National Cross Country: Senior Men 15th
On Saturday the club cross country season came to a climax at the scenic Wollaton Park Nottingham, where the weather and mood were both bright as our runners looked to end the mud season on a high, mixing it with some of the best distance runners in the country.
First in for us was Martyn Cryer, doing 70+ miles a week in preparation for his marathon debut, he would have been pleased to turn up and see that most of the course was not a mud bath as the recent XC courses have been. This firmer footing definitely suited the stylish Cryer as he came in 74th which, as no tapering had been done, made it an even finer performance.
26 min video (courtesy of Athleticos)
Photos (by Terry McCarthy)
In next was Tomaz Plibersek in 168th. The ever positive Tomaz, whose attitude is matched by his ability, looked comfortable throughout as he shut out the runners around to set his own pace and run strongly, an ability that is not easy to do in big fields and shows why he has represented Slovenia at the European CC Champs. Our third man in was Kevin Murphy in 202nd. Kevin's face of anguish on the first lap was a marked difference to those of serenity of most of the runners around him, and this manager was worried that Kevin may struggle in the big field. The opposite happened as Kevin came through the field to pass the Woodford men ahead of him and show why he is an ex-XC County champion and has come 79th in this race in the past as, although never comfortable, he dug out an excellent result.
Our fourth man was Angus Holford in 207th, the PhD man had a steady start, but when he was caught by Kevin, he ran with him to cut through the field and catch the Woodford men ahead, and although he lost Kevin right at the end, he managed to pip our fifth man Darren Southcott over the line. Darren came in 210th and was pleased as his last XC had been a below par Met League race, so this result showed a good return to form and he was feeling good, which is always a good thing after a hard race. Our sixth man, and completing the team, was Harold Wyber in 217th. Harold had started fast and, as he is just back from injury, did well to maintain as Kevin and Angus passed him. Hopefully injury is put behind him and Harold will be back leaping over barriers or running up mountains this summer.
That closed the 6-runner team in 15th place and to have such packing at the National was a good thing to see. We saw seven teams from the South finish above us so it shows how tough the twelve stage could be in March, but a top 15 finish in the National is a good effort and all our runners should be pleased with their performance.
In next was Bertie Powell in 375th. Bertie, who has run most, if not all, the season with a very bad heel complaint, was left by lap two with every step causing pain, and it is difficult to think of any other athlete who would have continued and finished despite this massive disadvantage. Our eighth man in 508th was Joe Everitt. This manager had thought Tony Russell would be ahead of Joe due to the last Met race. What this manager hadn't remembered is that Joe now eats 12k races for a snack in between training, and his marked improvement this season was seen by how he continued strongly throughout the race despite the mass of runners around him. Tony only lost a minute 14 seconds on Joe on laps two and three but this was enough for 107 runners to put themselves in between them so Tony got 616th place.
This put our 9-runner team in 13th place on the day, with six southern teams ahead of us, and highlights how tough the national is where most teams around us had their ninth runner in 500+ position!
In tenth for the team was ironman Steve Lambert in 843rd. It is a good sign where Steve had not broken 1000 for the National before, that he did so in such style in a national where the numbers and standard were very good. He had not tapered at all for this race, in fact he had done the opposite and had a very hard week training, so this performance should be viewed by him with a lot of satisfaction. In next was Andy Coleman, who rolled back the years, unfortunately doing this by going out with club mates the night before the race! But pre-race fears that alcohol may cause the race not to go to plan or be completed, were put aside as Andy used all his tactical skills and ability to come round in 1162nd place. In next was Richard Hogg, having organised his son and seen him race it isn't always easy to get in the zone for your own race, but Richard seemed to have be in good spirit when he picked up his number and got round well for 1252nd place. In next was Alistair Holford, who has put in another fine shift this season as Young Athletes team manager, and he capped it off with a tough 7 miler, to come in 1304th. Then coming just behind was Paul 'bad influence' Stockings in 1361st, whose finishing position was coincidentally equal to the units of alcohol Paul had on the Friday night, but he showed that they make them tough in the south as well, by getting round and seeing the team in.
Special mention must go to Gareth Cavell who made the effort to come and run but had his calf go at the start of the second lap. Fortunately Gareth had seen his son Harry have a good run in the U15 race earlier, but injury is never pleasant and it takes a lot to stop the tough cabbie, so we hope he makes a quick recovery. The atmosphere was excellent, a Thank You to all the supporters who came up, it all added to the spirit, and it was good to be back in National competition and feel like it was a good club effort.