Harlow School Sports Partnership

Once again, huge numbers of primary school pupils descended upon the grass fields of Mark Hall Sports Centre for the annual cross-country events. As ever, a huge amount of preparation was undertaken before the races began – thanks were given to David Stacey and Luke Hammond for organising the course and all the paperwork which enables runners to receive results on the day (unlike any other area in Essex who run a similar event.)

During the morning, spectators witnessed some fantastic performances by our younger athletes. The children in Years 3 and 4 trekked through a demanding 1000m course, with various undulations and uneven conditions. The children were ably marshalled by some fantastic parents of Church Langley Primary School, coaches from local sports providers ‘Sports Cool’ and the awesome Year 9 Sports Leaders from Mark Hall, who acted as hares and tortoises throughout the event.

The afternoon event saw the course lengthen to around 1500m, incorporating more twists and turns which proved very tricky for a number of runners. Spectators were once again treated to some amazing individual performances, with some very close finishes in some of the races.

Both events ran with great efficiency, thanks to a huge collective effort amongst the school staff. There were a number of very positive comments relayed to staff about how hard everyone worked to organise such a large number of people. Well done to all the children who took part; the standard was very high and it was evident that the preparation they had worked on at their schools had paid off. There were too many notable performances to mention individually but once again the teams of Henry Moore, Hatfield Heath and Roydon were frequent receivers of medals.

All schools were sent the results and placings, with the top 3 individuals and the top placed team (lowest scoring 4 runners) receiving invitations to the Essex Cross Country Finals later in the term.