Club Race Reports Season 1951-1952
Cross Country Championships
National - Birmingham - 08/03/1952 - Senior Men
Several W.A.C. members competed at Birmingham on Saturday in the national cross-country championships, and the best performance of the day undoubtedly went to Roy Parry in the youth's event.
Parry got away to a good start and ran steadily throughout to finish strongly in 49th position out of a field of 250 runners. As this is his first competitive year this was a grand performance, which nicely rounded off his many good performances this year.
Hugh Pritchard also ran creditably to finish 150th. The senior race was brilliantly won by Manchester's Walter Hesketh after a great struggle for most of the way with his great rival D. A. G. Pirie of South London Harrier's.
Bob Johnston for once had a disappointing day in this event as, after being well up in the forties for most of the race, he had to ease back over the last few miles to eventually finish 144th in a field of over 500 runners.
Johnston has raced hard in all the major championships this season and it would seem that he has felt the strain of so much high class competition over the longer distances in his first year as a senior.
Some measure of Johnston's success in winning the Liverpool and District and West Lancs. senior titles can be taken from the fact that two of his victims in W. McMinnis, of Sutton, and Johnny Green, of Wirral, finished in 13th and 21st positions respectively. McMinnis was chosen as reserve for the England team in the international race taking place next Saturday, a race in which Green also ran for England two years ago.
As Johnston is still only 21 it seems clear that given reasonable luck he stands a good chance of challenging for international honours during the next few years.
Wallasey furnished a team in the junior event which was won by little Johnny Wilde of East Cheshire, who will surely make the seniors run when he moves into the higher age group.
John Lynch was again Wallasey's first man home in 109th position, and was followed by Maddock, W. J. Johnston, Scammell, Lilley, and Winrow in that order. Lynch, ran very strongly, but was closely followed by Eric Maddock in 125th place, which confirms that these two have been the club's best juniors this season.
