The Hoops had a great turnout at our inaugural North West London Young Athletes League cross country race of the season at Greenford.
The weather stayed dry and even the blustery winds couldn't stop some fantastic performances. The girls in particular dug deep, stepping up to run the same distances as the boys and tacking the course superbly.
In the under-13's girls race, Poppy McLoughlin and Liv Bicknell pushed each other on covering the 3000-metre course, while Jessie Ions took on the under-15's 4000-metre course as the sole QPH representative. All produced solid performances.
It was great to see lots of young athletes. A good turnout in the under-11's category enabled the boys to finish fourth and the girls fifth overall—a great start to the season.
Arthur Salkeld brought the boys team home first with a 9th place finish, followed by Sunny Jabbar, Adam Reupke, Jaydon Testa and first timer, Merlin Mackenzie.
Izzy Ions tore through the field with a 5th place finish for the girls, followed by Layla and Hannah Baki. First timer Tamara also finished well, even after spraining her ankle. The signs are that these are really promising teams.
A shout out to the Mackenzie family who had the youngest QPH runner, Merlin, and William our oldest runner, who ran superbly for an 11th-place finish in the under-17 men's 5,000 metres.
A great day and and good team spirit—bring on the next race!