Cross-Country Championships

19th April 2017
As a school, we organise the County Cross-Country Championships - this year was our 19th year of doing so, and saw a record number of entries! Well done to all the children who competed on the day, and a huge thank-you to all the staff, parents, and volunteers who helped make the event so successful! 
 

2017 Report - 19th April 2017

This year, the event attracted another amazing record entry from 72 schools across the county, entering 1088 children (272 teams) in what is believed to be one of the biggest relay events of its kind in the country.  

The children, aged 9-11 years competed in two separate races for boys and girls (four in each team) with each team member running a 1,200 metre leg. This year the children totalled a staggering 1.2 million kilometres altogether as they ran for their schools in glorious sunshine!

The event, now in its nineteenth year, has become tremendously popular and provides an ideal introduction to cross country running for hundreds of youngsters. The children love running for their teams and they encourage each other so much that it has been said that the cheering is louder than in the London Marathon.  Finishing first or last does not really matter too much, as it is the taking part and completing the course which means so much.  The enthusiasm generated resulted in record breaking times and created some life-long memories for those taking part.

 It truly was a memorable day for organising school, Priory Juniors, who were the top participators at their organised event, entering 7 teams. The girls’ A team (Macy, Poppy, Katie and Kamile) finished eighth, just two places outside the medals in their hotly contested event. The boys’ A team finishing 40th.  Priory also finished with the first E team in the boys’ race.

There was success for both Histon and Impington, who won the boys’ race in a blistering time of 18 minutes 26 seconds, and Bar Hill, who were the winners of the girls’ race in a time of 19 minutes 59 seconds.  There was double delight for Burough Green who were the winners of the small schools’ trophies in both the boys’ and girls’ races.

The event could not be held without the whole community coming together to help. Thanks go to this year's sponsors Noonan Crane (Property Management Ltd) and Tesco who provided race numbers and free bottles of water for all competitors. Also, many thanks go to the Riverside Runners, St Neots Football Club and Longsands Academy, and the many staff and parents at Priory Junior School for their fantastic efforts in officiating and setting up the course on the day.

Race Organisers, Kevin Sadler and Linda Wager said, “An event of this nature does not happen on its own and this year it took a real team effort from a huge number of people, who gave their time and expertise to ensure the children had a day to remember.  Our thanks go to all those who made this day such a huge success.”