Here's our latest round-up from this past weekend's North of England Cross-Country Relays.

NORTH Of ENGLAND CROSS-COUNTRY RELAYS, Graves Park, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, October 19

Men

With a strong quartet, Salford Harriers moved up from second last year to take the senior men’s title in this long-standing Cutlers Relay fixture.

All four of their runners ran within seven seconds of each other and their consistency gave them a winning margin of nearly a minute over Hallamshire Harriers.

They were led off by Alex Ediker’s 9:53 for the two-mile lap but they were in third here behind Alfie Manthorpe’s 9:41 for Hallamshire and Ross Harrison’s Blackburn.

Manthorpe, who is aiming to run inside 62 minutes at next week's Valencia Half and did this in preparation for it, said: "Last year I ran 36 seconds slower and here I went to the front, racing with the Blackburn runner [Ross Harrison]."

Sam Hopkins soon put Salford ahead mid-race before David Barratt and Harry Wakefield finished things off.

Hallamshire slipped to second on stage two and held on to the line but, after a steady start, Gateshead stormed through from seventh on the penultimate lap to snatch the bronze medals.

This was thanks to the day’s fastest two-mile lap from 2020 English National and 2024 Inter-Counties winner Calum Johnson. His 9:26 comfortably headed Manthorpe’s earlier effort.

Johnson said of his outing here: "I have never raced here before but the lads wanted to make up a team and it is more fun doing this than some races." He also noted that he prefers cross-country and will have another go at the English National at Sedgefield in March next year.

Men (Cutlers Relay, 4x2M): 1 Salford 39:46 (A Ediker 9:53, S Hopkins 10:00, D Barratt 9:53, H Wakefield 9:58); 2 Hallamshire 40:41 (A Manthorpe 9:41, D Byrne 10:20, J Hayman 10:43, E Broen 9:54); 3 Gateshead 41:00 (L Liddle 10:23, J Blevins 10:09, I McCully 11:01, C Johnson 9:26); 4 Salford B 41:06 (J Wood-Doyle 10:14, J Birmingham 10:23, K Darcy 10:17, R Worland 10:10); 5 Morpeth 41:32 (O Tomlinson 10:43, J Dixon 10:05, M Walton 10:23, W De Vere Owen 10:19); 6 Rotherham 41:39 (J Massingham 10;10, D Reeve 10:22, J Wragg 10:17, B Burton 10:49); 7 Leeds 42:25; 8 Keighley & Craven) 42:57; 9 Lincoln Wellington 43:04; 10 Salford C 43:14

Fastest: C Johnson (Gate) 9:26; A Manthorpe (Hallam) 9:41; R Harrison (B’burn) 9:50; D Barratt (Salf)/A Ediker (Salf) 9:53; E Broen (Hallam) 9:54

52 teams finished

Women

There was also a strong women’s field, with winners Derby led off on the first leg by Molly Hudson’s, who recorded a mark of 11:17 on leg – the second fastest overall.

Hudson said: "We [Hudson and Bethany Reid] were running together then she took me in the woods but I paced myself and as I am a track athlete with a 2:04 800m and 4:13 1500m, I had the speed to win."

Behind, Birtley began down in 19th spot but improved to eighth through Amber Leigh, before Lydia Turner blasted her club to silver with the fastest women’s time of 11:06.

Turner said: "I went really well but I felt the lactic and it’s nice to do a short race." Turner also talked through her past struggles with an eating disorder, which forced her to take several years out of the sport, but now feels that her running is a great help with her previous condition.

Lincoln Wellington also had a steady race for third overall.

Women (3x2M): 1 Derby 35:56 (M Hudson 11:17, E Jones 12:03, A Ita 12:35); 2 Birtley 36:24 (H Linton 13:19, A Leigh 12:00, L Turner 11:05); 3 Lincoln Wellington 36:44 (R Harrison 12:14, F Taylor 12:13, N Burns 12:16); 4 Sheffield & D 37:30 (E Inch 11:41, G Brown 12:58, T McGraw 12:50); 5 Hallamshire 37:37 (C Slack 12:45, N Squires 13:05, L Cardno 11:46); 6 Salford 38:05 (E Russell 12:49, J Wright 12:07, K Reynolds 13:09); 7 Keighley & C 38:14; 8 Rotherham 38:33; 9 Holmfirth 38:44; 10 Derby B 38:47

Fastest: L Turner (Birt) 11:06; M Hudson (Der) 11:17; B Reid (Traff) 11:22; M Bellward (K&C) 11:28; E Inch (Sheff & D) 11:41; L Cardno (Hallam) 11:46

43 teams finished

Young Athletes

There was surprise in the under-17 women’s race when favourites Lincoln Wellington succumbed to Rotherham, albeit only by seven seconds.

Little separated the clubs for all of their three 2.3km laps so such a tight finish was not too much of a surprise.

Both had trailed City of York’s Beth Lewis on the opening lap and her 7:32 leg was adjudged the fastest of the age group.

Grace Igoe took Rotherham ahead mid-race before Graihagh Turner finished things off for them. The win came despite a closing 8:01 from Lincoln’s Ellarose Whitworth, who said: "I went too fast too soon," but their second runner, Mollie Grant’s father Michael added "they’ve all had colds".

It was also close in the under-17 men’s event over the same distance but Trafford, who started steadily came through thanks to Theodore Austin and finally Finlay Dobson-Emmas to take the title from Leeds.

The fastest lap time went elsewhere as Mikey Bacon, whose Rotherham club was only 27th on stage one, came storming through to take third with the fastest under-17 time of 6:39. Bacon said: "I’ll take it."

Tommy Hastings led home the first leg of the under-15 boys’ race for Wakefield, ahead of Jacob Dawe and Ollie Curran for eventual winners Hallamshire and second placers Darlington. Their three marks remained as the fastest of the race as Liverpool snuck into third thanks to Bobby McEvoy at the line.

Sale Harriers came from behind to win the under-15 girls race over three 2km laps and it was their Beatrix Soper who finally gave them the lead on the last leg.

Earlier on, Derby’s Olivia Lee took the first stage in 7:15, a time that held up as the age group fastest. She said: "I went out easy then picked it up at the bottom of the hill but I was fastest under-15 here last year."

Sale secured a second title in the under-13 boys’ race but it had been Joseph Preston’s win on stage one, in 5:15, that proved to be the fastest of the age group.

Favourites Warriors Pentathlon won the under-13 girls championship but it was desperately close throughout before a single second was their winning margin over Bingley, whose Harriet Carter was fastest overall with 5:32.

U17 (3x2.3km): 1 Trafford 21:01 (A White 7:10, T Austin) 6:53, F Dobson-Emmas) 6:57); 2 Leeds 21:07 (Y Alem 6:56, J Norris 6:59, A Mith 7:11); 3 Rotherham 21:19 (R Hughes 7:43, A Bedford 6:55, M Bacon 6:39); 4 Tynedale 21:30 (J Lonergan 7:07, A Darling 7:22, M Riddell 7:00); 5 Hallamshire 21;32 (T Thake 6:49, E Shkul 7:42, R Keen 6:59); 6 Macclesfield 21:38 (J Ireland 7:04, T Wood 7:15, G Watkins 7:13); 7 Blackburn 21:39; 8 Halifax 21:41; 9 Derby 21:45; 10 Southport Waterloo 21:49

Fastest: M Bacon (Roth) 6:39; T Thake (Hallam) 6:49; T Austin (Traff) 6:53

29 teams finished

U15 (3x2km): 1 Hallamshire 21:10 (J Dawe 6:48, M Taylor 7:15, B Pronesti 7:06); 2 Darlington 21:20 (O Curran 6:52, D Callaghan 7:23, J L’Anson 7:04); 3 Liverpool 21:22 (P Herring 7:05, C Finch 7:17, B McEvoy 6:59); 4 Wakefield 21:32 (T Hastings 6:31, H Tolson 7:48, S Swan) 7:12); 5 Deby 22:03 (O Segal 6:54, T Newboult 7:36, R Harrison 7:33); 6 Leeds 22:07 (C Emmett 7:03, C Holmes 7:43, T Griffiths 7:20); 7 Trafford 22:08; 8 Keighley & C 22:09; 9 Sale 22:15; 10 Warriors 22:16

Fastest: T Hastings (Wake) 6:31; J Dawe (Hallam) 6:48; O Curran (Darl) 6:52

30 teams finished

U13 (3x1.8km): 1 Sale 16:46 (C Hodgson 5:34, A O’Hare 5:23, J Howell 5:48); 2 Keighley & C 16:54 (J Preston 5:15, F Meikle 5:54, R Schofield 5:43); 3 Warriors Pentathlon 16:56 (B Hughes 5:36, S Baker 5:38, Q McCaul 5:41; 4 Salford 17:01; 5 Bingley 17:03; 6 Wakefield 17:06

Fastest: J Preston (Keigh) 5:15; A O’Hare (Sale) 5:23; H McFarlane (Wake)/W Saunders (Der) 5:28

40 teams finished

U11 (3x1.5km): 1 Blackpool Wyre & Fylde 15:20. Fastest: T Morris (BWF) 4:43

34 teams finished

U17 (3x2.3km): 1 Rotherham 23:54 (M Schofield 7:50, G Igoe 7:53, G Turner 8:09), Lincoln Wellington 24:01 (I Porter 7:57, M Grant 8:02, E Whitworth 8:01); 3 Keighley & C 25:08 (C McKee 7:54, B Buckley 8:38, I Wright 8:35); 4 York 25:15 (B Lewis 7:32, L Davey 8:43, N Hopkins 8:59); 5 Liverpool 25:30 (R Murphy 8:07, E Redmond 8:41, B Hughes 8:41); 6 Salford 25:36 (S Bartallotts 8:41, O McManus 8:16, I Goodman 8:37); 7 Derby 26:21; 8 Hallamshire 26:22; 9 Blackburn 26:53; 10 Warriors 26:57

Fastest: B Lewis (York) 7:32; I Tutt (Wake) 7:43; M Schofield (Roth) 7:50

24 teams finished

U15 (3x2km): 1 Sale 23:04 (R Heywood-Young 7:52, M Boyer 7:43, B Soper 7:28); 2 Hallamshire 23;10 (F Hill 7:39, P Foxall 8:01, J Thake 7:29); 3 Leeds 23:35 (E Hofgkinson 7:47, E Keeler 8:01, R Friend 7:46); 4 Liverpool B 23:42 (H Peers 7:51, G Veevers 7:56, M Ford 7:54); 5 Liverpool A 23:50 (D Rushton 7:43, E Worrall 8:15, B Rawcliffe 7:51); 6 Lincoln W 23:51 (E Goulsbra 8:09, F Goulsbra 7:54, F Lilly 7:48); 7 Lincoln W B 24:11; 8 Derby 24:12; 9 York 24:12; 10 Sale B 24:23

Fastest: O Lee Der) 7:15; B Soper (Sale) 7:28; J Thake (Hallam) 7:29

23 teams finished

U13 (3x1.8km): 1 Warriors 17:36 (R Khoring 5:43, J Rogan 6:18, D McVicar 5:34); 2 Bingley 17:37 (B Bailey 5:56, C Pedley 6:08, H Carter 5:32); 3 Lincoln W 17:42 (M Porter 5:56, H Gossiel 6:07, H Norris 5:38); 4 Hallamshire 18:07; 5 Liverpool 18:31; 6 Liverpool B 18:15

Fastest: H Carter (Bing) 5:32; D McVicar (Warriors) 5:34; C Bailey (Hallam) 5:37

28 teams finished

U11 (3x1.5km): 1 Hallamshire 16:19. Fastest: S McCreedy (Wirral) 5:09

25 teams finished