Reebok Inter-County Cross-Country Championships
by Andy Bell
On Saturday 5th March, three Cambridge cross-country runners threw themselves into the thick of the Inter-county championships, held in Wollaton Park, Nottingham. Having previously won his county trials, Will George competed for Cambridgeshire in the Senior Men's race, finishing 48th from a field of 280. Ironically, CU Hare & Hounds Captain Ben Hope was first man out of the pen for Oxfordshire in the same race. He crossed the line in 53rd position, 2nd for Oxfordshire and just 13 seconds behind his Blues team-mate. The thrilled gentleman had this to say about his performance:
"Err - bloody savage start but managed to get up in the top 20 and get on TV... Me and Will battled all the way for 3 of the 4 laps, exchanging positions many times. He passed me up the hill on the final lap and got the decisive gap."
The standard of competition this year was fairly awesome, exemplified by the fact that James Walsh and Frank Tickner (gold and silver medallists from the BUSA Cross-country Champs this year) could only finish 6th and 9th respectively.
Emma Pooley raced in the Senior Women's event, coming a respectable 82nd from 275 and confirming her animalistic ferocity.
Full results are available online here.