PECO Cross Country League (2026-27): Race 1 (Temple Newsam)

Race Date: Sunday 8th November 2026

Race Times & Distances:
Junior XC Challenge (U12 – ages 7 to 11 on 31 August 2027 – usually school years 2 - 6): 10.00am, 1.2 miles approx.
Junior XC Challenge (U17 - ages 12 to 16 on 31 August 2027 – usually school years 7 - 11): 10.20am, 1.7 miles approx..
Senior Men (aged 16 and over*): 11.00am, 4.7 miles approx.
Senior Ladies (aged 16 and over*): 11.10am, 4.7 miles approx.

* Age groups for all 5 races in the season are based on age on 8/11/2026

Race Location:
All races will take place entirely within the grounds of Temple Newsam Estate – the Assembly area is in front of the House where both the start and finish are located. The best postcode is LS15 0AE. Access to the estate is generally from Selby Road - use either the Temple Newsam Road or Colton Road access points.

Registration:

IF YOU ALREADY HAVE YOUR RACE NUMBER, PLEASE DON’T FORGET TO BRING IT WITH YOU TO THE RACE. ENSURE THAT YOU BRING THIS SEASON’S PECO XC RACE NUMBER WITH YOU (AS OPPOSED TO SOME OTHER RANDOM NUMBER FROM A DIFFERENT RACE / LEAGUE / YEAR): IF YOU DON’T RUN IN YOUR ALLOCATED RACE NUMBER (OR A REPLACEMENT ISSUED TO YOU AT RACE REGISTRATION), THEN YOU WILL NOT APPEAR IN THE RESULTS OR ‘COUNT’ TOWARDS TEAM SCORES OR FOR INDIVIDUAL SERIES POINTS! THERE WILL BE NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS RULE IN ORDER TO ENSURE THAT ALL RUNNERS ARE TREATED EQUALLY AND FAIRLY.

If your club is a League member club AND you have registered for the race series online, you should NOT come to race registration: your race number will not be there – your League club representative will have it. You should collect it from him / her in accordance with the arrangements that your club has put in place. If these arrangements have not been communicated to you, please follow this up with your club rep / cross country captain BEFORE race day.

If your club is NOT a League member club AND you have registered for the race series online, you should collect your race number from Registration UNLESS your club has made other arrangements (i.e. if a club representative will be collecting all the club’s race numbers and handing them out on the Start / Finish field at Temple Newsam).

If you want to register on the day to run as a ‘Guest’ for Race 1, or if you have lost / damaged your race number and need a replacement, then you DO need to come to Registration.

Any race number queries can be addressed directly with the PECO race organisers.

Car Parking:
Car parking will be using the standard Temple Newsam car parks – they are all now pay and display, payment is either by card or via the PayByPhone app. Please do not park along the Temple Newsam estate access routes.

If possible, we would recommend

• Car sharing where possible
• Using public transport – numerous buses travel along Selby Road and Crossgates’ Train Station is only 1.6 miles away
• Parking in the nearby area and walking. If you do need to park ‘on street’ please ensure that you do so safely, legally and with due consideration to residents if parking in a residential area.
• Running or cycling to the event

Changing & Toilets:
Please either come ready to run or change at your club tent (please do not change in the toilets).  Toilets are available for use in the Temple Newsam courtyard. We have been asked by Temple Newsam Estate Management to ensure no Muddy Shoes will be washed in the sinks.

Warming Up:
Please keep off the junior race courses directly in front of the house and assembly area after 10.00am, as this is when the junior races start and it is not fair to the children to get in their way, or confuse them by running across or back along their race route. Please also do not congregate at the start until the previous race has finished as all courses go back through the start line at least once and runners may still be on route.

The Courses:
The Junior 1.2 Mile Course (School Years 2 to 6) course is almost entirely on grass, with a small section of newly laid cycle path near the end and may be suitable for spikes.

The Junior 1.7 Mile Course (School Years 7 to 12) course will be run on a combination of grass, gravel and a newly laid cycle path and again may be suitable for spikes.

The Senior course is also run on grass, gravel and a cycle path and may not be suitable for spikes

The Senior course has a water splash / jump at the 3.1 mile mark, the depth of the water is around 2 feet. Drier ground can be found to the left of the water splash if absolutely necessary.
 
The race route goes up through Pegasus Wood and up through Spring Wood – these woods contain a number of small humps and hollows made by local mountain bikers – please watch your footing in these sections.

Club Tents
To ensure that the club tented area does not interfere with the routes for either the Senior or Junior races, please set up all tents in front of the house to the north (TN courtyard side) of the finish.

Senior Course Map:

PlotaRoute Link + GPX Download - https://www.plotaroute.com/route/3201631

The course starts by heading clockwise round the field and then leads to a climb up the side of a set of small, wooded copses to the hilltop by a bench.  From here it loops back through the start for another lap of the field. On arriving at the bench for the second time the route turns left downhill to the field corner where you turn right onto a gravel path (careful on this turn). Turn immediately right through a gate onto a steep grassy hill (dog kennel hill). At the top bear slightly right to a crossroads at the top of Pegasus hill. From there continue straight on and then bear left onto an open area with a number of benches. Exit at the far end, bear left and continue straight downhill where you will turn right. Follow the right-hand edge of the old fairway all the way to the top and a lovely vista of the Leeds Industrial estates and Incinerator

Turn left onto a path and then follow this downhill through newly fenced off areas. Turn left at the end of a line of trees and head back uphill and round the old green at the top. Then it’s downhill again (steepest descent of the course) down yet another old fairway. Head left to a gap through the trees then turn right and follow this downhill to a wood corner. Turn left and prepare yourself for the water splash. After the soggy splash head uphill and round the old green at the top before coming back downhill to nearly back to the water jump (don’t worry you don’t have to do it twice). Turn right here into Spring Wood and follow the left-hand path all the way to the T junction at the top.

Take a right and then right again to bring you onto another old fairway. Run down the central track to the bottom left corner. Take a left onto a small path and then soon after left again into Pegasus Wood. To allow passing, please look out for straight on repeater signs and pick your own line. Near to the top of the woods some mountain bike jumps and pits will be passed so navigate with care. At the staggered crossroad immediately after these features go left and then right and you will emerge back out onto the path from earlier. Take a right back to the crossroads at the top of Pegasus hill and then left onto the start finish field. Here a newly laid cycle track dash will take you to the finish.

Junior 1.2 Mile Course Map:

The route comprises of two clockwise laps, running around the main field in front of the main assembly area. On each lap the juniors come back over the start line and once two full laps have been completed, they bear left onto the newly surfaced cycle track

PlotaRoute URL - https://www.plotaroute.com/route/3201647

Junior 1.7 Mile Course Map:

The route start with one full clockwise lap (same as the other junior course). However on lap two after the climb beside the wooded copses head left at the bench downhill to the field corner where you turn right onto a gravel path (careful on this turn). Turn immediately right again through a gate onto a steep grassy uphill (dog kennel hill) At the very top at the crossroads turn right and it’s a small dash from there to the finish on a newly laid cycle track.

PlotaRoute URL - https://www.plotaroute.com/route/3201658

Post-Race Food:
No post-race food will be provided.

Results
Results will be published as soon as possible after the race on the League website (www.pecoxc.co.uk) and on RaceBest https://racebest.com/results

Any Questions: If you need any further information before the race, please e-mail Mark Hetherington at mark@evensplits.co.uk

St Theresas Athletic Club - STAC