Whilst  Frank Tickner was racing for TeamGB, almost 60 fellow Harriers competed at the County Cross-country Championships this past weekend. There were 52 in the various races held at the University of Bath, as part of the Tri-County Championships with athletes from Avon, and Wiltshire joining the Somerset runners. Meanwhile some half a dozen Harriers contested the Dorset Championships on Saturday.

At the Somerset Championships the headlines were made by a number of Harriers finishing outright winners in some races: Chris Ellis won the u11 boys race; Isobel Glaisher beat all comers in the u15 girls race; Oliver Fox beat all in the u15 boys race; and Emily Smith beat all in the u17 women's race. That's some great running!

Wells City Harrier Frank Tickner raced for TeamGB on Sunday Dec 11th at the European Cross Country Championships being held in Valenje, Slovenia. He was part of one of the most successful team performances by the various GB teams ever at these Championships. Frank ran for the senior men’s team and finished in 37^th place overall, just outside of the team medals where his team-mates won silver for TeamGB. In the other age groups TeamGB virtually swept the board when the junior men and women (u20s) won gold medals, and the u23women and senior women won also won gold, and the u23 men won silver.

Frank commented about the fast flat course not being to his liking given his current level of fitness. Frank has previously won the National XC Title twice on tough muddy courses which featured significant hills. “I’m disappointed having got a poor start followed by a better middle section but I was basically simply not feeling fit enough to race harder. To make up for that though, the overall team performance was fantastic.”

Meanwhile on the same day almost 60 Harriers were competing at the County cross country championships held at the University of Bath. In races that were also combined with the championships of Avon and Wiltshire, the headlines were made by the Harrier quartet of Chris Ellis, Isobel Glaisher, Oliver Fox and Emily Smith who won their races outright beating all comers.

Proceedings got underway with junior u11 races. Victoria McCabe was first home for the Harriers with team-mates Annelise James, Rachel Packard and Freya Cavender not far behind. In the u11 boys race Chris Ellis was never headed from the start but team-mate Dylan Dukes came through strongly for 2^nd by the end. Next up was the u13 girls race and winning gold for Somerset once again was Lucy Baldwin, with team mates Amy Darcy and Harriet Fox in 4^th and 6^th places for Somerset.

In the u13 boys race, Oliver Dickinson won bronze for Somerset, with team mate James Bridge on his shoulder at the finish, whilst Johnny Ellis and Alex Williams also both had good runs for 6^th and 7^th Somerset places. In the u15 girls race Isobel Glaisher ran away from the start to win gold whilst Abi Gibbons and Megan Rusca also had great races.

In the u15 boys race the Harriers had a clean sweep of the medals and outright positions in the race. Back in March Oliver Fox was good enough for 7^th at the English Schools Championships and he again stamped his class on proceedings here when winning by 20 seconds from team mate Charlie Martin who fought off team mate Sam Somerville for the silver and bronze medals to be decided. Luke Prior was 5^th and Mark Bailey 7^th for Somerset whilst James Williams ran a great race for a mid-field placing.

In the u17 women’s race, Emily smith emulated her younger team mates when winning the race outright almost 30 seconds ahead of her next rival. Team mate Lilly Hawkins picked up silver whilst Rebecca Carver was just outside the medals this time in 4^th. Esme Sheridan was home for 5^th place Somerset. For the u17 men Matt Dickinson was 2^nd for Somerset, with Philip Bridge in 4^th and Sam Bedford 7^th. Sam Harding, Ben and Tom Baldwin also had good runs for the Harriers in this age group.

In the senior women’s race, Katrina Prior was 2^nd Somerset runner home, 1^st F35, with Julia Dukes also running well and being 2^nd F35. In the final race of the day, the Harrier’s Jack Bancroft was 2^nd for silver behind Bristol & west’s Nathan Young. Nick Somerville and Clive Harwood won the V50 and V60 gold medals for their good runs on the day.

At the Dorset XC Championships Luke Baker was 3rd with Michael Biss, 7th in the u13 boys race whilst Charlotte Baker was 4th and Annabelle Arnold was 7th in the u15 goirsl race. Well done!

Harriers attention now turns to the South West and Southern Cross-Country Championships with entries now being made (14th). Members should look at the lists now posted on the Harrier website and note that there is an extra hill-training session this coming Saturday, 17^th, on Street Hill, and a Christmas social run on December 27^th – details on the website at www.wellscityharriers.org.uk

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