LWAC - National XC - Bristol

Lincoln Wellington Athletic Club (LWAC)
© LWAC 2000-2002 - last updated 08 April 2002

National XC Championships - Bristol
23 February 2002

Five athletes from Lincoln Wellington made the journey to Bristol to compete in the National Cross Country Championships and some high class performances from all five proved the trip was well worthwhile. The going underfoot on the Ashton Court Estates was near perfect but a piercing wind coupled with intermittent showers of stinging sleet made conditions extremely unpleasant, particularly during the under 17 women’s and senior men’s races.

In the former event, which was run over a testing five kilometre circuit, there was a top class effort from Rachael Nathan. After a slightly more conservative start than normal she soon settled into a good rhythm in a group of four just behind the leading pack. She made very good headway throughout the second half of the race and finished in good style to collect a superb silver medal – just seven seconds behind the winner. There was a huge 40 second gap to the third athlete and despite her move into a new age group this season the 15 year old Lincoln youngster is already firmly established among the top two or three in her category. She obviously caught the eye of the national selectors as she was subsequently invited to run for England under 20’s in a forthcoming international competition in Italy. Regrettably the date for this clashes with the English Schools Championships - her major target for the winter – and the national vest has therefore been declined.

Two more excellent Wellington performances came in the under 20 men’s race. Great Britain junior international Matt Bowser ran strongly throughout the 10 kilometre race to finish a very good 6th and with four of the five ahead of him being a year older this was a very creditable effort. Tom Doe also produced an encouraging performance to come back in 20th place, less than a minute behind his team-mate, in a field of 139 finishers. In the under 17 men’s race Jason Hall produced probably his best run of the winter. A steady start saw around the halfway mark in the 200 plus runner field in the early stages. Relentless progress throughout the second half of the race together with a very strong finish into the wind took him across the line in 37th place – a big improvement on his 70th position at the recent Inter-counties competition. Dean Houlton was the final Wellington athlete to perform above expectations. In his 13th National he was hoping to improve on his previous best position of 374th and this he did in no uncertain terms. Once again a sensible start paid dividends and he worked through gradually in appalling conditions to finish a splendid 268th in a colossal field of 1222 finishers.

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