The National XC Championships had to be moved from their originally-planned venue and were run concurrently with Round 4 of the National Series at Newnham Park, Plymouth. This worked out pretty well, largely because somehow the weather was good. The turnout was affected by the appalling weather (and hence travel) conditions elsewhere in the country, but the key players were generally present.
Jenny Copnall (Gary Fisher) took to the front of the women's race as part of a small group, but soon found herself alone. Jenn O'Connor crossed the line second, but as she's from New Zealand the silver National Champs medal went to third-placed Ruth McGavigan and the bronze to Maddie Horton.
The results of the men's race certainly weren't a foregone conclusion, with Oli Beckingsale recovering from illness. Ian Wilkinson gave him a considerable challenge but ultimately Beckingsale managed to take the win. Wilkinson's performance was certainly impressive, though, particularly as he's not a full-time racer and has a job to go to during the week. In third place was the ever-reliable Nick Craig, who we fully expect to still see on National podiums in 2050.
On the subject of old hands, a quick mention for newly-crowned Veteran Men champion Paul Hinton, scoring his first Championship win for twenty years after a bunch of near-misses. And congratulations also to BM forum regular Nick Evans, second in the Sports cat.
