IAAF Northern Ireland International Cross Country incorporating Celtic and Home Countries International and UK Cross Challenge.

Saturday January 18, Billy Neill Centre of Excellence, Comber, Belfast.

A good weekend for Wreake & Soar Valley AC

It was a warm day for the time of year at 7 deg C, but, not unusually for the time of the year the wind was blowing which made it feel a lot colder. It was cloudy and overcast, but there was an atmosphere of expectation for the events of the day in which we were involved.

First up in the U15 girl’s race was Katie (KP) Parker looking confident and determined, having decided that she was going to get involved at the front from the very start, she went off with a commitment that reflected her self-belief and trust in her preparation, which was rewarded by putting her firmly in contention. The race progressed with KP stoically defending her third position, which she held until the end of the race, holding off the pair from Griffnock North ACC who were trying to catch her while KP was hot on the heels of another pair from Griffnock North ACC that finished in front of her. It was a close and exciting race with a well-deserved podium place for our KP.

Isabella Wrightam was next to contend the U13 girl’s race for Wreake. Sadly, Bella was under the weather (which was pretty grim on the day) and low on energy with a cold. It was determined that had she not travelled so far for such a prestigious event she would have withdrawn and rested, but she decided to make a brave effort in the face of adversity and compete without asking too much of herself. She was clearly not comfortable during the race but she gamely stuck it out drawing on the reserves of energy that the regular training sessions and dedication that she has devoted to her sport have given to her. Bella finished a very creditable thirtieth position in a field of sixty-three athletes most of whom were running without any issues or illness to hamper them.

We were then treated to Sophia Wrightam pulling on a Wreake vest for the first time in the Primary Schools Girl’s race. Sophia is on the winter transfer list and will shortly be confirmed as first claim for Wreake and Soar Valley AC joining the burgeoning ranks of our young, aspiring athletic family within the club. Sophia, in stark contrast to her sister, was bouncing around full of vitality and energy as she waited for her race and she was there on the start line determined to get into the mix as the gun went off. It was again an exciting race with Sophia finishing in seventeenth position out of a field of fifty-two athletes.

The last event of the day was the Senior International Men’s and we had two athletes in the form of Sam Stabler and Danny Hallam competing in this race in a field of athletes that included four African invitees including the current Olympic 10,000 M track silver medallist and pre-race favourite, Paul Tanui.

Sam had run the course the evening before declaring that it was interesting and technical but he sought advise from KP as to current conditions and how she thought that he should run it. Properly armed with her sound advice he took it into the race consisting of five laps and went with the pace on a course that was reasonably flat to start, but which soon led into a slight uphill section that quickly developed into a long energy sapping hill. This was followed by a reasonably long downhill section with several changes in direction, demanding concentration in the challenging conditions, before heading back to the flatter loop around the football pitches and back into the hill section.

The Africans ran like a machine setting a fast pace which soon opened up a sizable gap from the chasing pack, Sam managed to stay with them into the second part of the hill section on the third lap where they put in an effort, which he sensibly decided not to go with choosing to consolidate his position some ten seconds ahead of the chasers. That’s the way that the race stayed until the finish where Birhanu Balew running for Bahrain caused an upset by outsprinting his rivals to take the win. In the meantime, Danny who was running for the Midlands was settling into position a little further down the field.

Sam finished fifth overall which won the UK Cross Challenge section of the race with a comfortable ten seconds advantage over the next finisher and Danny led the Midlands team through the line finishing in twenty-eighth place.

Author: Jim Stabler

Watermarked images courtesy of Bob Given Photography

Official race report can be found here: https://www.britishathletics.org.uk/news-and-features/hosker-thornhill-stabler-take-maximum-points-hauls-in-dundonald/

Well done to Sam and all other Wreake athletes that competed.