Kenilworth Runners headed to Wollaton Park in Nottingham to compete in the 2012 Midland Area Cross Country Championships. The ladies performed well to finish tenth overall and there was a strong run in the Junior Boys race by Patrick Roddy. Amongst stiff competition, Phil Gould stood out in the Men’s Senior Race.

The highly praised course was perched gracefully on a hill overlooking the Wollaton Deer Park and golf course. Solid footing for the majority - no wind and good temperatures - the first third of the course was flat. There followed a number of steep undulations from the stately home for those who did the larger lap. The final 500 metres was slightly downhill and therefore ideal for a sprint finish for those competitors on the final lap.

First to represent Kenilworth Runners was Patrick Roddy in the Under 17 Men’s race. Run over three medium laps totalling 6km, Patrick had a very fine run to finish twenty-second out of eighty nine finishers.

The Ladies Senior race followed over an eight kilometre course. Imogen Peace, already selected for the Inter-County Champs, finished thirtieth overall and led the team to a highly respectable tenth position out of 21 scoring teams.

The other three scoring ladies were: Nardia Poole (60th); Sarah Stein (87th); and Sally Hicks (100th). Ros Matthews (112th) and Pauline Dable (152nd) completed the Kenilworth ladies results.

The Men's Senior race was held over a four lap, twelve kilometer course, and was won for a sixth time by James Walsh (Leeds City AC) in a time of 36:36. Phil Gould had a really strong run, thoroughly enjoying the course, to lead the Kenilworth team home in fiftieth position He was followed by Stuart Hopkins (170th), Pete Matthews (176th) and Roger Homes (207th). The men's team finished 24th out of 44 teams.

Midland X …