Less than two weeks to Crossags…

13 days to be precise! Round 2 of the series takes place at Crossags Farm, Ramsey on Sunday 11th November, with racing getting under way at 2pm. Sign on from 1.15pm. If you competed in Round 1 at Nobles Park, PLEASE DON’T FORGET TO KEEP YOUR RACE NUMBER!! You keep your number for the full series. This round is promoted by Northern AC, where a warm welcome is always guaranteed from Steve Kelly and the gang.

For those unfamiliar with the location of the course, Crossags can be accessed via a lane off Lezayre Road. If travelling from the south, follow the TT Course to just a few metres before you get to Schoolhouse Corner in Ramsey, then turn right into the narrow tarmac lane. If coming from the Parliament Square direction, turn left immediately after the right hand bend just beyond the school buildings. Follow the lane for a little over a quarter of a mile across the golf course before turning left at a gate, beyond which is a car parking area. Signing on for the race is at the pavilion, where there are also toilets, changing rooms and showers.

Don’t forget the new scoring system for this winter’s series. There are only 5 rounds rather than 6, with double points being awarded for Round 4 (which includes the IOM Championships). This means that if you missed the opening race at Nobles Park, you HAVE to do Round 4 (which is also at Crossags, on 20th January) plus at least one other round to qualify for the series. If you miss Round 4, you must complete all the other four rounds. So get 20th January in your diary now if it isn’t already!

I will leave my fellow cross country blogger Andy Fox to give you a course description of Crossags!

Finally, congratulations to two of our young cross country running stars Gemma and Sarah Astin on more success in the UK last Saturday. They were competing in the Birmingham Cross Challenge event at Sennelly’s Park, where Gemma finished 2nd in the Under 17 Women’s race and Sarah was 4th in the Under 15 Girls. Although there was a disappointingly small field for the event (which is not part of the UK Cross Challenge series this season), Gemma and Sarah were still up against some of the best athletes in the country in their age groups. It will set them up nicely for the big races to come during the course of the season.