2014 Met League 3: Seniors
Our men's team finished 4th on Saturday in the Active Training World Metropolitan League race 3 at Uxbridge, and remain 3rd in Division 1. Our women's team finished 7th on the day and remain 5th in Division 1. Our men's B team produced another fine display and lead the Division 2 promotion race. Ed Shepherd and Kat Gundersen were the day's top performers.
Photos (courtesy of our very own Alex Wardle)
Photos (general, by neutral Mark Easton)
Men's A team
On Sat 20th December teams gathered on the fields of Uxbridge to compete in the third Met league. This manager had learnt last year that despite being only a handful of days before Christmas, the competition is as fierce as ever, with teams trying to get one over each other at this festive time of year, and so it proved again as good numbers and quality were again on show.
First in for the team was Ed Shepherd, a welcome return of our Birmingham League race winner. Ed felt that since that win training has not quite come together as he would have liked, but he was still involved in the action as, at the end of lap one, he was in a group close to the lead, and ran strongly to get our first top 10 of the season, finishing in 10th place. Next in was Tom Beedell in 19th, having come so close to breaking the top 20 in the last Met, it was great to see Tom do so at this one. At the end, he questioned how much more he had, but this manager feels that when the distance goes up to 12k (and 15k!) Tom could be pleasantly surprised by how many people he can get in that extra 4k, as his marathon experience starts to come into play. In next was Harold Wyber in 25th. Using the Met as a warm up as he plans to do near a 90k run on the Sunday, some may question the sanity of the ultra man, but nothing gets Harold out of bed faster then a challenge and the fact he is doing as well as he is over 8k shows the talent of our man from Keswick. Fourth in for the team was Donatas Tumaitis in 40th. This was another well judged run by Donatas, and to see him coming through the field so well bodes well for post Christmas, as the races mount up in quality and importance.
Just behind was summer signing Daniel Gurton in 43rd. It was great to see Daniel, who this winter has been reaching new heights in mileage, go so well, and although he may have wanted to be bit higher in the field, there will not be many above him whose aim is not 5k and above. Closing just a second behind was Tomaz Plibersek, in 45th. Tomaz is a great person and runner and coming off his birthday he put together another very solid run for the team. The fact he is now eligible to run in the county champs is a massive boost to the team as his quality always helps. In seventh was Angus Holford in 52nd. Angus has completed his PhD and has taken tentative steps in his new job, but has done a fine effort in keeping up his training and this showed as he was back in the mix in this Met and will be looking at some good placing in the big races post Christmas. Just behind was club stalwart Kevin Murphy. Kevin had turned up to where he thought the course was in plenty of time, but had wondered why it was so quiet, but upon checking his phone had found that Perivale was not the place to be! A quick jump back on the train and Kevin got to the venue with 30 minutes to go, and performed excellently although it was probably a much more dynamic warm up then he had anticipated!
In ninth was Bertie Powell in 58th. To see Bertie back in our top 12 with a very good team was impressive, as Bertie is still carrying an injury that should have put him out. He said, though, that he had listened to his coach, Mick Woods, to the letter on how to run the race and it had worked a treat. In just behind was Robbie Cox in 61st. Robbie, sporting a full beard, had hoped it might give him an bit extra, and Robbie did have a good race. He also did very well to survive an office Christmas party the night before, and this manager thinks if Robbie puts it all together, he could have a sensational run somewhere in the new year. In next was Daniel Steel in 72nd. Enjoying club life, and looking at the marathon in April, this may have been Daniel's first look at proper mud in a race since his school days, but his form held out as he came in eleventh man for us. Twelve man in was Simon Beedell in 75th, who had achieved his goal of a sub 75 half only the weekend before (74.16). To have the ability to recover from that and a work's Christmas party, shows that he is made of tough stuff and he has been a great addition to the club.
We came fourth on the day, which, closing 12 in 75 is unheard of. Serpentine and Highgate produced two superb performances, and it was good to see Shaftesbury match their top end quality with depth, to underline what a good club they are. It must be noted that all of those teams have won some major medals and titles in recent times, and they showed on Saturday all of that talent which had resulted in such regional or national success.
Women's team
No warm-ups were necessary by the time the Ladies had combed every inch of this new Met League course looking for the loo. At the later start time of 2:10pm, several with damp shoes, if not freshly powdered noses, at least 156 Women started on this mainly flat, pretty boggy, one sharp climb, route. In a showing that was diminished even by recent standards - 5 days to Christmas perhaps having something to do with it - only 5 Woodettes made it to the start line; one shy of the number required to close a team.
In a race that was won easily by Shaftesbury Barnet Harrier V35 Rachel Felton, the classiness of our own top V35 Kat Gundersen (12) was there for all to see. Taking the Vet third prize on the day, this was Gundo’s strongest Met League performance for some time, and only 10 seconds off a top ten position (minus a pesky guest); clearly the satisfying result of several weeks’ quality training. Next home, 1’14” behind, was Rachel Lund (26), a pretty impressive outing for the super-strong rower, given she had “hardly done any running”. Behind Lund, third scorer was V45 Jenny Thomas (69), 2’41” slower, but nonetheless enjoying a strong season - and delighted to see her name appear on the first page of the result sheet (easily pleased). Anne Gombert (107) was next, 2’12” after Thomas and delighted to be back running, and climbing the rankings, after time out injured; and - in case anybody should have cause to doubt the mettle of Woodford girls - “looking forward” to a training swim at the Olympic Park on the way home in preparation for a 2015 triathlon. Only 15” behind Gombert, and the fifth and final Woodette home, was V50 Karen Balcombe. In a “pleasing” run that showed the pay off from more miles with Jim and the dogs, the recent retiree is current runner up in the Best Met League Improver challenge.
Injury, illness and availability thwarted the chances of a full score sheet this time and while the A team sticks at 5th, the gap of around 200 points that separates us from the top 4 clubs Serpentine (4th), Heathside (3rd), Highgate (2nd) and Shaftesbury Barnet (1st) - any one of which could win the trophy - is clearly unassailable.
Race day captain Jenny Thomas summed up the day: “All the racing girls did brilliantly. Gundo and Lundo showed their class; but its the same old story: not enough legs on the line".
Brenda Bray Competition (performance and consistency) top 5 scores after three events are as follows: 1. Rachel Lund (56); 2. Jenny Thomas (49); Karen Balcombe (42); Emily Moss (40); Kat Gundersen (38).
Men's B team
Starting our B team was James Stockings in 76th. James is just finishing his first term at Durham University and was our first scorer at this fixture last year. Training himself back into shape he said all had been going well until this week where training had slipped back. Hopefully Christmas will see him right again, so he can run well in the big races post Christmas and do his talent justice. In just behind was Tony Russell in 79th, who not only has the normal pressures of this time of year but has a baby due, hopefully which does not arrive on Christmas Eve! Tony has been going well in training and it shows how good our first team was so that 79th was not in our first twelve - he would have been 7th in our A team last season at this fixture! In third was Uni man Sam Benge in 105th. Coming off a catalogue of injuries, Sam did well to survive this muddy course as old injuries made themselves known in the race but, encouraged to keep going by other Woodford runners, he stuck to the task and just missing out on the top 100 shows that despite injury, Sam is definitely progressing. If there was a run of the day it would go to next man in, Nick Andrews in 120th. Nick has been beset by injuries since joining Woodford, but this manager couldn't help but notice a certain bounce in Nick's step as Nick greeted him and the team. And so it proved in the race, as Nick looked a completely different runner to the one who got 192nd at Stevenage only a month earlier, as he went through the field looking composed and running with a great style that showed why he had reached such heights as a 24.42 5 miles when he was at his peak, and means this manager hopes he keeps enjoying his training and keeps clear of injury!
In fifth for the team was Paul Scanlan in 138th. Paul was an Junior international 400m man, but has an eye on the 800m so this is all preparation work to do the longer distance, and the results will be of real interest to this manager, as Paul is a real talent. Top 100 was wanted, but at the end Paul admitted the mud had not helped and as an athlete who relies on the ground giving him back the energy he puts in, mud is his Kryptonite. But the mud would have helped his core, strengthened his lungs and made him mentally dig in, all valuable things for that second lap on the track! In just behind was Adam Mead in 143rd. Recovering from a winter bug it was good to see Adam out for the team, and post Christmas this manager will be very surprised if Adam does not make the top 100 in one of the last two met races. In 154th was Dave Cox. Last weekend Dave had done the South of England Master's race, and had been first V60 but unfortunately as he had entered the U50's to try and get the team a medal, did not get the V60 prize despite them running all in the same race!
Eighth in for the team was Julian Russell in 155th. The aim of Julian last year was to break the top 200 in the Met and it shows what a new standard he is at, that off only a month of training since his return from travelling, he was able to far surpass that in such a good standard of Met race. This manager hopes that post Christmas Julian will be looking at the sub 120 mark. Next in was Alan Rugg. Alan's good mood was matched by his run as he had his best Met placing for 3 years and showed a good return to form to get 168th. Closing the team was Pete Caton in 173rd. A twenty place improvement from the first two Mets of the year and with Pete increasing his mileage, and signing up to the Southern and the National he could find the 8k of the Met a doodle after those two!
This closed our B team in 173, and gave us 4th on the day but fairly amazingly we are sitting top of Division 2, at this over half way point. To be closing 22 men of such quality consistently is a great achievement and is a testament to the team spirit and effort put in by all the athletes.
Our C team first man was Gareth Cavell in 174th. Gareth would be more expected to be in our A team but while fixing his taxi an accident happened that he thought he had broken a rib. The doctor diagnosed this, but a few days later with no help from the medication, on a visit to his mum's he was surprised when she came up with a ligament diagnosis and prescribed anti-inflammatories, which helped immediately. This proved the adage that mums do know best! It was therefore good to see Gareth run at all, but towards the end the injury was too much and Gareth was forced to trot in. Next in was Tony Pamphilon in 220nd. Tony is also battling against injuries and so it was great to see him out and run better then at Claybury, but Tony at his best is a low 100 man so he will be keen to see that sort of form return. Third in was James Perry in 232nd, another very solid run by him. This is the second run for the club by James, and he caused this manager some surprise, as this manager shouts encouragement to all the athletes and has got used to the steely focus of the athletes giving no indication of the words being heard, as it should be. But James on hearing this manager's words, looked into the crowd and even ran a few paces almost sideways! This manager can assure him that there is nothing this manager ever says that is worth the disruption to rhythm or expenditure of more effort to hear! But James kept his composure well and stayed ahead of his training partner Mark Cambridge who came in 238th. When ever a person joins there is always the initial improvement curve as new levels of fitness are found, but rarely can this manager remember it being so obvious as in Mark, after only three races he has come on a huge amount and you could see his disappointment that Richard Hogg was not there as Richard, being a vet of many years experience. is a steady yardstick in the sea of variance that is cross country running, upon which one can see the improvement that is being made.
Fifth in for the team was Steve Lambert in 271st. Steve has done a few ironmans and had to do the last one with a list of injuries, so that at the moment just getting around is an achievement in itself. He was helped by a fellow competitor when Steve thought he couldn't go on, and Steve repaid this kindness by overtaking him on the way in, well at least the competitive spirit is still there Steve! In sixth was Tom Spanyol in 311th. Tom hasn't been in our scoring team so far this season, but to the man who saw it all in the punk era being back in the scoring team will all be in a days work. In next was Paul Stockings in 330th. He was kept honest all the way by our closing scorer Trevor Powell, and only managed to overtake Trevor on the last lap, as Trevor closed the team in 335th. It was a very good run by Trevor who looked in good form and his real interest in doing the Southern and National show that come the new year we could well be seeing the good Dr in the 200's of the Met.
This means we closed the team in 335, which gave us 6th in Div 3 on the day, just one point behind the Met Police. We are in 4th in the league table just behind the battle for second automatic promotion spot where Hillingdon B and London Frontrunners B are on the same number of points, tied in second. To close 30 men for this Christmas Met at a fixture that is on the opposite side of London was a great effort and highlighted the commitment made by so many already this season. Our next team fixture for the Essex men is the County Champs on the 3rd January, or for all the team is the 4th Met League race on the 10th January.