ATW Met League 3: Young Athletes
Alexandra Palace was a cross country purists delight; wet and muddy underfoot, waterlogged in places, a long, steep hill (for all but the U13s) and a finishing area in which it was difficult to stay upright; ideal conditions then for the third Active Training World Metropolitan League fixture? There were plenty of dissenting voices as the youngsters struggled across the finishing line having made it through the quagmire and having been buffeted by the strong wind and squally rain. Perhaps the mince pies back at the club tent proved the necessary incentive.
There were two top drawer performances from U15Gs Rosie Poole and Edie Preece in the U15/17W race; Rosie claimed second place, 9” behind Trent Park’s Jade Dos Santos. Rosie led a tight bunch of five runners home with Edie Preece in fifth place just 10” behind. Edie certainly revels in the muddier conditions and this run should give her further confidence.
For the U13Gs, Kyesha Robinson was our first runner home picking up 14th place with Mia Hirons 3 places and 6” back in 17th. Megan Caswell (22nd) was our only other finisher as Hannah Page, on her debut, was unable to finish. We also fielded 3 boys in the U13B race where Joe Geller provided some symmetry by claiming a fine 14th place. Shaftsbury’s Jamie Harper had a runaway win in this race, finishing some 35” ahead of the second placed runner; thereafter normal service was resumed with 25 runners crossing the line in the next minute. Hayden Malearly (23) and James Inkley (32) made their Met League debuts for the club in the field of 55 starters.
The U15/17M field had to cope with running the opening small loop an unplanned second time as a result of a marshalling error; this just deferred the long slog up the hill towards the Palace for a few minutes but there was no avoiding it in the end. James Wakefield was our first runner to return to the finishing line to claim 27th place. Owen Armstrong was 35” back in an admirable 34th with stalwart Taylor Reece (62) and Jack Shury (69) closing the team.
After the long slog round, there was at least some respite back under the cover of the new club tent; it is big enough to be dubbed a big top by some Highgate wags but with Roy Williams acting as the ringmaster and managing the refreshments whilst dressed as Santa, perhaps Highgate weren’t far off the mark.