Mallory Park in Leicestershire was the setting for the annual area championship on January 25 as the event avoided the much-publicised storm sweeping the country
Kadar Omar and Olivia Mathias took the two senior titles at a venue bathed in glorious winter sunshine and held at a new location for cross-country running that provided a testing course with artificial mounds and some mud although some races did seem to run shorter than the advertised distances.
Men
Omar took the initiative right from the start and his Birchfield clubmate Omar Ahmed was never able to get on terms and had his own battle for second spot with Rugeley’s Lee Gratton before securing silver.
The start of all races was downhill, something that made for some kamikaze running especially off of the several mounds that are a permanent feature of the park. After the first small lap, Omar was ahead but, running off one of those mounds literally careered down the hill almost losing balance.
Thereafter all went well and a winning margin of 22 seconds was the end result. Ahmed was headed for some of the race by Gratton before securing second, albeit by only a few seconds. Birchfield might have hoped for success in the team stakes with their one-two but it was Newark who, led home by fourth placed Elliott Smith Rasmusson, packed their scoring six in the top 23.
Kadar Omar (Martin Duff)
The two Birchfield men have often taken it in turns to be ahead but winner Omar said that he has moved his home from Birmingham to Rugeley so that he can train on Cannock Chase and is now pleased with the rewards of that move. “I had a rough year before that move, but here I decided to put my foot down,” said Omar.
The Midland Masters title went to M35 Gratton, the International Masters silver medallist, but M45 International Masters winner Alistair Watson was sixth overall. Multiple winner in that competition Tim Hartley was top M55.
Men: 1 K Omar (Bir) 36:38; 2 O Ahmed (Bir) 37:00; 3 L Gratton (Ruge) 37:05; 4 E Smith-Rasmusson (Newark) 37:21; 5 F McGrath (B&W) 37:37; 6 A Watson (Notts, M45) 37:48
M50: 1 M Makin (Herm) 45:00
M55: 1 T Hartley (Notts) 43:30
M60: 1 B Nock (Hales) 55:19
TEAM:1 Newark 79; 2 Notts 149; 3 Birchfield 318
M65+ (short 8km, ran with women): 1 K Spare (N’brook) 33;08
M75: 1 A Daley (Glouc) 36:27
Omar Ahmed and Lee Grantham
Women
With boyfriend and Olympic triathlon champion Alex Yee on hand, it was Commonwealth triathlon team silver medallist Olivia Mathias who pushed hard from the start….
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