier courses.
	On 30th March Louise and Lucie represented Burslem in the 2nd of the Stoke on Trent Cross Country Championships. This time it was the inter town rather than the inter school championship. The course was the same as the previous week but considerably muddier. Either could have won but in a display of exceptional trust they agreed to run together and share the title. Strictly it was a fixed result, but they were both awarded a gold medal although their cunning plan to save Burslem a point by scoring 2 rather than 3 didn't work and it wouldn't have made much difference anyway. The Burslem team, handicapped by the absence of their expected third placed runner, finished 3rd. Nevertheless the whole team did really well and can be proud of themselves. The extremely muddy conditions (see Louise left) made it difficult for the less experienced runners.

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This page was last modified: January 06 2008 17:11:41.