Histon & Impington runners dominate at Wimpole cross-country competition

It started as a still misty morning for the South Cambs School Sport Partnership Big School Cross Country competition at Wimpole Estate on 30^th November but as the 900 plus runners ran the course the sun came out to warm up the spectators there to cheer them on.

The children who took part were competing for individual honours and team pride as they raced the 1-mile course which looped out around the estate before returning for a grand finish in front of the house and onlooking teammates who applauded them home.

There were 8 races on the day with a separate boys and girls race for years 3, 4, 5 & 6 with the first three finishers in each race receiving a medal and certificate. In the team competition it was the top three placed runners from each school that scored for their team with a separate Year 3 & 4 and Year 5 & 6 team competition.

The were some great performances put in to earn individual honours with top 3 finishers coming from 14 different schools:

The team competition was dominated by Histon & Impington Brook Primary School with all of their runners putting in incredible performances to ensure they not only retained the team trophy for the Year 5/6 competition but went one better than last year and won the Year 3/4 trophy as well, an amazing team effort.

In the Year 5/6 competition an impressive 6 out of the 12 top 3 positions were taken by children from Histon Brook to earn them team victory. It was an impressive performance by newcomers to the competition Pathfinder Primary who finished runners up ahead of Meadow primary school in third.

In the Year 3/4 team competition Melbourn put in their best ever performance to finish as runners up and in 3^rd place was newcomers to the competition Histon & Impington Park Primary.

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

Children from Linton Heights, Hatton Park also took part in the event, but these schools did not have enough runners to qualify for the team competitions.

Partnership Manager, Claire McDonnell, said,

“It was a great day. I say it every year, but we are so lucky to be able to hold this event at such a stunning venue and today we were blessed with blue skies and lovely winter sunshine which just added to the atmosphere and enjoyment of all of the children.

There were lots of incredible performances but for me the highlight was listening to the children singing and cheering on their team mates as they went through the start area and again as they came into the finish line in front of the house and they weren’t only cheering there friends but every runner.

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 and proud of themselves and pleased to represent their school.

I must say that we couldn’t have delivered today’s event without the support of sports leaders from Bassingbourn and Comberton Village Colleges who acted as sweep runners, led the warmup area and helped with the finish line and a group of uniformed services students from Cambridge Regional College who marshalled the route so a big thankyou to each and every one of them”.