7:05pm Wednesday 3rd March 2010
By Sportsdesk
Craven’s Victoria Wilkinson and Tom Blanchard - both winners at the Yorkshire Championships - led the local challenge at last Saturday’s English Cross-Country Championships at Roundhay Park, Leeds.
Victoria, Hebden-raised and now living in Skipton, and Mary Wilkinson, of Long Preston, competed for Bingley Harriers in the senior women’s race over 8k.
With the course fairly cut up and muddy due to the several thousand athletes of various age groups who had previously run the course it was pretty hard going.
Victoria exceeded her own expectation finishing a well- deserved fifth beating some of last December’s GB team members and only being 19 seconds off a medal. Olympian Steph Twell from Aldershot was the winner.
Mary, in only her second race back since competing for England last September, finished in a creditable 35th.
An enthusiastic crowd lined the sides of the course to show their support, which without a doubt spurred on Craven’s runners to push themselves that bit more.
Skipton AC’s Tom Blanchard in winning his Yorkshire title in the U-13 boys’ event had run himself virtually into sheer exhaustion and took some considerable while to recover.
He nonetheless ran another fine race last Saturday, despite county cricket nets in the morning. After lying in seventh place well into the closing stages, he was just found slightly wanting in the return drag back up ‘Hill 60’ and the final sprint through the mud to the finish where he finally crossed the line 16th out of 400.
In the colours of Pendle AC, Darius Boardman, 20th, and Matthew Dutton, 51st, also finished in the high order of Blanchard’s event.
Biggest field of the day was the 2,000 in the senior men’s event where Skipton’s Joe Mercer came through strongly in the closing stages to finish a commendable 77th.
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