On Sunday 5th March, Rokeby boys travelled to Malvern College to take part in the NPSCC competition. The U11 and U13 cross country teams from Prep schools around the country attend this prestigious event every year and this was again another incredible occasion.
The course is set in the beautiful location of the Malvern Hills and, as such, lends itself for a spectacular setting for the races to take place. In addition, the course possesses perfect conditions and terrain for the event as it provides some challenging hills to be conquered as well as other unique landscapes to be explored.
The boys all met in the morning to walk the course and get used to the conditions of the day. We were fortunate as there had been little rain and so the course was dry. In previous years, the wind had been up, but on this occasion, we were blessed with favourable conditions (if a little bit cold).
The U11 boys’ race followed the girl’s event and we had a squad of four boys consisting of: Matthew T, Alex D, Ivan D and Charlie P (Year 5). The boys raced in the junior boy’s category over a 2.8km course. There were 213 boys competing and over 50 schools involved. Our boys were magnificent and won the small school’s competition in the team event! In this category there were 11 schools that took part with Rokeby taking glory. To put their success in perspective, they finished in the top 10 schools that competed on the day regardless of the size of the school. Matthew T finished in 13th place overall in a remarkable time of 10 minutes and 19 seconds. All four boys ran superbly and finished in the top half of the race. This was an incredible achievement and one the boys should be incredibly proud of!
The U13 boys’ race was slightly longer and consisted of two loops of the hills, which really tested their resilience and perseverance. The course was 3.2 km and there were over 150 competitors in the race. The boys’ squad consisted of: Cyrus S, Isaac M, Arthur K and Patrick E. The boys all ran incredibly hard and gave everything they had ensuring they finished in 3rd place in the small schools section of the competition. All four boys ran the course in under 14 minutes and should all be incredibly proud of their achievements. Both Cyrus and Patrick are Year 7 boys and so will have gained great experience for next year!
Please click the link to see the individual and team results from the day: https://timemyrace.co.uk/national-prep-schools-cross-country-championship/