THE UK Inter County Cross Country Championships were held in Loughborough on Saturday, March 12.

From Richmond and Zetland Harriers, Charlie Stephenson (U20) finished 24th and second from Yorkshire home. The following day and it was the popular Thirsk 10, the strong wind made for tough conditions but there was some outstanding performances from the Harriers.

Rob Scott was the overall winner and crossed the line in 52:05, Jake Stephenson third in 53:42, Carl Jones sixth and first in age category in 53:59, and Ian Christon 36th in 59:08. These four results gave R&Z the team win. David Hack, was 44th in 1:00:36, Joshua Lincoln 62nd in 1:01:54, Anthony Jefford 146th in 1:07:07, Kimberley Reeve 257th in 1:15:11, Elly Robertson 423rd in 1:22:50, Peter Richardson 426th in 1:23:10 and Victoria Christon 685th in 1:37:31.

Juniors travelled to Kent the following weekend for the English Schools Cross Country Championships. Charlie Stephenson was 17th overall and first for North Yorkshire in 24:10, Tom O'Mahoney 117th in 25:58 and Joseph Reeve 191st in 26:50. Shannon Robinson was 113th overall and third for North Yorkshire in her race in a time of 15:31.

It was the second race in the Even splits York 5k series on Friday, March 25 and Ken Harker was thrilled with his time as this was his first race in months due to injury, finishing 33rd overall in 18:33.

Junior athlete Kiki Fletcher travelled to Leicester on Saturday, March 26 for the primary schools national cross country. Kiki had a great race in beautiful weather to finish 46th out of 144 in the year five group and was third for North Yorkshire.

The following day and again in warm and sunny conditions, juniors and seniors headed to South Park at Darlington for the relays which was the final race of the the NYSD cross country series. Sam Carter was the only junior in the Under 11 category and finished fourth for the mile distance in 6:35. The Under 13 girls team finished in third place with the team of Matilda Ellis 6:24, Catherine Fletcher 7:08 and Tegan Smith 7:00 and a combined time of 20:32. The Under 15 boys composite team was Ollie Middleton 5:33, Thomas Carter 5:51 and Sam Eddon (New Marske Harriers) 6:56 and a combined time of 18:20.

The senior ladies had three teams running two miles each with Shannon Robinson 12:32, Rebecca Smith 12:41, Kimberley Reeve 14:19, a combined time of 39:32, giving them second place. The next team to finish in sixth place with Gail Smith 14:49, Emily Crisp 15:20, Elly Robertson 15:02, combined time of 45:11. Close behind in seventh place was Pauline Whittaker 15:15, Lucy Goundry 15:08, Rebecca Robinson 15:40, combined time of 46:03.

The senior men had three teams as well, with Charlie Stephenson 10:06, Rob Scott 10:06, Joseph Reeve 10:40, David Hack 11:31, a combined time of 42:22 giving them first place and the Harriers taking second place with Carl Jones 10:20, Jake Stephenson 10:42, Tom O'Mahoney 10:37, Steve Middleton 11:50, combined time of 43:30. The third team with Mark Forrest 11:46, Ken Harker 12:17, Paul Ellis 12:05, Anthony Jefford 12:33, a combined time of 48:31 placing them in eighth.