Glen Lough report

Round 3 of the Manx Gas Cross Challenge was held at a very wet and muddy Glen Lough Camp Site in Glen Vine last Sunday. The dreadful weather of the previous week had made underfoot conditions interesting to say the least, but in spite of this there was an excellent turnout of exactly 100 competitors across all classes. With four stream crossings and a steep hill to be negotiated on each lap there were plenty of thrills – and a few spills as well!

As always it was the junior age groups that provided some of the closest and most exciting racing. In the U9s, Jamie Garrett just overhauled Conor Davies in a sprint for the line to record his second win in a row, whilst in the girls race Danielle Barton just got the better of Aimee Cringle in yet another close battle between the pair.

In the U11s there was another dominant performance from Will Morris to win for the third time this season, but behind him Harvey Neale, Owen Dudley and Terence George are improving all the time. Katie Astin produced a strong and stylish performance to comfortably win the girls race ahead of Josie McGarrigle and Alicia Oates.

There was a fantastic turnout of 18 competitors in the U13B race, including several from QE2 School. Adam Young took his second win of the series but had to work very hard to stay just ahead of Shaun Moore, and an excellent run from newcomer Jak Morris brought him a great 3rd place. Alice Ashe won the girls race with something to spare despite good runs from Alexandra Ross and Sinead Kaneen.

For the first time this season there were competitors in the U15B category. Western AC’s Nathan Pierce took a hard-earned win ahead of the QE2 duo of Alex McQuarrie and James Smith. The U15G race was dominated by Hannah Scarlett and Polly Rogerson, who warmed up for their Lancs Cross Country debuts next month with strong runs in difficult conditions – excellent preparation for the testing Blackburn course.

Track specialist Tom Richmond produced a strong run to take victory in the U17M race ahead of Jordan Cain. In the U17L category, newcomer Alicia Corlett showed great determination to take the win over a longer distance than is usually set in this category.

The Short Course race was held over 3 laps, and it was good to see some new names on the leaderboard. June Collister came out on top with Eric Lee 2nd and Moira Hall 3rd.

The main events of the day were the races for S/V Men, S/V Women and J Men, held over 6, 4 and 5 laps respectively. John Halligan recorded yet another win in the Men’s race, but Kevin Loundes pushes him harder with every race. Darren Gray was the early leader, but by lap 3 it was Loundes at the head of the field being shadowed by Island Games team-mate Halligan. Loundes resisted Halligan’s first effort to get away, but the Rhodes gold medallist’s second effort on lap 5 was the decisive moment of the race. He appeared in the top field after the penultimate climb some 20 seconds clear, and despite a strong final lap by Loundes the eventual gap was 19 seconds. Nigel Armstrong overhauled Ed Gumbley on the final lap to take third, with former Island cross-country champions Gianni Epifani and Andy Cannell rounding off the top 6. Further down the field there was a tremendous sprint finish between Dave Newton and Michael George, with the evergreen ‘Newty’ just holding off the exhausted hotelier!

Island Games distance runner Gail Griffiths completed a hat-trick of wins in the Ladies series with a very impressive performance to beat Sarah Nelson by nearly a minute. There was little between the two Manx Harriers team-mates on the first 2 laps but Griffiths showed good strength on the uphill section to take a decisive lead on lap 3 which she steadily stretched to the end of the race. Ann Cain completed the top 3 ahead of former top race walker Liz Corran.

Ryan Fairclough was a decisive winner of the Junior Men’s race, showing good strength and stamina over 5 very testing laps.

Many thanks go to Western AC, all the officials, and the Quayle family for the use of the excellent facilities at Glen Lough. Round 4 of the series, which also doubles as the IOM Cross Country Championships, will be hosted by Northern AC at Crossags Farm in Ramsey on Sunday 20th January 2008. Double points will be awarded for the league in this round – all competitors should get that one in their diaries now!

Results from Glen Lough

Below are the confirmed results from Round 3 of the Manx Cross Challenge held at Glen Lough Camp Site in Glen Vine last Sunday. There were exactly 100 competitors across all classes, which was excellent considering the awful weather over the previous week. This made conditions interesting to say the least! It was really good to see a field of 18 in the Under 13 Boys race, including several students from QE2 School. Hope you all enjoyed yourselves and we will see you again next time.

Senior/Vet Men (6 laps)
Pos No Name Club/School Cat Time
1 190 John Halligan Manx Harriers SM 29.38
2 230 Kevin Loundes Manx Harriers SM 29.57
3 206 Nigel Armstrong Manx Harriers V35 30.53
4 231 Ed Gumbley Manx Harriers SM 31.01
5 200 Gianni Epifani Manx Harriers V35 31.04
6 214 Andy Cannell Northern AC SM 31.13
7 205 Darren Gray Manx Harriers SM 31.32
8 212 Andy Fox Manx Harriers V45 32.37
9 290 Russell Collister Manx Harriers V40 33.14
10 193 Peter Kaneen Manx Harriers V45 33.35
11 222 James Broughton Northern AC V35 33.41
12 241 James Bishop IOMVAC V40 35.40
13 221 Paul Lewthwaite Manx Fell Runners SM 35.48
14 195 Phil Cain Manx Harriers V50 35.54
15 229 Dave Newton Manx Harriers V50 37.12
16 218 Michael George Manx Harriers V40 37.12
17 215 Lewis Veale IOMVAC V35 38.09
18 239 Paul Jackson Manx Harriers V40 38.47
19 210 Ian Callister Manx Harriers V50 39.27
20 208 Peter Cooper IOMVAC V55 39.40
21 242 Godfrey Clayton Manx Fell Runners SM 39.46
22 235 Niall McGarrigle Manx Fell Runners V40 40.52
23 243 Gary Ashe Manx Harriers V45 41.08
24 192 Barry Moore Western AC V35 41.15
25 225 Doug Corkill Manx Harriers V55 43.09
26 233 Garry Ross Manx Harriers V45 43.25
27 204 Alan Pilling IOMVAC V55 44.44
28 223 Geoff Hall Western AC V55 46.53
29 228 Robbie Lambden Manx Harriers SM 80.40
DNF 197 Mike Garrett Manx Harriers V35 DNF
DNF 238 Paul Renshaw Northern AC SM DNF

Senior/Vet Ladies (4 laps)
Pos No Name Club/School Cat Time
1 196 Gail Griffiths Manx Harriers VL40 25.01
2 226 Sarah Nelson Manx Harriers SL 25.55
3 194 Ann Cain Manx Harriers VL45 30.33
4 224 Liz Corran Manx Harriers VL50 31.20

Short Course (3 laps)
Pos No Name Club/School Cat Time
1 286 June Collister U/A VL40 23.32
2 283 Eric Lee Western AC V45 23.48
3 288 Moira Hall Western AC VL55 24.03
4 240 Janette Gledhill U/A VL40 24.23
5 244 Marika Bailey U/A VL40 24.37
6 282 Lucy Veale U/A VL35 29.27

Junior Men (5 laps)
Pos No Name Club/School Cat Time
1 181 Ryan Fairclough Northern AC JM 27.01
2 217 Ben Brand Manx Harriers JM 33.59

Under 17 Men (4 laps)
Pos No Name Club/School Cat Time
1 177 Tom Richmond Manx Harriers U17M 23.30
2 179 Jordan Cain Manx Harriers U17M 24.44
3 172 Jack Leece IOM College U17M 32.05

Under 17 Ladies (4 laps)
Pos No Name Club/School Cat Time
1 182 Alicia Corlett Ballakermeen U17L 36.49
2= 171 Gemma Astin Manx Harriers U17L 42.22
2= 180 Leanne Garrett Manx Harriers U17L 42.22

Under 15 Boys (3 laps)
Pos No Name Club/School Cat Time
1 140 Nathan Pierce Western AC U15B 17.59
2 141 Alex McQuarrie QE2 U15B 18.14
3 138 James Smith QE2 U15B 20.13

Under 15 Girls (3 laps)
Pos No Name Club/School Cat Time
1 163 Hannah Scarlett Manx Harriers U15G 18.34
2 156 Polly Rogerson Manx Harriers U15G 19.30
3 158 Maxine Smalley Western AC U15G 22.24
4 161 Fay Latham Manx Harriers U15G 23.15

Under 13 Boys (2 laps)
Pos No Name Club/School Cat Time
1 129 Adam Young Manx Harriers U13B 11.23
2 122 Shaun Moore Western AC U13B 11.25
3 139 Jak Morris QE2 U13B 11.48
4 124 Alex Price Manx Harriers U13B 11.53
5 131 Fraser Veale Castle Rushen U13B 12.04
6 130 Jack Garrett Manx Harriers U13B 12.19
7 121 Jason Moore Western AC U13B 12.29
8 153 Sam Callow QE2 U13B 12.37
9 154 Mark Turner Northern AC U13B 12.40
10= 133 Nick Corlett QE2 U13B 13.09
10= 125 Luke Smith Western AC U13B 13.09
12 123 Richard Radcliffe Manx Harriers U13B 13.33
13 128 Jordan Lee Western AC U13B 14.09
14= 136 Juan Hunter QE2 U13B 14.58
14= 134 Sam Tarpey QE2 U13B 14.58
16 127 Fergus Veale Castle Rushen U13B 17.50
17 135 Toby Leece QE2 U13B 18.56
18 137 Oliver Chambers QE2 U13B 19.29

Under 13 Girls (2 laps)
Pos No Name Club/School Cat Time
1 105 Alice Ashe Manx Harriers U13G 12.58
2 102 Alexandra Ross Manx Harriers U13G 13.44
3 101 Sinead Kaneen Manx Harriers U13G 14.09
4= 103 Hannah Kelly Manx Harriers U13G 19.58
4= 104 Holly McGarrigle Ballakermeen U13G 19.58

Under 11 Boys (1 lap)
Pos No Name Club/School Cat Time
1 52 Will Morris Western AC U11B 5.45
2 54 Harvey Neale Arbory U11B 6.12
3 56 Owen Dudley Manx Harriers U11B 6.18
4 57 Terence George Manx Harriers U11B 6.19
5 55 Conor Caley Western AC U11B 6.33
6 53 Grant Thomson U11B 7.26
7 58 Jordan Hamer Manx Harriers U11B 7.28
8 51 Tom Kennaugh Arbory U11B 7.31

Under 11 Girls (1 lap)
Pos No Name Club/School Cat Time
1 78 Katie Astin Manx Harriers U11G 6.33
2 80 Josie McGarrigle Manx Harriers U11G 7.18
3 82 Alicia Oates Northern AC U11G 7.20
4 81 Daisy McGarrigle Ballacottier U11G 7.24

Under 9 Boys (1 small lap)
Pos No Name Club/School Cat Time
1 35 Jamie Garrett Albert Road U9B 2.39
2 27 Conor Davies Cronk-y-Berry U9B 2.39
3 29 Brandon Atchison Manx Harriers U9B 2.43
4 33 Jacob Brand Manx Harriers U9B 3.03
5 36 Matthew Cain Western AC U9B 3.04
6 32 Lewis Kelly Manx Harriers U9B 3.05

Under 9 Girls (1 small lap)
Pos No Name Club/School Cat Time
1 1 Danielle Barton Manx Harriers U9G 2.41
2 3 Aimee Cringle Western AC U9G 2.44
3 4 Amy Smith Western AC U9G 3.07