On Saturday 7th December the third match of the North Midlands Cross Country league took place at Shipley Park in Heanor, with seven AVEAC athletes braving the cold, wet, muddy and extremely windy conditions brought by Storm Darragh to compete. All seven of the athletes should be commended for their excellent running, commitment and bravery.
Under 11s
Fresh from a ‘warm up’ at the club’s usual Saturday morning training session, AVEAC sole representative at the last match, Florence Sibley, crossed the line in 9min 2sec to claim 10th place in the Under 11 Girls race. Joining Flo were clubmates Claudia Sangster, who finished 19th in 9min 51secs, Florence Protheroe, who crossed the line in 10min 6sec to claim 20th, and Esme Wainwright, who completed the 2km course in 10min 21sec, finishing in 23rd place.
In the Under 11 Boys category, Jasper Sangster crossed the line in 23rd place, having completed the 2km course in 8min 53sec.
Under 15s
Lucy Norman was the sole AVEAC runner in the Under 15 Girls category, completing her 3km tour of Shipley Park in 21min 19sec to finish in 25th place. Like clubmate Flo, Joe Stimson had attended the AVEAC training session on Saturday morning, before convincing his mum to stand in the wind and the rain to watch his 5km Under 15 Boys race. Joe completed the course in 22min 52 sec finishing in 28th place.
Next Events
The next two weekends bring more events for our cross country fans, with the final two matches of the Derbyshire Athletics Cross Country Mini-League series being competed on consecutive weekend before Christmas. First, we travel to Moorways on Saturday 14th December, followed by AVEAC hosting their previously postponed event at Rutland Sports Park on Saturday 21st December. Then, in the new year, the Derbyshire Athletics Cross Country County Championships 2025 take place at Shipley Park on Saturday 4th January, before the North Midlands Cross Country League concludes with its final match, being held at Bulwell Hall Park in Nottingham on Saturday 11th January.
Report – Dan Humphrey, Photos – Chris Rigby & Chris Aikman
Athletes wishing to enter the Derbyshire Athletics Cross Country County Championships 2025 have until Friday 20th December 2024 to enter via the below link.