On Saturday it was the 3rd out of the 5 Manchester League x-countries that take place this winter. Tatton park was the venue and after a dry week the ground was firm and over the relatively flat course, with little wind, fast racing was expected.

First up was the U11's race and with 126 athletes finishing the race it was Thomas Fotheringham who lead the Trafford team finishing 22nd. He was backed up by Harry Crowhurst in 37th and Seb White in 38th giving the boys 10th team on the day.

Well done to Betsy Widdop, one of the youngest in the field finished 38th out of 72 girls in the race.

In the U13 race there was another big turnout of Trafford boys with Thomas Daly just catching his team mate Ethan O'Brien as they led the Trafford Team home in 13th and 14th. Interestingly in the U13 race held on the 13th Thomas Daly was 13th in a time of 13 mins and 13 seconds. After missing the start Thomas Aron came through the field to finish 25th, just catching Ralphie Rome (26th). After that the Trafford boys packed well Joe Thomas 46th, Patrick Widdop 48th, Daniel White 49th, Joe Bowden 54th, Sammy Cowles 56th and Theo Kanakides 61st. This gave the team 3rd place on the day and consolidated the teams 3rd place overall in the series.

In the U15 Boys race Trafford flooded the lead group with 7 boys in the top 10. The fast course suited Pio Aron as he moved away from the group leaving a pack of three to fight for the next three places, and it was the 800m specialist Fin Dobson Emmas who made sure he claimed the 2nd place. After that it was amazing packing from the Trafford boys with Tio Austin 5th, Tim Ye 6th, Evan Lewis 8th, Archie Greenwood 9th and Adrian White 10th. Another Trafford runner improving this winter is Benji Cavanagh and he was close behind in 14th followed by Oscar Gascoinge 30th, Tom Harris 35th, Rowan Leeming 41st, Atticus Jones 45th and James Wilson 63rd. This packing meant the top 3 Trafford teams were 1st, 2nd and 4th and overall Trafford's 'A' and 'B' teams are 1st and 2nd with the 'C' team in 5th overall. Individually Pio Aon has moved into 1st place in the series and Fin Dobson Emmas up to 3rd overall.

In the girls race Beth Stanley showed that she is improving this winter as she lead the Trafford team finishing 22nd. Anna Thomas was close behind in 26th and great debut races for the two youngest in the field Ianthe Jones 41st and Zoe Placzkiewcz 42nd. This keeps the Trafford girls team in joint 4th place with 2 races remaining in the series.

In the U17 race it was an unusually steady start for the leaders with a big pack forming, but the pace picked up thoughout the race as Liam Johnson (St. Helens Sutton) applied the pressure and gradually whittled the field down. Jay Hutchinson was the last one to hang onto the pace eventually finishing 2nd just 7 seconds behind the winner with his best race so far this winter. Josh Watson showed good improvement finishing 9th and with James Walton in 17th the Trafford team finshed 2nd on the day, which was good enough to move the team to 1st place overall in the series. Dan Partington was close to the lead pack in 27th and with a great debut over x-country Isaac True was 31st.

In the U17 Womens race Isobel Thomas was close behind some of the best runners in Manchester as she finished 8th and with Sophie Bowman 21st, Fay Lewis 31st and Daisy Atkiss 33rd the team finished 5th.

In the Senior Women's race making her Traford debut Jaz Maddocks held on after a fast start to finish 15th. Close behind all the way was Amelia Williams (19th), Vicky Cronin (20th) and Kate Meeson (26th), meaning the team were 3rd on the day and have consolidated their 2nd place overall in the series. The great runs continued through the Traford womens team as the 'B' Team of Zoe Storr (49th), Issy Pearson (62nd and 7th u20), Alison Drasdo (65th and 1st v55) and Louise Ambler (74th) were 2nd B team and are 2nd overall in the B team division. The theme continued with the 'C' team Teresa Kemp (84th), Claire Chaffer (103rd), Alice Woodbridge (134th) and Louise Mangan (138th) also finishing 2nd C team on the day and they are 2nd overall in the C Team division. Jo Lott (196 and 8th v55), Ruth Beresford (217th) and Sue Exon (318th and 4th v70) finished off the Trafford runners out of the 369 finishers and moved the Trafford vets team up to 1st place in the Veteran division 2.

In a fast Senior Men's race packed with quality it was Trafford's juniors who lead the Trafford team. Enjoying the fast running conditions was Fin Mayoh who was 36th and 1st U20 in the race. Louie McCormack (41st) and Joe Deighton (44th) were close behind and finished 3rd and 4th U20 runners respectively. This also meant that the Trafford won the U20 Men's Team race and they lead overall in the series. Tom Rogers (50th), Mike Melarkey (55th) and Jeff Prest (64th and 2nd v50) meant that the Trafford team were 6th out of the 503 finishers on the day. Backing the A team up well were Joe Daly (78th and 7th u20) and Simon O'Meara (88th) with Richard Turner (217th and 8th v55), George Wright (221st) and then the old boys Mike Hutchinson (313th) and Richard Wallace (438th).

Full results can be found here: https://www.race-results.co.uk/results/2024/maccl23-3.htm