Metropolitan CC League race 1: Seniors
On Saturday 19th October the first met league kicked off and so stopped the hearsay by giving us a real indication as to how our rivals would shape up this season. Would Highgate come in force? Would Serpentine stake a claim to the title? Would Bob Smith, the Beagles Manager, be unveiling the Newham/Iten partnership in a desperate attempt to win the title?
Thanks to Roy we had a tent, table, music, cake and a banner, all of which made even Highgate look like they were unprepared. Highgate did try to strike back with their music but one look from Roy 'raving mad' Williams meant their music was quickly silenced and the dulcet tones of Marcie Blane could be heard again.
But what of the race itself? By the end of the first lap it seemed that Highgate, Serpies and Shaftesbury were settling the team race. However by the end of the second lap, it showed that not only do we have fine runners but fine thinkers as, led by Martyn Cryer, we were surging back through the field en masse. Martyn, off only a month's training, had judged his race to a very high level, coming through as our first man in 16th. Jordan Donnelly was our second athlete, a gutsy run from our Germany-based man. He showed a great level of ability, being in the teens until the third lap and holding off the surge by many top quality runners to come in 21st. Unfortunately due to an admin error by myself he could only count as a guest (see Daniel Mann below). Then came Tom Philips in 22nd. After a very good track season, Tom likes to build up his winter over time, so a run this impressive bodes very well for this season. Next man in was ever present Bertie Powell. Bertie had been pinned in at the start and was well back on the first lap but, on receiving some words of encouragement from Bob Smith, recovered well, coming through the field for 26th.
Kevin Murphy, who confided that he had done some 1500m races towards the end of he summer with an eye to gaining speed for this winter, showed that there is no replacement for planning with experience, coming in 27th. He also won the award for surprise of the day, when he said that next year he was turning 40. If he continues in such form there will not be a vets race he won't be eyeing up. Darren Southcott was our next man. He has put together two tough weeks of running which meant he did not go into this race fresh so his 37th means he should look forward with anticipation to this winter. Then came Harold Wyber in 39th. He had to rush off literally from the finish to catch a train to a fell race in north Wales. Such commitment to the team was very appreciated, as was another superb run from the Woodford man.
Good commitment was also shown by James Stockings who, at the start of the week, was unsure that he was going to compete, but after a decent training week had decided to run. He was disappointed in 41st, which shows the ambition of this athlete. But all in all he must look at that as a very good starting point as, with him starting work and keeping his running going, he did an excellent job. Angus Holford was next, showing that it is not only the academic field he excels in, but the unforgiving terrain of the xc as well, getting 46th place. In next was Gareth Cavell, who had said that training was better then ever and showed this with coming in 79th, five places better and 30 sec faster then the same fixture last year.
Rob Wilbraham had a good run, improving from the 146 at the Stevenage race last year to 116th in this opening Met, and he must be eyeing up breaking into the top 100 this season, after coming so close last year at Ally Pally. Ray Dzikowski, a member of our recent gold medal winning M50 team in the Southern Road champs, should have closed the twelve in 120th, but due to a processing error by this manager it meant that was done by Joe Everitt. Joe in the not too distant past was an overweight smoker but his transformation in less then a year to a hardened club athlete is a good one to see, and as he was 181st in the Stevenage met race last year his improvement to 130th in this race is a testament to his hard work.
The A team therefore had closed 12 in 130 and were third in the table, giving up 207 points to Highgate and 129 to Serpentine. The fact that we held on to third team position, even with Jordan not counting, is a great testament to the team, and I hope in the next couple of fixtures luck swings back with us and we can grind out a couple of solid results.
Kicking off the B-team was Paul Scanlan. The international 400m runner, who is looking to do 400/800m next summer, bettered last year's placing by 39, coming in 136th, but an even more impressive 1min42sec faster then last year, which I think Paul would settle for as his 800m time! Tony Pamphilon, another of our M50 gold medal winning team, came next in 153rd, bettering his position from last year by 12 places.
Then finished new athlete Daniel Mann, he was another athlete unfortunately recorded as a guest due to this manager's mix up in not entering his date of birth. In 156th and just behind the experienced Pamphilon, Daniel looks like a very useful addition to the squad. Then came just turned U20 George Hoy in 188th. There is no tougher leap then the one from U17 to U20 as you are forced to race people with batteries in drawers older then you are, but George gamely got round. He is a very talented athlete and once the transition is made he will be a long way further up the results sheet, if his training continues well.
It was good to see Richard Holland, an excellent vets track athlete, come to race and in 211th he held off the new athlete that is Steve Lambert in 216th. Just to show that Steve is a new man, between these two athletes in the same fixture last year there was 3 min between them, in this fixture 13 seconds and with Steve saying he can be fitter if his knee fixes, will we see Steve in the top 150 this season?! Next up was Ronnie O'Sullivan in 225th. It is testament to the organisers that they captured Ronnie's position, as he walked out from the funnel before collecting a disk! But it was good to see Ronnie pull on a Woodford vest and enjoy the run.
Julian Russell came next in 233rd. The semi pro cricketer has just had his first child, so is having to get used to new routines, but he looked fully in control for the entire race and if he keeps improving race to race, it won't be long before he gets below the 200 barrier. In 244th came Jon Powell. Jon is a very fine runner - as Bertie has said himself Jon was even better then him in his prime! With work and family commitments Jon finds it tough to train as he would like, so the fact he pulled on a club vest was very much appreciated, and we hope that things align so that Jon can do a few more races for us this season.
Our ninth scorer (but 23rd man) was Alun Evans in 248th place, and he was followed in by another ever present Paul Stockings in 275th, who after suffering injuries last year has started this season well, racing on two consecutive weekends. Alistair Holford was 296th after having done another sterling job with managing the juniors before pulling on his spikes to help us close a team. Both of them would have been pleased to beat Tom Spanyol who is just back from doing the Loch Ness Marathon in 3:39.47. He closed the team in 317th.
This has left the B-team rooted to the bottom of Division 1. It was always going to be a hard task, as with no other B teams in the division, and needing to close 12 before our B team starts, we are at a considerable disadvantage. But we will need to focus on the next couple of fixtures and bring some respectability to the table, so if we do go down it's not by a QPR margin.
Our C teamers were Trevor Powell in 351st and Stuart Phillips in 365th. Trevor will be pleased to have put some space between him and Stuart at this early stage as he knows that once Stuart is fully recovered from injury, sustained by running the marathon, serious racing will be needed to keep ahead.
Due to the mistakes as stated above, by myself, this puts our C team in 19th position and 745 points behind London Heathside C team, which gives us a mountain to climb, but the C team are the product of a good A&B team so when we put that right the C team will come good.
There were many positives; we closed 9 in 46, Roy once again did a fantastic job in the presentation and despite the weather the team spirit was excellent. A few of the issues were caused by newness to the role, so they will disappear as the season rolls on, and if we get some luck with injuries etc. I hope that in the next fixtures we will progress some more. Many thanks to all those who volunteered to help on the day, it was greatly appreciated and added to the event and the team spirit.
In Slovenia, meanwhile, Tomaz Plibersek finished 4th in the National 10K Championships in a PB of 31 mins 55 secs. And in South London Dave Cox clocked 58.59 in the Cabbage Patch 10 mile road race to go 11th on the UK all-time M60 ranking.
Women's A Team
In what felt more like 12 minutes than 12 months since the Woodford squad last made camp there, the damp, grassy undulations of Claybury once again yielded to the lycra'd limbs of the Met League's competitors, eager in the humid October rain to get the new season underway.
Knowing that we would have it all to do this year to get a competitive squad onto the line, the Woodettes were delighted that eleven of their number congregated in their cleanest winter footwear to await the now familiar honk of David Hollingsworth's horn marking the start of the race.
Having lost Georgie-Lou Sales days before the fixture, the appearance of Gemma Coe, newcomer to green and white and second claimer from Cambridge, was greeted with a tentative excitement on the Woodettes wires that turned into joy as she more than lived up to expectations delivering a "Gem" of a performance as first lady home for Woodford in an excellent 5th place. Just under a minute behind Coe, Emily Moss (13) made it home second with a "satisfying" run which banished the injury trolls of last year when she DNF'd after a bad turn on a troubled ankle after the first lap. On her heels, and gathering no moss was V35 Kat Gundersen (14). Continuing her run of good form Gundo, four places higher than her 18th last year, was an excellent second in the individual Vets competition, and gave a modest smile of satisfaction as she crossed the line just 10" behind Moss. 58" behind Gundo, our fourth scorer was Woodette stalwart V45 Bernadine Pritchett. Delighted to be on the way back to full fitness after a tough last winter, Pritchett's tidy 24th place put her back to 2011's territory, after an uncharacteristic dip to 46th last year showing that those summer sessions with Barry Elwell are beginning to pay off. Next, and just sneaking into a coveted 'top 50' place, newly-wed and relative cross country newcomer Maxine Davies (48), having declared herself "not fit", was very satisfactorily home in a run that, like Pritchett's was worth over 20 places on 2012 and an A team place in this year's results. There's no doubt more to come from a fitter Max. Closing for the As after a mid-order shuffle that could have gone one of three ways, it was a very relieved and delighted Anne Gombert (58) in her first race after more than a year out with injury who finally took the coveted spot.
The girls were pleased to have ended the day in a surprise third place. Race Day Captain Evie Serventi summed up the mood "The girls did a fine job today, and it was pleasing to see fine performances from both new and more familiar faces. And I'm confident that as the Woodettes warm to the season, there is much more to come. We've put down a marker. There's a gap to close on Highgate and Serpentine, but we are made of capable stuff".
Women's Division One: 1. Serpentine (345); 2. Highgate (309); 3. Woodford (279)
Women's B Team
It was Maggie Hargrave (nee Powell) on a welcome return to the fold from new home in Bristol who was first home for the Bs in 65th place, 17" behind Gombert, and feeling strong having outgunned Jenny Thomas (68) on the home stretch. Unable to hold off Hargrave up the final hill, V45 Thomas made it back second B, 7" behind and pleased to have placed 20 positions higher than last year. Third B and 30" behind was Kate Stockings (74) looking forward to using the season to race herself stronger. Fourth, but penultimate scorer in our incomplete team was V45 Alex Wardle (82), 10 places higher than her position last year. Closing for the Bs and closing our day was V50 Karen Horswood (105), still managing to make it in the top two thirds of this impressive field which at 154 was just shy of the record set at Ally Pally in December last year.
Evie Serventi commented that "This was a fine result for the Bs to place fifth with an incomplete team; but delightful that the girls placed first as the hard fought Vets competition gets underway. It's a very tight margin with only six points separating us from Heathside and Serpentine, but I'm confident our girls can hold on."
Women's Division Two: 1. Barnet (174); 2. Highgate B (153); 3. Hillingdon (147); 5. Woodford B (140)
Veteran Women's Division One: 1. Woodford (106); 2. Heathside (102); 3. Serpentine (100)
The girls are especially grateful to Evie Serventi and Andrea Possee for sterling support on the day; and to others for great photography and cakes.
Brenda Bray Trophy scores after three events are as follows: 1. Emily Moss (58); 2. Kat Gundersen (54); 3. Alex Wardle (28); =4. Sara Bird (20); =4. Gemma Coe (20)