The Race:

Men's 'A' Race:

Even with the unfortunate withdrawal (on the morning of the race) of Alex Robinson, with Jack Hillier stepping into his shoes, it was still a strong, DUAXC outfit, who were keen to emulate and improve on the 9th place team finish last year- despite having only one survivor (Josh) from that team. On those grounds, the 10th place finish does go down as slightly dissappointing, yet it is testament more to the quality of the competition than the performances of our athletes.

Competing over a suspiciously long 10km course, where two short (1km) laps was followed by four long ones of double the distance, not to mention the obligatory mud and hills which is par for the course (forgive the pun!) the pace at the front was to say the least, rapid. After gradually reducing the lead group in size, Birmingham's NIck Goolab (runner up last year and former European Junior medalist) just outlicked Mary's Ross Murray, with teammate James Wilkinson in 3rd. The face that the reigning Under 23 World Triathlon champion, Jonny Brownlee could only finish 5th is testament to the high standard on display, as Birmingham defeated St Mary's for the team win, with Oxford taking a surprise, but well-deserved bronze.

47th: Josh Cole: 37:59

After such a strong winter so far, Josh was aiming for a top 30 finish. But after a perfect start, where he tucked onto the back of the lead group, it became apparant that it wasn't going to be quite his day. However, he still finished 17 places higher than last year, and showed his fitness with a very strong last lap to cement a top 50 finish, and beat a number of very good runners in the process.

57th: Michael Grimes: 38:19

Despite his, somewhat pessimistic post race reaction, Mike ran a fine race on his BUCS debut, working through the field strongly after a steady start finishing in a higher position than our second scorer last year (one Matt Proctor!) so a great effort.

73rd: Patrick Vis: 39:06

Once again Patrick showed what a find he has been for the club this year, with a strong, well paced display to beat a number of higher rated athletes, including Tom Maddon, his Merseyside rival and (it goes without saying) his brother Joe.

86th: Martin Proctor: 39:33

Another great display by Martin. After a steady start, he ran virtually the whole race on the shoulder of Dan (using his post grad partner to perfection) before kicking on over the last lap to complete the scoring team

94th: Dan Jenkin: 39:47

Another solid performance by Dan after his Northern Cross showing last weekend. Dan was unlucky in the end to be beaten by Martin but the fact that he was 5th in the team, yet still came in the top 100 shows the growing depth we have at the club.

109th: Jack Hillier: 40:19

After having about three hours notice that he was running the 'A' race, Jack put in a very tactically astute performance, working through the field to finish on the crest of the top 100, and showing that he is entering his preferred track season in good shape.

Women's Race:

If the standard of the Men's race was high, in the women's it was even higher, as the reigning European Junior Champion, and Number one in the UK this winter, St Maries' Charlotte Purdue romped to a 45 second victory ahead of last years runner up Stevie Stockton (Loughborough) and last weeks Southern XC winner Naomi Taschimowitz (Cambridge) 

For Durham, after losing Becky Howarth (last years 10th place finisher) and following the late withdrawal of former English Schools winner Loulou Rowlands, it was always going to be a tall order to match last years 13th place. However, the girls still put in some gutsy and impressive performances as they proved once again their consistency, with seven finishing within 90 seconds of each other, and consequently throwing any pre-race predictions as to the Durham finishing order out of the window.

Durham eventually finished 31st, as Loughborough, Birmingham and St Mary's completed a predictable 1-2-3.

191st: Kat O'Mahony 36:46

Quite simply, a fantastic, breakthrough performance from Kat. Yes she was only 191st, but after pushing the pace from the outset, Kat's brave tactics paid off and she brilliantly (and unexpectability) led home the Palatinate charge.

192nd: Sophie Smith 36:46

Another fine effort by Sophie, our most consistent female runner this season. After great support, with one Yorkshire based 'B' Team competitor sacrificing his whole warmup to cheer her on, Sophie finished very strongly and by the end was a matter of inches from overtaking Kat.

194th: Olivia Short 36:48

More at home on the track, Olivia showed that she is also capable on the country, with by far her best performance of the winter. Again, running a well-paced race, Olivia came through strongly to finish in the top 200 and complete the scoring team.

221st: Bria Dickinson: 37:50

After being Wales' lone representative during the rugby the night before, Bria proved that her nation does not produce only losers as she had a fine race to pip more experienced team-mates in her BUCS debut.

224th: Emily Field-Lucas: 37:52

A good performance by Emily, who showed her triathlon fitness with a strong finish as she held off Yvonne and dipped under the 38 minute barrier.

231st: Yvonne Farrell 38:04

A solid run by Yvonne, who showed how much she has improved this season by moving through the field well, and just missing out on catching Emily and Bria.

236th: Tory Wells 38:10

Another good fresher find this season, Tory again showed her ability over longer courses with a solid, well paced run.

263rd: Alice Lilley 39:43

A good showing by another BUCS debutant, Alice produced a strong, sub-40 minute performance.

273rd: Rebecca Burbridge 40:47

Kit Secretary Becca, running in her first BUCS XC (I think) ran well over a long distance, just missing out on the 40 minute barrier but still beating some good opposition.

280th: Sophie Sempers: 41:35

Perhaps not her strongest run of the year, but still a solid effort by Sophie, with the fact that at Leeds. Sophie was first Palatinate home illustrating the great depth we have on the women's side.

308th: Helena French 45:56

A tough but impressive debut from Helena, who still beat a number of other competitors with a well-judged effort.

DNF: Louisa Monk

A tough club debut for Louisa, but the sheer fact that despite struggling to walk earlier in the week, she still ran and did not stop for ages in the face of (very!) obvious pain shows excellent credentials for a strong performance next time.

Men's 'B' Race:

With the pre-race promotion of Jack Hillier to the 'A' Race, there were some excellent performances from the depleted 'B' Team, who finished 8th university, compared with 12th last year, while the 'C' and 'D' teams were close behind in 35th and 54th respectably.

At the front, it was another top race, as last year's winner Dan Clorley finished 3rd behind Birmingham team-mate Carl Smith and Loughborough's Matthew Wright, as Birmingham finished 2nd team between two St Mary's outfits.

74th: Owen Walpole 31:54

An improvement of 20 places from last year as Owen showed his increasing endurance as led home the Durham charge with a well-paced run which should prepare him well for BUCS Indoors in two weeks time.

82nd: Chris Lowe 32:14

Chris continued his impressive 2011 form as challenged Owen with a fine display.

92nd: Rory Johnson: 32:48

With the possible exception of Dan v Martin, Ed and Rory produced the inter-DUAXC battle of the day. Rory doggedly stuck to Ed for 7km, then pushed ahead over the final 800m (in the same way Ed usually does to everyone else!)

93rd: Ed Hickman-Casey 32:51

Despite being understandably disappointed to miss out to Rory, this was still a fine display from track specialist Ed, who finished top 100 on his BUCS debut, and competed the first 'B' team in the process. (And we finally got a good picture of him as well- thanks Davy!)

105th: Max Coventry 33:14

A good effort by Max, just missing out on the first scoring four, and on the top 100, but still showing his potential for future years.

148th: Ollie Cook 34:27

At the other end of the experience scale from Max, seven time BUCS competitor Ollie produced another strong 2011 performance (showing that he is in perhaps his best ever form) as he regained his dominance over Pete in the process!

154th: Ciaran Costello 34:50

Another good find this year, Ciaran ran strongly and was with Ollie at one point before finishing just outside the top 150,

176th: Alistair Galt 35:46

After a cautious start, Alistair romped through the field to overtake a number of his team mates and in the process pull the 'C' home in 35th position.

182nd: Pete Davison: 36:04

A tough run by Pete (who was showing the beginnings of illness) but it still showed his huge improvement from last year.

215th: Ed Newbould 37:12

A solid effort by Ed, pacing himself well as he pulled away from Phil to good effect.

229th: Phil Harrison 38:01

Despite missing out on catching training partners Pete and Ed, it was still a good, well maintained performance by Phil.

236th: Nick Butler 38:16

In my opinion, a much improved performance from recent outings, I struggled over the first long lap but came through reasonably well over the final sections.

238th: Clive Knipe 38:19

Despite still suffering from a leg injury, Clive ran well on his BUCS debut and just missed out on the third Durham team.

283rd: 'Tim' King Lung Cheung 48:33

Epitomising perfectly the 'its not the winning but the taking part' philosophy, Tim put in a hugely gutsy performance, finishing well (and not last!) in a tough race,

At the end of the day though, competing and winning is not the only thing on the line; providing the best race photograph is also important:

...And there was a hands down winner as Tory gave a new insight into streamlined running technique with her improvised method for negating a cross country course!

Well run everyone!