Police Sport UK
PSUK Cross Country Championships
Pontypool Park,
Pontypool, Gwent
- Wednesday 6 February 2008
The 2008 PSUK
Cross Country Championships were staged by Gwent Police at Pontypool Park
where the organisers were blessed with a sunny dry late winter/ early spring
day, some 400 athletes competed over a hilly picturesque parkland venue.
The Championships incorporated the selection races for the teams to
represent PSUK at the USPE Cross- Country Championships being hosted by
France in Vichey in March 2008. The first four athletes in each race would
gain automatic selection with two discretionary places to be decided later
in the day.
The course for
both men and women could be described as hilly and challenging!
The women ran two
complete laps, covering a distance of approximately 6km and the men ran
three complete laps, approximately 10km in distance.
The venue itself
was within Pontypool Park, both races starting and finishing on the famous
Pontypool Rugby Pitch. From the pitch the athletes ran down to the Afon
Llwyd River and along its river bank before turning and heading back towards
the first of their hill climbs. The course then climbed a total of 800m
through a wooded area onto pasture land before reaching the peak of the
climb at the Shell Grotto and then turning to descend the hill towards the
top of the ski slope, before turning into a wooded area, culminating in the
crossing of a stream before negotiating a short sharp climb to the
‘Stones’. The athletes then descended the hill running on the diagonal to
the rugby pitch completing their lap.
The women went off
first, by the time they had reached the start of the first climb up to the
Grotto, a break-away group being led by Kate Swanson, (City of London), last
years champion, had formed. This group included Katherine Reeves
(Metropolitan), Sarah Simmonds (West Midlands), Janine Brown (British
Transport Police), Jessica Turnbull (Gloucestershire) Natalie Farrow
(Humberside) and Diane Lauder (Lothian & Borders). By the end of the first
lap Turnbull had taken control of the race and led the women into their
second lap by some 20- 30 metres. Simmonds was giving chase in second place
with Brown in third. These positions remained unchanged to the finish,
Turnbull taking the Championships in a time of 33mins 55secs, for the first
time in eight years. With places up for grabs to represent PSUK in the USPE
Cross-Country Championships in Vichey, Reeves ran strongly to finish fourth,
Lauder finishing fifth and Amanda Purser (Hampshire) finishing sixth
overall and taking the leading Vets Championship. All first six finishers
were later selected to represent PSUK in the European Championships.
Other top
performances came from Kate Armstrong (Cambridgeshire), Kendra White
(Cleveland) and Gaby Waring (North Wales) who won their respective age
categories.
The Metropolitan
ladies retained the overall Championship team title, with Gloucestershire
taking the Minor Forces team title and the Metropolitan taking the Veterans
team title.
In the men’s race,
David Mitchinson (Hertfordshire), making his first championship appearance
as a police officer, was in control of the race by the time the men had
reached the start of the first climb up to the Grotto. Mitchinson was
followed by Steve Rhys-Jones (Hampshire) and Ben Whitby (City of London) who
in turn were being chased by a group which included Steve Cairns (Lothian &
Borders), Darrel May ( Hampshire), Peter Tucker (Metropolitan), Richard
Gardner (South Wales), Ian Wetherall ( V40 – Cheshire), Malcolm Fowler ( V45
- Cheshire), Ben Gamble (Staffordshire) and Darren Riley ( V40 - West
Midlands). By the end of the first lap Mitchinson had established a good
lead over Rhys- Jones in Second and Whitby in third. May was chasing in
fourth, with Gardner in fifth and Tucker in sixth. Over the final two laps
Mitchinson extended his lead over Rhys-Jones who in turn extended his lead
over Whitby. Mitchinson took the title in 38mins 31secs. May ran strongly
to finish fourth, with Tucker taking Gardner on the final lap to finish
fifth and Gardner finished sixth. Of the first six finishers, Mitchinson,
Rhys-Jones, Whitby and Tucker gained automatic selection for the European
Championships. May who is a Police Community Support Officer was not
eligible for selection and Gardner did not wish to be considered. The final
two discretionary places for the Europeans were awarded to Martin Williams
(West Midlands) and Steve Cairns.
Not too far behind
the first six, Fowler finished eighth overall, first Vets 45, with Wetherall
finishing two places behind to take the Vets 40 category and Riley taking
second. Des Michael (Hertfordshire) had a very good run finishing just in
front of Mick Bond (Essex) both winning their respective age categories.
With Eddie Murfin (Lincolnshire) winning the Vets 60 prize.
Just like their
female colleagues, the Metropolitan retained the overall Championship team
title, with Cheshire taking the Veterans team title and Northamptonshire
taking the Minor Forces team title.
Results
Men's Race
Men's Open
1st |
David Mitchinson |
38:31 |
Hertfordshire |
2nd |
Steve Rhys-Jones |
39:28 |
Hampshire |
3rd |
Benedict Whitby |
40:13 |
City of London |
Men's
Veteran 40+
1st |
Ian Wetherall |
44:04 |
Cheshire |
2nd |
Darren Riley |
44:19 |
West Midlands |
3rd |
Steve Cairns |
45:28 |
Lothian & Borders |
Men's
Veteran 45+
1st |
Malcolm Fowler |
43:39 |
Cheshire |
2nd |
Tony Caulton |
47:02 |
Derbyshire |
3rd |
Mark Evans |
49:09 |
GMP |
Men's
Veteran 50+
1st |
Mick Bond |
48:45 |
Essex |
2nd |
Dave McMillan |
49:13 |
Derbyshire |
3rd |
Pete Gray |
50:52 |
Northamptonshire |
Men's
Veteran's 55+
1st |
Des Michael |
48:41 |
Hertfordshire |
2nd |
Mathew Hand |
56:37 |
Dyfed Powys |
3rd |
Ian Cooper |
58:46 |
West Mercia |
Teams - Men
Men's Team
Open
1st |
Metropolitan |
|
2nd |
Hampshire |
|
3rd |
Cheshire |
|
Men's
Teams - Veteran
1st |
Cheshire |
|
2nd |
Lothian & Borders |
|
3rd |
Metropolitan |
|
Men's
Minor Forces Teams
1st |
Northamptonshire |
|
2nd |
Norfolk |
|
3rd |
Central Scotland |
|
Women's Race
Women's
Open
1st |
Jessica Turnbull |
33:55 |
Gloucestershire |
2nd |
Sarah Simmons |
34:10 |
West Midlands |
3rd |
Janine Brown |
34:28 |
BTP |
Women's
Veteran 35+
1st |
Amanda Purser |
35:18 |
Hampshire |
2nd |
Andrea Pickup |
36.21 |
Metropolitan |
3rd |
Kate Swanson |
36:26 |
City of London
|
Women's
Veteran 40+
1st |
Kendra White |
36:58 |
Cleveland |
2nd |
Tracey Marshall |
40:49 |
West Yorkshire |
3rd |
Diane Hamilton |
41:13 |
Derbyshire |
Women's
Veteran 45+
1st |
Kate Armstrong |
35:54 |
Cambridgeshire |
2nd |
Grace Palmer |
39:09 |
Staffordshire |
3rd |
Katrina Kemp |
39:15 |
Leicestershire |
Women's
Veteran 50+
1st |
Gaby Waring |
41:55 |
North Wales |
2nd |
Judy Mills |
42:20 |
Avon & Somerset |
3rd |
Heather Mitchell |
43:34 |
West Yorkshire |
Teams - Women
Women's
Open Teams
1st |
Metropolitan |
|
2nd |
Lothian & Borders |
|
3rd |
Hampshire |
|
Women's
Veteran Teams
1st |
Metropolitan |
|
|
2nd |
Devon & Cornwall |
|
|
3rd |
Lancashire |
|
|
Women's
Minor Forces
1st |
Gloucestershire |
|
2nd |
Fife |
|
3rd |
Cambridgeshire |
|
Picture Gallery
|