CHINGFORD LEAGUE, HOG HILL - EASTER MONDAY

Once again the Chingford League organisers were quick off the mark to arrange a fixture just shortly after the easing of a lockdown. It was the same venue as the second round, Hog Hill, but run in the opposite direction. It was therefore unfortunate that the start position was adjusted and so meant ‘The Hill’ still had to be tackled three times! The Woodford contingent was much stronger than last time, which also included two women. Alicia McArdell was our highest placed finisher in 7th (both divisions) with a time of 20:10 over the tough 5k course.

It seems fair to summarise the race as one of new dawns for the club. It was the first team outing for the new vests, and followed shortly after Phil Norman’s impressive individual performance over a similar distance on the track last week. There was also was Tom Williams’ debut with an excellent 21st place in 17:15, out of over 200 male finishers. Tom Adolphus (16th)  led home the senior men for the first time in his career, which bodes well for the future given his U20 status. As well as returns to racing for Rob Wilbraham (59th) and Ben Phillips (65th). It was a much longer break for Ben of 8 years and it clearly helped for him to be 15kg lighter than his last outing. Another first was Pete Caton (48th) “finally” beating Harold Wyber (55th), whose facial hair provided much amusement to some of his fellow team ‘mates’. At his age, it’s rare for Tony Pamphilon (77th) to experience any new dawns, but as fastest V60 his performances remain reliably consistent. On a similar note, it’s not uncommon for Harold to close a scoring team and he did so once again on Easter Monday with the team finishing in 2nd in Division 2. We hold the same position in the overall standings behind Ilford AC and promotion is looking likely with the traditional final fixture of a relay due to take place on 17th April.

Alex Wardle was pleased to be back racing and was only a handful of places away from finishing in the top half of the 139 female finishers. Scott Kyson was also happy with his run, although had the humbling realisation that his time (19:12) was quicker than in December’s largely due to a shorter course. As is typical, brothers Tom and Simon Beedell were important contributors to the scoring A team and also provided organisational assistance to the race day squad. The gap between them was slightly bigger than in December but it’ll require consistency from both if they’re to remain the fastest brother pairing at the club given the likely resumption of the Phillipses.