South of England CC 2015: Seniors
On Saturday 24th January the level of competition stepped up as the Southern Cross Country Championship was held in Stanmer Park, Brighton where, under blue skies, 21 Woodford men gathered ready to tackle the longest cross country race of the season.
Photos (by Alex Wardle)
First in, and a welcome returnee, was Martyn Cryer in 40th. Martyn had suffered from glandular fever at the end of the summer and has wisely staggered his comeback, but reported that in recent weeks training had started to go well, and this was on evidence as he started steadily and pulled himself through the field. At the end he felt he could have placed a bit higher, but the lack of race form meant a steady approach had been adopted. However, Martyn was mainly very satisfied with a good return. In next was Harold Wyber in 45th. Harold, recovering well from his excellent 2nd place in the Country To Capital ultra, which was 45 miles from Wendover to Paddington, had chosen not to run from Leyton to Brighton, and was rewarded for this sensible choice with an excellent run and keeping up a recent run of 45th, 44th and 45th in the Southern over the last three years! In third for the team was Tom Beedell in 60th. Tom has been used to being right up the top for the team this season, and started the race well, neck and neck with Martyn for first Woodford man. But Tom is training for the marathon and sometimes a race can come in a time when training has taken out a bit too much and a flat day is had. Tom had kept any feeling of doubt from this manager, but afterwards had admitted that he had not felt 100% and when his hamstrings had tightened on the final lap, just not losing too much ground had become the aim.
In 4th for the team was Donatas Tumaitis in 82nd. Donatas has been improving all year and, although he was only 4 places higher than last year's race, this was just one of those positional anomalies that can happen in cross country running as he looked better than ever and strong through out the race. In next was Angus Holford in 89th. Usually when this manager makes a prediction the reverse happens, so it was very pleasing to see that the curse of the prediction, that he'd go well in this race, didn't affect Angus, as he had a good run to be our 5th man in. Closing the team was Darren Southcott in 109th. For this time of year most felt the weather was excellent with most runners arriving in a few layers, so it was interesting to see Darren wearing many layers and a coat that could be used on an arctic trip! But this was explained by the fact that he was only a week back from being in mid-summer in Australia. He admitted the temperature had taken some getting used to in the last week, so it was an even better performance by Darren to close our team.
This closed our team in 109 and gave us 5th position on the day, with our Met League rivals Highgate claiming a bronze medal. To close our 6-team in such a high position is a fantastic achievement, and underlines how much talent is in the team, as our team beat other notable clubs such as Serpentine (6th), Kent (7th), Aldershot (9th) and Tonbridge (11th).
Opening our second team was club legend Kevin Murphy in 135th. Kevin has had to just tick over in recent times as an Achilles injury is making training consistently almost impossible, so the fact that he came and did how he did was a testament to his ability. He may have wanted to gain revenge over Ilford's Malc Muir who had beaten him to Silver in the Essex Vets, and even though he could not this time, the fact he kept the gap as close as he did over 15k means that when training can kick in again there will not be a vet in the county who could feel safe. In next was Bertie Powell in 144th. Bertie's aim was just to finish, as he tried to step up training last week only to find that an old injury reared up again. The fact that Bertie can finish where he does in races even though not 100%, means that this manager hopes he can recover and get back to vintage form, but even if not 100% he is still a massive addition to the team. Third in was Tony Russell in 173rd. Getting used to life as a dad, he may reflect on what a year it has been, as last year this race was a return after injury, while this season he has been going very well, and it was good to see Tony be able to attack the 15k.
In next was Daniel Steel in 204th. Daniel is already a very accomplished road runner, and this season is getting to grips with the cross country. To see him look so strong on this tough cross country course was very pleasing, and although Daniel is not expecting too much next weekend at the Watford Half Marathon, this manager will look out for the result with interest. Just behind was Joe Everitt in 210th. It was a fantastic run from Joe, the first time in our top 12 this season, and was a step up from his pre-Christmas form which, after some injury trouble over Christmas, was great to see. Closing the second team and our 12 was Simon Beedell in 218th. Simon, like his brother Tom, has his aims set for the marathon, and this season, with a half marathon PB and consistent performances even in heavy training weeks, all give good indications that his marathon PB should go by some distance.
This closed the second 6 and our 12 in 218. With rudimentary calculations our second team by themselves would have ranked 21st among the A-teams, which is a fantastic performance and highlighted how well our team had performed on the day. This meant we gained the season's second piece of silverware as we retained the Essex cup. (Other Essex teams of 6+ were East London Runners in 35th, Orion Harriers in 41st and Eton Manor AC in 51st).
Starting our third team was Jim Roche in 226th. Jim had a festive bug over the Christmas and new year period, plus was remodelling his home which had meant that racing and training was slightly tempered over this period, but it was still a good run by Jim, only being kept out of our twelve due to the strength of others. In 391st was Gareth Cavell. The hard working London cabbie is only two weeks back from his rib injury and at the end was not delighted with the way the race had gone. Gareth, in a relatively short running career, has had more injuries than most. But his resilience has many times amazed this manager, fearing to lose him for months if not the season, he has seen him back and running in weeks! And this manager fully backs Gareth that if he can find a place he is happy to train in the evening, that come the national he will be back to good form. In third for the team was Pete Caton in 398th. Pete had had to drive Oli, his son, to an exam in the morning in Hertfordshire before getting down to Brighton. A phone call 4 minutes before the start of the race said Pete would be there, and running from his car to the team, pulling on vest and spikes and running to just make the start, was not the quiet way most athletes would like to prepare for a 15k race - maybe the 100m! At the end Pete could only say, bit too far, but I think he will be amazed now how 8k will feel, like a warm-up to the Southerns!
Just behind in 423rd was Julian Russell. Julian, since his exceptional Met run, had been nursing an injury but said that leading up to the race it had been ok. But although he kept Pete in sight for nearly the entire race at the same distance, forcing the pace wasn't an option as the hills could aggravate the injury. But Julian still beat his Southerns place from last year by over 100 places, in what seemed a stronger field. In fifth for the team was Tony Pamphilon in 561st. Tony is so hounded for clues to answers to his upcoming music quiz (March 13th) that, although just getting fit again and having not done 9 miles for some years, he decided the sea air was what was needed to soothe his jangled nerves. It did the trick as Tony seemed very relaxed on the journey home, ready to tackle the mountain of emails that no doubt awaited him on his return, and people just phoning up for a chat. Closing the team was Richard Hogg in 640th. Richard had had to be at the course for the first race at 11am to see his son, Chris, race. Being at the course for more then 4 hours before the start is always tough to stay focused, Richard is an experienced campaigner and used all his knowledge to produce a good run.
This closed our third team in 640th, and would have given this team 42nd position A-team on the day. To have out three complete teams was a fantastic effort and emphasised the effort and commitment that has been shown by the squad all season. And we still had two more runners.
In 756th was Tom Spanyol who ran as Mark Cambridge. Tom came thanks partly to the enthusiasm sparked by Mark and others at training on the Tuesday, and it was great to see Tom make the journey down to Brighton and put in a solid display. Closing the team was the good Doctor, Trevor Powell in 795th, who had to run as Louis Clarke as this manager hadn't sent Trevor the email to sign up to the race! Mention must go to Paul Stockings who started the race but injury caused an early stoppage. His willingness to pull on the vest always is a massive help, as is too the fact that he always creates good bonhomie in the group. To have 21 lining up for a fixture away from London was a real mark of how good the team spirit has been this year, and to get 5th in the 6-man and probably higher in the 12 man teams, shows that Woodford is fortunate not only to have a hard working team but a talented team also. Many thanks to the spectators who came down to support the team, it greatly helps team spirit knowing that the efforts will be appreciated by others on the day. Next team fixture is Met League 5 on February 7th.
Ken Bray Trophy points have been updated: