Essex League, Basildon: Sat 26th October
A small group of 10 athletes made the trip to Gloucester Park for the Essex League knowing that the first six to qualify by rights from each race per gender would make the SEAA Inter Counties XC Championship for Essex in December.
The weather was kind - mild with hardly any wind. The course was dry but on each lap it did carry some cruel climbs which our athletes dealt with extremely well.
U13 Girls (Two 1500 metre circuits)
34 athletes toed the line including Eva Prince and Grace Cherry. Both our girls were prominent at the end of lap one, both in the top 10. Eva had a tremendous second lap to come in 4th behind the talented Beagles lass Maddison Kindler. This was a fine effort from Eva who has now earned her first Essex vest. One of the coaches present said to Eva after the race "you are now a county athlete". Grace Cherry, a bottom year athlete, also had a great run for 8th. Grace held her form really well on the second lap and now has to wait to see if she is handed a discretionary spot for the Inter Counties.
The girls will gain great confidence from their performances and now look forward to the Met League in two weeks time. A huge well done to both.
Under 13 Boys (Two 1500 metre circuits)
A big field of 48 runners were on the line including Eric Frith and Oskar Prince. Although the hugely talented Mason Sanford broke away, Eric Frith was next after the first circuit with Oskar also just inside the top 10. Eric held his form brilliantly on the second lap for a well deserved 2nd spot earning his Essex colours alongside Eva. Eric has really gained in confidence this autumn and should look forward to the championship races later in the season. The team manager believes there will be some great results for him. Oskar, too, ran well for 9th spot and will hopefully maybe get a reserve spot for Essex.
Again, great running by both lads.
U15 Boys (2 2000 metres circuits)
40 lads were on the start line including George Watkins and Daniel Arnold. George’s coach asked for a "commanding performance". George carried that out by leading all the way for a comfortable victory. Daniel was never far away, battling with Jude Hearn and Calvert from West Suffolk before having to give way to his two rivals over the latter part of the course. Daniel did admit the course was not really to his liking but still put up an excellent performance. Both boys will be selected, I’m sure.
U17 Mens race (2 laps of 3000 metres)
We had 4 Woodies on the start line of 25 runners. The lads knew this would be a tough race, given that the two discretionary spots could well be taken with two lads on the Youth Talent Programme in Birmingham. None of them had raced 6000 metres before but coach was keen on them running to gain valuable experience. To the team manager's surprise and delight, three of our lads were in a group of six that broke away early on. Going into the second lap Finlay Evison from Basildon was leading with the "terrible twins", Harry Stockill and Luka Norden, lurking just behind and Aidan O’Driscoll running a inspired race at the back of this group. Well into the second lap, Evison and our Luka started to pull away. Harry was 3rd and Aidan 6th. The hills towards the end saw Evison pull away from Luka who placed 2nd. Harry, carrying a stitch for the second half of the race, placed 4th and Aidan ran a blinder in 6th. All three lads, we hope, will get Essex colours. Josh Stephenson also ran really well for 12th spot, right behind a 4mins 13secs 1500 metre runner. With the team manager jumping around in delight the boys secured another league win over Basildon.
Three of those lads are bottom year runners so some great results indeed.
A fantastic day in the end for the ten runners. Some of these are travelling up to Mansfield next Saturday for the National XC relays.
