Hargate Forest, January 11, 2025
For one January day, and for one day only, those Harriers of cross country persuasion put team unity aside, and turn against each other, amid the frozen, muddy, forbidding depths of Hargate Forest. Actually, this notion of each-for-themselves is not a true reflection of what happened in Hargate on Saturday whatsoever, but the truth can get in the way.
As the Eridge 10 is a race of rare and timeless quality, so our internal XC championship is a special occasion on a smaller scale. While the XC venues of the Kent League can lean towards the benign (admittedly), cross country in Hargate in January is unshackled. Some like it, some don’t, and that’s fine, as this is about as far as running gets from a road race. The elevation is severe enough – 150 metres in the space of 7.75km, over three laps (for senior men and women) – but more than the steep climbs, in Hargate runners are at the mercy of Mother Nature. This is a tenet of cross country running. This year, she turned mean. It was bitterly cold and the frozen paths were mottled with ice and snow. The running conditions were difficult, but not barbaric. In fact, we made a last-minute route alteration – reverting to almost the same course as last year – to avoid the worst of the icy ground. Good move Jillian!
34 hardy Harriers and one guest (the irrepressible junior James Carter, son of Richard, and hopefully a future Harrier) donned their deckchairs for the 2025 Champs, with plenty of silverware at stake across the age categories.
Mark Mellor, the champ of 2024 – and the winner of the Penshurst 5 last weekend – was imperious once again, winning the men’s title by more than three minutes, in 32:52. Congratulations Mark! Runner-up was Keith Mitchell (36:00) and in third place was Peter Bell, on his XC Champs debut. Keith wrapped up the M40 prize with 31 seconds to spare over James Sarre (36:31), who was fourth overall.
Amelie Karlsson was 5th overall (36:38) and defended her women’s title successfully, having taken the women’s honours at Penshurst last weekend. Robin Barwick finished eighth and won the M50 title (39:44), a resurgent Andy Joad took the M60 title (40:30), while Tara Taylor secured W55 honours (43:43). Sonja King was first W35, Susannah Kinsella led the W45s, while Lucille Johannes won the W65 title and Mark Taylor claimed M70, with the super vets racing over two laps. Well done all!
Special thanks go to women’s XC captain Jillian Holford and also to Nick Clark, who both stopped mid-race to help Saul Harris, who became unwell, but you will all be pleased to know that Saul returned home in one piece and felt much better later that day. So as you can see, Harriers team spirit shone through, despite the treasures at stake.
Thanks to Jillian, Ali Farrall and Geoff Turner, who set-up the course on Friday, and to George Harris, who helped with our last-minute course alteration. Thanks to Sue Cooper and Mike King for marshalling; to Richard Craig-McFeely and Ed Steele for photography; to Simon Holford for managing timing and results; to Helena Karlsson and Alison Beard, who managed the finish tokens; and again to Neil, who helped close down the course as frostbite began to threaten.
Thawed by an open fire afterwards in the Nevill, Crest & Gun, it was all worthwhile!
Full results are attached, and you can all now enjoy a short breather from XC, before we prepare for the Southerns at Beckenham Place on Jan 25!
Thanks, Robin
