Royton revel in Marl Pits mud

ROYTON Road Runners put in another great team performance at the final Red Rose Cross-Country event of the year at Marl Pits in Rossendale.

This is traditionally the last and toughest of the Red Rose series of races, reflected by the significantly shorter distance and the reduction in numbers, with 96 senior women and 191 men taking part, compared to 136 and 236 respectively at the previous race at Bolton.

The Royton team consisted of 20 runners, plus enthusiastic supporters.

The women were off first, including Katherine Brierley, who completed the series and retained her position as Royton’s most-improved cross-country runner.

Last year just three people crossed the line after Brierley — this time she was up to 63rd place and 11th FV40 in a time more than eight minutes quicker.

That wasn’t quite enough to make the top three ‘counters’ for the Royton team, as a great run from Clare Darraugh (53rd, 10th FV35) saw her join Kirsty White (10th overall, 2nd FV40) and Jen Bloor (13th) in achieving fifth place in the team standings, just four points behind a strong Rochdale Harriers trio.

Brierley was part of Royton’s sixth-placed women’s veterans’ team, alongside White and Darraugh.

Next home was a still-smiling Niparun Nessa in 90th place.

A fine finish to the season elevated White to 15th place overall in the Red Rose series. This was good enough for third spot in the FV40 category, a great achievement in a tough competition.

The Royton men identified Simon Howard as the main threat, but a spiked foot put him out of action on the first lap.

The course was churned up by this stage. Even ‘Clean Dean’ Moynihan finished the race (34th V40) with some mud on him, although still less than everyone else.
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