Met League Double for Senior Women/Men
Though reigning women’s champions Highgate Harriers produced an excellent team to win this one battle, it was a vain attempt to also win the war, and we celebrated our first-ever women’s league title.
Meanwhile the men, who were neck-and-neck with Serpentine going into the race, were dominant and packed 10 in 24 to clinch their 11th title in 21 years.
The women began the day with a healthy 103 point margin over a Highgate team who had won a marvellous 7 consecutive titles. And, once the tight-knit squad which has turned out all season was reassembled on the start line, nothing short of a series of freak accidents could prevent the inevitable Woodford victory. As they have done more than once in recent seasons, Highgate threw everything at the final fixture, but for once they had left it too late. Despite an impressive 1-2-3 finish and 6 in 17, our 6 in 25 produced race scores of Highgate 567, Woodford 522, meaning we finished 58 points clear.
In a field of 101 finishers,1min 22secs down on race winner Svenja Abel, we were led home by Linda Jackson (8), who missed the Southern triumph through injury. Southern medallists Lauren Stewart (10) and Kat Gundersen (12) were 12secs and 17secs respectively behind Jackson. Diana Kennedy (16) showed improved form from the Southern, beating Maggie Powell (19) and Rachel Lund (25), both of whom were well ahead of her at Parliament Hill. It was a quality race at the top end, with Shaftesbury producing their best performance for some time, just 19 points behind ourselves.
Next in was Bernadine Pritchett (31), some way off her best but another who has always been at the forefront of the battle to overthrow Highgate. In 45th, Andrea Possee chipped 20-30 seconds off the gap between her and Woodford’s top women. Alex Wardle (59) is another improver and just pipped Rebecca Oatham (61) in the final stages of the race.
Di Kennedy, who has for several years been at the heart of the team’s frustrating struggle to end Highgate’s supremacy, was elected to collect and raise the coveted trophy.
After the race the team presented manager Wardle with an elegant photograph frame engraved to commemorate the double triumph of becoming Southern champions and Met League champions within the space of a fortnight – engraved before the event with the women keeping their fingers crossed that nothing would go wrong!
Final league positions: 1, WGEL 2691; 2, Highgate 2633; 3, Serpentine 2352.
The men’s task was quite different. After 4 years during which we and Shaftesbury had monopolised the top two positions, Shaftesbury were 400 points adrift in 3rd place and we began the day just 15 points clear of new challengers Serpentine, who describe themselves as “possibly the largest running and triathlon club in Britain”, with 2331 members.
A feelgood factor clearly at work, Serpentine threw what they could at the race and closed 12 in 65, which would normally have earned them victory. But the field was down from the usual 330 to 260, making it easier to place well. 65 was the new 90! And our top men turned out in such force that we closed an imperious 10 in 24, plus 46 and 61 to win the day by 114 points. It was a league performance as good as any we have ever produced, and featured intensive intra-club rivalry with 6 of the lads finishing within 19” of each other between positions 16 and 24.
At the front of the 3-lap race, it was Serpentine’s Huw Lobb and Nick Torry (19th and 21st respectively at the Southern Champs) who broke away with our own Lotfi Chebli (39th there). Towards the end of lap 2 the men in yellow and red developed a gap over Chebli, but he clung on grimly and came back on the final hill to pass 2:14 marathon man Lobb and finish 10 seconds behind winner Torry.
Martyn Cryer is reacquainting himself with cross country racing and, after a steady start, worked through to 4th, 27secs behind Torry. There was a welcome return to form from Bertie Powell (9), running his 34th consecutive Met League race, who came in 22” ahead of the consistent Dan Agustus (11). A massive plus was the reappearance of 67.22 half-marathon man Ben Hope (16), in his first race since injuring himself in the London Marathon last April.
Craig Berg and Angus Holford, who came through the junior ranks together and, like Chebli and Cryer, won Southern medals 2 weeks ago, travelled down from Coventry and Lancaster respectively to finish 18 and 24, 11” apart. Matt Shone had put in 3 weeks of hard graft for this, his first appearance of another winter where he is combining work and legal studies. He lacked the training to break into the top 20… but was only 6” away as it was Kevin Murphy who took a very satisfactory 20th. And in 22nd place was U20 Gavin Lewis, running his best senior race to date as a result of his clever strategy to work off the reliable Holford.
There was a terrific run from M40 Matt Molloy (46) who is starting to hit full throttle now. And Jim Roche had the honour of closing the team in 61, despite needing to stretch his troublesome leg for some 20” on the last lap.
Final league scores: 1, WGEL 8394; 2, Serpentine 8265; 3, Highgate 6727.
Our B team began the day in 12th place, 320 points above the drop zone. Not safe by any means and, as always, dependent on our A team doing well. Good runs from M50 Alan Rugg (67), CJ Shephard (68) and U20 Karim Ali (71) got us scoring quickly. Tony Pamphilon’s 107 compares rather well with where he began the season at Ruislip, in 300th! Next in were swimmer Alex Chklar (120), Steve "Steady Steve" Dawkins (127) and a below-par Iain Cumming (132). Jon Powell once finished 3rd in one of these races, but off no training was happy to simply bolster our ranks with 138. The private tussle between M50 Alistair Holford (164) and M40 Martin Mack took them past Steve Ladhams (182), who is still learning the CC ropes. And closing the B team, around 20” short of the top 200, was Michael Murphy (206). Towards the rear, Stuart Phillips (255) was pleased to overtake a tiring Trevor Powell (258) and thus make it the first time in his Met League career that he had not been our last man standing.
There was an odd look to the team scores with ourselves and Serpentine a huge 600 points clear of the rest, Serpentine B 5th and our B team 9th. Strange to see Shaftesbury finishing 15th and last with only 7 men. Their manager is expecting better things at the National in two weeks’ time. Our B team maintained their Division 1 status in 12th overall, with Garden City saving themselves from the drop at the last hurdle and sending Victoria Park down with St Albans. They will be replaced by London Frontrunners and Mornington Chasers next season.
The drop zone (2 go down): 12, WGEL B 3937; 13, Garden City 3588; 14, Victoria Park 3389; 15, St Albans 3106.
So we became the third club to do “the double” of men/women victories, after Hillingdon (1997/98) and Puma TVH (twice, 1998-2000). With 11 championships, Woodford’s men remain the second-most successful league club after Thames Valley Harriers (16 titles - just 2 since 1987). The men's competition began in 1966 and women's in 1994.
The youngest member of the scoring 12, Gav Lewis, accepted the trophy from the peerless Howard Williams (retiring after 44 magnificent years as League Secretary) and raised it high.
Team Manager Terry McCarthy, a scorer the first time that Woodford's men won a Met League race, back in 1987, said, “Serpentine made us dig deep today. Afterwards they vowed that they'd get us next year. I'm glad they warned us. Now we shall stay alert."
Everyone’s thoughts now go to the National on 27th February. “Things are looking positive for Leeds. I’m hoping we can seriously revise our best in recent years of 12th.”
Elsewhere, Ronnie Sparke won the Junior Men's race at the Lotto Cross Cup in Hannut, Belgium by 11 seconds from Ben Norris, and Karl Billington, all 3 representing England. Norris, of Notts, was 2nd in the recent Midlands CC Champs, while Billington, of Blackburn, was 3rd in the Northerns.