English National Relays: Young Athletes
Many grown-up Woodford Green Juniors will tell you that relays are the most fun and fondly remembered events from their youth. The English National Relays are probably the best and this year 2 teams of Juniors made the trip up to Mansfield. The rain earlier in the week had cleared and after a long foggy drive the weather at Berry Hill Park was perfect for cross country running.
First up were our U14 boys, all bottom year, year 7s up against the best year 7 and 8s England has to offer. 83 teams shared the starting list.
Mansfield is a short 2k course for juniors, it’s fast, hilly and feels tight in many places so a good starter is needed, and chosen for his fast feet was Raphael Thomas, (7m 08s). Whilst a tad apprehensive, he had a brilliant start and found himself about 13th after the first 800m. Going into the woods, Rapha battled hard. Most teams put their fastest on leg one, and we were all delighted to see him come over the hill moving up to 11th.
Our next athlete, Dominic Daza (7m22s), who has gone from strength to strength this year, making the team after an impressive Essex league showing, had his work cut out. Losing a couple of places early in his leg, he wouldn’t let the side down and showing his stamina and determination worked hard to get back to 11th.
Bringing the team home was Jesse Geller (7m08s). Seeing a couple of familiar vests from other Essex clubs go off before him, they became targets and we could see a top ten finish was on the cards. Slowly picking them off, he took the last one on the brow of the hill leading to the finish line, bringing the young boys home in 8th. Jesse ran the 6th fastest in his leg.
L to R: Rapha, Dominic and Jesse
Our lads were over the moon and looking forward to watching the U16 boys. It was also the first time to Mansfield for our U16 team who with a mix of age and experience made for a really exciting race with 92 teams starting.
Our first leg man was George Dolan (7m13s), in the lower year in the age group and fairly new to the endurance group, but he made his mark with some impressive YDL runs on the track in the summer. In his second XC wearing the hoops, George got a great start on what was a packed line, and ran his heart out for a very creditable 72nd, handing over to William Godsave (6m36s).
Another fairly new member of the Junior endurance squad, William as a top year athlete and on the back of a very strong 7th at Claybury, knew he had the strength and speed to run down a few spots. And he did just that, and caught 31 lads, running 12th best in his leg. Waiting on the line and itching to go was Henry Richards (6m29s) who has had a very strong year on the track at YDL and, fast over 2k, he wasn’t going to let giving a year away effect his race. He went flying off, taking place after place and at 22nd climbing to the final hill had the final carrot when his Dad shouted in jest “if you can’t beat the Chelmsford lad it’s the bus home for you” this was all the encouragement Henry needed for one last push and the team were over the moon with 21st. Henry ran the 5th fastest time on his leg - very impressive as he’s bottom year and, like the other boys, felt he could have taken more had it not been so tight. We hope that next year brings a much larger squad and so many more young athletes get the chance to enjoy the best XC race on the calendar.
L to R: George, Henry and William