NB please note that the closing date is Tuesday 20 December.
One of the aims of Valley Striders Juniors Club is to assist/enable young athletes to experience events that they could not take part in if they weren’t in a club.
This message is about the Yorkshire Cross Country Championships which are on Saturday 7 January at Lightwater Valley (4 miles North of Ripon).
Note that this event is only open to senior school age – the U13 race is for school years 7 & 8, the U15 race for school years 9 & 10 (ages are as at 31/08/2022).
Many of you have taken part in the Peco XC race this year and in previous years and I’m also pleased to have seen many of you at the Leeds Schools XC races on Saturday mornings.
If you’ve finished in the top half of your age-group in Peco or LSAA, you need not be worried about the standard at the Yorkshire XC. If you’ve finished in the bottom half of your age-group in Peco or LSAA, but enjoyed it, then I think you’ll enjoy the experience of running in the Yorkshire XC.
Some of our year 7 to 10 Valley Striders boys took part in the Northern XC Relays at Sheffield and the National XC relays at Mansfield a few weeks ago. Even in the National event the Under 15 boys were not outclassed, finishing 43rd and 64th out of 95 teams.
The Yorkshire XC Championships are not as high a level, so I’m hoping more will take part. It is the first 3 to finish from each club to count for calculation of team points but any number may run, and if 6 or more run then 4th/5th/6th become the “B” team to count.
If you’ve read this far, then here are the details
- U13 Girls – 2550m at 11:00
- U13 Boys – 2550m at 11:15
- U15 Girls – 3900m at 11:35
- U15 Boys – 4450m at 12:00
So the U13 races are shorter than Peco and LSAA distances; the U15 longer than Peco and LSAA
And it’s also good that the races are close together so you’ll be able to cheer on other Junior Striders before or after you run.
Now for the costs … and offers.
Race entry costs £9.
- There were 9 boys entered for the Northern and/or National XC relays a few weeks ago, and the club paid for their entries. Now that we’ve set a precedent, the club will pay all Yorkshire XC entries except for these 9 boys.
- There is one more condition … if you don’t run, you need to pay us the £9. (This is the same condition we apply for Seniors)
You must have England Athletics affiliation. This costs £19
- Some of you are already affiliated through to 31 March 2023, so no need to pay again
- Some of you have never been affiliated to EA, in which case, when you pay you will get affiliation through to 31 March 2024. So you’ll be able (if you want) to try some track and field in the summer and more XC next winter. (If you are interested in track and field, I can recommend some low-key local events at York, Wakefield and Cleckheaton)
- Some of you have been affiliated to EA in previous years (to take part in West Yorks, Yorks and Northern competitions) in which case, unfortunately your EA will only apply to 31 March 2023.
See the table below to see whether you need to pay the entry fee, whether you are already affiliated, and if not currently affiliated, how long your affiliation will last for.
It’s a great venue, plenty of parking close to the course, the finish line is adjacent to the first peak of the big dipper ride, the course is interesting but not too hilly, and the route is compact in that the athletes can be seen several times during the race.
I hope you’ll enter and that we’ll have at least one team in each race and maybe two teams in some! It would be particularly good to get some girls teams to balance out with the boys teams that ran a few weeks ago.
I do need to make all the entries by Wednesday 21 December, so please let me know by Tuesday 20 December and I’ll put information here about how to pay (if you need to)
| Age Group | Name | "Free" entry? | Already affiliated | Previously Affiliated? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U13 Girls | Alice Bonner | Y | N | N |
| U13 Girls | Kirsten Brown | Y | N | N |
| U13 Girls | Isla Butterworth | Y | Y | N |
| U13 Girls | Elsie Taylor | Y | N | N |
| U13 Girls | Mary Venning | Y | N | N |
| U13 Girls | Maddie White | Y | N | N |
| U13 Girls | Natalie Ward | Y | N | N |
| U13 Girls | Zoe Buchan | Y | N | N |
| U15 Girls | Freya Hunter | Y | N | Y |
| U15 Girls | Ella Jobson | Y | N | N |
| U15 Girls | Kirsten Reid | Y | N | N |
| U15 Girls | Keira Sykes | Y | Y | Y |
| U13 Boys | William Barton | Y | N | N |
| U13 Boys | James Gostling | N | Y | Y |
| U13 Boys | Lars Hunter | Y | N | N |
| U13 Boys | Edward Nabozny | Y | N | N |
| U13 Boys | George Nancolas | Y | N | Y |
| U13 Boys | Solomon Steere | Y | N | N |
| U13 Boys | Sam Taylor | Y | N | N |
| U13 Boys | Simeon Tedd | N | Y | N |
| U13 Boys | James Whittle | Y | Y | N |
| U15 Boys | Conor Butterworth | N | Y | Y |
| U15 Boys | Joel Caleb | N | Y | N |
| U15 Boys | William Caleb | N | Y | N |
| U15 Boys | Gus Cawcutt | Y | N | Y |
| U15 Boys | Reuben Herbert | Y | Y | N |
| U15 Boys | Marcus Johnstone | Y | Y | N |
| U15 Boys | Felix Linley | Y | N | Y |
| U15 Boys | Oliver Lubiecki | N | Y | Y |
| U15 Boys | Theo Marshall-Brown | Y | N | N |
| U15 Boys | Sam Redmond | N | Y | Y |
| U15 Boys | Zak Reisman | N | Y | Y |
| U15 Boys | Joseph Urquhart | N | Y | Y |
| U15 Boys | Toby Walker | Y | Y | Y |
| U15 Boys | Joseph Whitehouse | Y | N | Y |