The 5th round of the NYSD cross country competition took place at Ormesby Hall on Sunday 9th December.  A fairly flat course, this should have been a relatively speedy race under normal circumstances but it was not to be.  Because of the recent rain, the 6 members of Teesdale AC who travelled to the event were greeted with a sea of mud, especially around the start and finish areas. After the junior races, which churned up the surface even more, the women completed two laps of the course, and found staying on their feet challenging. As the course made its way out along the field, the surface improved slightly and when the course turned down into the wood, the ground was thankfully much firmer. The men fared worse as theirs was the final race and they had three laps to complete.  Because of the conditions, the course was shortened and NYMAC have to be commended for putting on an excellent race under the challenging conditions.  First back for TAC women was Louise Franks 38.28, second Judith Rodwell 40.58 closely followed by Tricia Child 41.19.  For the men first back for TAC was Nigel Mawer 44.36, second David Raymond 47.34 and Peter Wilcox 49.40.