Met League CC race 2: Seniors
The second Active World Metropolitan Cross Country League race was held at Stevenage on Saturday. Our men's A team finished 2nd on the day and remain third in Division 1. Our women's A team finished 3rd and remain third. The outstanding performances came from Sara Bird and Martyn Cryer.
Men's A team
Could our three teams make progress or would our rivals distance themselves further from us? The first good call had been made by Roy 'the weatherman' Williams, who had phoned this other team manager on the Wednesday and cut through all my naysaying about the problems of the tent, with 'it must be there!' With the rain lashing against the coach windows on the way to the venue, this team manager was pleased to be able to ride on the back of this fine decision!
But the weather could not dampen our team, and as the start approached, our squad grew in size as faces old and new stepped forward to claw our three teams back into their respective battles. This meant that on the start line we had 33 athletes, surpassing our Claybury turnout and adding to what turned out to be a exceptionally strong Met League race.
From the start the pace was furious, with the top 50 seeming to not understand the difference between an 8k and a 1500m race. This was partly helped thanks to the mavericks that are the Beagles and their manager Bob Smith, who had got 8 athletes out who would grace any team. From this it was very pleasing to see Martyn Cryer be our first man home again in 16th place. Martyn credited his run as being much better then at Claybury, the fact he just equalled his placing of Claybury shows the strength of the field! In 28th place was Tomaz Plibersek, fresh back from his 31.55 10km pb in Slovenia and his two legs in the National XC relays. He ran an excellently judged race as he finished just 6 sec outside the top 25. Special mention must go to our third man in, Bertie Powell. In this race, Bertie was celebrating 50 consecutive Met Leagues, which for anyone
who has done one season will appreciate what an achievement this is. Bertie was suffering with hamstring trouble, but showed why he has reached such a remarkable landmark, not only finishing but coming in 36th; wearing his new Arsenal shirt with '50 not out' on the back, under his club vest. Former Team Manager Terry McCarthy pointed out that "Bertie's remarkable streak has been a major contribution to the squads' successes over the last 10 years. Now we hope he can go on to achieve his next aim of 50 consecutive scoring 12s in the January race". Our fourth man was our German exile Jordan 'DOB never forget' Donnelly, who said he had started fast due to the express pace set by the Beagles men, and paid for it later in the race, but still finished just behind Bertie in 38th place. Jordan, never one to make excuses, had flown in late on Friday and, due to flight changes, was having to get up at 4am on Sunday to get home. His efforts continue to make this team manager marvel at the energy he displays. It makes me want to reach for cake just thinking about it!
Our fifth man was Stephan Wenk, our Swiss athlete, dubbed the 'Alpine Express' by ex-manager McCarthy. He had stated that he wasn't in great shape and he did not expect his best. His 'not best' showed what a great athlete he is, coming in 40th and why, when training clicks, he can eye the top of any class of field. In next was Harold Wyber. A course that didn't suit the man who feels that he is not really testing himself unless somewhere on a run he can view the whole surrounding area from high up; he showed the versatility that we would expect of a man who has made the top 100 in the National XC and came in an excellent 55th. In 60th came Gavin Lewis. Now recovered from the calf trouble that has plagued his early season, he hopes to now put his head down and get in some training, and if he can find the right formula, even in this quality of field, he could look right at the top.
Eighth home for us was our own man of steel Kevin Murphy, who was battling against extremely tight calves, and this manager's homemade advice on how to remedy it, to come in 62nd. The managers' vantage point of the laps was on a hill, and the pain registering on Kevin's face as he tackled the hill each lap meant that this manager was extremely pleased and grateful when Kevin crossed the finishing line. In next was Angus Holford. If work commitments allow, Angus has an excellent way of bringing his form to peak at the right time, and his time of 40sec behind Harold was not far off the first fixture, but this time he gave up 19 places to finish in 74th rather then the 47 in the first fixture! Just behind in 76th was Daniel Agustus. Work and other commitments have meant that Daniel has had to severely reduce his training to almost nothing, so much so that he thought he wouldn't be able to run for us this winter, so it is testament to his talent and mind-set that he did, and where he finished.
Eleventh in for the team was Lorcan Murphy. It was excellent to see this Cambridge man wearing the green and white, and breaking into our top 12 at the first attempt. His engine is such that, as the conditions and courses get worse, I fully expect him to move up the field, and coming in at 84th means he is a real addition to the team. Rounding out the twelve was birthday man Gareth Cavell. Gareth is a great club man who puts in a shift everytime he lines up, and so this perhaps indicates best the strength of this race as the man who got 79th at Claybury found his disk saying 116th this time, on a very similar run!
Women's A team
As the rain set in and the temperature dropped in Fairlands Valley Park, this was the first real taste of winter for the squad at this second Met League meeting. Indeed, it looked as if many a hardened cross country runner had gone into hibernation as the tea-warmed Woodettes, staring out through the steamed-up windows of the cafe, wondered when the competition was going to show up. But they needn’t have worried, as in the field over yonder, like a pop up village on speed, Camp Met League swiftly began to assemble: up went gazebos; down went groundsheets; out came cake; on went tunes. And drawn unto this soggy throng came athletes in their record numbers.
151 would have been a record field for Stevenage. The addition of 14 non-scoring but very competitive guests from Cambridge University made it an all time record 164. Used to being outnumbered on the start line by red and yellow rather than duck egg blue, the nine starting Green and Whites were not fazed by this kodachrome confusion and waited for the gun to start this fast, flat, lightly wooded race. Sara Bird (5) was first home for Woodford, finishing 4th amongst the scorers and rightly delighted with her run which at 22’ dead was 1’11 faster than her time (for 14th) here last year when she was fresh back from the States. Next home was Emily Moss (18), 1’13 behind. Quietly satisfied with her performance, one would imagine that Moss, who was dogged with injury last winter, is confident of more to come. We hope so.
On Moss’s heels for a second time, 6” behind, was third Woodette scorer and third fastest Vet on the day, Kat Gundersen (21). V35 Gundo who, but for three guests, would have placed identically to last year, will be heartened that she got around 19” faster this time. Fourth home, in her second outing for Woodford, Gemma Coe (24) a top 5 finisher at Claybury, was lucky to finish at all having taken a nasty fall on her first entrance to the woods. Clearly a class candidate, she did well to finish this tough race so creditably and we were relieved to see her smiling as she went off to find some ice, hoping any damage is only superficial. Only 4“ later, making it 5 in 25, Rachel Lund crossed the line. Strengthened and streamlined after a summer’s competitive rowing, the Scandy held up very well indeed on her first time out in spikes this season. Closing for the A team, V45 Bernadine Pritchett (45), 57” behind Lund, made it an identical finish to last year, when she was also 6th scorer at this match - though it won’t have escaped this talented Vet, nor her beady eyed coach, that she was more than a minute faster this time. More to come from her.
The A team stays in third place, with a scoring profile, if not a scoring six, very like that of last year. Take the seven high placing guests out of the picture and Woodford's 6 in 38 looks like a definite improvement.
Race Day Captain Kat ‘Gundo' Gundersen summed up the day: “We are small in number, but we are mighty. The girls had hoped they'd done enough to end the day higher than third place. Alas that wasn’t to be, but we have held on superbly after a very competitive start to the season. And a special ‘Woman of True Grit’ mention goes to Gemma for finishing so well after a fall. There are 3 matches left. We have it all to do. But we’re getting stronger. Bring on Ally Pally.”
Women's Division One (Team): Shaftesbury Barnet (371); 2. Highgate (364); 3. WGEL (339)
Men's B team
Our first man in for the B team was V60 (yes V60) Dave Cox, coming in 138th. He is having a very good season, and was a very welcome returnee to the team, finishing 4.20min before the next V60 and only getting beaten by one V50! Joe Everitt was our next man in, in 150th. He could well have been looking forward to breaking the top 100, but such is the cruelty of XC that despite his run being better then at Claybury he was 20 places higher! However after Christmas I think there is no doubt we will see Joe in the double digits. In next was our 400m/800m man Paul Scanlan, due to his progress this season that when he received his disk, he let out a disgruntled noise at coming 158th, where last season I remember him being satisfied with 175th at Claybury. This is the sort of drive that will mean if training goes to plan, this could be a good summer season for our track man.
Fourth in was CJ Shepherd, good to see the man return to the Met fold - he couldn't have chosen a tougher Met to come back to! He finished well and his 164th off not too much training in a tough field, means if he can get some consistent training in he could match his best met finish of 85th set in January this year. In 176th was Ray Dzikowski. Ray had been our 11th scorer in the first Met, but has been hampered by knee trouble picked up since then, but the tough Londoner gamely gritted his teeth and got round which was of a great help. In next was Tony Pamphilon, in 180th. Tony has been increasing his mileage but has been feeling the effects, so that going into the race he was not too confident how it would go, but looking at his placing it was not a bad run at all from our music quiz maestro.
In Seventh was Tom Beedell. Tom would usually be up with Tomaz, but a bad knee problem put his very presence in doubt for this fixture. He came, knowing it could be a bad one, and from the start could tell that there would not be an adrenaline-induced alleviation of the pain, but he got through until the end of lap two where he had to change his shoes to lessen the impact, but could not be talked into stopping and showed why he was well worth the Clubman of the Year last year, finishing the race in 183rd. In next was Matt Flannelly, a great character, who had got off work that day and had a very solid run, coming in 195th. In next was Rob Wilbraham, whose expectation of the race portrayed that training had not gone entirely to plan, finished in a well fought 202nd place.
Tenth B teamer was Jim Roche. Jim on his day would hope to set the pace for athletes like Gareth Cavell, but at the moment racing isn't clicking. However, finishing in 206th place hopefully means that, when it does click, Jim will be well back in the top 100. In next was our V50 track man Richard Holland. Richard hopefully is gearing himself up for another successful track season, and by only finishing seven places higher then at Claybury means that he had a very good run, coming in 218th. The B team was completed by Steve 'new man' Lambert, who made sure that, knee trouble or not, he wasn't going to let his new level slip and still put in a very good run coming in 231st.
The B team therefore finished with 187 points, and with a hotly contested relegation battle above us we may have to recalibrate our goals, and try to dig out as many points as possible in the next three fixtures. But it was a good effort from all, as showed by how this effected the C team.
Women's B team
It was Maxine Davies (60) first home for the Bs just 1’2” behind Pritchett. No doubt given extra zip from the eponymous Pro Max bar she scoffed on the way to the start line, this Senior was well suited to the flat course. Behind her by 46” V45 Jenny Thomas closed second. More than out of her comfort zone on the flat, Thomas was pleased to have taken 51” off her time here in 2012 and just about made the mid-table region in this venerable field. 22” behind Thomas, V45 Alex Wardle (94) closed third and closed for the Bs. Disappointed by ongoing feelings of fatigue - not helped by being out-sprinted by a bum bag wearer - Wardle must take heart from a performance 42” improved from last year.
Kat Gundersen commented that “It’s impressive that the Bs managed to place sixth with an incomplete team - and move to fourth overall. Good to have more than six out on the day, but more girls starting is still what we need, especially as we have slipped to second in the Vets competition. We are still in with a chance. Its tight. But we need more legs if we are to get near that splendid trophy.”
Women's Division 2 (Team): 1. Highgate B (179); 2, Heathside B (146); 6, WGEL B (83)
Women's Division 2 (League): 1, Highgate B (332); 2, Heathside B (290); 6, WGEL B (223)
Veteran Women's Division 1 (Team): 1, Heathside (112); 2=, Ealing, Southall & Middx (104) and WGEL (104)
Veteran Women's Division 1 (League): 1, Heathside (214); 2, WGEL (210); 3, Serpentine (195)
Brenda Bray Trophy scores after four events are as follows: 1. Emily Moss (77); 2. Kat Gundersen (72); 3. Alex Wardle (40); =3. Sara Bird (40); 4. Gemma Coe (37); 5. Bernadine Pritchett (32)
Men's C team
First in for the C-team was Julian Russell, battling off the back end of a cold. But his 255th compared favourably to his run at Claybury and means that, post Christmas, if training keeps going well, he should hit his aim of breaking the top 200. In next was Alun Evans, who was again very complimentary to the managers about their organisation, and put in a solid performance to get 264th. Then came Andy Coleman, who had decided to forego doing Alan Bird's garden that day, and run instead for the club. So it may have come to a surprise to both of them when Andy ran past the watching Alan on the first lap! But Andy ran very well coming in 274th.
In next was the athlete turned team manager turned coach turned athlete, Terry McCarthy. An ongoing foot problem has meant that training has never been allowed to flourish as Terry would have wanted, but beating Paul Stockings meant that Terry could look on his 283rd and breathe a sigh of relief, as the man he dubbed as 'falling apart' last season hadn't come back to get him. In next was Richard Hogg, whose efforts with his son and the youth section are making him very valuable to the club. He came in 307th in this tough season opener for himself. Then came Paul Stockings, knee trouble meant that he felt he had lost 40 places at the end, so that he should have been breathing down Terry's neck, that is if a slight height discrepancy between the two didn't made this fairly impossible. But this was Paul's 125th (?) Met league, and his 323rd place helped the team greatly.
Seventh man in was Tom Spanyol, getting back into it after his marathon and hampered with a foot injury, he started at a set pace which saw him round in 342nd. Finishing the team was team captain Trevor Powell, with no Stuart Phillips to battle with, he decided to pick battles with other clubs runners and ran a very good race coming 376th from a very impressive 400 finishers. Special mention must go to Adam Frith, who rushed from work getting there just before the start, but was hobbled on the first lap by an injury and had to pull out, which was an injustice to the effort he had put in to get there.
The C team picked up an excellent 573 points which saw them 5th on the day in Division 3. We now sit 13th in the table in a mid table battle where the gap to 6th is only 250 points! It was a great effort by the team, that saw us have more athletes than in our home fixture. Also on a day where we marked a great achievement by a great club man, the amount of athletes who went out of their way to get there, run, and finish, despite facing many obstacles was very fitting. Roy has said that for the next Met, as it will be near Christmas, there will be mulled wine and mince pies/cake on offer to warm everyone up after the race, so the train maybe the best way to get there!