From Petra Bijsterveld…
Photo credit Geoff Thompson (Wharfedale Harriers)
For the 2023 Yorkshire XC Championships we returned to the familiar location of Lightwater Valley, after the 2022 event was held in Sheffield. I think everyone was pleased to be back at what is a great venue for these races. The day started with torrential rain, the drive up was unpleasant enough, requiring full concentration, and huge puddles covering the roads did not bode well for the day. Rob Budding and I managed to get the tent up whilst the rain had actually eased a little, but as we were sitting inside it waiting for the juniors to arrive there was another veritable cloudburst and the prospect of a day of (shared) marshalling on the course became decidedly unattractive. Thankfully by the time we had to get out there to take up our position for the start of the junior races the rain started to ease and as the day went on the weather got better and better and we even had lots of sunshine in the afternoon for the senior races.
It was no surprise that the going underfoot was very muddy, with various waterlogged patches, on what is normally a relatively dry course, at least by XC standards. I have had years there where you could have got round on light trail shoes if you wanted. Not this year! I changed my spikes to 15mm which definitely helped, especially getting up THAT hill (if you know you know….) 4 times. Some women were literally sliding backwards. I found the race hard going and my time was several minutes slower than in previous years, but so was everyone else’s when looking back at results from earlier years. I got a psychological boost at the start of the last lap when I passed the marshal who records all race numbers every lap, he was standing next to Sally Malir who cheered me on, in reply I gasped something like ‘it’s such hard work’ and the marshal said ‘she’s doing alright, she’s overtaking people’. That was lovely and provided some counterbalance to the depressing effect of being lapped by the faster runners, which is unavoidable on a 4 lap course if you are a steadier runner like me in a fast field.
Excellent results for all who ran, and at the pointy end Emily Gibbins (see photo) came second in the junior women’s race, Edward Hobbs and Nathan Coy were in the top 10 of the junior men, and Nathan Edmondson came 11th in the senior men’s race. Nice to see former Ilkley Harriers Jemima Elgood and Georgia Malir (now both running for Leeds City) come second and third in the senior women’s race. Thanks again to everyone who came to run, support and help to marshal on the course.
It’s not too late to get some true XC excitement in your life this season: entries for the Northern Championships close on Friday January 13th enter here, and for the English National Championships enter here by Friday January 27th. You can take part regardless of whether you have run in the West Yorkshire or Yorkshire XC races, and, as we stress each year, these races truly are open to runners of all ages and abilities.
U20 women (6350m)
(1 26:07 Eve Whitaker, Harrogate Harriers)
2 26:40 Emily Gibbins
10 ran
U20 men (8250m)
(1 29:15 Ewan Wheelwright, Salford)
6 31:07 Edward Hobbs
10 34:17 Nathan Coy
16 ran
Senior women (8250m)
(1 31:12 Phillipa Williams, Hallamshire Harriers)
37 39:14 Sarah Pickering
90 50:24 Petra Bijsterveld
105 61:53 Anna Pickering
108 ran
Senior men (10150m)
(1 34:47 Angus McMillan, City of York)
11 38:09 Nathan Edmondson
98 47:15 Tim Ashelford
125 50:06 Jonathan Greenwell
160 53:58 Mark Iley
182 ran