Wallasey Athletic Club competed in the first of the three Liverpool & District Cross-Country League races last Saturday run over a wet and muddy course at Runcorn.
Mark McQuade was the only Wallasey runner in the under-11s' race, and had an excellent run to finish eighth out of around 40 runners.
The colts' race saw a close contest between Wallasey's two representatives. Both came in around the middle of the field, with Paul Johnson in 22nd finishing just ahead of Michael Hillhouse in 24th.
Three runners in the first 18 provided an excellent result in the boys' race, with Nigel Thompson's fine run in 10th place showing a great improvement on his positions of last season.
Geoff Nuttall and Mark Yates in 17th and 18th places were next, while two newer runners in, Steven Pullin and Phillip Caul, fini-shed in 28th and 33rd portions respectively.
Rob Howarth, in his first year as a youth, had a very good run to finish 11th in that age group.
The senior race saw quite a good team performance, though the greatly improved standard which Wallasey had shown in recent road relays was not really evident.
Alex Boughey, the club cross-country champion, started fast and suffered towards the end, but was still first home in 42nd place. Pete Lonsdale, who finished either first or second scorer in each of the 10 races he ran last season, began the new season in the game manner as he came home in an excellent 50th place.
Dave Pendleton, Wallasey Athletic Club's male athlete of the year, now in his first year as a junior, ran well to finish 104th, with Ken Gibbon next home in 141st.
Alan Johnson and Bob Phillips completed the scoring to finish 154th and 162nd respectively, while Pete Griffiths came in 175th and Jim Kirby 179th. Ian Wiggins, after missing several weeks training, started fast and failed to finish.
Ends
Source - Wallasey News - Thursday, 08/11/1984 by J. Downey
Ref 2011