Chingford League: Young Athletes at Hog Hill (Updated)
There was another win for Joe Geller (U13B) at tonight's Chingford League fixture at the Hog Hill Cycle Circuit; we had a reasonable turnout of 12 young athletes, all of whom forgoing the attractions of firework night and choosing to race. There were a few new faces making their first appearances for the club and given the poor turnout (from most of the league's clubs) in the previous two fixtures, tonight's races looked healthier. It was tough going on a clear, windy night, particularly when tackling the arduous slog up the finishing hill but at least on reaching the summit, all finishers were rewarded with the spectacular panorama across East London with plenty of firework displays in progress.
Joe Geller’s (6’ 36”) win was achieved in the combined U13 race of 2 short laps (but still two times up the steep hill) and he had a 4 second cushion this time over Orion’s James Wood to give him three wins out of three in this league. We then had a trio of new boys in Tom O’Grady, Toby Byrne and Jack Power finishing in 4th, 5th and 6th of the 11 boys running.
All U15 and U17 age groups were run as a single event over one small lap and one long lap (with three trips up the hill). Richard Goff (U15), making his winter appearance for the club, was the first of the 29 strong field up the hill on the first lap but paid somewhat for his early exuberance and was forced to ease back thereafter and eventually finished in 12th having been passed by Harry Cavell who headed the Woodford contingent home in 9th. Taylor Reece (13th), Chris Hogg (14th) and Tyler Newton (also making his debut for the club in 15th) made up the rest of our boys’ squad.
The U15 girls’ race only comprised Woodford and Orion runners with three from each; here Edie Preece was one second behind the U15G winner, Isobel Mills (12’44”) with Jess Archard a further 49 seconds back in 3rd and Reneé Fonseca in 6th. We had no U17 representatives on the night and whilst the races were larger than in the previous two fixtures, they could certainly do with additional runners to give better competition. With this fixture being Bonfire night, the attendance could have suffered somewhat; the next Chingford League is Saturday 28th December at Alexandra Palace which is probably not great timing either coming one week after the Met League has been over the same course and sandwiched between Christmas and the New Year. That’s planning for you.