With the club racing on at last four different fronts this weekend, it was great to see so many club members out at a cold and freezing Wrekenton. Who knew that Wrekenton had its own microclimate, being noticeably colder than when we left Jesmond.
Storming runs from all our runners helped the JJs place high in the respective divisions. Thank you to everyone who race on a very chilly day and a big thank you to the team captains for their hard work in getting you out to race. Three more rounds to go and we can do something special this year!
The women set off first in the first of the NEHL for 2025. With potentially three more fixtures to come and the club being split three ways with races galore this weekend, a good showing would set us up for a good finishing position over the next three races. The JJs women set off with gusto round a rather winter wonderland course at Wrekenton. The frozen ground meant that the going was firm and fast and the women didn’t disappoint.
Liz Heard set off at a good pace and was first home, with Jane Pugh two places behind. Emma Dixon and Alice Hartley both had storming runs to close the team in first place in division 1! Emma was our fastest woman on the day, with 27:16, with Emily Davis second fastest coming out of the fast pack, 9 seconds down. Great runs from all the JJ women saw them close in a pack well to push other clubs down. The JJ women did a great job of putting us in the mix in Division 1, showing that we have real strength and depth.
With temperatures still not climbing, and it feeling even colder, the men got off to a great start with Jelle Vinkenoog having a storming run and finishing 24th place out of the slow pack. Nicholas Allen was out fastest on the day with a great 35:24 clocking. Emilio Vazquez and Bertie Marks packed well to be next home with Joel Birks, with our second fastest time of the day and George Balden made up the first scoring six. A good packing of JJs still us close another team and help propel the JJs to potentially first place in Division 2 of the NEHL. A great performance from all the men on a very cold day.