EYXCL History
Please note that this history is a work in progress. Some of the info and dates may be slightly incorrect though we have done the best job we can to piece it all together.
Please all feel free to let myself or the administrators know of any details you think may not be quite correct or if you would like to add in any memories of the league. Richard Bramham.
Part 1: Early Days - Startup and Season 1. 1994-95.
The first race of the EYXCL was held at Danes Dyke near Bridlington on, we think, Sunday 9th October 1994. We think it’s the 9th Oct as there was no date on the race results and no other definitive record has yet been found. It is possible it was on 2nd Oct or even at the end of September?
At that first race a grand total of 46 runners competed from 5 East Yorkshire clubs. The league has grown steadily, coming a long way since that first race over 30 years ago; it now consists of 11 member clubs with close to 400 runners taking part in some of the races.
But how did the EYXCL come into existence, what was the motive behind it and the expectations for the future?
To quote Andrew Boyes of Driffield Striders one of the founder members, ‘The Ethos behind the formation of the EYXCL was to create a friendly local competition, away from the bureaucracy and commercialisation of road running. Tony Phillips from Brid was the driving force behind the establishment of the League’.
Tony Phillips was a teacher based near Bridlington and chairman of BRR at the time. He put forward the idea at the club’s 1994 AGM to have a local, off-road, running competition over the winter months. This was agreed in principle and Tony proceeded with the organisation.
Traditional cross-country events, that consist of multi age groups, split male and female with races spread over a full day of competition can be long days for just one race. Tony’s idea was to have just the one adult race per event to include both male and female runners: with the races to be set mainly on countryside footpaths rather than in the big field setting of traditional cross country. At that time BRR did offer a traditional cross-country event based at the Sewerby park grounds as part of another league series.
For the new venture several local clubs would be invited to attend and some sort of point scoring and league system would be created; the exact details still be worked out.
In the summer of 94 messages were posted or faxed out to all the clubs in East Yorkshire to gauge interest. At this time, it did not include the clubs in Hull as they were viewed as too big and the idea for the league was to start off small.
A meeting was subsequently held, we think at Driffield Leisure Centre, chaired by Tony, with representatives of the interested clubs to flesh out the idea. The agenda was to come up with some race venues and some rules (of which there were not very many) and get things moving for that autumn/winter.
Also involved in the organisation at the start was Judy and Bruce Allison, John Potter and Harry Benson who would be the referee, all from Brid plus Brian Richardson from Bev AC and Andrew Boyes from Driffield.
Brian remembers taking the proposal back to the Beverley committee for discussion, who then unanimously agreed for the club to join the league.
The clubs agreeing to take part in the league were Bridlington, Beverley, Driffield, Pocklington and Goole. It was decided to call the series the East Yorkshire Cross Country League, with five races proposed over the winter. Each club would host and organise one of the five races. It was decided that for the league table the first 6 men and the first 4 ladies would score points. There would also be awards for M and F individuals and vets. And that was about it.
From an old report by Nigel Warner, Goole Viking Strider’s press secretary at the time and first EYXCL club rep, it sounds like Goole were a last-minute addition to the league and didn’t attend the meeting, as here is a quote from him:
‘In 1994 we heard on the running grapevine that a cross-country league was being organised for East Yorkshire clubs. We found out that the first race was to be at Danes Dyke near Brid, so 3 of us, Alan Bexon, Karen Allen (as she was then) and I thought we’d toddle down and see what was going on.’
So, all very informal, but it did end up in a proper race with a referee/timekeeper in Harry Benson. Harry not only helped to referee and setup the league but was also very good runner in his younger days winning both Ferriby 10 and East Hull 20 in times that would probably win them today albeit wearing his 1950’s trainers.
So, that first season of the EYXCL consisted of 5 clubs and 5 venues at Danes Dyke, Bishop Wilton, Bishop Burton College, North Dalton and Staxton Wold, with only Bishop Wilton surviving on today’s calendar. A race was planned at Kilham but it never went ahead, maybe due to a change of mind by a landowner, but not yet confirmed. It was switched to Staxton Wold for the final race.
The first race of that first season was hosted by Bridlington Road Runners, as mentioned, and was then called Dynes Dyke. Unfortunately, to date, it has not been possible to piece together the exact route of that first race, although it was similar to the present route at Sewerby. The start and finish were probably in a different place from today, maybe on a farm road and certainly at a few later events the start/finish and presentation were at Sewerby Golf Club.
The first male winner was J Fielding of Brid and the first Lady was Alison Davison of Bev AC. Interestingly out of the five clubs only Beverley and Bridlington managed to field a full team of ladies in that first race. Goole had a team of one with both Driffield and Pocklington having no ladies at all; how times change!
Pocklington Runners hosted the second race at Bishop Wilton on 16th October 1994. Before the formation of Pocklington Runners in 1984, there existed a small running club called Bishop Wilton Harriers. Prior to 1984 BWH already had the Bishop Wilton cross country route as a race. With the formation of Pock Runners BWH’s members decided to join and disband the club. So, when the EYXCL was formed the old Bishop Wilton route was resurrected on what we think is the same course used today.
We say think as in the original EYXCL typed results the distance is quoted as 6.5 miles, as opposed to the current course which is 5.7 miles. We think this distance must be an error, as the winning time by P Howdle from Bev AC was just under 36 minutes so not much different to the recent best times on today’s course. The first lady over the line was J Newton of Bev AC.
The cross-country league concept showed early signs of being a success with the number of entries increasing by over 30% to 61 runners at Bishop Wilton.
Beverley hosted the third race at Bishop Burton College on Saturday 12th November. Brian said ‘initially, the college were good landlords but later complained that the runners were damaging the equestrian course! The route included obstacles such as bales of hay that had to be jumped over.’ This race was won by Stuart Spooner of Brid and first lady was again Alison Davison Bev AC. We think the race was held on a Saturday as the course was used for horses on the Sunday.
The fourth race was at North Dalton on 27th November, hosted by Driffield Striders. The race finished on the cricket pitch and refreshments were served in the village hall. North Dalton was still on the calendar up to 2007 when it was replaced by Thixendale with both venues being hosted by Driffield.
The male winner was Chris Smales of Goole Viking Striders and first lady was Alison Davison of Bev AC. Chris Smales was a very good runner and won several EYXCL races over a couple of seasons. Unfortunately, he only lived in Goole for a couple of years before moving away with work.
North Dalton had the highest attendance of the season with 72 runners.
The fifth and final race of that first season was held at Staxton Wold up near the RAF station. This must have been organised at short notice as the race should have been at Kilham as mentioned earlier. The actual race route for this event is unknown at the moment and is still being investigated.
The race was held on Saturday 7th January 1995, we think due to a Sunday restriction at the RAF station? It is not yet clear which club hosted this event. It should have been Goole’s turn but they definitely didn’t as it is too far away, so it was probably either Driffield or Brid. Goole would host their first race the following season.
The presentation was held at the Four Winds pub near Driffield (now no more). It was held later in January and not straight after the race as it is now.
The Individual Prizes went to Stuart Spooner of BRR and Alison Davison of Bev AC.
The Male Team prize went to BRR, second was Bev AC. The female winners were Bev AC and runners up BRR.
Interesting that two races in that first season were held on a Saturday and that the season only lasted around 12 weeks, early October to early January.
More to follow.
Thanks to the following for the info so far: Tony Phillips, Judy Allison, Brian Richardson, Andrew Boyes, Alan Kendra, John Proctor, Nigel Warner (RIP), Steve Durose, Samantha Allen, Wendy Foster.