WGEL seniors at Inter-Counties CC: Ed Shepherd 6th

Ed Shepherd was 6th in the Senior Men's race at the Inter-Counties cross country at Prestwold Hall, Loughborough on 12th March. This was the standout performance from the 4 Woodford seniors representing three different counties. Ed led home the Cheshire team that finished 16th. This completes a stellar season on the country for Ed, after his Cheshire title, 4th in the Southern, and 16th in the National. Ed found the firm ground compared to nationals much easier to run on, and found himself higher up than expected half way round. He was really glad to be able to hold his position on the last lap, knowing the quality of the people right behind him.

Angus Holford was 119th, and was 6th scorer for the Essex team that finished 9th. Angus was left unsure whether he gave some teammates too much of a head start after a conservative approach to the opening bottlenecks, or got it right given he felt he was losing as many places as gaining in the final quarter. Unbeknown to Angus, but just behind and having tracked him all the way through was Michael Waddington, who was 138th and 2nd scorer for the Hertfordshire team that finished 25th. This came just a week after his impressive 67:41 Half Marathon at Cambridge, the fatigue from which contributed to a self-describes relatively underwhelming run.

In the Senior Women, Alicia McArdell was 148th, and 3rd home in an incomplete Essex team. Alicia was pleased to be running for Essex again after her vest had sat in a drawer for several years, enjoyed the race and the unseasonably good weather. She felt the effects of her efforts to stay upright on the slippery camber on the outer reaches of the course, but pushed hard to the finish and declared the race "ok".