This weekend at the English Junior Fell Championships Buxton AC Juniors opened with a bang! Buxton AC juniors had an outstanding turnout with 21 juniors making the 5 hour round trip to the Lakes to take part and represent their Club.
The juniors had runners in every single category from U9 to U19 and came home with 2 medals! Lucy Bednall was 2nd girl in the U17 category, Sam Soles 3rd in the U19 men’s race – Will Longden (last year’s Silver medallist in the U15’s Championships) came 4th in the U17 just outside the podium. The Championships consists of 6 races with your best 4 positions to count so this is a great start for the youngsters putting them firmly in contention for Championship podium positions.
Starting from the Threlkeld Quarry and Mining Museum, 3 miles east of Keswick, in the heart of the breathtaking Lake District, Cumbria. The courses were proper traditional fell routes involving steep climbs and tricky descents. All courses running over the flanks of Threlkeld Knotts and boast stunning views towards Blencathra. The weather was cool but clear giving ideal conditions for both runners and spectators – a fabulous opener for this prestigious National Championships.
First up were the U9’s were 6 year old Stanley Cook made his championship debut with an absolutely amazing 5th position. He was followed by team mate Jimmy Golden who is a veteran already at age 8 – running for this 3rd successive Championships to come in 11th boy. Hannah Cudahy represented the U9 girls on this testing course coming in 10th girl overall.
In the under 11 race brother/sister team Jonty and Florence Brown made their debut in the Championships with strong runs from both – Jonty 11th boy and Flo 23rd girl. Rachel Cudahy graduated from the U9 category and put in a solid performance to finish 19th girl.
Jack Cook in his first Championships led the under 13’s home to come in 14th boy. Lucy Whelan led the girls home 23rd followed by Grace Bond, with Molly Golden 32nd and Rebecca Cudahy 33rd.
Sienna Phillips had a great run to finish 11th and Grace Longden 17th in a very competitive under 15 girls race. While Will Longden narrowly missed the medals in the U17 race finishing 4th with team mate Harry Bond in 13th. Lucy Bednall led the girls home to secure a Silver medal, with Amy Whelan having a cracking run to finish 7th and Heather Wilshaw 16th.
The last race of the day saw Sam Soles in Bronze medal position in the U19 category with brothers Stu and Ed Diamond battling it out to come 8th and 10th.
Coach Rachel Dowle said, “I would like to thank the fabulous parents without whose support our awesome juniors could not have the amazing experiences that taking part in such a prestigious competition holds. This is an awe-inspiring Championships that takes the youngsters to some of the most picturesque and challenging, wild and mountainous areas of the country – it tests them on some of the toughest, technical courses against the best competition in the country! I am amazed that we had one of the best turn outs in the competition, from one of the Clubs that had to travel the furthest! Thank you all for your dedication!”
Meanwhile Buxton’s Ellie Wilson travelled to Glenfield, Leicester to trial for the East Midlands team for the 2019 London Mini Marathon and the British 3 Mile Rad Championships. The first 6 in each race (U13, U15 and U17) will earn the opportunity to represent the East Midlands on the morning of the Marathon itself; a great experience for any young athlete. Ellie had a fantastic run in the under 17 girls categories finishing a very close 8th meaning she is currently second reserve for the team.