CARLY NEEDHAM’s phenomenal pace took the South East Lancashire Cross Country League by storm last Saturday at Lilford Park, Leigh.   Competing in the ladies race against 47 athletes from about 11 clubs, Carly won convincingly with a margin of ~ two minutes over her nearest rival from Horwich Harriers. 

The combined force of Carly, Josefa Terim  and Huma Rahman resulted in a win for the Rochdale Harriers ladies team.   The strength and depth of the broader squad was shown by high placings across the veteran age brackets too,  with Rochdale ladies teams securing second place in all of the Senior Ladies 35, 40 and 45 age brackets. 

In the under 15’s cross country race Rochdale’s Georgio Costa had a great run, taking third place overall.   Meanwhile Liam Smith finished third in the Under 11’s.

The men’s team was missing Ian Roberts who had performed excellently the previous week in the Red Rose XC league.   Super fast Matt Proctor did compete but was forced to retire during the men’s race with an ankle injury.   Even so, the men’s team put on a creditable performance to finish in 6^th place overall.  The counters for the men’s team at Leigh, in finishing order, were Kris Robinson, Chris Leach, Phil Scarr, Nigel Shaw, Paul Leary and Mark Walker.  

 The performance of Paul Leary, a relative newcomer to the Harriers, was particularly notable as he finished ahead of in-form Mark Walker and speedwork coach Ray Dalby. 

Full results