The 26/27 winter cross country season kicked off at Newnham Park on Sunday, October 11, with Tavistock Athletic Club fielding an impressive 35 runners of all ages from under ten to over 60., writes Andy Hughes.

The venue, known equally for its mountain biking events, offered challenging courses for the 23 clubs taking part.

In a new format, the season kicked off with a relay event – shorter distances for some races than usual and three runners to a club team. The action was fast, furious and somewhat chaotic, with one of the largest turnouts of competitors in recent years – including 212 men in the senior race.

First was the Under 10s’ development race, with Billy Lake (8th), Stanley Norton(10th) and Emma Brogden (12th) all making their debuts for the club with good runs. The Under 12s’ combined race followed, over a 2km course. Unfortunately, TAC fielded incomplete teams, however Dominic Drew-Hill (5th fastest leg) had a great run and Jack Armstrong was 19th fastest. Amongst the girls, Amelia Mullard ran the 37th fastest leg and Robyn Trotter was 63th fastest. Oscar Norton also did a test run in that race.

Next race was the combined Under 14 and Under 16 race over a 3km loop including testing woodland trails.

Charlie Cleland was the only U16 running for TAC and he finished an excellent 14th fastest in his age group. In the U14 boys, Nathan Browne was 74th and Isaac Wain 100th. In the U14 girls, Fearne Brogden (79th overall), Bodieve Lawson (107th), Iris Lawson (127th) secured a creditable 6th team place.

The Under 18 and Senior Women’s combined race was run over 6km. Charlotte Walker (22min 09s), Hannah Smith (22:17) and Grace Gokhale (U18, 27:46) were 11th team overall. The Vet Ladies team, with Caroline Steven (25:50),Nicola Noble (25:30) & Lizzie Gillam (27:26), were 19th team out of 38 finishing teams. The third Tavistock team running was Emma Bowden (26:14), Hazel Walker (34:38) and Carole Walters (28:24).

The final race of the day was the U18 boys and Senior Men, combined over the same 6km course, with a huge field of competitors. Eldon Young (18:08) was 5th home on the leg and 10th fastest of the day (including the senior men).

He passed on to Arthur Norton (19:22) who in turn passed to Alistair Graham (20:38), with the boys finished first in their age group and 12th team overall. Ben Lentaigne also had a solid run in the U18 race, finishing in 21:15. In the Senior Men’s event, Sam Larkham ran a 19:14 leg (also not in a team sadly). TAC had two Vet teams – the slightly younger ones, John Norton (23:00),Stuart Cleland (24:18), Stephen Gokhale (24:00) finished as 53rd team, just ahead of the team comprising Richard Drage (23:28), Martin Exley-Deane (24:28) and David Harris (25:11) who took 56th place.

The second of the six-race Westward League series takes place at Newquay on November 15.