ATW Metropolitan CC League race 4: Seniors
We fielded strong squads in both the men's and women's races yesterday in Race 4 of the Active Training World London Metropolitan Cross Country League at Perivale. Both our teams finished 2nd. The men remain 2nd in Division 1 and the women 3rd in Division 1. Our Men's B team were an excellent 6th on the day and remain 8th in Division 1. Pete Matthews led home our men, and Kat Gundersen our women.
Men's A team
The course at Horsenden Hill was its usual slushy, dirty self, but we had an admirable 39 men finish in the field of 350. However, our backs were up against the wall as we sought to cling onto our proudly-earned league trophy, with Highgate Harriers going through a purple patch in their history and we depleted as two of our top men (Alex Cornwell and Ed Shepherd) were running the Birmingham CC League match in order to make the Birmingham University team for the British Universities championship. Another man capable of making the top 10, Matt Gunby, is currently recovering from injury, and top 20 man Tom Phillips was working in Cardiff. Daniel Bruynooghe was at his grandmother's funeral in Germany.
We threw everything else that we had at the race. Jordan Donnelly left work in Nuremburg on Friday night, took the train to Munich, and flew to London. Training partners Andy Mariani and Pete Matthews motored down from Loughborough. Trains, planes and automobiles. Angus Holford released himself from Essex University CC Manager duties for the first time this season. Old hands were there in abundance.
But as the race unfolded it was plain that Highgate had come superbly equipped to deal with our challenge. By the end of the first of 3 laps, they had 3 men in the top 10, just ahead of a group containing an astonishing 6 more Highgate and just two Woodford lads. Sure enough, we were packing well behind that, but it was clearly not enough.
At the front, Herts Phoenix' international Nielsen Hall, unusually, waited for half a lap before launching his usual aggressive attack. Highgate's Dixon struggled to stay with him, but Hall took 3 seconds per mile out of him to win his 3rd Met of the season. Newham had 3 men in the top 10 as they seek promotion from Division 2. After Dixon, Highgate had Bruce (6) and Noad (11). Then our Matthews, making his cross country debut for us, finished strongly for 13th, 5" ahead of Mariani. It was the first race of the winter season for both, so both were rusty, but can be satisfied and use it to build towards the summer track season.
Highgate's six men then closed before a rush of our own men, 4 within 9 seconds. Tom Beedell (26) got the better of Matt Shone (27), Angus Holford (28) and Bertie Powell (29). As a man who doesn't enjoy the mud, Matt Shone's was probably most pleased with his run, though all four were solid. Donnelly (32) came in 20" behind that group, just ahead of Kevin Murphy (35) and Harold Wyber (36). Darren Southcott had a tough time, finishing 43rd.
Of these first 10 Woodies home, 7 had run their county championships last weekend. 4 helped us win the Essex title. Beedell won the Bucks title, and Donnelly won a team gold with Wirral on Merseyside. Accumulated tiredness probably cost them all a few places, but glory often comes at a price.
Our A team was rounded off by two excellent runs from Louis Clark (45) and Tony Russell (57). Both missed out on last week's Essex-winning team but this provided very acceptable consolation.
Our performance was good, even very good. But it was no match for a Highgate squad closing 12 in 38 and 16 in 49. We at Woodford have 13 Met League titles to our credit but never have we done better than close 12 in 44, which shows the level of Highgate's achievement. While trailing in their wake, we are a mighty 800+ points ahead of third-placed Serpentine with one race left.
Team Manager Terry McCarthy was satisfied that his club had given it everything, "Today we were beaten by a very special performance. It looks like the title is heading Highgate's way and, if so, they will have earned it. But I was more than pleased with our effort today, and proud of my men."
Women's A team
Best result of the season - 2nd place. 6 in 26. All to play for.
It was cold and it was muddy. Despite relatively little rainfall during the week, the gently undulating course was sodden. Having left the warming embrace of the Community Hall, lacking any kind of camp infrastructure, and in the shadow of the Highgate travelling disco, the Woodettes battled with wind-flapped carrier bags to make islands of dryness as they prepared to fight back into contention in this penultimate fixture of the season.
This New Year fixture is never expected to be a record-breaker, but the growing popularity of XC, perhaps bolstered by new incentives, beefed up the field to a very respectable 139 - 36 more than last year, when the sky was azure and the going was packed snow. Of our ten girls on the start line, six were a cut above the rest, but Linda Jackson's poor health made it questionable whether she would finish the race. Spotting only 4 Shaftesbury girls on the line provided a late but important boost as the girls were off. This time there were no squeals or curses but a focused silence as the mixed sweet smells of deodorant and manure carried forth on the icy wind.
After a customary fast start, led out by Sidnie Sales, the Woodford girls packed well together. First home and third Vet overall was V35 Kat Gundersen (11), with her best league performance this season (and second great run in a week) - Gundo firmly and muddily casting any doubt about her form to the biting Siberian wind. 12" behind Gundersen was first V45 Linda Jackson (12) who, in barely an hour, had transformed from the huddled, wheezing bundle that shuffled off the coach "to see how it feels after le warm-up" to Gallic gazelle as soon as she sniffed out the competition. On recent form, a healthy Jackson would certainly have made the top ten, so to equal her Ally Pally 12th while barely over a chest infection was, to say the least, impressive. On her heels only 2" behind, Rachel Lund (13) also made the vestibule of the top ten as she climbs steadily in this League. Third and only 3" behind Lund, Dani Nimmock (14), getting stronger and sharper with each race, made it four green & whites in a row across the line. Lauren Stewart (16), having foregone Christmas training in favour of a sanity-saving job change, lacked the sharpness that would have given Woodford the hat trick, and was unable to hold off Wylie of eventual winners Highgate, who closed 5 in 15 to our 5 in 16. Sidnie Sales, 25" behind Stewart, having also exchanged race-sharpness for a no-doubt restorative Christmas break, couldn't hold onto her lead for Woodettes and closed the team in a (still mightily respectable) 26th, giving the girls their best performance this season, putting us back into third place in the league and not yet out of contention. Sidnie picked up the £55 prize for first U20 home.
Woodford's 6 in 26, though being first team to close, was trumped by Highgate's 4 in 10 (6 in 27) which raised them to 4th in the league. With Shaftesbury unable to close a team, they dropped to 2nd (though still 87 points ahead of us) so that Serpentine, with a notably weaker showing yesterday (6 in 34), go back on top.
Reporter and Raceday Captain Jenny Thomas said, "I'm proud of the girls today. We have the talent and the depth and we brought both to bear today. We took the fight to the mud and showed what we are made of the hard way. It looks like a tall order to recover the +103 points separating us from the Championship title, but we are cut out for climbing hills. We need top 10 places to do it and we have the talent in our ranks to deliver those places. If we throw everything and the kitchen sink at Ruislip, having our name on that trophy is by no means impossible".
In the Vets League Woodford remain third, 69 points behind leaders Serpentine and 25 behind Heathside.
Women's B Team
One third incomplete, no less determined, but in almost another league entirely, the Bs were led home by V45 Jenny Thomas (81), 3'50" behind Sales, pleased that last week's Hadleigh grueller had given more than a 60 hour working week had taken way. U20 Kate Stockings (93), unable to resist one last go at the mud before returning to her Exeter Uni home, led Thomas for the first lap but was unable to hold on in the mire and closed 42" behind, with the consolation of winning £15 as 3rd U20. V45 Alex Wardle (95) was unable to lock on to unleash her powerful 3000m gears in the slop, and finished 18" behind Stockings; 53" behind Wardle and closing for the Woodettes, was V45 Karen Horswood (103).
Men's B team
Leading our B team in was M45 Gareth Cavell (65), who was pleased to be just 12" behind top Essex vet Murtagh of Harlow RC. In 72nd, Martyn Cryer had a shocker which he was unable to properly explain in the immediate aftermath. Oddly, there were a few other runs like that on the day. CJ Shepherd's was not one of them, as he broke into the top 100 (85) by half a minute as he continues to improve. Despite taking a couple of decent scalps, Rob Cox (94) will feel that his run was spoiled by wearing studs rather than long spikes.
Mat Clarkson (102), Tony Pamphilon (103) and Tim Ballard (105) came in together, with Clarkson having a bad one, Ballard going cautiously due to a hamstring problem, but Pamphilon being first M50 by almost one minute. In 109, Karim Ali certainly had an improved run after finishes of 135 and 143 previously. And Sam Benge (121) ran a very sound race on a surface that does not suit him.
Joe Everitt (141) has come on well since his 181 at Stevenage in November. M45 Ray Dzikowski (144) felt he ran quite well, which says plenty about the Woodies who beat him. Jim Roche (166) brought up the rear of the B team - he was another who, like Cryer, had an inexplicably poor run.
The B team were a fine 6th on the day, and put more space between themselves and the two teams in the relegation zone, Serpentine B and Ealing.
Team manager McCarthy said, "The B team looks increasingly secure in Division 1. Cryer and Roche played a key role today by not dropping out despite having strangely below-par runs - that's tough to take for an experienced runner, as both are. Hopefully they will bounce back for the Southerns in two weeks' time."
Men's C team
After finishing positions of 264 and 260 in the previous two races, Chris Maybin made a great leap forward into 193 to lead the C team, despite injuring his foot in the Essex last week. Incapable of uttering a colourless phrase, Maybin puffed on his old clay pipe and mused, "Running can be a capricious mistress.... but this is what Hollywood dreams are all about!" Jon Long remains consistent, continuing to pepper the 190s and cocking a snook at the dreaded drop into the 200s. Long-distance man Julian Russell (223) ran his first Met for us and laid down a marker for future improvements. In 227, Steve "The man they call Lambo" Lambert (M45) was the talk of the town on Saturday night after cocking several snooks at guys like M50 Alun Evans (231) and M40 Richard Hogg (240). We may make an athlete yet out of this man! He is living proof that inside every tubby, short-of-breath smoker there is a Woodie C teamer trying to get out.
Another heart-warming story was that of Omar Sharef, a Sudanese asylum seeker who signed for us mid-week. In response to an appeal for running kit for him, a frozen Omar (239) was able to leave his English CC baptism of ice with a black bin-bag full of gear kindly donated by a variety of our men. As Kat Gundersen's dad once famously said, "Cross country restores my faith in humanity."
Andy Smith (246) and M50 Paul Stockings (247) made up the final C team places (8 to score in Division 3), meaning that the usually implacable M45 Martin Mack (249) missed out on this occasion, while Alistair Holford (270) admitted to having a shocker. Team Manager McCarthy pointed out that "A lot of guys will be eyeing Lambo and thinking, "This bloke really shouldn't be beating me; I'd better get training..." In fact, it's perfectly possible that Lambo will single-handedly get our C team promoted next year as a dozen or so men are shamed into action."
Of our remaining men, M50 Tom Spanyol (292) made the top 300 for the first time this season. Michael Murphy (322) shrugged off ongoing arthritis problems to enjoy running a race instead of helping organise them. And the reliable Trevor Powell (342), as always, succeeded in putting several men between himself and the race's back marker.
The team's next major goal is the South of England CC Championship on 26th January. On Highgate's home patch of Parliament Hill.