Belgrave Harriers Road Running & Cross Country Results 2005 (May-December)

Thomas Abyu set a course record while Paul Freary was only 13 seconds slower than his winning time in 2000.

Ron Hill Surrey Classic 10 km, Horton Country Park, West Ewell, 18 December 2005.

Men. 1 R Ward 32:12; 8 M Webb 35:36; 212 D Davies M65 53:33. Women. 98 C Eastham 44:01.

Men. 1 J McFarlane (TH&H) 40:30; gst R Ashe 41:01; 5 S Omar 41:47; 15 W Cockerell 42:49; 19 T Ellacott 43:35; 23 M Trees M40 44:01; 26 E Lyne 44:07; 47 T Hadfield 45:35; 63 S Zealey M40 46:47; 70 M Humphrey 47:05; 78 F Ward M45 47:48; 84 T Fordyce 48:25; 88 T O'Neill M50 48:48; 95 S Ryan 49:18; 133 M Taylor M40 52:56; 140 J Lynch 53:40; 168 L Rehn M40 58:38; dnf A Swearman gst; 188 finished.

Teams (6 to score): 1 Herne Hill H 76; Belgrave H 135; 3 Brighton & Hove AC 162; ... 12 Belgrave H 'B'; 20 teams closed in.

Teams (12 to score): 1 Brighton & Hove AC 566; 2 Belgrave H 613; 3 Herne Hill H 690.

1 R Russell (Cent) 31:52; 3 D Gauson 33:07; 14 K Gauson U20 34:26; 25 G Oudney 35:04.

Men. 1 A Maclean (Team Southampton) 23:45; 2 S Stokes (Sale HM) 23:55; 3 W Chinhanhu (Poole/Zimbabwe) 24:08; 6 P Wicks 24:22; 68 J Fairbourn U20 29:00.

115th Oxford Uni. vs Cambridge Uni. Cross Country Race, Wimbledon Common, 3 December 2005. Pictures

One of the oldest fixtures in the calendar - the Varsity Cross Country race between Oxford and Cambridge Universities - was won by Jonathan Blackledge, who also had the pleasure of leading Oxford to a team win. It was the 115th running of the event and Oxford now move into the lead 58 wins to 57.

Decisive the individual victory might have been in the end, but with only 100m of the 7.5 miles remaining it was by no means certain who the winner would be. Italian Paulo Natali and Jonathan were well clear of the rest but shoulder to shoulder in their struggle to reach the funnel first. It was only JB's decisive final sprint that clinched it.

It was the end of a good week for Jonathan who had been voted Oxford University's Sportsman of the Year a few days earlier.

Great to see Richard Ward back in action. He's recovered from his broken toe but is still troubled by a chest infection. Nevertheless, with only three weeks running under his belt, Rich turned out to support his team.

7.5 miles. 1 J Blackledge (Oxford/Belgrave) 38:07; 2 P Natali (Cambridge/Italy); 3 F Thompson (Oxford/Aldershot F&D); 4 B Moreau (Oxford/Aldershot F&D); R Ward (Cambridge/Belgrave) also ran.

Men. 1 P Fleming (IRL) 1:20:48; 6 L Greatorex 1:22:40; 39 D Patel M40 1:35:21; 115 finished.
Overall standings: 1 P Fleming (IRL) 2:53:29; 6 L Greatorex 3:00:46; 142 completed the challenge.

Women. 1 L Rekling (DEN) 1:30:06; 10 H Smethurst W40 1:37:00; 16 L Cooper 1:45:05; 95 finished.
Overall standings: 1 J King (London H) 3:16:54; 10 H Smethurst W40 3:31:14; 19 L Cooper 3:54:54; 89 completed the challenge.

Women. 1 J King (London H) 19:13; 9 H Smethurst W40 20:33; 27 L Cooper 23:48; 101 finished.

Women. 1 J King (London H) 49:49; 8 H Smethurst W40 53:39; 26 L Cooper 1:01:43; 106 finished.

Men. 1 K Skinner (Garden City) 33:01; 6 L Greatorex 34:19; 31 D Patel M40 38:25; 223 finished.

Women. 1 J King (London H) 37:15; 8 H Smethurst W40 40:04; 20 L Cooper 44:20; 133 finished.

UK Cross Challenge & Euro Cross Trial, Sefton Park, Liverpool, 26 November 2005.

1 N Leighton (Bristol) 30:23; 213 P Cross M50 39:51; 388 L Rehn M40 43:14; 942 D Davies M65 50:01; 1935 finished.

A 4:38 opening mile saw off the opposition and Paul was on his own with just the cold, frost and icy corners to contend with. The second man home was 2:22 in arrears.

"Sweatshop" Surrey CC League Division One, Reigate Priory Park, 19 November 2005.

Left: The Skipper celebrated his birthday in wintry Priory Park. Photo by Steve Wicks. More pictures

A still frosty Priory Park greeted the senior men as they turned up for their three o'clock race with the winter sun low in the sky and the temperature dropping.

Tom Barry had already placed a fine second in the under 17 race with Joseph Taylor-Holland again enjoying competition in the under 13 group.

It was the Skipper's birthday and the Cockerell household added an additional cake to the post race fare - but first there was a race to deal with.

We were short of a few stars but Phil Wicks looked in determined mood and the with the engine-room boys stepping up to the plate, including a whole bunch of new faces, the team was pretty solid.

Phil immediate set out his stall by leading the charge up the initial slope, testing himself a little after a minor cold before gradually stepping up the pace. John McFarlane of Thames was his only opposition as they dropped down out of the woods near the end of the first lap, but before the loop past the lake had been completed, Phil had pressed the accelerator gently to the floor and was away. His first lap on the same circuit used for the relay two weeks earlier was an outstanding 12:58.

Phil wasn't the only one to have "come on a bit" in the last few weeks. Skipper Will went through 29 seconds faster than his relay split of 14:09 - and then proceeded to turn in another lap of 14:00 - while Tim Weeks was also inside his relay mark.

And so to the finish. Once again there was a host of red and black vests in forward positions making sure that Herne Hill held their advantage over Thames Hare & Hounds but with Phil comfortably leading the field for his first ever Surrey League win (confounding AW reporter Martin Duff's predictions) and beating two very tough Thames men in McFarlane and Sly, we had enough to keep us happy. The Skipper looked particularly mean as he chased hard for 14th and with Peter Willis up 12 places on his Brockwell Park position we had enough early men to ensure that we maintained our third spot in the league. It was good to see so many of our men finishing strongly - whether they scored or not - and to see those who had completed their stint going back down the course to urge on the rest.

Senior Men. 1 P Wicks (Belgrave) 26:28; 2 J McFarlane (Thames H&H) 26:42; 3 P Sly (Thames H&H) 26:47; 14 W Cockerell 27:40; 25 P Willis 28:40; 29 T Weeks 28:53; 32 C Axe 29:00; 33 L Greatorex 29:04; 42 E Lyne 29:31; 62 M Humphrey 30:14; 63 M Whiting 30:15; 65 W Lynch 30:19; 82 T Fordyce 31:15; 93 F Ward M45 31:38; 105 A Barden M40 32:50; 109 S Ryan 33:14; 116 M Taylor 34:12; 118 T Lynes 34:18; 122 R Norville 34:24; 126 J Lynch 34:37; 127 N O'Halloran 34:57; 134 S Baxendale 35:43; 150 finished.

Teams: 1 Herne Hill H 182; 2 Thames H&H 228; 3 Belgrave H 340; 4 South London H 372; 5 Guildford &G 438; 6 Reigate Priory AC 427; 7 Kingston & Poly H 525; 8 Walton AC 598.

Overall: 1 Herne Hill H 363; 2 Thames H&H 437; 3 Belgrave H 636; 4 South London H 755; 5 Guildford & Godalming 936; 6 Reigate Priory AC 1046; 7 Kingston & Poly H 1094; 8 Walton AC 1213.

U17. 1 D Altendorf (South London) 14:14; 2 T Barry 14:41. U13 1 S Huney (South London) 16:15; 4 J Taylor-Holland 17:42.

Women's Surrey CC League Division One, Reigate Priory Park, 19 November 2005.

On a freezing cold day the Belles returned to Reigate Park this time for a league rather than relay outing. Unfortunately, despite a strong team, the result was the same with the Belles finishing second yet again, this time with Ranelagh taking the glory. The gap in the league has now grown to 54 points, which although still assailable, cannot afford to get bigger in race 3.

With the course featuring a small loop down towards the pond before heading off on the usual relay route to bring it closer to 5kms, Sarah Murphy was the first Belle home in 8th position, although she did lose a few places on the steep downhill towards home. Juliette Clark had one of the better runs of the day coming home in 11th whilst a below par Tilly Heaton finished in 17th. Despite a strong outing and return to the fold from Erica Fogg and with Helen Smethurst bringing up the A team rear, our first 5 scorers home only finished in the top 28 compared to Ranelagh’s 5 in the top 15.

With a depleted junior squad appearing in the league this year, our one ray of light came in the form of U13 Megan Evans. This petite, quiet young girl has enormous strength, grit and determination over the cross country and has consistently finished at the top of her races. At Reigate she was the first U13 home just narrowly missing out on pipping the U15 winner too – much to the opposition’s consternation!

In the XC Plate competition Sarah Murphy has strengthened her lead with 2 wins out of 2. Tilly Heaton is still in second, but with previous 3rd placer Heidi Cayzer out of action through laryngitis Juliette Clark has moved into bronze medal spot.

Senior Women. 1 E Nelson (Epsom &E) 18:13; 2 D Lee (Thames H&H) 18:20; 3 L Watson (Stragglers) 18:02; 8 S Murphy 18:19; 11 J Clark W40 19:42; 17 M Heaton 19:59; 25 E Fogg 20:19; 28 H Smethurst W40 20:24; 34 A Sahely-England 20:56; 39 H Alsop W35 21:23; 55 L Cooper 22:02; 65 C Eastham 22:22; 131 N Mills W55 26:49; 153 finished.

Teams: 1 Ranelagh H 47; 2 Belgrave H 89; 3 Thames H&H 102; 4 Stragglers AC 122; 5 South London H 166; 6 West Four H 187; ... 14 Belgrave H 'B' 324; 37 teams closed in.

Overall: 1 Ranelagh H 110; 2 Belgrave H 164; 3 Thames H&H 235; 4 Wimbledon Windmilers 317; 5 South London H 355; 6 Woking AC 408; ... 13 Belgrave H 'B' 588.

1 W Clark (Epsom &E) 55:49; 11 S Zealey 62:15; 4 P Cross M50 69:38; 155 D Davies M65 87:23.

ECCA National Cross Country Relays, Berry Hill Park, Mansfield, 12 November 2005 Full result

Ever since the six stage road race, where the Bels had only come through the field as their strength in depth had come into play, this four stage cross country event at Mansfield was known to be "wide open". Some seven clubs had been tipped as possible winners but for the first time in years we headed up the M1 knowing that it was unlikely to be us.

We are in a period of transition with several of our stalwarts either injured or taking a step back from competition while there are also a number of younger runners beginning to make their mark; Berry Hill saw three of them in action. Selection for the race was, as usual, based on the six stage but with a now fit Jonathan Blackledge not taking part in that event while any difference between most of those that did was impossible to define, it was eventually decided to keep the status quo and leave JB out of the A squad, even though he was expected to outrun at least one of those who were in.

Second fastest of today's runners who'd competed at Sutton Park, Paul Freary made a quick start but was followed closely by Shugri Omar for the Bs. Shoulder to shoulder throughout the two laps, both drifted back to the 20s with Paul still retaining the edge as the finish neared. But it was 20 year-old Shugri who had the strongest finish up the final climb with Paul right behind him but legs a-buckling as he crossed the line. We were further back than hoped for and over such a short distance it was unlikely that we could get back in contention. Sale's Stuart Stokes had grabbed a big lead while we were in 22nd (Bs) and 23rd (As).

Jonathan Blackledge tore away for the Bs but Phil Wicks had problems to contend with. Paul had stopped dead on the line and needed to get going again to cover the 15 metres to where Phil was waiting to "touch hands" and by the time they'd connected, the As had lost four places and the watch about to record Phil's effort had relentlessly "ticked" on. How much time was lost we can't be sure but for the records we'll allow an ungenerous four seconds*.

With a point to prove, Jonathan tore through the field ahead but Phil was also on a mission to erase any memories of his Sutton Park run and by the end of the first 2.5k lap had overtaken his colleague. Yet again, though, that trademark Blackledge finish put the Bs back ahead with Jonathan's time proving not only to be faster than someone in the A - but faster than all of them! Great runs from both the 21 year-old Belgravians had taken the Bels to 10th and 13th with Salford and Tipton between them and only seven seconds covering the four.

For Newham & Essex Beagles, Mo Farah had run like a gazelle, picking up no fewer than 29 places to go into fourth, but it was still Sale ahead with pre-race favourites Morpeth back in 17th.

Pete Willis ran like a man possessed as he tried to keep the Bs ahead of the As. For almost the whole of the first lap Al Stewart did not get onto terms with him but the inevitable did eventually occur and the remainder of Pete's race was spent trying to recover from that early burst. There was much changing of the order on stage three: Holmfirth, Gateshead, Harrow, Telford - their challenges all subsided as Al steadily made ground. But there were others also on the rise - Morpeth, Tipton, Notts - and the net effect was that Al's effort gained us four places and we were into 9th.

Altrincham now held the lead with several previously unfancied teams well into the top ten - most notably Aldershot in 3rd.

Morpeth's Nick McCormick had breakfasted with us. His easy going ways cover a steely determination and ability - who will forget his sterling effort to catch our own Mark Miles just before the line last year - but surely with his club lying in 6th place, 48 seconds behind leaders Altrincham, he was going to be unable to save Jim Alder's Morpeth Harriers this time. Not so!

For the Bels Stephen Sharp flew round his first lap but with so much talent ahead he was unable to make much impression. Bedford & County fell to his stride but he was unable to hold the pace for his second circuit and we had to accept a place well out of the medals.

And while this was going on, McCormick was on a charge. Altrincham sagged and Aldershot moved ahead of them but the Morpeth man was going faster than anyone in the race's history, bar a 2003 version of AFD's Chris Thompson, and once again it was the North Easterners who carried the day.

Disappointing for the Bels, then, especially as we knew we'd have problems with 'B' vs 'A'. But the signs for the future look good, and who's to say we won't have an under 23 four-some soon that can go sub-1 hour for the Berry Hill course.

1 Morpeth H 1:00:34; 2 Aldershot Farnham & District 1:00:59; 3 Altrincham & District 1:01:07; 4 Tipton H 1:01:09; 5 Newham & Essex Beagles 1:01:19; 6 Sale H Manchester 1:01:31; 7 Notts AC 1:01:38; 8 Belgrave H 'A' 1:01:47 - P Freary (23) 15:41, P Wicks (13) 15:12/15:08*, A Stewart (9) 15:38, S Sharp (8) 15:16; dnf Belgrave H 'B' - S Omar (22) 15:40, J Blackledge (10) 15:06, P Willis (17) 16:18; 156 teams started, 126 finished.

Fastest: 1 N McCormick (Morpeth H) 14:21; 2 M Farah (Newham &EB) 14:29; =3 C Davies (Telford) and M Skinner (Blackheath &B) 14:36; 5 A Bowden (Harrow) 14:46.

Men. 1 J Mays (Kent) 28:25; 32 W Lynch 31:29; 33 M Whiting 31:32; 46 F Ward M45 32:13; 144 L Rehn M40 40:12; 168 finished. Teams: 1 Kent 22; 2 Thames H&H 63; 3 Herne Hill 118; 14 Belgrave 255; 32 teams closed in.

Women. 1 M Synott-Wells (Ranelagh) 33:10; 2 M Heaton 33:53; 20 C Eastham 39:12; 51 finished. Teams: 1 Ranelagh 44; 7 teams closed in.

1 T Doran (Elmbridge) 34:28; 5 M Webb 36:17; 237 D Davies M65 52:03; 333 finished.

UK Cross Challenge/Midland Women's League, Senneleys Park, Birmingham, 5 November 2005

Men. 1 C Rimmer (Telford) 35:16; 5 K Gauson 36:45. Women. 1 K Ramsey (Charnwood) 22:24; 49 V Edwards 27:34.

Above: The last few seconds before the start of the 50th Priory Relays. Tim Weeks (107) has Jason Webb on his left. Sarah Murphy (190) and Heidi Cayzer (191 ) stand either side of South London's Eleanor Baker who is about to run the fastest of the day in the women's event.

It was double silver for the Belgrave teams as men's and women's events were (as usual at the Priory Relays) held at the same time. So often our races are held at different venues - and even when they come together are often started a couple of hours apart - so it was good to have both teams in action together.

Sarah Murphy and Heidi Cayzer lined up for our 'B' and 'A' women's teams. Heidi had travelled to Sutton Park as reserve for the National Road Relay and didn't get a run so was given the nod here to go into the 'A' squad - but it was Sarah that was first home for the Belles, in third and running eighth fastest of the day - albeit a minute and a half behind South London's outstanding Eleanor Baker. Juliette Clark, suffering from a cold, pulled the 'A's closer to the Bs on the second stage but Tilly Heaton kept the Bs ahead and we had Belgrave lying third and fourth with one lap to go. Up ahead South London were now being challenged by Crawley.

Catherine Berry would soon restore the Belgrave equilibrium. As AAA 5,000m winner from 2004 and on a visit back home from the USA, she tore into the clubs ahead - and by the finish had just failed to catch Crawley who had had now moved into the lead. She was second fastest of the day.

Tim Weeks, celebrating his first day as a full blown Belgravian, led off for the men and his time stood up well as the race wore on. A half fit Skipper took us into third, a position held by Andrew Swearman, and then came a terrific run from Lee Greatorex to move us into the silver medal spot. Lee is training with coach John Bicourt's group and is making great improvements these days.

Herne Hill were away and gone but a non-scoring Medway outfit came back at Tom Ellacott, another a long way short of his best, leaving anchor man Jonathan Blackledge with at least a little company as he blew away the last remnants of a cold with the day's fastest time, staking a strong claim to an 'A' team place for next week's National Cross Country Relay.

Women - 3 x 2.5 miles. 1 Crawley AC 47:41; 2 Belgrave H 'A' 47:56 - H Cayzer 16:37 (5), J Clark W40 16:26 (4), C Berry 14:53 (2); 3 South London H 48:44; 6 Belgrave H 'B' 50:13 - S Murphy 15:59 (3), M Heaton 16:42 (3), A Sahely 17:32 (6); 15 Belgrave H 'C' 55:18 - C Eastham 18:49 (23), C Bertram 17:00 (11), L Cooper 19:29 (15); 38 teams started, 37 finished.

Fastest: 1 E Baker (South London H) 14:30; 2 C Berry (Belgrave H) 14:53; n/s E Baker (South London H) 15:05; 3 H Brooks (Crawley) 15:35; ... 8 S Murphy (Belgrave H 'B') 15:59.

Men - 6 x 2.5 miles. 1 Herne Hill H 1:21:52; 2 Belgrave H 'A' 1:24:23 - T Weeks 14:09 (8), W Cockerell 14:09 (3), A Swearman 14:12 (3), L Greatorex 14:18 (2), T Ellacott (14:31 (3), J Blackledge 13:04 (2); n/s Medway & Maidstone 1:25:49; 3 Blackheath & Bromley 1:27:24; dnf Belgrave H 'B' - J Webb 14:50 (13), W Lynch 14:59 (15), Don Anderson M50 17:24 (16), F Ward M45 15:27; 41 teams started, 35 finished.

Fastest: 1 J Blackledge (Belgrave H) 13:04; 2 D Taylor (Blackheath & Bromley) 13:12; 3 K Quinn (Herne Hill) 13:21.

Another race run in gale force winds and torrential rain - and this one with a couple of special challenges in the form of a 1100 ft climb and then at 21 miles, another of 1200ft! Wearing her Belgrave kit, Louise got plenty of support, even in the Welsh mountains, and a light-hearted comment from one watcher: "bet you've never seen hills like this where you've come from!" Louise smiled, and agreed.

After carrying a shin problem for most of October which severely curtailed his training, and having a couple of cortisone injections (the last only two days before the race), John Clarke ran to a personal best. Celebrating her selection for the GBR Ekiden (marathon) relay team which will compete in Chiba, Japan, Birhan Dagne celebrated by running the full distance.

1 D Osadchy (UKR) 2:13:14; 27 J Clarke 2:35:06. Women. 1 V Klimina (RUS) 2:38:04; 3 B Dagne 2:41:54.

1 D Taylor (Blackheath &B) M40 1:09:30; 18 B Barton M40 1:20:00; 231 P Cross M50 1:37:40; 388 J Pritchard 1:44:50; 837 D McMillan M55 2:02:43; 854 A Lane M70 2:03:22; 1256 finished.

Al Stewart is in the form of his life. He set off aggressively, hoping to crack the course record, and after a mile was out on his own. Risking life and limb at the 8 mile mark, where he got blocked in by the lead vehicle, Al eventually approached the finish line with the crowd counting him in to the record - ten, nine, eight seven, six - and yes, he got home with five seconds to spare, breaking South African Piet Jacobs 2003 best for the race.

Yes, the race was exotic as it sounds, spiced up with steep hills, wind and torrential rain - but it was another advance from the man from Foot Traffic, winner by over half a minute.

1 B Broe (Epsom &E) 35:09; 5 M Webb 36:41; 188 D Davies M65 52:39; 276 finished.

1 S Farah (Newham &EB) 16:02; 4 P Fallenius 1st M40 16:14; 7 M Humphrey 16:34; 12 T Hadfield 16:59; 32 D Patel M45 18:32. Women. 1 E Calderbank 17:52; 3 H Smethurst 1st W40 18:34.

1 Central AC 53:33; 2 City of Edinburgh (inc D Gauson, K Gauson) 54:37. Fastest: 1 R Russell (Central) 12:52; 3 D Gauson 13:13; =6 K Gauson U20 13:28; ... R Montgomery 13:50.

A fifth consecutive title – could it be done? Our team was not as strong as it might have been and Morpeth Harriers, our conquerors at the recent AAA 10k and last autumn’s cross country relay, looked very threatening having convincingly won the Northern 6-Stage title. From the Midlands, Notts AC have been steadily rising through the ranks and Birchfield Harriers can never be discounted. Our own Southern rivals Newham & Essex Beagles, Aldershot and Wells City might have been behind us at Rushmoor Arena but could so easily surprise us if we had any problems.

Having settled on a team that was minus some of the stalwarts of the past few seasons but included the in-form Kassa Tadesse, we then lost Jonathan Blackledge to a cold – and it was time to dip into the reserves at the expense of the B team. And then at the morning’s team meeting it was announced that the team manager had left the 6-Stage Cup at home – we just had to win now to save his embarrassment!

Welcome back Paul! Twelve months without Freary in the squad has been a long time. He pulled a muscle a week before this event in 2004 and we brought in a reserve – this time it was Paul’s turn to be received back into the 'six' on the Friday afternoon before the race.

In mild and still conditions the field swept down the dip and around the early loop with Paul handily placed in the main bunch. Returning past the Jamboree Stone the top ten were announced, with Belgrave occupying ninth spot. Paul was holding up well – and when the appearance of the lead motorbike heralded the end of the first stage, Paul was right in the bunch with 12th spot. Leicester had grabbed a clear lead but then it was Leeds, Wells City, Notts and Birchfield in quick succession with our expected main rivals Morpeth in 23rd, 19 seconds behind, and Newham & Essex Beagles back in 33rd and over half a minute in arrears.

1 Leicester Coritanian 17:17; 2 Leeds City 17:30; 3 Wells City 17:32; 4 Notts AC 17:39; 5 Birchfield H 17:43; 6 Altrincham &D 17:43; 12 Belgrave H A 17:52; 41 Belgrave H B 18:34; 82 teams started.

Fastest: 1 M Geele (Leicester Coritanian) 17:17; 2 D Webb (Leeds City) 17:30; 3 A Hennessy (Wells City) 17:32; 4 C Warburton) (Notts) 17:39; … 12 P Freary (Belgrave H A) 17:52; 41 W Cockerell (Belgrave H B) 18:34.

Recently selected as an England representative for the Commonwealth Games marathon, Kassa has been in great form and we expected good things from him with men neatly lined up ahead to be chased. We were not disappointed.

Expecting, at some stage, Morpeth’s Nick McCormick to throw in a lap some 40 seconds faster than anything we could offer, each of our team had all been asked to contribute something 10 or 12 seconds faster than the rest of our North Eastern rivals with the aim of building up a lead of approaching one minute. All that went out of the window now as Morpeth’s second runner dropped back 11 places and Kassa swept through the field, overtaking ten men. We already had a gap of two minutes. It was looking good for us and our most likely rivals now appeared to be Birchfield although the Beagles had risen 21 places thanks to Steve Hepples. Leicester’s time at the front had been short lived as their man dropped like a stone through 60 places.

1 Harrow AC (+6) 34:56; 2 Belgrave H (+10) 35:12; 3 Derby AC (+14) 35:13; 4 Birchfield (+1) 35:14; 5 Altrincham &D (+1) 35:17; 6 Wells City (-3) 35:22; … 23 Belgrave H B (+18) 36:36.

Fastest: 1 A Bowden (Harrow) 17:13; 2 A MacLean (Team Southampton) 17:15; 3 L Gunn (Derby) 17:16; 4 K Tadesse (Belgrave) 17:20; … 20 K Nash (Belgrave B) 18:02.

Hopefully Alaster Stewart would now take us into the lead. In fact Al gained nine seconds on stage two leaders Harrow as the fancied Notts AC team came up four places behind him, Birchfield sagged to 16th and the Beagles advanced to 8th. A superb run in the Southern race had us expecting something even more spectacular on Al’s favourite course – but solid though he was, it didn’t happen and, in spite of what appeared to be good conditions, a trend of slower than normal times was being set.

Oh! And the yellow-vested Altrincham runner Jason Ward forged through to gain a 38 second lead. ‘Alty’ had been lurking at the back end of the first half dozen and pre-race predictions had boasted that they would hit the front at some stage – but this was looking like a determined attack.

1 Altrincham &D (+4) 52:25; 2 Harrow AC (-1) 53:03; 3 Belgrave H (-1) 53:10; 4 Notts AC (+4) 53:12; 5 Owls AC (+2) 53:28; 6 Wells City (0) 53:39; … 29 Belgrave H B (-6) 55:35.

Fastest: 1 C Davies (Telford) 17:06; 2 J Ward (Altrincham) 17:08; 3 K Cullen (Highgate) 17:22; 4 N Pollock (Kent) 17:23; … 7 A Stewart (Belgrave A) 17:58; 36 P Willis (Belgrave B) 18:59.

Ok. So Al couldn’t get to the front. Maybe Phil Wicks could do some damage. Surely 17:30 was on the cards and so impressed are we by his attitude that we felt comfortable that he could handle some of the big guns on this stage who were, admittedly, some way behind him. But all was not well. At the top of the first hill Phil was struck by a stitch that wouldn’t leave him for the rest of his race. It’s a testament to his courage that he held himself together as well as he did. Regular rival Jermain Mays of Kent AC ran 17:29 but Phil was restricted to something 50 seconds outside his target.

Harrow fell away but Wells City made a big play through Ben Tickner. Mo Farah took the Beagles ahead of us, Birchfield’s colours were promoted through Wilf Taragon while Notts AC were now placed just behind. And while all this was going on, Andy Norman, for Altrincham, was charging away at the front. Morpeth played Nick McCormick who ran to the day’s fastest by a long way – but it was all too late for them as they were still 46 seconds adrift of the Bels and surely could look for no more than a podium place.

1 Altrincham (0) 1:09:59; 2 Wells City (+4) 1:11:03; 3 Newham &EB (+5) 1:11:06; 4 Birchfield H (+12) 1:11:23; 5 Belgrave H (-2) 1:11:29; 6 Notts AC (-2) 1:11:48; ... 34 Belgrave H B (-5) 1:15:26.

Fastest: 1 N McCormick (Morpeth) 16:41; 2 W Taragon (Birchfield) 17:01; 3 M Farah (Newham) 17:11; 4 B Tickner (Wells City) 17:24; … 14 P Wicks (Belgrave A) 18:19; 51 L Greatorex (Belgrave B) 19:51.

With two stages to go the leaders had over a minute on anyone else and a further half-minute to Belgrave. Heads were shaking now. “It doesn’t look as if you’re going to do this one boy,” it was suggested to our team manager. But the TM was keeping faith with his men. “Stephen, you’ll be taking the lead on this lap,” he predicted with outward confidence. Admittedly it seemed crazy, even though we all knew that ‘Alty’ were front loaded, but he had the additional comfort of having just taken a call from Altrincham/Belgravian Simon Marwood – due to run 5th stage for them but currently languishing at home with a cold! They were out of front-runners and Birchfield and Newham & Essex now seemed the biggest threat – if they had enough firepower left.

Stephen took up the challenge and in no time we heard over the tannoy that Altrincham’s lead had been halved. By the far end of the lap Beagler Stuart Major had taken the lead with a fine run but Stephen was closing him down and on the journey back sat in behind for a while before unleashing his final effort.

A quarter of a mile from the finish an excited Gordon Biscoe was shouting over his two-way radio to those at the finish that the leader had just passed him and it was Stephen Sharp just ahead of another runner. “Yes, but Stephen Sharp from whom?” he was quizzed. “Stephen Sharp from Belgrave of course!”

1 Belgrave H (+4) 1:29:05; 2 Newham & EB 1:29:09; 3 Altrincham &D (-2) 1:29:58; 4 Morpeth H&AC (+6) 1:30:08; 5 Wells City (-3) 1:30:09; 6 Birchfield H (-2) 1:30:23; ... 37 Belgrave H B (-3) 1:35:38.

Fastest: 1 S Sharp (Belgrave) 17:36; 2 N Wilkinson (Morpeth) 17:53; 3 B Moreau (Aldershot) 17:55; 4 S Major (Newham) 18:03; ... =52 M Humphrey 20:12.

All was calm at the take-over. Possibly the most experienced man in the race was ready to set out with just a few seconds gap over Bob Smith’s Newham boys. “I’m not going for a time,” said Spencer Barden. “This is going to be a run for the team. I’m going to make sure that we can’t lose it.” And make sure he did. Spen may have run faster around this course, being one of the five in the squad who had won our very first National Road Relay title of this era on this very course, but his 17:25 was still equal fastest on the stage as the Belgrave lead shot up to well over a minute, totally belying the drama we had witnessed.

And as predicted, it was indeed Morpeth, Notts, Newham & Essex and Birchfield who were our nearest rivals; and apart from the last stage they were a lot closer than they have been of late. Every one of them can point to missing men (as indeed can we) so there are exciting times ahead.

Unfortunately, pinching Paul Freary for the 'A's meant that in spite of our best endeavours the 'B's were incomplete and ran out of men at the end of stage five. Very many thanks to those that did run. There's no doubt that at our best, if we really went for it, we could field a 'B' squad to place in the top dozen but convincing people to do that is easier said than done.

So it's a record five consecutive victories. We set out some ten years ago to attempt to emulate the great road running teams – Tipton, Bingley, Birchfield, Gateshead. This race was a beauty and although not wishing to show any signs of resting on our laurels, we can surely say: “We are now up there with the best of them.”

1 Belgrave H (0) 1:46:30; 2 Morpeth H&AC (+2) 1:47:48; 3 Notts AC (+4) 1:47:54; 4 Newham &EB (-2) 1:48:33; 5 Birchfield H (+1) 1:48:48; 6 Altrincham &D (-3) 1:48:58; 76 teams finished.

Fastest: =1 S Barden (Belgrave) & N Talbot (Notts) 17:25; 3 I Hudspith (Morpeth) 17:40; 4 M Janes (Bedford &C) 18:10.

1 N McCormick (Morpeth) 16:41; 2 W Taragon (Birchfield) 17:01; 3 C Davies (Telford) 17:06; 4 J Ward (Altrincham) 17:08; 5 M Farah (Newham &EB) 17:11; 6 A Bowden (Harrow) 17:13; 10 K Tadesse (Belgrave) 17:20.

Catherine Eastham writes:- There was a bit of nervous tension before the women’s race as despite this being one of the Belles strongest teams for years, and Heidi Cayzer being ready and available to race as travelling reserve (with the prospect of having to dash down to Dorking straight after for a wedding), there was a call from the proposed first leg runner, Sarah Murphy, to say she was stuck in road works on the M6 and might be a bit late. Team captain, Juliette Clark, as calm and composed as ever accepted the challenge of moving from fourth to first leg in a straight swap with Sarah, and in near perfect racing conditions the race was soon underway.

A women’s race this might be – but it isn’t a dainty affair for the ladies. First leg runners need to be aggressive, confident and most importantly have sharp elbows! One hundred and two runners set off at the stroke of midday with Juliette Clark tucked in amongst the middle of the pack. Preston’s Helen Clitheroe led the front runners home in 14:07 while Jules was expected 2 minutes later in the late 30’s. Ever reliable and in great form at present, Juliette did indeed bring the Belles home in 35th place – a perfect start.

1 H Clitheroe (Preston H) 14:07; 2 K Ramsey (Charnwood) 14:15; 3 H Dean (Hallam) 14:17; 35 J Clark (Belgrave H) 15.52.

Tilly Heaton has been a regular at the Nationals over the years and knows the course well. Tasked with pulling the Belles up a few places Tilly worked hard throughout the 4kms. Unfortunately suffering from a stomach cramp during the run it was harder for Tilly than anticipated. Still, she moved the Belles up to 32nd and recorded a time only 11 seconds slower than her course best. At the front Shaftesbury had a 44 second lead whilst Faye Fullerton (Havering M) and Lucy Elliott (Winchester) had pulled their clubs into top three contention.

1 J Wright (Shaftesbury) 14:32 28:58 (+3); 2 F Fullerton (Havering M) 14:32 29:42 (+17); 3 L Elliott (Winchester) 14:37 29:48 (+17); 32 M Heaton (Belgrave H) 16:14 32:06 (+3).

Despite being keen to do a fast first leg Birhan proved herself an outstanding team player by setting off on 3rd stage with the mission of catching as many ahead as possible. Birhan’s goal was to bring the Belles close to 20th position whilst also earning a fast enough time to get selected for the Ekiden Relays. The former she achieved and more, gaining 20 places for the Belles and pulling them into 12th spot. The latter she also achieved in style as, 7th fastest runner overall on the day, Birhan finally got the recognition from selectors she has been striving for all year. Shaftesbury maintained their lead up front whilst Dorchie Lee pulled Bristol up 3 places to feature in a medals position.

1 R Felton (Shaftesbury) 15:30 44:28 (0); 2 E Patel (Winchester) 15:31 45:19 (+1); 3 D Lee (Bristol & W) 15:21 45:20 (+3); 12 B Dagne (Belgrave H) 14:24 46:30 (+20).

With the Belles less than 2 minutes off the leaders and tough as nails Sarah Murphy fully warmed up and ready for the glory leg, the team manager could finally relax, confident that the team would feature in the top 15. Sarah’s grit and determination saw her dig deep into reserves, ignoring Hayley Yelling flying past in a last ditch challenge. With her family cheering on in support Sarah held off the challenge from Salford’s Bev Jenkins and maintained the team’s 12th position and helped to record the Belles 2nd fastest National’s time to date. A great finish and a great result for the Belles with the team finishing ahead of some big and local rivals. Well done girls and thanks to the many supporters along the course who helped cheer the team to such a good position.

Bristol’s Kate Reed had to clock the fastest leg of the day to bring Bristol into the lead and retain their gold medals. Despite missing Paula Radcliffe due to a late withdrawal from a cold, Bedford had a strong run to still claim bronze, with Shaftesbury just holding on for silver.

1 K Reed (Bristol & W) 13:56 59:16 (+2); 2 G Turtle (Shaftesbury) 14:57 59:25 (-1); 3 L Yelling (Bedford & Co) 14:09 59:29 (+1); 12 S Murphy (Belgrave H) 16:06 62:36 (0).

Fastest overall: 1 K Reed (Bristol & West AC, stage 4); 13:56; 2 H Clitheroe (Preston Harriers, stage 1) 14:07; 3 L Yelling (Bedford & County, stage 4) 14:09; 7 B Dagne (Belgrave H, stage 3) 14:24.

Fastest: R Russell (Central AC) 11:13; 3 K Gauson U20 11:30; 4 D Gauson 11:33; ... P McCloskey 12:28.

Men. 1 J Yuda (Tanzania) 46:45; 12 K Tadesse 49:10; 24 J Blackledge 50:52; 27 T Watson 51:19.

Men. 8.2 miles: 1 P Wicks 41:14; 2 T Weeks 45:58. 16 miles: 4 C McMillan 1:34:53.

As has become traditional, the cross-country season opened over the rolling Brockwell Park greensward as the eight clubs contesting the “Sweatshop” League Division One came together for the initial fixture. Aldershot, Farnham & District AC and Boxhill Racers have both dropped out of the League but runners from each of these clubs were still present, wearing unfamiliar vests and running as second-claimers for other outfits; and with Kent AC’s talented Jermain Mays lining up with the South London men, the standard was going to be as high as ever.

The Bels didn’t have their normal strong line-up for this opener but there were plenty of bodies – and plenty of interest as well. Stephen Sharp, in the middle of his heaviest ever mileage, was experimenting by going into the race with no tapering down at all, Phil Wicks was tackling his first Surrey League race and intending to give a good account of himself, while the ingenuous Skipper invited the Thames Team Manager to predict a finishing position for him – and was then a little miffed to be told it would be in the “twenties”.

However, it was none of these heading the field as the runners streamed over the first hill although it was a figure in a Belgrave vest – veteran Peter Fallenius, training hard for a 2:20 marathon. Soon the normal suspects took over at the front but Peter hung in there throughout the rest of the race and we were pleased with his sixth-scorer’s position.

Five men had broken clear after a mile and a half with our own Phil and Stephen taking their share at the front with Phil Tedd and John McFarlane leading the Thames challenge and Jermain Mays loping along beside them. Heading out again, though, it was Phil Wicks pushing along at the front with Stephen a few paces back and then perhaps five metres between him, Mays and then the Thames men. Phil knew he’d have to break away well before the finish if he was going to win this race but while the white-vested Hare & Hounds men did fall back, and Jermain Mays quite obviously did not like the way the hills were being tackled, Stephen seemed comfortable with every push.

With a mile or so to go it was Stephen now forcing the pace along, with the elastic between the two Belgravians and Mays stretching almost to breaking point before the next downhill section allowed the South London man to reel them back again. A quarter of a mile out with just a flat section and then the rise to the finish to contend with, Mays began to sense that the race was his. He closed on Stephen with Phil now dropping back as the pace increased even more and then, at the final turn, let loose with all he’d got – and it was just enough. A great race.

Herne Hill Harriers, in the words of their team manager, had seen a huge number of their men “come out of the woodwork” for the race and they comfortably took the team race, breaking the normal Thames/Belgrave stranglehold. The Skipper managed to slot into a position he hadn’t filled before – 13th – to confound the predictions and wily Knut Hegvold paced his race perfectly to get up to 20th, ahead of a disappointed Peter Willis who’d had the better of Knut on the roads of Rushmoor Arena.

In the youngsters’ race we welcomed Joseph Holland as he tackled his first ever cross-country race. He enjoyed himself, overtaking opposing runners to the very end, and we look forward to seeing him at the following matches.

Senior Men. 1 J Mays (South London H) 23:06; 2 S Sharp 23:08; 3 P Wicks 23:15; 13 W Cockerell 24:15; 20 K Hegvold M40 24:53; 36 P Willis 25:34; 39 P Fallenius M40 25:43; 44 J Charles 25:51; 49 M Humphrey 26:15; 52 J Webb 26:26; 57 T Weeks n/s 26:50; 61 E Lyne 26:58; 71 W Lynch 27:15; 74 J Galley M40 27:22; 89 T Watt 28:05; 93 M Whiting 28:23; 102 A Barden M40 28:55; 112 M Taylor M40 30:02; 128 J Stevenson 32:08; 133 L Rehn 34:21; 140 finished; H Corbett M40 dnf.

Teams: 1 Herne Hill H 181; 2 Thames H&H 209; 3 Belgrave H 296; 4 South London H 383; 5 Guildford & Godalming AC 498; 6 Reigate Priory AC 519; 7 Kingston & Poly H 539; 8 Walton AC 615.

Under 13. 1 J Puttock (Guildford & Godalming) 13:49; 7 J Taylor-Holland 15:16; 20 finished.

Already the Women's Surrey League looks as if it will be a two horse race as Ranelagh and Belgrave both closed in their teams within a whisker of each other - but the former having the advantage of two runners right up in the frame. The Petersham based club, league winners last winter, will be difficult to beat but will have to be on top form in every match to avoid letting in the Belles whose strength in depth continues to grow.

Sarah Murphy was best of the Belles on this 6km course with the ever present Tilly Heaton not far behind and newcomer to our cross country teams Heidi Cayzer showing what an asset she is to the squad. Louise Cooper broke all records for cutting it fine, having got lost but eventually arriving a mere 90 seconds before the start.

Senior Women. 1 E Nelson (Epsom & Ewell) 21:43; 2 J Ronaldson (Ranelagh H) 22:31; 3 M Synott-Wells (Ranelagh H) 22:38; 8 S Murphy 22:57; 11 M Heaton 23:25; 14 H Cayzer 23:43; 21 J Clark W40 24:17; 28 H Smethurst W40 24:48; 44 A England 25:28; 59 S Stracey 26:33; 66 C Foster 26:48; 71 L Cooper 27:03; 76 S Gailey 27:17; 84 C Eastham 27:31.

Teams: 1 Ranelagh H 'A' 63; 2 Belgrave H 'A' 75; 3 Wimbledon Windmilers 114; 4 Thames H&H 134; 5 Woking AC 163; 6 South London H 164; 11 Belgrave H 'B' 269; 29 Belgrave H 'C' 703.

1 A Coleman (Enfield &H) 30:41; 8 J Charles 34:58; 35 P Cross M50 39:58; 992 finished.

Women. 1 B Dagne (Belgrave) 1:12:53; 14 H Smethurst 3-W40 1:25:48; 23 V Clarke 1:26:49.

Aldershot Road Relays - SEAA Women’s 4 Stage Championships, Rushmoor Arena, 25 September 2005.

A late withdrawal meant that only three women were available for this race – and in spite of many calls to likely candidates it proved impossible to make up a foursome. Rather than call things off, Tilly Heaton vowed that she would run twice to keep the show on the road. What a heroine!

Back in the late ’80s and early ’90s our men’s team usually failed to turn out a team and it wasn’t until we insisted on making an effort – even turning up with half a squad – that the wheel began to turn in our favour.

Tilly battled round a first effort for 19th before unleashing Heidi Cayzer who was intent on making a showing to grab a National team place. She stormed the slopes and bends and was delighted to move up four places for a time just a few ticks slower than Tilly’s. Juliette Clarke continued the drive forward with our fastest run and a position of 9th before we ran out of runners was very creditable. And of course Tilly was going to make sure that we continued to the finish. She looked pretty tired setting out for her second run but by the time she was running in to the finish there was a spring in her stride and a second run under 15 minutes was a real feat.

1 Windsor SE&H 54:10; 2 Woodford Green wEL 54:54; 3 Winchester &DAC 55:06; 4 Aldershot F&DAC 55:37; 5 Thames H&H 55:54; 6 Shaftesbury Barnet H 56:00; 13 Belgrave H 58:08; 58 teams started, 49 finished.

M Heaton (19) 14:27; H Cayzer (15) 14:30; J Clark (9) 14:16; M Heaton (15) 14:55.

Fastest: S O’Sullivan (Thames H&H) 12:28; 2 L Elliott (Winchester &DAC) 12:39; 3 L Yelling (Bedford &CAC) 12:49.

Women. 1 M Noguchi (Japan) 2:19:12; 84 L Cooper 3:11:35; 169 O Cameron 3:22:20; 469 V Edwards 3:38:28.

Aldershot Road Relays - SEAA 6 Stage Championship, Rushmoor Arena, 24 September 2005.

We’ve had some thrills around the circuit at Rushmoor Arena in the past few years but this race was anticipated with more than the normal frisson of excitement.

First of all, only two of last year’s winning team were in the ‘A’ six – Jonathan Blackledge and Stephen Sharp. A run of colds, varying degrees of Achilles tendon problems, a holiday in Mexico and an alternate race had taken out a famous five that might have made the cut – Kevin Nash, Adam Zawadski, Mark Miles, David Anderson and Hassan Raidi. For sixth man much thought was given to the choice between Paul Freary (an amazing run of times around Rushmoor and fit again after a year out with various injuries) and Al Stewart (another with a long period out but now running well and with an ok run at Bishop Auckland under his belt). Just 40 hours before the race Al got the nod but both were to run on the opening leg. Throw in the fact that 19-year old super-talent Shukri Omar was going to start the ‘C’s and we had a first stage battle to savour.

Then there was the possibility that a Belgrave win could set an outright record for consecutive victories – Southampton City won three times ’93-’95 with our own hat trick being ’02-’04; but that victory was by no means assured as our own camp felt that Newham & Essex Beagles might have the edge. Wells City Harriers are also on the rise while Harrow were rumoured to have a strong outfit.

Finally, ‘B’ teams would be eligible for the National race for the first time ever – if they could place in the top 20 here on the Army training grounds.

The starter’s gun sent eighty-seven bodies on their way on the stroke of 2:30pm. Each stage of 6k is made up of two laps and as the first circuit was completed Hennessy of Wells City Harriers and Chinanhua of Poole had gained about 30 metres on the pack where sparks were flying as Al Stewart marginally led from Paul Freary with Shukri almost alongside – we had three men in the leading seven tearing lumps out of each other. Al imperceptibly began to move away going into the second lap with “Shugs” – not cleared to run in our scoring teams until 1st November – hanging on to him. Al Stewart was a revelation. He’d been picked on the basis of certainly being able to give us an 18:30 but as the second lap unwound he went from strength to strength. He caught the Poole runner near the gravel slope and by 500 metres to go was very close to the lead. Simons of Cornwall AC had been tracking our man, however, and sprinted past near the end to narrowly take the stage while Al caught the Wells City man to go into second. Paul Freary suffered on that second lap but has now made a huge stride back to fitness while Shukri gave the ‘C’s an awesome start. ‘A’s 2nd, ‘C’s 6th and ‘B’s 13th!

It wasn’t supposed to be like this! A nice 10th place would have given Phil Wicks some men to chase in his quest for something around an 18:15 clocking; but here he was taking over just a second down on leaders Cornwall AC with Wells City a further second behind him. A quick shuffle and it was Wells from Belgrave as the Cornish team slipped back (Dave Buzza had already led his veterans’ team to silver medals) and Morris of Wells City took up the pace. Young Phil was biding his time though and soon eased ahead and away. Gradually stretching the gap he ended up well inside his target time and our lead was just under half a minute. Seventeen year-old Kris Gauson picked off several men for the ‘B’s to move into 10th – but they were still behind the non-scoring ‘C’s, holding on to 7th through Andrew Swearman.

Spare a thought here for Tim Weeks in the ‘C’s – two weeks without running due to illness and here he was right near the front end of the field. An elite triathlete until a bad crash in Australia while training on his bike left him with a shattered leg, Tim has set himself the task of working his way into our top teams. Seven men including the Skipper came past and our team order was made sensible – ‘B’s 9th, ‘C’s 14th and ‘A’s 1st and storming away thanks to Tim Watson. Our lead was now 45 seconds over Wells City with Kent AC up to 3rd through Jermain Mays.

Mo’ Farah was wheeled out now for Newham & Essex Beagles and soon he was rocketing through the field on his way to a 17:23 – the day’s fastest but some way behind the incredible course record of 17:07 by Brighton’s Andy Bristow from 1989. The Beagles came up ten places but there was no change at the front as our own Spencer Barden equalled his best ever time for the circuit – 17:54. Twenty-three year old Peter Willis made his first appearance in a Belgrave team – the ‘C’s – and exactly equalled the time set by Knut Hegvold in the ‘B’s; more young blood for the cross-country season ahead.

Jonathan Blackledge was a little disappointed with his time on stage five but with the race coming earlier this year he was only just out of his end-of-season break. Nevertheless our lead now reached its maximum – we had gone away on every stage and now were 1:28 to the good. Once again our ‘B’ and ‘C’ runners clocked identical times – Lee Greatorex and Joachim Wolf ensuring now that we were going to achieve all that we had set out to do.

... And so to the finish, with a team time half a minute better than our best from 2003. Stephen Sharp had been itching for another sub-18 run but with no one to chase he had to do no more than go through the motions. Rumour has it that he is now employing Securicor to look after his home as he has 16 SEAA and AAA team “golds” plus 2 “silvers” in his trophy cabinet!

Also on the last leg, John Clarke had handed his mobile phone to the team manager with the words, “my wife’s about to give birth in 8 minutes time – could you answer any calls while I'm out there.” As he cruised through the first of his laps we were able to let our ‘B’ anchor man know that there was no news from the maternity ward – dedicated men these Belgravians. Tenth place for the ‘B’s gave us great pleasure as we now had two teams qualified for Sutton Coldfield – and when Jason Webb closed in the ‘C’s, also inside the top 20 and only 17 seconds slower than our fastest previous ‘B’ team, we completed what Paul Freary later called, “an epic day”.

1 Belgrave H ‘A’ 1:49:18; 2 Wells City H 1:50:34; 3 Aldershot F&D AC 1:51:26; 4 Bedford & County AC 1:51:44; 5 Harrow AC 1:52:41; 6 Newham & Essex Beagles 1:52:47; … 10 Belgrave H ‘B’ 1:55:48; 16 Belgrave H ‘C’ 1:57:31; 87 teams started, 69 finished.

A – A Stewart (2) 18:09; P Wicks (1) 18:09; T Watson (1) 18:24; S Barden (1) 17:54; J Blackledge (1) 18:27; S Sharp (1) 18:15.

B – P Freary (13) 18:35*; K Gauson (10) 19:06*; W Cockerell (9) 19:00; K Hegvold (10) 19:34; L Greatorex (11) 19:48; J Clarke (10) 19:45. * These are the official times – but two independent unofficial timekeepers had 18:42 and 18:59 and Paul Freary's own watch had 18:40 – so for statistical purposes we'll take the unofficial times.

C – S Omar (6) 18:25; A Swearman (7) 19:03; T Weeks (14) 20:10; P Willis (16) 19:34; J Wolf (14) 19:48; J Webb (16) 20:31.

Fastest: 1 M Farah (Newham &EB) 17:23; 2 K Cullen (Highgate) 17:42; 3 A Bowden (Harrow) 17:49; 4 S Barden (Belgrave) 17:54; 5 F Tickner (Wells City) 17:58; 6 P Tulba (Basingstoke &MH) 18:02; =12 A Stewart (Belgrave) and P Wicks (Belgrave) 18:09; 17 S Sharp (Belgrave) 18:15. A MacLean (Team Southampton) 17:35 and D Simons (Cornwall) 18:08 but in incomplete teams.

1 Z Tadesse (Eritrea) 59:05; 10 K Tadesse 1:04:22; 17 S Barden 1:06:14; 20 H Raidi 1:06:55; 1009 P Cross M50 1:35:18.

This year’s event was switched to the nearby bowls pavilion because Wimbledon Park athletic track was closed for refurbishment; as a result the course was a little longer than normal.

After a long run of silver medals in the Surrey Relay our men’s team had the chance to go for a hat-trick of wins, having won in 2003 and 2004 – but it was back to the runners-up slot again as alternative events took precedence in our runners’ diaries.

Lee Greatorex is aiming to tackle the longer distances and his extra mileage seems to be giving him a boost over the shorter road runs as well. His fourth on the opening leg was converted to second place on leg two by the Skipper, who interrupted his support of the England cricket team by cycling from the Oval Cricket Ground to Wimbledon to do his bit – and then cycling back again. Only the non-scoring Thames team was ahead at this point and they were caught by Knut Hegvold on stage three, but South London’s Jason Simpson also came through and with a strong trio to follow, it was left to our own Messrs Ellacott, Humphrey and Browne to hold on to second spot.

With M40s, M50s W35s and Senior Women racing at the same time as the senior men, but over over four stages, it can be very difficult to work out what is going on in the other races. Heidi Cayzer gave us a solid start and then Rosie Powell moved up two places to fourth. Team Manager Catherine Eastham put her clipboard and team sheet aside to keep the Belles in the hunt and with Jules surging through on the last stage we came home fourth – and third in the Surrey Championship.

Men. 1 South London H 1:34:55; 2 Belgrave H 1:36:50; 3 Thames H&H n/s 1:40:31; 4 Guildford & Godalming AC 1:42:02; … 11 Belgrave H n/s 1:48:41; 19 teams finished.

A team - L Greatorex 15:52 (4), W Cockerell 15:45 (2), K Hegvold 15:54 (2), T Ellacott 16:13 (2), M Humphrey 16:55 (3), J Browne 16:11 (2).

B team - J Webb 16:35 (10), T Weeks 16:29 (7), T Watt 18:09 (9), S Baxendale 20:14 (10), H Corbett 19:55 (13), T Weeks 17:19 (11).

Fastest: S Major (South London H) 15:11; J Simpson (South London H) 15:23; I Horrocks (Hercules Wimb) 15:24.

Women. 1 Ranelagh H 1:13:48; 2 Wimbledon Windmilers 1:15:25; 3 Epsom & Ewell H n/s 1:18:10; 4 Belgrave H 1:18:36; 14 teams finished.

A team - H Cayzer 19:08 (6), R Powell 19:05 (4), C Eastham 21:51 (5), J Clark 18:32 (4).

Fastest: E Nelson (Epsom & Ewell) 17:12; J Ronaldson (Ranelagh H) 17:54; C Diss (Herne Hill) 18:02.

Henry Isola 4m Cross Country Classic, Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx NYC USA, 4 September 2005.

Men. 1 P Langat (Kenya) 28:58; 15 P Wicks 30:49. Women. 1 O Kimaiyo (Kenya) 33:35; 2 B Dagne 34:47.

The long haul to the North East for the Auckland Castle and AAA 10k, closely co-operating with the Surrey team for the Inter-County race, was another enjoyable experience. Once again the men were just pipped for the AAA team race and it was silver again - our fourth consecutive year as medallists. The Belles were also into the hardware, gaining a surprising set of bronze awards. And with both our teams heavily involved in the scoring for the Inter-County titles, there were yet more medals as the Surrey men placed 3rd and the women 2nd.

We like winning, of course, but one of the most pleasing thing these days is that we ride our bad luck and still make a great contribution to the race. Birhan Dagne was unable to stay the course, coming out at 4k, David Anderson is continually troubled by his Achilles tendon problem and was another dnf (can't say we ever remember that happening before) while Mark Miles was unable to start due to a tendon problem of his own; but for these misfortunes it could have been double team win.

The men's team race was so tight that had it been calculated on accumulated times, as many races are these days, we would have won - exactly the same situation as with the AAA 5k a month or so earlier. Of course some other time this type of scoring could work to our advantage, but looking at the women's team results one can see that the team places were calculated on actual race positions - including men, guests, overseas competitors, etc. Where so many categories are included within the one event, accumulated times have got to be the fairest way of doing things.

Men. 1 M Kogo (Kenya) 28:49; 2 P Riley AAA-1st (Leigh) 28:54; 14 K Tadesse 30:31; 21 T Watson 31:11; 22 H Raidi 31:24; 24 A Stewart 31:38; 40 W Cockerell 33:08; D Anderson and A Swearman dnf.
Teams: AAA 1 Morpeth (11, 13, 26) 50; 2 Belgrave (14, 21, 22) 57; 3 Norfolk Gazelles (96, 113, 183) 119.
Inter-County. 1 North East 50; 2 Leicester 56; 3 Surrey 60.

Women. 1 O Kimayio (Kenya) 32:45; 2 N Harvey AAA-1st (South London) 33:15; 7 G Phillips (Kendal) 35:13; 14 D Lee (Bristol & West) 37:21; 18 T Heaton 37:53; 25 H Smethurst (1st W40) 39:35; 43 L Cooper 43:34; B Dagne dnf.
Teams: AAA 1 City of Norwich (78, 97, 112) 295; 2 Wrexham (99, 109, 111) 316; 3 Belgrave (96, 113, 183) 388.
Inter-County. 1 Lancashire 232; 2 Surrey 268; 3 North East 287.

Men. 1 P Wicks (Belgrave) 15:09; 2 H Raidi 15:48; 8 L Greatorex 16:13; 9 K Hegvold M40 16:18; 10 R Alsop 2-cl M40 16:21; 26 C Dickinson M50 17:14; 27 M Whiting 17:16; 49 G Reid M40 18:02; 119 L Rehn M40 21:13; 146 C Cross 24:23; 162 finished. Teams : 1 Belgrave 10; 2 Herne Hill H 22; 3 South London H 42; 4 Striders of Croydon 42. Surrey Road League final result: 1 Belgrave H 99; 2 South London H 95; 3 Ranelagh H 92.

Women. 1 J Peterson (Stragglers) 17:16; 3 M Heaton 18:26; 10 H Cayzer 20:15; 31 C Eastham 23:44; 55 finished. Teams: 1 Ranelagh H 8; Striders of Croydon 25; 3 Belgrave H 26. Surrey Road League final result: 1 Ranelagh H 86; 2 Stragglers AC 84; 3 Wimbledon W 74.

Men. 1 P Wicks (Belgrave) 30:54; 2 K Tadesse 31:12; 3 E McRae 31:14; 8 J Charles 33:07; 14 J Clarke 33:41; 16 L Greatorex 34:08; 43 G Reid M40 36:45; 133 P Cross M50 40:22; 538 finished. Team: 1 Belgrave 6; 2 South London 29; 3 Belgrave B 29.

It was a slightly subdued group of runners, gathering in the Cheam corner of Nonsuch Park after the day’s terrorist activity in London. A moment of silence preceded the race and then came the best possible reaction to such atrocities – carrying on with normal daily life, which in our case means – running.

Injury had taken our team down below the necessary four a couple of days earlier. The Skipper stepped into the breach, only to find that due to the transport shut-down he was not able to get to the start. An unfit Don Anderson promised to get round somehow but a tentative call was made to the Ward household to see if Richard was back from University – and if he was, had he done any running recently? The call came up trumps. Coincidentally he was in this neck of the woods, because the following day he was setting off for his brother’s stag “do” in Budapest. With only three hours warning it was Richard Ward to the rescue. The quest for our ninth consecutive win was on again.

Very light rain started falling as Junior Galley set out on leg one. Epsom & Ewell led the field home with Guildford close up in second and the Bels in third, 28 seconds off the pace. The leading two teams switched places on the second circuit while Steve Zealey kept the Bels just about in striking distance, now 50 seconds behind. Stage three and it was Epsom's turn to go ahead again, while some way behind, “Wardy” skated the circuit perhaps a minute slower than he would if fit, but nevertheless closing on the leaders. The gap was still 38 seconds and a win seemed a lot to ask of Phil Wicks, only just recovering from illness. Organiser Dave Denton raised a quizzical eyebrow in the direction of our Team Manager – maybe the win streak was over.

But Phil's not keen on coming anything but first. In spite of a 24 second advantage, the Guildford man was caught after a little over half a mile of running and although taking the right-angle bends wide to avoid slipping on the greasy surface, the Belgrave man began pulling the Epsom runner back as well. A mile out, on the grassy stretch, a Belgrave vest went ahead for the first time of the evening. It was all over, and from the look of young Phil at the race end, he was well over his illness and could no doubt have gone close to ten minutes in dry conditions.

1 Belgrave 44:37 (J Galley M40 11:25, S Zealey 11:43, R Ward 11:08, P Wicks 10:21); 2 Epsom & Ewell 45:03; 3 Guildford & Godalming 45:04; 50 teams finished.

Men. 1 H Gebreselassie (Ethiopia) 28:12; 7 E McRae 31:13; 9 K Tadesse 31:32; 14 H Raidi 32:20.

1 S Arusei (Kenya) 29:40; 9 H Raidi; 1007 finished; no official times for positions 3 to 19.

ASDA Horwich Carnival 5km, inc AAA Championship, Horwich, Lancs., 26 June 2005.

Things couldn't have been tighter at the conclusion of this classy inaugural AAA 5 km road championship held in the West Pennine moorland town of Horwich.

Birchfield's Wilfred Taragon had made an early break with his clubmate Abdulaziz Rahman in second, ahead of a large pack containing most of the Belgrave, Morpeth and Salford teams. Mark Miles was moving forward well over the second of the three laps with our other scorers David Anderson looking strong but Kassa Tadesse beginning to suffer.

Drama in plenty came on the final circuit as Bud Baldaro's familiar commentary whipped up excitement. On the long, gradual climb to the finish Taragon was still ahead but, incredibly, "Milesy" was storming the hill behind him and closing him down all the way to the line. With £950 on offer for a win in a course record there was much at stake. But it was Taragon who triumphed, with these two plus the next six men all inside the best ever time for the course.

Teamwise, Birchfield had a terrific start with 1st and 3rd but didn't have a third man in sight. Then three Salford vests came up the hill and across the line in close order - 10th, 11th and 12th - surely that clinched it for them. But maybe not! David Anderson was right on Salford's tail in 13th with Jonathan Blackledge, running his fastest ever 5k (road or track) having overtaken Kassa to become our last scorer.

A quick tally showed that we seemed to have nicked it with 2, 13, 17 (32) to Salford's 10, 11, 12 (33) and Birchfield's 1, 3, 34 (38). Not so: fourth placed Mark Tucker (Australia) was not eligible for the AAA race and when his place was taken out of the result it was 30:30 to Belgrave:Salford with the latter prevailing in the championship due to closing in their team before us.

Birhan Dagne was on course for a place on the podium but faded towards the end, losing positions as she crossed the line, due to a dizzy spell. She recovered sufficiently to head off to Stoke where a couple of hours later she proceeded to win the 1500 metres for our UKWAL team!

Men. 1 W Taragon (Birchfield/Kenya) 13:54; 2 M Miles (Belgrave) 13:58; 3 A Rahman (Birchfield/Sudan); 4 M Tucker (Australia) 14:10; 5 I Hudspith (Morpeth) 14:15; 6 M Smith (Tipton) 14:16 ... 10 A Jones (Salford) 14:28; 11 T Abyu (Salford) 14:28; 12 S Winton (Salford/New Zealand) 14:29; 13 D Anderson (Belgrave) 14:30; 17 J Blackledge (Belgrave) 14:43; 28 K Tadesse (Belgrave) 15:04; 33 T Watson (Belgrave) 15:12.

Teams: 1 Salford (9, 10, 11) 30; 2 Belgrave (2, 12, 16) 30; 3 Birchfield (1, 3, 33) 37.

Women. 1 V Gill (Chorley) 16:05; 2 K Ramsey (Charnwood) 16:18; 3 P Powell (Blackburn) 16:28; 5 B Dagne (Belgrave) 16:34.

Men. 1 P Doyle (Ranelagh) 31:53; 2 S Major (South London) 32:38; 3 W Cockerell 32:54; 43 G Reid M40 38:01; 46 D Patel M40 38:11.

Teams: 1 Thames H&H 17; 2 Epsom & Ewell 23; 3 South London 29; 5 Belgrave 84.

Women. 1 N Warner (Thames H&H) 35:23; 3 M Heaton 38:26; 5 E Fogg 40:00.

Shriners 8 km, Sacramento, CAL, USA. 25 June 2005.

1 RBoulet (Oakland) 24:12; 3 B Poore 24:20.

Serpentine Last Friday 5 km, Hyde Park, 24 June 2005.

1 D Gitau (NYM/Kenya) 15:36; 6 T Hadfield 16:22.

Men. 1 R Bentley (Blackheath &B) 15:29; 6 B Barton M40 16:58; 7 J Browne 16:59; 8 S Zealey 17:19; 14 W Lynch 17:56; 18 G Reid M40 18:15; 22 D Patel M40 18:31; 350 finished.

Women. 2 V Clarke 18:44 (24 overall); 5 L Cooper 20:00 (47).

Sri Chinmoy 2 miles, Battersea Park, 20 June 2005.

Women. 1 H Smethurst W40 (Belgrave) 11:58.

Selsey 10 km, 19 June 2005.

1 J Baker (Chichester) 32:23; 34 P Cross 3rd M50 40:35; 332 finished.

Dartmoor Vale 10 km, Devon, 19 June 2005.

1 T Watson 34:25.

Bampton 10 km, Devon, 18 June 2005.

1 T Watson 32:56.

Sri Chinmoy 2 miles, Battersea Park, 13 June 2005.

1 K Agyei (Dulwich R) 9:57; 10 A Porteous 11:22.

Southend Half Marathon, 12 June 2005.

1 P Dobson (Springfield Striders) 1:12:52; 78 P Cross M50 1:29:54; 332 finished.

National Counties BS 10 km, Epsom, 12 June 2005.

1 J Simpson (South London) 32:11; 2 J Charles 33:07; 7 M Marshall U20 34:58.

Tour of Epsom, George Gosens Memorial 4 miles Handicap, Horton Country Park, 10 June 2005.

Men. 1 S Major (South London) 19:42; 2 L Greatorex 20:46; Overall: 1 S Major (South London) 95:28; 2 L Greatorex 99:16.

Women: 1 E Nelson (Epsom &E) 18:28; 14 C Eastham 28:03. Overall 1 E Nelson (Epsom &E) 105:32; 13 C Eastham 137:10.

Men. 1 S Major (South London) 16:21; 2 L Greatorex 17:05; 131 D Davies M65 36:08.

Men. 1 S Major (South London) 20:23; 2 L Greatorex 21:16; 131 D Davies M65 36:08.

Men. 1 S Major (South London) 22:12; 2 L Greatorex 23:02; 131 D Davies M65 36:08.

Men. 1 S Major (South London) 16:50; 2 L Greatorex 17:07; 131 D Davies M65 27:11.

Men. 1 J Simpson (South London) 52:48; 5 W Cockerell 54:37; 11 T Hadfield 57:51; 14 E Lyne 58:16; 15 W Lynch 58:17; 29 M Webb 1:01:32; 35 S Zealey 1:02:36; 37 G Reid M40 1:02:44; 51 D Patel M45 1:03:55; 103 P Cross M45 1:08:10; 435 finished.

Teams: 1 South London H 38; 2 Belgrave 'A' 45; 3 Sutton Runners 98; 5 Belgrave 'B' 152.

Women. 1 M Synott-Wells (Ranelagh) 1:03:29; 6 M Heaton 1:04:40; 167 L Lucas 1:44:08; 181 finished.

Men. 1 S Sharp (Belgrave) 33:06. Women. 1 A Green (Shaftesbury B) 38:05; 2 M Sharp 44:39.

Men. 1 O Edwards (Shaftesbury B) 15:48; 37 D Patel 19:04. Women. 1 N Griffith (Nestle) 18:22; 2 H Smethurst W40 19:12.

1 C Bradfield (Datchet Dashers) 33:39; 29 P Cross M50 40:43; 210 J Moore SW 53:46; 329 finished.

Men. 1 H Gebreselassie (ETH) 27:25; 14 K Tadesse 29:50; 32 D Anderson 31:09. Women. 1 L Kiplagat (NED) 31:28; 10 B Dagne 34:29.

1 D Symons (Thames H&H) 1:13:04; 52 G Reid 1:24:53; 100 P Cross M45 1:28:51; 470 C Henn M70 1:50:10; 791 finished.

Men. 1 M King (?) 54:10; 15 D Patel 2-cl M40 1:04:47. Women. 1 K Harwood (Southampton R) 1:01:29; 3 H Smethurst W40 1:07:23; 8 L Cooper 1:12:06.

Men. 1 J Carlos de la Ossa (ESP) 28:22; 14 S Barden (first Briton) 30:09; 20 K Tadesse 31:01.
Women. 1 J Prokopcuka (LAT) 32:42; 7 B Dagne 35:34.

Group 4 Securicor Sutton 10 km (inc Surrey Road League Race 1), Beddington Park, 1 May 2005.

1 P Wicks (Belgrave) 31:42; 2 K Hegvold M40 33:14; 5 J Charles 34:22; 15 L Greatorex 35:55; P Cross M45 41:34; 390 finished. Teams: 1 Belgrave H 23; 2 South London H 75; 3 Ranelagh H 77.