Gallery
Nostalgia: Looking back at cross country runs in Suffolk over the decades
Cross country taking place on Chantry Park - do you know which year? Picture: ARCHANT - Credit: Archant
Mud-spattered, chilled to the bone, aching all over – it can only be cross country running.
Cross country taking place on Chantry Park - do you know which year? Picture: ARCHANT - Credit: Archant
Love it or hate it, it has been a staple part of games lessons in schools across Suffolk for decades – for some the thrill of a race through winter parks or fields in uncertain conditions underfoot, and for others abject misery at being outside in the wind and rain and sometimes snow running your socks off and desperate to get back to a warm classroom.
Ipswich’s parks have for many years hosted not just school runs but also a host of championships for school pupils and also serious adult sportsmen and women.
Landseer Park, Chantry Park and Christchurch Park are among those which have hosted events enjoyed by competitors and spectators.
Do these photos bring back memories? Email judy.rimmer@archant.co.uk To order photos, visit www.eadt.co.uk/myphotos24, or call Diane Townsend on 01603 772449.
Families watch on as the runners make their way through the course of the Ipswich Rank Xerox cross country race in 1984 Picture: OWEN HINES - Credit: OWEN HINES
Cross country running races took place in Landseer Park in 1983 Picture: ARCHANT - Credit: Archant
Huge field for the Landseer Park Cross Country event in October 1991 Picture: ARCHANT - Credit: Archant
Huge field for the Landseer Park Cross Country event in October 1991 Picture: ARCHANT - Credit: Archant
Start of the girls' race in the Suffolk Schools Cross Country Championships in Ipswich in February 1980 Picture: ARCHANT
Start of the girls' race in the Suffolk Schools Cross Country Championships in Ipswich in February 1980 Picture: ARCHANT
