Big Schools Cross Country Celebrates 10 Years at Wimpole Estate

The annual Big Schools Cross Country event returned to the stunning Wimpole Estate for its 10th anniversary, cementing its place as a highlight of many schools’ sporting calendars. This year saw 24 primary schools and over 1000 runners from across South Cambridgeshire take on a challenging 1-mile loop of the parkland, competing for individual honours and team prizes.

Pupils from Years 3 to 6 raced in 8 separate races, boys and girls for each year group, with the first three finishers in each race receiving a medal and certificate.

In the team event it was the top three placed runners from each school in the 8 individual races that scored with separate Year 3 & 4 and Year 5 & 6 competitions.

Histon and Impington Park Primary School dominated the team event going one better than last year and winning both team events to be crowned overall champions! Other notable team performances were from Melbourn Primary who finished runners up in the Year 3/4 event for the first time and 6^th in the Year 5/6 event. Trumpington Park also deserve recognition for finishing 4^th and 5^th in the two team events.

Spirit of the Games Awards recognised exceptional determination and self-belief, with one winner from each school receiving a free National Trust Family Pass thanks to the generosity of Wimpole Estate.

The event was made possible thanks to the Uniformed Services students from Cambridge Regional College, who marshalled the route with professionalism, and the Sports Leaders from Bassingbourn & Comberton Village Colleges, who managed the start and finish areas and acted as tail runners. We couldn’t have done it without them—they were incredible!

Teacher Feedback:

“Thanks for another great cross country event! All of our children had a really positive experience and for more than one child it was their ‘best day ever’.”

“The children had an amazing experience, and they came away stronger and prouder.”

“We saw so much encouragement, determination, perseverance and we are very grateful we got to take part in this event. Thank you for hosting and organising – please keep this event going.”

Some of our children quoted ‘this is the best event for the whole school year!’

Partnership Manager, Claire McDonnell, said,

“It was an incredible day for our 10^th year at Wimpole Estate. Throughout the day we saw determination, teamwork and sportsmanship but for me it was the atmosphere that made it so special with the children cheering their teammates and all the runners on as they approached the finish line in front of Wimpole House. 

This is our biggest event of the year and a lot of planning and organisation goes into it by the whole team but it makes it all worthwhile when you see the smiles and enjoyment on the children’s faces and the sense of achievement they feel. Lots of them today told us how they felt really happy, proud of themselves and pleased to be with their friends representing their school

Today was a real celebration of what sport is about.”

TEAM RESULTS

The overall team results were as follows (only schools that had entered a team for all four races could qualify for the team competition):

Other schools taking part but not recording a team result included Cottenham, Hatton Park, The Meadow, Bassingbourn and Fenstanton.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

The were some great performances put in to earn individual honours with top 3 finishers coming from 10 different schools:

See further photos from the day on our social media platforms.