On Saturday, Wallasey Athletic Club travelled to Newcastle for the Northern Counties Cross-Country Championships, a series of races which followed in the best traditions of cross-country, by sending the athletes up and down two fierce looking hills,
Mark Cooper was first home in the boys' race, finishing in 83rd after some fine racing. Mark had struggled in the early stages of the cross-country season, but he has now followed a good run in the Merseyside Schools Championships with this excellent performance in what (with there being no boys' race in the national), is the most important cross-country for his age group.
Andy Pennington, in his first season at cross-country produced another good run to finish 131st, while Dave Neal continued his progress of recent races, chasing Andy home in 132nd. Nigel Thompson completed the scoring for Wallasey in 153rd, with Rob Howarth finishing179th. Roy McGregor 180th, and Hugh Samuels 201st.
Dave Pendleton finished 117th in the youths' race, which was a good performance, though still not quite back to the form he had shown before injury in December.
The first scoring position in the Wallasey senior team has changed about regularly during the season, but Bob Brimage looks set to keep it over the remaining races, after a fine fun to finish 261st, in a field of nearly 700. Peter Lonsdale, the most consistent runner over the season as a whole, was 382nd, with James Downey next in 410th. Jimmy Ennis, who began his competitive running in marathons, but is aiming towards 1,500j metres in the coming summer, was 501st, while Andy Skinner in 509th and Alan Johnson in 517th completed the scoring. Pete Smith returned to racing in 533rd with Tommy Cooper close behind in 540th. Thanks go to Alan Johnson who drove the bus on the particularly long journey and to those who came and supported the Wallasey runners.
Ends
Source - Wallasey News - Saturday, 18/02/1984 by J. Downey
Ref 1991