South Of England Indoor Champs U13/15/17
Six young athletes took part in these championships but, despite our small turnout, two silver medals were secured.
Danny Raymond was 2nd in the South of England U17 800m
Met 2019-20 Race 4: Women and Men
WOMEN SLIDE INTO THE RELEGATION ZONE AFTER ALLY PALLY QUAGMIRE
Move over Dry January and Veganuary and make some room for Quaganuary; for there was only ever going to be one dominating set of conditions at Ally Pally on Saturday and the mud did not disappoint. However it didn’t stop hundreds of athletes, including over two hundred senior women, fresh from the first week back after the Christmas break, from tying a third knot in their spikes, one for every lap of this legendary course they would be tackling on this equalised route. The course notes may have omitted the H word, but there was no mistaking The Hill’s looming presence on that squelching start line.
Track man Pete Caton negotiates the mud the others left behind (pic: Sam Royle)
Met League 4 2019-20: U11s
The surprisingly mild conditions could not hide the evidence left behind by the heavy rains of recent weeks, with a muddy quagmire of a course awaiting our young athletes at Alexandra Palace in the fourth Met league fixture of the season. Alexandra Palace is a spectacular setting for cross country racing. Team WGEL set up camp on top of a hill overlooking the grassy, open fields below. This provided an ideal viewing point and the noise from our supporters in camp was to play a huge part in helping encourage our athletes in the tough muddy conditions.
The U11 race excludes the main hill at Alexandra Palace, but the long, grassy and now muddy stretches of the lower fields make it a deceptively tough course. The wet conditions underfoot were going to grind the momentum out of even the fastest legs. This was going to call for calm heads, sensible pacing and good, old-fashioned grit and determination. The athletes that could master this would put their team in a very strong position. Could our WGEL athletes do it?!
The big pack of Woodford U11 boys departs the start line (pic: Paul Hancock)
Essex CC: Young Athletes, etc
With many schools still on holidays it was a small squad of five junior athletes from Woodford Green with Essex Ladies that made the trip to Gloucester Park, Basildon for the Essex Cross Country Championships. It was a cold dry day. Course maps told us the course planner had made good use of the large hill feature in the park, creating a course with three steep ascents and corresponding descents. It would be challenging as befits a county championship course.
The under 17 race was first. WGEL had just one representative in the women's race, Jessica Adams who was running in her first county championship as a bottom year. Jessica rose to the challenge superbly finishing 15th in just under 23 minutes on a tough 5k course highlighting the rapid improvement she has made this season.