And so Cross Country season once again descended on the Belle Vue Racers. On a seasonally warm October day in Wythenshawe Park, the first fixture of the Manchester Area Cross Country League was met by a great turnout of nine members of the women’s section and eight of the men. There were five members making their Cross Country Belle Vue debuts – Maeve, Claire, Janet, Farouk and James.  

With extremely good conditions underfoot and the runners more concerned with the heat than mud, there were some great results across the board. Phoebe was first in for the women with an excellent time of 39.21. She was closely followed by Annie, whose time of 41.23 was good enough for 3rd in her age category. Yana finished third of the Belle Vue ladies in 42.50. A special mention should also go to Lisa whose fourth place in a time of 45.29 was all the more respectable given her seven mile run to the start line.

For the men, Vic led the team in with a time of 41.28, Meng warmed up for the next day’s Manchester Half Marathon in a brisk time of 43.21 and Andrew made up the first three in a time of 46.45.  A special mention should go to all those Belle Vue Racers who endured some slips and spils around the course. James Malone in particular did fantastically to recover from a turned ankle which had stopped him around half way to complete the course.  NT