Freezing but sunny
conditions on Wimbledon Common saw Belgrave retain one of the oldest
titles in our sport - the South of the Thames Cross Country
Championship.
After the first 4k lap Paskar Owor (38)
and James Kelly (34) were forcing the pace followed by
Gilbert (Kent), Edwards (Shaftesbury Barnet) and Lacy (Cambridge H).
Paskar threw down a
challenge on lap two that disposed of all opposition - except James
- but as the hill to the Windmill was crested for a second time it
was James maintaining his pace and moving ahead while Paskar
suffered. A 10 metre lead became 25 by the end of the lap
and the final circuit saw James come home ahead of his club mate by a full half minute and more.
With Will Cockerell and an
impressive James Fairbourn occupying 15th and 16th, Mal
Byansi 29th and Richard Stannard closing in the six at
42nd, it was a victory for the Bels with 105 pts from Kent AC 114
and Herne Hill Harriers 120.
13 Dec 2009
Nick Goolab - Euro U20 silver medallist
Running a superb race
Nick
Goolab stormed to the silver medal in the European
Cross Country Championship U20 Championship at Santry Park, Dublin.
Starting steadily he was around 30th early on but
moved into the top dozen after five minutes of action. Gradually he
eased into the top six but had to battle to hold on to third
scoring place in the GB team while team mate James Wilkinson was
forcing the pace up front. D'Hoedt of Belgium edged clear as
the finish approached but Nick ran a blistering last 400m to
overtake Wilkinson and snatch second place, missing out on gold by a
single second.
The GB & NI team triumphed in the team race with 24
points to France's 58.
In the U23 race Michael Mulhare placed 18th to
lead the Irish team to 5th
12 Dec 2009
Surrey Cross Country Leagues
James Kelly and James McMullen slugged it out at the
front as they neared the end of lap one in the third "Sweatshop" Men's
Surrey Cross Country League race at Petersham - but it was South
London Harriers' Michael Coleman who prevailed, with Kelly 2nd and
McMullen 3rd.
Sarah Murphy had another cracking run in the women's race but
sadly our team were one short of a quintet and had to take last
scoring place to complete their tally.
Full Women's individual
resultsand league positions/team
results
Results courtesy of Ken Powley and the Ranelagh Harriers website.
10 Dec 2009
Zatopek 10 result
Marty Dent ran 28:28.07 for 5th place
in the Zatopek 10k at Melbourne's Olympic Park. The race was won by
Collis Birmingham who threw in a 1:59 final 800m to clock 28:04.14.
Erwin McRae clocked 29:52.36 for 14th. Unfortunately
Russell Dessaix-Chin had another injury setback and was
unable to start.
video
8 Dec 2009
Zatopek 10
This coming Thursday - 10th December - Australia's Zatopek 10
Meeting gets under way in Melbourne and in the the men's 10k, which
will be the qualifier for the Commonwealth Games, three Belgravians
are on the entry list ... Erwin McRae, Russell Dessaix-Chin
and Marty Dent.
We know that Russell is not in top form,
having had his late summer season in Europe wiped out through
injury, but he's determined to run for old time's sake - it being
the last time the Zatopek 10k will be held in Olympic Park,
Melbourne.
Paul Coughlan will also be in Melbourne for
the event,
scouting for talent for his
Christchurch’s International Track Meet to be held in Christchurch,
New Zealand. See below ...
8 Dec 2009
Coggie steps into Athletics Promotion - do you fancy New Zealand
in March?
The meet that bills itself with the
slogan “Track and Field at its best in New Zealand” - Christchurch’s
International Track Meet is returning for 2010 to QE2 Stadium, the
site of the 1974 Commonwealth Games.
A successful debut in 2009 witnessed 23 athletes from
five nations compete against many of New Zealand’s best developing
and established athletes resulting in two New Zealand records
(Women's 200m, and M19 100m) and one Australian record (M19 3000m).
Also to fall at the meeting were stadium records belonging to 1970's
legends Don Quarrie (100m) and John Walker (Mile). Despite the two
main draw cards, Olympic 1500m medallist Nick Willis and the 2008's
fastest miler Andy Baddeley, both withdrawing before the start, the
feature mile event (paced by triple US indoor 1500m champion Rob
Myers) turned into a battle royal between Australians Jeff Riseley,
who finished 2009 ranked 7th in the world for the mile, and Collis
Birmingham.
The local organising committee is confident that the
2010 ITM on Thursday the 18th of March will be bigger and better.
The meet will follow a similar format to last year with an emphasis
on increasing the depth of international competitors across more
fields. The long and high jumps will be awarded points as per the
IAAF scoring tables allowing females to compete head to head with
their male counterparts to really keep each other on their toes.
2010 will see the introduction of an U23 1500m that
will pit top juniors against young senior athletes and bridge the
gap in performance required to make the elite middle distance races
and serves to further reinforce the pathway philosophy incorporated
into this meet. Willis has committed to the meet for 2010, and is
hoping to help attract a star-studded international field across a
range of events.
Also planned for this year are a selection of tour
and hospitality packages for athletes & spectators alike, with
holiday and training camp options in some of the world's most
stunning scenery, in the South Island of New Zealand. These are
expected to be 10 day packages, starting with the ITM on 18th of
March, heading to a choice of locations in the following week, and
finishing back in Christchurch for the NZ National Championships at
the same venue on March 26-28.
For more information, and to see a promo clip showing some of the
action from 2009, go to
www.internationaltrackmeet.co.nz
- or for anyone who is planning to be at the Zatopek 10k in
Melbourne on Thursday night, look for ex-Belgravian distance runner
Paul Coughlan.
Coggie is one of the promoters of the Christchurch
event, and will be wearing a red Belgrave polo shirt - he'd love to
catch up with Belgravians past and present who might be interested
in a trip to NZ in March 2010.
5 Dec 2009
The "Denmark Pot"
No surprises came on Darts Championship night where the finalists
(who have clashed so many times before) were David Couzens
and Dave McMillan. On this occasion it was the latter
who came out on top.
First Round
Jenny Martin v Bob
Taylor
John Martin v Ann
Flanagan
Hazel Mead v George
Flanagan
Second Round
David Couzens v
Carl Lawton
Hazel Mead v John Martin
Paula McMillan v Dave McMillan
Semi Final
John Martin v David Couzens
Jenny Martin v Dave McMillan
Final
David Couzens v Dave McMillan
1 Dec 2009
Euro Cross Selection - this has to be wrong!
Well, we've seen some unfair UKA selection in
the past but today's announcement of the UK men's team for Dublin in
two weeks time takes the biscuit.
With six slots available for the European Cross Country
Championship, our own Phil Wicks and Blackheath's Scott
Overall finished in 4th and 5th qualifying places in the trial and
were well into the action during the race. Incredibly they
have been left out of the squad! In fact the selected Andy
Vernon only squeezed past Phil by three seconds at the end of the
race and our man believes that bearing in mind the muddy going (not
his favoured surface) it was one of his best ever cross country
runs.
But today UKA have named a team that only goes down to third
qualifier in the trial and have brought in Mo Farah (expected),
Chris Thompson and Andrew Lemoncello. The latter two haven't even
run cross country in recent times. We've nothing against these
quality runners but if UKA are using road form (over a mere 5k in 'Thommo's'
case), then why haven't they taken note of the recent Great South 10
miler where both Wicks and Overall were well to the fore and 'Thommo'
was in their wake.
This isn't the first time that these two have suffered at the hands
of the selectors. No wonder runners turn their backs on our sport
and look to Triathlon as a means of representing their country.
Congratulations are due to Nick Goolab, who has been named
for the Under 20 squad.
ARM
29 Nov 2009
In warmer climes ...
In conditions just as wet as we are currently experiencing
in the UK (but no doubt somewhat warmer) Marty Dent scored a
fine 3rd place in the Great Australian Run in Melbourne. Marty put
together 5k splits of 14:35, 14:50 and 14:35 for a total of 44:00
for the 15k distance. Marty's wife Kathie is currently
expecting twins.
28 Nov 2009
Euro Cross
Trials
Very muddy conditions and a classy field at
the McCain's Cross Challenge at Sefton Park, Liverpool, made for some tough
racing. Phil Wicks placed 7th in the senior men's event and
with two non Brits ahead of him, together with a likely selection
for the U23 team, it would seem that our man has a good chance of
being named in the senior men's squad when it's announced next
Tuesday. Phil says he felt pretty good, even though there was
far more mud than he'd have liked. Race winner was Blackheath &
Bromley's Mike Skinner.
In the junior men's race Nick Goolab also suffered in the
conditions, twice falling, with the second tumble coming just 200
metres from the finish when he was close to the leaders. He
ended up in 5th and should gain selection for the junior men's team.
The European Championships will be held in Dublin on Sunday,
December 13th.
28 Nov 2009
Belgrave Open 7
A field of 32 lined up for the 90th Belgrave Open 7, won
again by Darrell Stone of Steyning AC - and with the next two
positions also taken by the Sussex club, Steyning won the team event
with the perfect score. Full results
28 Nov 2009
The Skipper ducks under 30
Neil Speaight was pleased to clock
29:56 for 10k in Basel, Switzerland, but then began to regret that
he hadn't been able to register something faster. The race was over
four laps of the town, each lap including a long steady climb and
accompanying downhill sections. At about 7k Neil picked up a
"stitch" which had him in pain until the end but he was still able
to muster a final sprint
to
outkick a training partner. Neil's pb (29:45) was set after
four weeks altitude training in Morocco at Spring-time, so sub-30 in
November is not at all bad.
28 Nov 2009
Vikki moves up a gear
It was a delighted Vikki Goodwin who
reported that she cracked her 5k best by over a minute in Serpentine
Runners' Last Friday of the month 5k. Vikki won in 19:51
.
22 Nov 2009
Special SEAA award for Gerry North
Maybe the greatest English cross country runner ever, Gerry North
(right) has also spent years as a most successful Team Manager for
the SEAA and received a special award to mark his
achievements. John Gebbels, SEAA President made the
presentation, assisted by Laurie Kelly, applauded by
immediate Belgrave Past President John Hall.
Photo by Alan Mead
14 Nov 2009
Award winner Nick Goolab in fine fettle
Running for England at the Riverside Bowl, Gateshead, Nick Goolab made
an impressive start to his cross-country season by placing second in
the Under 20 section of the McCain UK Cross Challenge over 8
kilometres.
A large leading group didn't split until the third lap when a bunch
of five, including Nick, finally began to show ahead. As the finish
approached it was down to two men, Nick and Aldershot's Jon Hay,
and it was the latter who finally prevailed with a sprint that took
him 2 seconds clear - 26:02 to 26:04.
Great running came from Simon Jones as a 'born again' cross
country runner. He placed 16th in very good company in the
senior men's race.
As 2009 National Junior Cross Country Champion and Inter-County
Champion the Club's Committee has voted Nick Goolab winner of the
'Bill Merryman Trophy For the Young Belgravian of the Year'.
The destination of other annual awards has also been decided.
The 'Tommy Green Cup' goes to Phillips Idowu for his IAAF
World Championship win in the triple jump while javelin thrower
Goldie Sayers will be holder of the 'Centenary Cup' for her
performance also set at the World Championships.
14 Nov 2009
Belles impress in Women's Surrey CC League
With a huge upturn in fortunes the Belles were victors at the second Women's Surrey
League race, run over the hills of Denbies Vineyard near Dorking.
And lest the minds of our readers conjure up a balmy vineyard on the
southern slopes on the Surrey Downs - we draw your attention to the
picture below.
With Sarah Murphy
3rd, Zoë Vail 7th, Anne Hegvold 13th, Tilly Heaton
20th and Vicki Goodwin
31st they scored 74 points to pip South London Harriers by a single
point and zoom up from 8th to 2nd place in the overall standings.
individuals
teams
A winning but drenched team of Anne Hegvold, Sarah Murphy, Zoë Vail,
Catherine Eastham, Vicki Goodwin and Tilly Heaton - face an equally
drenched camera and camerman!
14 Nov 2009
It's Paskar again
Once again it was Paskar Owor leading the
Belgrave team home, this time over storm-wracked Farthing Downs.
Lying third at halfway and around 8 seconds behind Thames man James
McMullen with a guesting Michael Coleman (Medway & Maidstone) a
similar distance away at the head of the field, Paskar made a great
effort into the wind and up the hill to move into 2nd place. He kept
the pressure up in Happy Valley to catch Coleman and move into a
winning lead. He thus joins an illustrious list of individual
Belgrave winners ... Dessaix-Chin ... Wicks ... Sharp ... Anderson
... Barden ...
Graffin ... all the way back to Gerry North forty years ago. A
little short on numbers the Bels placed 4th on the day but remain in
third place in the league.
Full results(courtesy of South London H and Ken Powley)
7 Nov 2009
Here and there again
Tim
back on his feet
After an operation to remove splinters of bone from
an ankle joint, Tim Weeks is well on his way to recovery -
but he had to spend the first six weeks after his operation either
sitting or lying down to ensure that no weight at all was put upon
the damaged joint. He hopes to be doing some running again
after Christmas.
Richard Stannard also on
come-back trail
Triathlon ace Richard Stannard was hit by a
car while training on his bike early in the year, suffering what was
thought to be "only" a broken hand. A return to running in the
Rosenheim League Final 3000m was uncomfortable and it was soon
realised that he also had a broken pelvis! But you can't keep a good
man down for long. He recently broke two European and five British
Masters records in the recent British Gas Masters Swimming
Championships. Five golds came his way in the 1500m, 800m, 400m and
200m freestyle and the 200m butterfly. Tentative running steps came
in the last two Bushy Park 5k runs and hopefully we'll see him in
League cross country action in a short while.
John Kimaiyo returns home
The globetrotting John Kimaiyo is now back in
Kenya but hopes to return in the Spring.
Tom Fordyce - World Champion
A scorer in our Surrey County Cross Country Champs
team in January, sports journalist Tom Fordyce made his
decathlon debut this summer. After first ever attempts at pole vault
and high jump ... Well, let's just say that he also hopes to be back
running after Christmas.
Tom's first book came out a few months ago, about the
year he spent trying to become a world champion at something -
anything. He competed in the World Shin-Kicking championships, the
World Wife-Carrying championships, the World Nettle-Eating
championships and the World Stone-Skimming championships, amongst
others - and was indeed crowned a world champion in the end ...
You can find out more by clicking
here. And if you want to buy a copy of his book, make sure
you do it via the Amazon link on the right hand side of our home page
(thus raising a little money to help cover the costs of this site).
31 Oct 2009
Nightmare on Berry Hill
ECCA National Cross Country Relay
Championship. When we discovered that of the 208 teams entered for the senior
men's championship at Berry Hill, Mansfield, we had been designated team no. 13, we laughed.
"Unlucky for some," we said, "but not for us!" The talk was of
teams that were likely challengers for the title and whether we could get the
better of Bedford & County AC, a feat, we felt, that if achieved
could earn us the win. But some evil Hallowe'en witch was at that
very moment concocting a spell to thwart our hopes ... morefull results
Right:
The fight back continues. For a man who professes to dislike
cross country, Simon Jones did pretty well at Berry Hill
Park, Mansfield!
26 Oct 2009
Here and there
Sharpy - a dad!
Many congratulations to Maria and
Stephen Sharp on the safe arrival of a baby daughter Leah who made
her appearance at 1:30am, weighing in at 6lb 13oz.
Jackie searches out her old running shoes
We've recently heard from Jackie Bye née Stone who tells us
that she's been searching for her running shoes after being accepted
for the London Marathon 2010 which falls on her son Graeme's
birthday. Graeme is 9 and suffers from a neurological problem
known as Charcot Marie Tooth. Jackie will be running for this
charity and if anyone wants to contribute, go to
justgiving.com
and type in "Jackie Bye"or have a look for Jackie's
sponsorship list to be found in the Belgrave Hall.
Night
flight
Darren Gauson continues in good shape after a successful
summer. He won the Indianapolis Moonlight Four Miler on
October 24 in in 19:21 - some 50 seconds ahead of second place.
25 Oct 2009
It's a bronze for Phil Wicks in National 10 miles
Fine running came from Phil Wicks in the
ERRA National 10 miles Championship held within the Great South Run
at Portsmouth today. Phil placed 7th overall in 48:38, just four
seconds behind his personal record for the distance, set at
Maidenhead in 2006. In actual fact he would have gone through 10
miles in around 48 flat during his epic half marathon run at Reading
earlier this year but the wind here at Portsmouth was severely
against on the two mile run in to the finish and his effort was
worth considerably better in more sheltered conditions.
Outright winner and first Brit was Mo' Farah (Newham &EB) in an
outstanding 46:25 with Scott Overall (Blackheath & Bromley H) 2nd in
the championship in 48:00. Results
Photo by Steve Wicks
18 Oct 2009
More road running
In Amsterdam Sarah Murphy reduced her best
marathon time by 14 minutes to place 17th in 3:04:46. Closer to home
John Kimaiyo and John Charles were 3rd and 5th in the
Croydon 10k. The Cardiff Half Marathon saw Simon Jones
continue his bounce back to form, running 1:06:39 to place 3rd - his
best time for a couple of years. Mal Byansi preferred the
Cabbage Patch 10 miler where he was 22nd in 56:19.
17 Oct 2009
Still on the podium in National 6-Stage
An exciting National 6-Stage Road Relay at
Sutton Coldfield saw Newham & Essex Beagles smash Belgrave's
course record while the fight for the minor medals was intense. At
the end of the day the Bels ran out silver medallists in their
fourth fastest time ever. Aldershot, Farnham & Dist AC were third
with Bedford & County 4th - a good day for Southern Clubs. Full results(html)
Detailed full results(pdf) Race
report
Stats (for the current course - pdf) A
decade of 'A' teams and their medals (xls).
Above: Dan Mulhare, Phil Wicks, Simon Jones,
Stephen Sharp, Nick Goolab and Captain Neil Speaight
(crouching) were pleased with silver medals. Only 34 seconds covered
the times of all six of the Belgrave team.
11 Oct 2009
Mixed fortunes in World 'Half'
The 18th IAAF World Half Marathon came to
Birmingham and the British Men's team included both Phil Wicks
and Mark Miles. With 1:04:21 for 46th place Mark was a
mere 10 seconds outside his best ever and he had the added pleasure
of his wife Gemma running 1:14:56 for 44th. Mark was 17th
non-African representative and 5th European - 3rd European if you
take out Africans representing France - but let's not get hung up on
that old chestnut and instead follow the example of USA's Dathan
Ritzenheim who clocked 1:00:00 for third place - quite prepared to
carry the battle to anyone who happens to be on the start line.
In
Phil Wicks' own words he, "had a bad day at the office." Ok, as top
man in the 2009 UK Rankings with 1:02:51 he would have been looking
for a lot more than his 1:05:18 for 60th. But we feel he's
being a little hard on himself having had a less than perfect couple
of months in the run up to the race.
Mark and Phil were second and third scorers in the UK team.
10 Oct 2009
Surrey CC Leagues
Paskar Owor took a break from British Army training to place second to
Ben Whitby (Herne Hill H) in the opening fixture of the "Sweatshop" Men's
Surrey CC League
with Paul Rogers (Reigate Priory AC) 3rd. The Bels placed
an encouraging third as a team behind Herne Hill Harriers and Thames Hare & Hounds.
Also held at Reigate was the Surrey Women's CC League and congratulations
here to Sarah Murphy,
23:50, who ran to an excellent 4th place (3rd in Division One) behind Fiona Clark, 22:33,
(Reigate Priory) and Georgie Bruinvels, 23:00, (South London H). The
Belles placed 8th in the team competition.
Well done too to Reigate Priory AC whose excellent organisation for
both the Men's and Women's League races could not be faulted.
2 Oct 2009
Phillips Idowu - European Athlete of the Year
British and Belgrave triple jumper Phillips
Idowu has been voted men's European Athlete of the Year after his
victory in August's World Championships.
The 30-year-old, who beat Portuguese rival Nelson Evora by 18cm to
clinch gold in Berlin, will be presented with his award in Budapest
on 17 October.
Idowu is the first Briton to win the award since Belgrave's Dwain
Chambers in 2002.
The accolade caps a season in which Idowu has finally begun to
fulfil his true potential on the global stage.
At this year's World Athletics Championships the East Londoner
shrugged off memories of a disappointing silver in Beijing to take
the title with a world-leading and personal best jump of 17.73m.
Phillips will be presented with his European Athlete of the Year
Award at the European Athletics Convention in Budapest on Saturday
17 October.
23 Sep 2009
Hon Secretary's report to AGM 2009
We have arrived at the
final AGM of a decade for the club which has surpassed all hopes and
expectations ...
Full report
George Flanagan, conqueror of the Bilmar Sands and Hoggar
Mountains, explorer for Inca treasure, becomes Club President
in his 56th year of membership ... Phillips Idowu and
Hazel Mead are made Life Members ...
20 Sep 2009
Triathlon success at home and abroad
Racing over the Olympic distances of 1500m
swim, 40k bike and 10k run in the Tatton
Park Triathlon, David Anderson placed second
despite a very injury prone build up and limited
training. He suffered three calf tears during the summer! He was
fastest swimmer and runner (after you take out two guys who only ran
one lap in the 10k run) and it was only the bike, where he lost five
and a half minutes on the eventual winner, and inexperience in
transition that let him down at all.
And in the ITU World Triathlon Championships over in Australia, on
the Gold Coast, Anne Hegvold placed 2nd in the 40-44 category
- also over the Olympic distances. She was 2nd in the swim, 26th on
the bike and 2nd in the run to finish in an outstanding 2:14:48
overall. Winner of the 30-34 group was one time Belgravian Tamsin
Lewis.
20 Sep 2009
Gordon Biscoe receives Gold Award
Each year the London Federation of Sport & Recreation runs an award
scheme for long serving sports volunteers. Awards are given for 10,
20, 30, and 40 years of service to sport.
This year, nominated by the South of England Athletic Association,
our own Gordon Biscoe has been awarded a "gold" for his many
years of service to athletics. Another official known to many of us
is John Gebbels of Herne Hill Harriers who received a platinum
award.
8 Sep 2009
Miles and Wicks get GB call-up
Belgravians Mark Miles and Phil Wicks are scheduled to
line up for the World Half Marathon Championships to be held in
Birmingham on 11th October.
Mark earns his sixth GB vest after placing third in the trial at
Bristol on Sunday (second Brit) in 1:04:54, having already become
the National Champion at the event this year by winning at Wilmslow
in a personal record of 1:04:11 back in March. Now thirty years of
age, Mark's first international was back in 2001.
Phil has been a front runner for selection since March having placed
second to Kenya's Kimutai at Reading (by just 5 seconds) in the fast
time of 1:02:51. That remains the fastest time of the year by a
Briton by nearly a minute. It will be the 25 year-old's 5th time
representing GB although he has another three runs to his name in an
English vest.
Joining the Belgrave pair in the GB team will be Andi Jones (Salford
Harriers), Andrew Lemoncello (Fife AC) and Gareth Raven (Sale
Harriers Manchester).
6 Sep 2009
On the road again
Bristol Half Marathon
Ezekiel Cherop of Birchfield and Kenya took the Bristol Half
Marathon in 1:03:26 from Thomas Abyu (Salford) 1:04:29 with our own
Mark Miles chalking up another sub 65 in third with 1:04:54.
Hassan Raidi
was 26th in 1:10:07. Simon Jones had a torrid time and came
out with two miles to go having turned his ankle.
BUPA Great Yorkshire 10k
Just back from holiday, Phil Wicks lost little time in trying
out his racing shoes and travelled up to Sheffield to 6th place in
the Great Yorkshire race with 29:46.
The race was won by Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya in 28:30 who was
followed eight seconds later by the Beagles' Moumin Geele. In
5th was Aldershot's Chris Thompson, 29:32.
6 Sep 2009
Run to the top
So what have some of the runners been doing throughout the summer?
Back on August 3rd Kevin Gadd (far right above) took time out
from mainstream athletics to tackle the
2009 Championnat du Canigou in the
Pyrénées. He and his mate Phil set off
at 7am with 800 or so other contestants on the 18km run
uphill all the way to the 2,784m summit. 4 hours and 15 minutes
later they had reached the top and made their return along the 16k
downhill section to place 252nd (2nd and 3rd Brits).
Their
attempt was doubtful in the days before the race as Kev came down
with a hacker of a chest infection and even though he was well dosed
up, he sounded like Mutley (for those who can remember Wacky Races)
after just walking up the stairs.
With
a huge French thunderstorm and light show that rumbled on the night
before, they feared the worst for the race itself and were expecting
conditions more akin to the UK. But as they awoke at 4.45am for
breakfast on the Sunday, the rain had stopped and clouds had already
begun to break up leaving much fresher conditions with the going
slightly softer under foot.
The klaxon sounded at
7am and they set off right at the back of the field. From then
onwards, fuelled by copious amounts of ginger cake, dried fruits, 'bickies'
and crisps, all supplied by the local population, they pushed on
through the forest trails and up above the tree line. From a
stunning mountain meadow the final 4 km of the ascent to the summit
was a true leg burner and having seen one guy trip and slip off the
narrow path only to save himself at the last minute, concentration
on their footwork became a little more focused. Scrambling up the
last few hundred metres through the famous chimney to the summit,
they arrived with a time of 3hrs 15mins.
Completely blown away
by both the view and the exhilaration of just making it to the top,
there was only time for a few pictures before setting off on the
16km descent. Running on adrenaline, ginger cake and the thought of
a beer at the finish line they ate up the kilometres down the
backside of the mountain and onto the forest trails. With multiple
dicey overtaking manoeuvres they managed to pass one Frenchman after
another through the trees. With a couple of km's to go, seeing their
English supporters and friends gave a massive boost, enabling them
to go all out to the finish catching a few more guys on the way.
Entering Vernet les Bains with only a couple of hundred metres to
go, the crowds clapped and cheered them all the way to the line.
Neither had experienced
anything like this before - and they managed to raise
a whopping £1566.67 for the June
Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund.
5 Sep 2009
A marathon wait for the medals
It's been a while, but at last the medals and prize money for the
2009 London Marathon are in our hands. Things seem to take ages for
this result to be confirmed as videos of the finish are used to
confirm that runners are wearing club vests and now we have the EA
registration hoop to jump through as well ... but Tilly Heaton,
Sarah Murphy and Louise Blizzard are now the proud
owners of bronze medals for the UK and English Championship.
31 Aug 2009
Track & Field Roundup
As the summer season winds down, hammer
thrower Mick Jones turned out at the LICC match for the his
first competition of the year after recovering from a neck injury
which threatened to put a stop to his competitive days. The result?
A win with 64.35 metres! William Sharman proved that his
superb runs in the World Championship sprint hurdles were no flash
in the pan as he placed 6th in the Weltklasse Meeting in Zurich with
13.37. David Gillick was in action at the same meeting over
400m - 4th in 45.25. In Antwerp James Ellington won his 100m
race with a speedy 10.32.
At the Aviva Grand Prix at Gateshead William Sharman
impressed yet again - 13.61 into a 2.8 mps headwind and running
World Champs bronze medallist David Payne of the USA to 1/100th of a
second. It took World Champion Phillips Idowu four
rounds of the triple jump to stamp his authority on the competition
but he eventually won comfortably from Bulgarian Momchil Karailiev.
Samson Oni placed 3rd in the high jump with 2.23m but
Goldie Sayers had to settle for 6th in the javelin and must be
looking forward to a break and then getting back to a solid and
injury free winter.
Kyle McCarthy bounced back from a broken hand, suffered when
his pole snapped a month or so ago, by placing 2nd in a decathlon
with 7,484 points. His competition included two personal
records - 15.15 for the sprint hurdles and 4:30.25 for 1500m.
Louis Evling-Jones was also in action in the same event but was
suffering from a back problem.
23 Aug 2009
12th IAAF World Championships,
Berlin, Germany
It was a great World Championships for Belgrave athletes.
Will Sharman (110m hurdles), David Gillick (400 metres)
and Dwain Chambers (100 metres) all made their finals,
Goldie Sayers (Javelin) narrowly missed out when placing 13th in
the qualifier when the top twelve advanced, and Marty Dent
(marathon) was a highly creditable 21st among some of the world's
best road runners.
Pride of place of course goes to Phillips Idowu whose
exploits in winning the triple jump made him Belgrave's first
outdoor global
champion since Tommy Green won the 50 kilometre walk at the Los
Angeles Olympics in 1932.
As has been mentioned elsewhere, pre-eminence on the world stage
begins with the same tentative steps taken by every athlete when
they start out.
More on each
Belgrave athlete's World Championship fortunes.
22 Aug 2009
Bels back in the top flight
It was a slog at Derby where a very
sparse Belgrave team placed 4th in the final match of the
series. With plenty of blanks on the team sheet some unsuspecting
and injured bodies were pulled in to fill out the gaps. Things became even
more difficult when the squad's only two recognised sprinters picked
up injuries in the 100m and couldn't turn out for their second
event. Thank goodness for the throwers who did us proud;
multi-medallist at the World Veterans Champs. Mark Wiseman
was elected man of the match.
Windsor, Slough Eton & Hounslow AC were also stretched and
placed 7th on the day. Nevertheless, Bels are promoted to the
Premiership as National One Champions and Windsor also ascend as
runners-up. Relegated are Notts AC and Border Harriers. Gateshead H&AC were match winners from Basingstoke &MH
AC and Kent AC.
As City of Sheffield and Trafford AC are relegated
from the Premiership, six of the clubs in the top flight of eight in
2010 will be London or very near-London based outfits.
Bill Laws celebrated his 30th year as joint
team manager with this return to the Premiership where next year he
will work with John Powell, mastermind behind our National
Junior League successes just over a decade ago. Past joint team managers
working with Bill during this quarter century and more have been
Leo Coy, John Jeffery and Alan Mead.
15 Aug 2009
Swift running at BMC Nike GP
Saturday 15 August, Cardiff. James Kelly ran to a personal
record over 5,000m - 14:36.07 - while Simon Jones ran one of
his fastest ever efforts 14:26.00. Graeme Oudney was back to
speedy action over two laps - 1:49.77 while Nick Goolab and
Stephen Sharp were both a fraction over 3:51 in their 1500
metre races.
Full results
12 Aug 2009
Rosenheim League Final
Wednesday 12 August. The last local league event of the
summer was held at Kingsmeadow, much of it in a downpour. Having won
the Rosenheim League Eastern Division, Hazel's heroes found themselves up
against it as Herne Hill turned out a much stronger team than had
been the norm throughout the season. Holders Kingston & Poly also
had too much fire power for the Bels on this occasion.
Sean Reidy took the first event on the track,
the 400m hurdles, in 54.8, but the Bels only other winner was Sam
Colgate who defied the conditions to handsomely clear 4.60m in
the pole vault.
1 Herne Hill H 87; 2 Kingston AC & Poly H 71; 3 Belgrave H 65; 4
Croydon H 64; 5 Hercules Wimbledon AC 48; 6 St. Mary's Richmond33.5;
7 Walton AC 28; 8 Serpentine R 25.5.
Full results.
6 Aug 2009
World Masters medals
Held in Lahti, Finland, the World Masters
Championships have come to a close and produced a good crop of
medals for Belgrave athletes. Mark Wiseman collected
two silvers and a bronze in M40 shot, discus and throws pentathlon;
Vilma Thompson earned two silvers in W55 shot and throws
pentathlon; John Hall won two bronzes in the M60 5k and 20k
Walk and silver in the 10k Walk.
1 Aug 2009
BAL team still
unbeaten in 2009
Belgrave travelled to Gateshead for the third match in the National
One Division series and in spite of a weakened team came away with
another win after a tight match. Promotion back to the Premier
Division is now a certainty without the need to turn up for match
four at Derby in three weeks time - but the Bels will be wanting to
maintain their unbeaten record. Windsor SE&H languished in 6th at
one point but fought back to place second ahead of the home team,
and look pretty sure of promotion themselves.
Star of the team was James Ellington with a double A win at
100m/200m. Other A string winners were Will Sharman in the
sprint hurdles, delighted with his late selection for the World
Champs. in Berlin, Sam Colgate, who set a season's best in
the pole vault, and the sprint relay team. The middle distance squad
was stronger this time and decathletes Kyle McCarthy and
Louis Evling-Jones
were worth their weight in gold as they covered the gaps.
League standings after three matches: 1 Belgrave H 24; 2 Windsor,
SE&H 21; 3 Kent AC 14 (826.2); 4 Basingstoke &MH 14 (816.2); 5 City
of Liverpool 12 (804.7); 6 Gateshead H&AC 12 (788.2) 7 Notts AC 6; 8
Border H 5.
Men's Southern League
At Carshalton the squad had too many
gaps on the team sheet and suffered their first loss of the season
in what was the final match of the series. Nevertheless, they
too have gained promotion.
Final League standings: 1 Belgrave H 29; 2 Epsom & Ewell H 22; 3
London Heathside 20.5; 4 London AC 18.5; 5 Sutton & Dist AC 9; 6
Bracknell AC 6. Results
UK Women's League
Far flung Wigan was the destination for our numerically small
women's team. But what they lack in numbers they more than make up
for in courage. All doubled or trebled in a bid to cover
events and although relegation to Division Four is now definite,
they avoided the dreaded drop to the qualifying match which surely
would have meant - Southern League next year. Results
31 Jul 2009
However ...
A superb but "windy" 13.39 clocking from William
Sharman in the 110m hurdles heats at Wednesday night's European
Permit Meeting at Loughborough was followed by a 13.44 run in the
final - not only a World Champs 'A' standard time but 8th fastest on
the UK All-time list and a new Belgrave record. Will has now
been added to the World Championship team.
28 Jul 2009
Berlin beckons
Sixty athletes were initially named in Great Britain's squad for the 12th IAAF World Championships to be held in Berlin, 15th to 23rd August,
including three Belgravians.
Coming back from injury but still clearly winning the UK
Championships and Trials, javelin thrower Goldie Sayers
deservedly has the selectors' confidence. Phillips Idowu will
again attempt to take a global title in the triple jump and Dwain
Chambers will have a busy time, having been named for both the
100 and 200 metres. Sadly no space could be found on the team
for William Sharman in the sprint hurdles.
26 Jul 2009
Flanders Cup
At the Flanders Cup Meeting at Brasschaat
in Belgium, Darren Gauson won the B 1500m race, setting a
marginal personal best of 3:42.53. He was kicking himself afterwards
that he didn't get into the A race, won in 3:39-odd, where he may
well have got the Commonwealth qualifier that he's seeking.
25 Jul 2009
Nick Goolab - now he's UK U20 3k Champion
Already UK's U20 Cross Country Champion, Nick
Goolab, collected his first national track title lat Crystal Palace. The Junior 3000m was held as an opening
event on the second day of the Aviva Grand Prix. In winning
with a 57.6 last lap,
Nick reduced his personal record for the event by nine seconds to
clock 8:15.27.
After the event he described how things went to Thomas Gayle.
Download interview.
22 Jul 2009
Double winners in Rosenheim League
The Eastern Division of The Rosenheim League drew to a close with our home match at Battersea. The Bels were able to
win both men's and women's matches with the highlight being Set
Osho's 21.58 win over 200m - a personal best.
Top scorer in the women's events has been Jodie Favell
who this time took victories in the long jump, shot and 400m events
- but she baulked at running the 1500m to make it a one woman team.
The Rosenheim League Final, where the top clubs from the Eastern
Division come up against the best of the Western Division, is at
Kingsmeadow on Wednesday August 12.
16 Jul 2009
Leading through the streets
of London ...
Racing for his employers Legal &
General, Phil Wicks was once again in command of
a procession around
the streets of the City of London - the occasion being Standard Chartered's annual Great City 5k. Phil won from a field
of over 5,000, in 14:29, his third consecutive victory ... and it was a family double as Phil's
fiancée Emily Adams won the
women's race.
A knee injury had troubled him in June and July, and although
mostly over it, Phil's vastly reduced level of background work resulted in an
unheard of dnf at
the UK Championships over 10,000m.
Hopefully he's now on the mend.
8 Jul 2009
Mark Miles wins JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge
As usual the
Challenge in Battersea Park takes place over two consecutive evenings. Mark
Miles won the first race last night from a field of 12,932 by a
clear 30 seconds. His time of 16:25 is currently second only
to the 15:59 turned in by Raphael Schäfer in the German version of
the event. Mark continues a tradition of Belgrave victories in the London
race - previous winners being Phil Wicks and Alaster
Stewart.
4 Jul 2009
Bels take BAL Match 2 ...
... in spite of failing to field a full team. A
match score of 333 was well short of what could have been achieved -
but nevertheless it was another win and halfway through the campaign
the team is on track for a return to the Premiership.
After two BAL matches: 1 Belgrave 16; 2 Windsor, Slough &
Eton AC 14; 3 Basingstoke & Midhants 11; 4 Kent AC 9; 5 City of
Liverpool 8; 6 Gateshead H & AC 6; 7 Notts AC 4 (468.6); 8
Border AC 4 (425).
But the Belles struggled again in the UKWAL match at
Bedford where once again they filled the last slot on the results
sheet.
Racing in Oordegem, Belgium, Russell Dessaix-Chin
was 2nd over 5000 metres in 14:06.50 while Mark Pollard ran
3:49.08 at 1500 metres. In the Cork City Sports 1500 metres
Steve Davies was 6th - 3:52.06.
27 Jun 2009
Track & Field ...
... mainland Europe
Sat. 27 June. Racing at Nivelles, Belgium, James Ellington
set a lifetime best of 10.27 for 100 metres while running to 2nd
place in the EAP Meeting. At Uden in The Netherlands Dwain
Chambers was a double winner with 10.22 for 100m and 20.50 for
200m (a season's best). Also at Uden William Sharman took the
sprint hurdles with 13.63. In Milan David Gillick dominated
in the 400m, clocking 45.51 - his 45.16 a couple of weeks back
stands as Europe's third best of the season so far.
Last weekend decathlete Kyle McCarthy was a little
disappointed to score 7,408 points at Kladno, in the Czech Republic
- but his 59.76 javelin throw was outstanding.
... and at home
The BMC Grand Prix at Stretford saw plenty of Belgrave action
where torrential rain late in the programme resulted in the later
races being delayed for half an hour; an inch of water had to be
cleared from the inside lane. In the 5,000m Mark Miles
took to the track for the first time this year to clock 14:02.76 for
2nd while in 6th spot Russell Dessaix-Chin was 14:07.29. Both
are looking forward the UK Champs & World Champs Trial at Birmingham
over 10,000m in a couple of weeks time. At 1,500m Mark
Pollard took another step forward to run 3:49.16 - but the
revelation was Shaun Moralee, going to the top of our outdoor
rankings for 2009 with what is reported to be 3:41 and bits -
confirmed time not available as yet. Shaun was 3rd in the A 1500
behind Jermaine Mays and Kenyan Bernard Kiplagat and his previous
best before this year was 3:46-odd from 2007.
Aviva England U23 & U20 Championship results from Bedford are still
coming in. Race Walker Alex Wright became National U20
10k Champion in 48:18.98 and Wade Bennett-Jackson was bronze
medallist in the U23 100m. More to come when we get it.
25 Jun 2009
Belgrave daughters
Congratulations to Lyn and Paul Freary on the
safe arrival of daughter Lauren, born Friday 19 June at 6pm and
weighing in at 7lb 2oz.
And four days later the world welcomed Imogen,
7lb 3oz, a daughter
to Dorchie and Will Cockerell, brother to Sebastian.
24 Jun 2009
Track jottings
A fraught match for officials
An extreme shortage of judges and timekeepers
- and no starter - at the Rosenheim League match at Tooting made this a fraught match for officials. Somehow
the competition was completed though and the Bels were back to
winning ways - men and women. Times of the sprints are obviously
subject to a little suspicion as a training starting device was used
instead of a gun; but most times don't seem too far away from those
the athletes normally returned.
The 1500m hots up
It's getting hotter at the top of our 2009 1500 metre rankings.
Neil Speaight's (3:39.17) and Steve Davies' (3:41.24)
indoor exploits head the list at the moment but outdoors it's the US
based Gauson brothers holding sway with Kris (3:42.13)
and Darren (3:43.21 twice) now being challenged by Shaun
Moralee (3:42.70).
Leiria, Portugal.
The previously successful European Cup, revamped now as the European
Team Championship, ended its first day on 20 June with GB & NI at the top
of the leader board. How did the Belgravians Dwain Chambers
and Samson Oni cope with the new rule changes?
The following day
Phillips Idowu came up against his nemesis Nelson Évora of
Portugal and Dwain Chambers was called in as 200 metre
reserve.
Two outstanding performances showed up on the
first day of the championships at Watford.
In the U20 5000 metres Walk Alex Wright took no less than one
and a half minutes off the Championship Best time as he clocked
21:54.98. It reduced his own club record by three quarters of a
minute and he moved to within 15 seconds of Carl Lawton's
senior record which has stood for 33 years.
Set Osho still had some work to do in the final of the 400
metres, but having put all the problems of recent years behind him
he took his heat in a season's best of 47.46 and then ran 46.76 for
a lifetime best in the semi-final.
The following day a tremendous run came from Set Osho who threw his
pre-race plan out of the window but won the 400m by miles in 46.70 - another personal record.
The U20 400 metre hurdles went to Matt Threadgold who set his
best ever time and bronze medallists were James Kelly (5000m)
and Gary Wilson (Triple J).
9 Jun 2009
Coggie (aka Superman) reports on the Christchurch Marathon
Thanks so much to all you wonderful people who
supported the Superhero Challenge – the event was a huge success,
with the world marathon record for a Superhero getting smashed by
Nathan Aldridge dressed as Robin (Batman’s sidekick) with an
incredible 2hr 43min 35sec. There was some great publicity and
fundraising achieved over $10k (and still climbing). The support we
received before, during, and after the event was fantastic, and to
see the donations the Trust representatives and SBS people got for
Harold the Giraffe at the finish area as he mixed it with the crowds
and the kids was pretty special too. Check out TV3’s coverage
-
Link.
My day from a running perspective was a bit of a
disaster – I had a meltdown in the second half and finished in 3hr
24. The lads in England will recognise this from days gone by as a
phenomenon they termed “Coggie-itis”,
which is defined in the Belgravian
dictionary as “an overly optimistic attempt at a target that any
right-minded realist would accept is ridiculous” and this was a
spectacular example of it. At halfway I was on world record pace
but starting to struggle, 3kms later I was walking and not sure how
I would get to the finish, which was still 18kms away. With the
help of The Flash (who was injured and following the race on the
bike) and an emergency sugar fix (Jet Planes) from the nearest
corner shop, as well as plenty of support from the spectators
(especially the kiddies) I managed to walk & jog to the finish.
Paul Coughlan
If you go to hereno doubt you can
still make a contribution
9 Jun 2009
Two Belgrave youngsters
The venerable Bill Lucas, 92 years young, 1948 London Olympic
5000m runner and still the scourge of our Committee Meetings,
acquaints himself with the youngest Belgravian, Charlie Holsgrove
who'll be one year old in July and is grandson of Gordon Biscoe.
Congratulations to
Louise and Gareth
Congratulations to Louise
(Cooper no more) and Gareth Blizzard who were married at
Holmes Chapel on 24 May. Bridesmaid was Tilly Heaton, and Catherine
Eastham and Sarah Murphy also helped Louise enjoy her great day. The
couple are off to Australia in September - but Louise hopes to find
a race or two while she's out there.
7 Jun 2009
UKWAL - it's going to be a slog
A small Belgrave team struggled to make headway in the opening UK
Women's Athletic League Division Three match at Mayesbrook Park.
Virtually everyone doubled or trebled up to cover as many events as
possible - but it'll be a slog in 2009 unless we can get more
athletes out.
The town of Neuss, situated on The Rhine near
Düsseldorf, Germany, hosted its annual 5k race at 9:30pm.
Crowds lined the streets, which were slippery after day long rain,
and two men went down at the very first bend. Keeping upright though
were Simon Jones and Russell Dessaix-Chin. Russ went
on to place 3rd in 14:31, about 10 seconds behind the winner, with
Simon 5th in 14:39.
6 Jun 2009
Wicks débuts at 10k on the track
Phil Wicks' debut over 25 laps in the 13th European Cup
10,000m in Madeira provided him with a decent first experience of a
track international. He felt good through halfway ... and to 7k but
struggled a bit in the final 2000m - nevertheless recording
29:10.66.
6 Jun 2009
Bels win opening BAL National One match
The British Athletics League for 2009 started for the Bels with a
team win at Abingdon. Highlights included personal bests from
Matthew Richards in the hammer - over 60m for the first time -
and James Kelly in the 5000m. Big scores came in the sprints
through Wade Bennett-Jackson and James Ellington while
Jonathan Blackledge won an outstanding 800m where electric
timing failure may have cost him a pb. Mark Wiseman, Mark
Allen and James Everard scored heavily in the throws and
decathlete Kyle McCarthy was busy with a sprint hurdle win
and a 54m+ javelin throw. A blinding 400m relay leg of 46.0 from
Set Osho capped a good opening team effort.
Chania in Crete seems to be the favoured opening
meeting for Phillips Idowu. Three times he's been to
this meet to start his season and three times he's won - this time
(1 June) with his fourth longest ever leap. The following wind was
slightly over the limit at 2.4mps but Phillips' effort was backed up
by a wind-legal 17.35m.
Three days later at the Memorial Primo Nebiolo meeting in Turin,
he hit 17.60m for another win.
1 Jun 2009
Domestic track & field
Monday 1 June.
At Jarrow Shaun Moralee showed that he is coming into good
form - winning the A 800 metres at the BMC Regional Races in 1:52.1.
Sunday 31 May. Great sprinting came from James Ellington at
the Bedford International Games. He just shaded Wade
Bennett-Jackson by 3/100ths in the 100 metres - 10.66 to 10.69 -
and went on to run a speedy 200m in 21.06. Set Osho
seems to be in good form, winning the 400 metres, and Gary Wilson
leaped to his best ever triple jump - 15.15m. Stephanie Smith
vaulted 3.50m.
30 May 2009
A Chambers sprint double at Kalamata
Competing at the Papaflessia Meeting in Kalamata,
Greece, Dwain Chambers went to the top of the British
rankings for 2009 with a 10.06 win over 100m. He's already top
at 200m but backed up his earlier 20.51 with a 20.58 for his second
win of the meet. Dwain will also compete over 100m and 200m at an
international meet in Dessau next Tuesday.
25 May 2009
CAU Inter-Counties Championships
Wade Bennett-Jackson had a busy
weekend at Bedford, taking 4th in the 100m (10.61) and 3rd in the 200m (21.56);
and some sharp running in the sprints also came from Set Osho
who had two sub-22 runs in the invitation 200m and William
Sharman who was 7th in the inter-county final in 21.92.
James Kelly was just out of the medals in the 5000m while
Richard Ward, enjoying a return to track racing, told us that
his tactical nous seemed to have deserted him as he couldn't get
through a wall of runners sprinting flat out in the last lap of the
mile.
Best placed Belgravian was U20 Alex Wright who got up to 2nd
in the 3000m Walk.
25 May 2009
Left: BUPA London 10k leaders head out along the
Embankment. Mo Farah leads (concealed by motorbike), followed by Kiprop, Lebid, Kosgei, Phil Wicks, Overall, Lemoncello,
Baldini and Mark Miles. Photo by tunawholesalers.
Phil Wicks scalps Boniface Kiprop
The second BUPA London 10k took in some
of the route likely to be used for the 2012 Olympic Marathon and in
spite of the strong wind against on the 2k return along the
Embankment there were some fast times. Mo Farah won in a British
best of 27:50 from Kenyan Samuel Kosgei and fourth was our own Phil Wicks, outrunning
sub-28 man Boniface Kiprop of Uganda in the closing stages. Next man
up the road ahead was legendary Ukrainian Sergiy Lebid. Phil's 28:55
was just a second down on his winning Bristol 10k time but it was
achieved in a tougher race against very strong opposition.
Mark Miles was also well up, 9th in 29:41, and
Zoe Vail was 15th in the women's race with 38:18.
Phil has been selected along with
Tipton's Phil Nicholls to race for GB & NI in the European Cup
10,000m on 6th June on the Portugese island of Madeira. It
will be the Belgrave man's début over 25 laps on the track; he admits it
will be a little bit scary but also very exciting as it will be a
step into the unknown ...
The previous day, at Wokingham, in the rescheduled Half Marathon, John
Kimaiyo sported Belgrave colours again although a little short
on training; he ended with a forward placing in about 72 minutes. In
the Plymouth Half Marathon Tim Watson was 3rd in 70:01 behind
the Birchfield/African duo Jean Ndayisenga and Simon Tonui.
22 May 2009
Flashback - 1990
Auckland, New Zealand, Commonwealth Games 1990. If you've got
15 minutes to spare you must watch the 5000m starring Australia and
Belgrave's Andy Lloyd vs Yobes Ondieki, Mark Rowland, Jack
Buckner, Ian Hamer, John Ngugi, etc. If you can't spare 15 minutes,
at least watch the second clip. Look out for the Belgrave banner 6
minutes 40 into the second video, displayed by Bill Laws and
Leo Coy.
As
we know, Stephen Sharp's time as Captain of our successful
running team came to an end after the National 12-Stage Road Relay
and taking over the armband was Neil Speaight (left), hugely
experienced on the track but a relative latecomer to the joys of
team road running - and wishing he'd tried it earlier. Neil has
plenty of business to take care of on the track yet, but will also
be leading our running team over the months ahead.
And who is taking over from Neil as Vice-Captain
... ?
We're delighted to tell you that it's a young man who has set
the roads alight in the last few months ... Phil Wicks
(right).
We're so fortunate that we can call upon such men to lead our teams
and the great thing is, there's plenty of talent queuing up behind
them.
16 May 2009
Southern Leaguers do it again
The second Southern League match at St. Mary's University College,
Twickenham, went the same way as the first - a big win for the Bels.
Busiest man was Peter Mayfield who scored no less than 40
points which was a quarter of our final score.
Melvyn Anukam was involved in the most wins, taking the B
100m, the A 400m and running third leg and anchor in the two relays
for two more first places. Joe van der Toorn also made a big
contribution with two relay runs and a 400m win.
Richard Stannard and Mike Trees have hardly run a step
in the last few weeks due to illness and after effects of the London
Marathon but made it a double win in the 5000m.
The throws were boosted by the appearance of Chris Privett
who gained a brace of wins and Mark Humphrey won the 800m by
a street. Tony Hartis was also a winner on his Belgrave
debut, protecting a niggle but nevertheless doing enough to win the
high hurdles after long jumping and jogging the 400 hurdles.
League positions after two matches: 1 Belgrave 12 (309); 2 Epsom &E
9 (249.5); 3 London Heathside 8 (216.5); London AC 7 (210); 5 Sutton
& Dist 4 (152.5); 6 Bracknell 2 (85.5).
Match three in the series is at Bracknell on June 6.
10 May 2009
Wicks wins in the West - 28:54 10k
Making a fairly late decision to run the Bristol 10k
rather than the county championship 1500 metres, Phil Wicks
took the pace out hard, leading from gun to tape. In so doing he
scorched to his best ever for the distance to win in 28:54 from Andy
Vernon (Aldershot F&D) 29:00 and Jean Ndayisenga (Birchfield)
29:36.
It was the fastest 10k by a Belgravian since Kassa Tadesse's 28:38
at Carouge, Switzerland in 2005 and Mark Miles' 28:42 at Chiba,
Japan in 2002. It also places Phil firmly at the top of the 2009 UK
rankings at 10k as well as for the half marathon.
Saturday 9 May. Russell Dessaix-Chin said farewell to his
beloved Wimbledon Common with a 15:12 record breaking run in the
parkrun 5k. The next day he was due to fly out to Germany but
will return in July, hopefully to run in the UK 10,000m
championship.
10 May 2009
County Champs
There were some good early season performances around the country on
the first day of the county championships.
At Crawley the Sussex 200m title went to Wade Bennett-Jackson
who ran 21.6 after a 21.9 heat. The following day Wade made it a double by taking the 100m title in 10.6. In Northamptonshire Mark Allen
crept close to the magic 60 metres as he placed 2nd in the hammer
throw with 58m-odd.
At the Surrey Championships at Kingsmeadow an outstanding
Championship Best was set in the pole vault by Joe Ive whose
5.26m wasn't enough for him - he went on to unsuccessfully attempt
5.36m! Sam Colgate took silver medal with 4.40m. Alex
Wright raced away with the 3000m walk setting a very fast time
of 12:51.93. Matt Threadgold placed 2nd in the U20 400m and
Sarah Gailey picked up another county medal by placing 3rd in
the 800m.
On the second day at Kingsmeadow Richard Ward had the beating of the
1500m field and David Wellstead was another senior winner -
taking the triple jump with 13.68m. Junior Matt Threadgold
was the victor in the 400m hurdles and there were two Belgrave
senior women's silver medallists - Belinda Heil in the hammer
with 42.20m and Jodie Favell in the 400m hurdles with 64.54m.
There were two winners at the Middlesex Champs - and both in the 3000m Walk
where John Hall won the men's event and Maureen Noel
the women's.
9 May 2009
Russell says farewell
Russell Dessaix-Chin said farewell to his
beloved Wimbledon Common with a 15:12 record breaking run in the
parkrun 5k. The next day he was due to fly out to Germany but
he will return in July, hopefully to run in the UK 10,000m
championship.
7 May 2009
Runners - do you want to take to the stage?
The BAC Theatre in Clapham, near Lavender Hill, are looking for
runners to tread the boards in their production "You'll never walk
alone". The play will take place on 27 May at 7:45pm. If
you're interested then contact Lynn Goh, Development Manager on 020
7326 8243 or email.
26 Apr 2009
Maureen is RWA 50k Champion
Yet another outstanding performance came from Maureen Noel to
win the RWA 50 kilometre title at Stockton-on-Tees.
26 Apr 2009
Flora London Marathon
First Belgravian home was Marty Dent, 14th in 2:15:24,
followed by Will Cockerell, 65th in 2:31:25 with Knut
Hegvold 165th in 2:39:18 and Mal Byansi just 5 seconds
further back, 167th. Tilly Heaton led home Belgrave's
women's squad, 102nd in 3:08:54; with Sarah Murphy, 140th in
3:11:50, and Louise Cooper 399th in 3:26:11 completing the
team.
Will Cockerell wasn't particularly happy with his run - being taken down by
three key enemies. However, our man
received a little fillip when he reached the Mall and tells us:
"Eleven long years ago Dave Buzza and I were Brits numbers 1 and 2 in
Boston - him 2:14, me 2:39... I said to him before this race that we were coming dangerously close together, like ships
passing in the night. 'We haven't passed yet, Will!' he said. I
nicked him in the last 100 yards".
Phil Wicks was asked to act as pacemaker for the second elite
group in the Flora London Marathon and he took them through 5k -
14:36, 10k - 29:40, 15k 44:55, 20k - 1:00:14; half marathon -
1:03:33 and 25k - 1:15:29.
He tells us, "It was great experience and the atmosphere was
fantastic. Felt quite hot on the course and dropped out at 25km
happy to have got a real flavour for the event and running with some
great distance runners ..."
On Phil's agenda this year, if selected, is a run for GB & NI at the
European 10,000m race in Portugal in June and the World Half
Marathon Championships in Birmingham in October. And who knows ...
maybe a spot on the London Marathon start line as an elite athlete
in his own right next year.
18 Apr 2009
Kings of the Road - 2009
A club record win in
ERRA National 12-Stage Road Relay
Left: Daniel Mulhare takes the tape to conclude a Belgrave
club record breaking run of 4 hours 4 minutes and 43 seconds to win
the ERRA National 12-Stage Road Relay at Sutton Coldfield, 2009.
Photo by Kenton Brock.
Sutton
Coldfield. Belgrave Harriers won the
National 12-Stage Road Relay for the eleventh time since the event
was first held on the London to Brighton Road in 1924. The Bels'
record in recent years shows that they have
medalled in each of the
last nine years and on this occasion they clocked a Club Record time
of 4hrs 4mins 43secs, clipping 8 seconds from their previous best
set in 2002. Second were Newham & Essex Beagles, 4:09:54 and third
were Tipton H, 4:11:48.
It was a close contest between the Bels and the Beagles for the first
half of the race with the five minute winning margin only opening up
in the latter stages. A fabulous run by Phil Wicks gave him
fastest long stage of the day with 25:13 and Phil was joined by
Marty Dent, 25:42, and Mark Miles, 25:49, among the
fastest four. Dan Mulhare and Neil Speaight made
the top ten list of short stages.
The B team excelled to place 23rd and were the first placed B team in the race.
No less than 18 celebrated until the early hours in Brum's Oceana after the race
- although Milesy and Sharpy were out training again at 8:30am.
What a way to celebrate Stephen Sharp's last run as Captain,
a mantle now taken over by Neil Speaight.
4 May 2009
Coggie
- Superhero
Paul Coughlan writes to send congratulations to the Bels on the
National 12-Stage relay victory. He says it seems impossible that
ten years have flown by since he was in the team.
Always the extrovert, Coggie tells us of his latest crazy venture,
which is to try to bring some of the charity festival atmosphere of
London Marathon to the Christchurch, New Zealand, event and more
importantly to promote and fundraise for the Life Education Trust.
This is a charity that helps with educating children about healthy
nutrition & lifestyles, for which Coggie is on the trust board.
He
and another nine guys, will be running the Christchurch marathon in
superhero costumes, trying to break the Guinness World Record held
by Englishman Ian Sharman Edinburgh last year in Edinburgh - 2h 49m
50s. He says he's been getting a bit fitter since he was over last
November (ran a half in 80:35 in February) so should give that a
nudge. But among the other nine are some guys who will destroy the
record, the most well known being Carsten Jorgensen (originally from
Denmark and winner of the 1997 European Cross Country title before
Lebid put a virtual mortgage on it).
Does
anyone want to help Coggie with the fundraising? He's dying to get
his hands on some lovely English pounds (currently worth about
NZ$2.60. A NZ$50 donation would cost about £19). He tells us he's
also happy to accept challenges, anything from time bonuses (or a
world record bonus) to making specific appearances or performing
tasks (within reason and legality!).
To go
to Coggie's fundraising page with a secure credit card payment
facility (and some slightly embarrassing shots of him in tights) the
link is
http://www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/PaulCoughlan/
25 Apr 2009
Subscriptions and England Athletics Affiliation
Many thanks to all those of you who have paid your
annual subscription promptly (due April 1st). Without any major
sponsorship we rely almost entirely on these subscriptions to cover
our running costs and attendance as teams at major championships.
Just to remind you, annual rates are as follows:
£35 for senior athletes, £25 for second-claim, under 20 or students
£15 for under 17.
For partnerships (eg. husband/wife) £45 and for additional family
members £10 per person.
If you intend to compete then you must add a
further £5 for affiliation to England
Athletics which we will pass on for you.
You can set up a standing order for as little as
£3.50 per month (to cover subs and affiliation) or you can simply
transfer your subs/affiliation fee on-line using the details shown
on the standing
order form. Don't forget to include your name and drop us an
email
to tell us that you have paid.
5 Apr 2009
Bels take SEAA 12-Stage honours
Clocking the second fastest ever overall time for
the event at Milton Keynes, Belgrave Harriers took the SEAA 12-Stage
title by nearly four minutes from Aldershot, Farnham & District AC
and Woodford Green with Essex Ladies AC - the same team result as
2008. Enjoying superb form, Phil Wicks removed eight seconds
from Keith Cullen's long stage record of 23:16 while Andy Vernon (AFD)
also got inside the old mark. Fastest short stage runner was Dan
Mulhare ... and the Belgrave 'B' team not only qualified for the
National but won the team spot prize as well. A great day.
Congratulations to AFD and Woodford who headed the Bels early on -
and to local rivals Herne Hill Harriers who excelled to place 6th.
No doubt Bedford & County and Newham & Essex Beagles will be
somewhat stronger when the show moves on to the ERRA National
12-Stage Road Relay at Sutton Park on April 18.
On
the same day fine running came from Mark Miles in Dublin where he placed
7th in the Great Ireland 10k in 29:36. John Charles was
second in the Edinburgh Half Marathon with a personal best of
1:12:56 - the best run of his career so far. Hassan Raidi
won the Regents Park 10k (trying his twisted ankle out before
attempting the SEAA 12-Stage Relay next day) and Kevin Gadd
ran 1:18:50 in the Berlin Half Marathon.
31 Mar 2009
Kris Gauson dominant in the USA
Butler University
junior Kris Gauson, who emerged as a dominant middle distance
runner in his first season with the Bulldogs, has been named 2009
Horizon League Indoor Track and Field Male Athlete of the Year. He
was selected for the top league award by a vote of Horizon League
track and field coaches.
Gauson, the younger
brother of former Butler runner and current assistant coach
Darren Gauson, was the Horizon League champion in the 800 meter
run, winning the race in a Butler record time of 1:51.07. He broke
the previous Butler mark of 1:51.18, set by Rob Krar in 2000, and he
topped the NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 1:51.10. He only ran
the 800 meter race twice during the indoor season!
The Edinburgh, Scotland
native also ran under the NCAA provisional qualifying standard in
the mile twice, posting a time of 4:00.99 at the Husky Classic and
4:01.48 at the Alex Wilson Last Chance Meet. His 4:00.99 was the
second-fastest time in school history, trailing only the Butler
record of 4:00.53 set by All-American Scott Overall, and his top two
mile times ranked among the fastest ever recorded in the Horizon
League.
Gauson competed in the
mile four times, and in each, he ran faster than any other
non-Butler runner in the Horizon League. He led the league in the
mile by nearly seven seconds, and he was nearly 10 seconds faster
than the first non-Butler athlete.
The Butler ace, who
missed competing in the NCAA Championships in the mile by 0.88 in
what was the fastest field assembled in NCAA history, finished the
year ranked #25 in the nation in the mile.
From
butlersports.com
31 Mar 2009
Welcome to
William
Congratulations to
Helen and Chris Cole on the safe arrival of baby
William John Cole on Friday 20 March at 8.35 pm weighing 6 lb 5 oz.
all three are doing well.
31 Mar 2009
John Hall's
Italian Job
John Hall tells us that he was delighted to win both his races
at the 7th European Veterans Championships at Ancona in Italy.
The events were the 3,000 metres Walk indoors and the 5k Road Walk
in the M60 age group.
His
margins of victory were quite comfortable but were only achieved
after a lot of concentration and effort, not to mention a huge
amount of nervousness beforehand!
"I
went straight to the front in the track walk, but a Frenchman then
passed me and I sat in behind him for a lap, which was just at the
right pace. I then passed him as I wanted to push on (I later lapped
him). Did a very consistent pace, which became progressively harder
to maintain, but I kept my form and style to the end. Not
surprisingly the British supporters were getting a bit excited and
it was great to hear my name being shouted enthusiastically by the
stadium announcer as the race went on.
"In
the road race there was a mad scramble at the start, which was on a
dilapidated athletics track. We went out onto the road after 300
metres and soon got onto the road circuit that we had to do three
times. I was 6th getting onto but the leader wasn't too far ahead
and I caught and passed him soon after 2k. One walking judge was
rushing around showing yellow caution cards to several people around
me but I had no problems indoors or out. There were some
disqualifications in both races and I'm surprised there weren't more
- a couple of people in front of me were literally trotting in the
early stages of the road race."
30 Mar 2009
The City of London Police do Dave
Davies proud
Some
300 people attended the funeral of Belgravian Dave Davies at
Christchurch, Epsom. There were many representatives from the City
of London Police Force, rambling associations, local Epsom running
clubs and of course Belgrave Harriers.
The
hearse was escorted by City of London motorcycle police, blue lights
flashing, and the coffin, draped in police insignia and surmounted
by Dave's distinctive City of London police helmet, was carried by
uniformed police officers.
Dave
was ever a mild and modest man and would have been so surprised ...
and so proud to know the high regard that everyone had for him.
29 Mar 2009
Belgrave road running bonanza
62:51 half marathon by Phil
Wicks at Reading
It was a dream weekend for Belgrave road runners
with some huge performances up and down the country.
Pride of place must go to Phil Wicks. The UK team
selectors seem to have done him a favour overlooking him for the
World Cross Country Championships, which resulted in him turning out
instead in the Reading Half Marathon. Here he ran a phenomenal 62:51
to place second by only 5 seconds to Kiplimo Kimutai of Kenya. The
African has a best from last year of 1:00:58. Phil went through 10k
in 29:20 and 10 miles in 47:48.
Only Paul Evans (1:01:18) and Gary Staines (1:01:57)
are ahead of Phil on our all-time list. Also at Reading, Simon
Jones had a horrible day after a "pit-stop" limited him to 11th
place in 67:27; M45 veterans Mike Trees and Knut Hegvold
were in action with 27th and 46th in 1:11:40 and 1:13:26 and the
four of them together won the team race; Sarah
Murphy ran 1:22:52 for 21st in the women's race.
Mark Miles wins the ERRA National
Half Marathon title
At Wilmslow Mark Miles had a terrific run to win the National
Half Marathon Championship in 1:04:11 from Andi Jones and Thomas
Abyu, both of Salford. The three of them broke away from the pack in
the first mile and extended their lead throughout the race. Finally
it came down to a battle between Mark and Andi after Abyu was
dropped in the last mile.
Russell Dessaix-Chin takes the
Eastleigh 10k
The Eastleigh 10k resulted in a victory for Russell Dessaix-Chin
in 30:19. Russell was
hoping to run a personal record which might have put him in the
29:30 region - but ended up lucky to be running at all. He
tripped while warming up and gashed the back of his head.
The wound was cleaned up by the paramedics and 15 minutes before
the race our man decided to run - albeit going for the win rather
than a full on tilt at a good time. Tough these Aussies!
John Charles ran a pb of 32:29 with James Fairbourn
33:00.
And at the Cranleigh '21' (actually 21 miles 246 yards), Will
Cockerell ran second to Epsom's Will Clark with 2:02:30.
28 Mar 2009
Another Alex Wright Record
Another long standing Club record fell to Race Walker
Alex Wright today. Competing in the Slater Bryce
Memorial 10k track race at Broadbridge Heath, Alex clocked 45:26 to
remove a large slice from Richard Dorman's Under 20 mark of 45:51.87,
set when winning the AAA Under 20 title at Birmingham in 1980.
22 Mar 2009
On the road again
The Welsh 10k road running championship was held at Llantwit Major in some of the most beautiful countryside in the UK.
In Simon Jones' words, "It was a 'lumpy' course and a bit
windy." Si took the lead from the start, into the wind, and
pushed on again at 4k opening a gap on Bristol's Jon Willis.
But at 8k the Bristol man was back again and the pair struggled on
together until the final sprint where Simon missed out by just two
seconds - 30:24 to 30:26.
The Belgrave man had withdrawn from the previous week's Trafford 10k
at the last minute as a precaution after a niggle - so it was good
to see him on the road again.
In Lisbon Helen Smethurst placed 20th in the half marathon
found to be 150 metres over distance. Her time of 1:27:50 must have
placed her well up in the Masters category.
Hassan Raidi had a good win in the Wimbledon Audi 10k - 32:08
The 5k parkrunners moved up a gear this weekend.
Richard Ward mixed it with a couple of Phoenix runners at
Brighton and placed 3rd in 15:43 while at Bushy Park Russell
Dessaix-Chin nicked 15 minutes to win and veteran Mike Trees
ran 15:52.
17 Mar 2009
A medal
winning partnership
We've just learned
that Phil Wicks and Emily Adams became engaged today
and they'd both like to let all their friends know. Emily, who runs
for Aldershot, Farnham & District AC is the daughter of Peter Adams
who will be remembered by many of our older runners as a redoubtable
competitor. The picture left was taken in Sutton Park last October
when the pair each won team golds in the National Road Relays.
Congratulations to them both.
15 Mar 2009
Miles ahead
The last two years have seen Mark Miles in
the runners-up slot in the Trafford 10k - second last year to our
own Neil Speaight as they both clocked 29:45 in the tightest
of finishes, and the year before to Pete Riley 29:33 to 29:40.
But there was no mistake this time as Mark clocked 29:25
for a great
win and a 16 second margin over Salford's Andi Jones. With a best ever of 29:11 set in 2005, Milesy is
obviously running into great form.
Also on the road, Hassan Raidi was 9th in the Hastings Half
Marathon.
The British Universities Indoor Champs. were held in Sheffield where Steph Smith
vaulted 3.80m to win the silver medal and move into the top ten in
the UK, while Dan Mulhare ran to 3rd place in the 3000m final
with 8:16.18.
The walkers earned second team place in the Pat Furey Open 5 miles
at Lee Valley Stadium, led home by John Hall.
Previously unreported from last week: Race walker Alex
Wright competed in Lugano, Italy, in a 10k event and Kris
Gauson ran to 5th place in a 1 mile at Notre Dame, Indiana, USA,
in 4:01.48 - but he already has a 4:00.99 to his name (check out the
1500m/1 mile rankings). James Kelly was second fastest man of the
day in the Teddy Hall Relays at Oxford.
13 Mar 2009
David Davies, 1939-2009
Many Belgravians will be shocked
to learn of the passing of Dave Davies, who died on Thursday 12
March after a
week in hospital. He had been preparing for yet another London
Marathon but suffered a heart attack - quite out of the
blue. A keen rambler as well as runner, he had been out with a
Croydon rambling group during the day and was President of the Epsom
Ramblers.
A Belgrave member since 1964 and son of another Club stalwart, Stan,
Dave was never a star runner but an ever present in our races in the
'60s and '70s. In later years he tended to run in an Epsom
Oddball's vest but he never, ever, stopped running and will be
sorely missed at the Dave Denton events, the Maidenhead, Epsom and Tadworth 'Tens' and just about every other road race within a 30
mile radius of Epsom.
An ex-City of London policeman, Dave was a regular as a marshal at our home cross country and road
fixtures and one of our very few track & field officials where his
speciality was track judging. One could go to the World Cross in
Edinburgh or the National at Parliament Hill - and there he and Judy
would be, quietly following the fortunes of his young club mates.
Our deepest sympathy goes to Judy, his widow.
11 Mar 2009
World Cross team
named
Congratulations to Nick Goolab, outstanding winner of the
Junior trial race in Nottingham, who has been selected to run in the
UK's U20 Men's Team in the World Cross Country Championships in
Jordan on 29 March.
Only an outside bet to be named
in the Senior Men's six man squad after placing a disappointing 7th
in the trial, Phil Wicks was told he would be second reserve,
with the surprising selection of Mike Skinner as first reserve.
Mike did not run in the trial while Phil was only seconds behind the
sixth man in the race where a mere ten seconds covered 3rd to 7th.
Oh well! Irrelevant whether he's first or second reserve, one
might have thought, until it was announced that Tom Lancashire (4th
in the trial) did not intend to take his place in the team - and
Mike Skinner was brought in. A harsh decision we feel.
11 Mar 2009
Increased use of Belgrave Hall planned after
major refurbishment
Belgrave
Hall, situated next to Wimbledon Common is a major asset used
both by club members and other local sports bodies, including the
local community, for social, and sporting activities. Following a
major repair and improvement project it is planned to increase the
use of the Hall for cross country training and for local community
events.
The programme of works included: a complete
replacement of the catering area to comply with latest Health and
Safety requirements (completed August 2008), the installation of a
new and larger central heating system extended into the Gymnasium
built to the latest Corgi standards (completed January 2009), and
the structural repair of brickwork, window lintels plus re-sealing
of a flat roof area. (completed February 2009)
The total cost of all works was £24,200 of which
£9,600 was provided as a grant from the London Marathon Charitable
Trust and £14800 sourced from Belgrave reserves.
Dave McMillan was project manager for the
replacement of the kitchen area and Bill Laws managed the
supply and installation of the new central heating system and the
structural repairs to the Hall.
8 Mar 2009
It's another record for
John Hall
Having taken the British indoor 3000m race walking record for M60
down below 15 minutes a few weeks back at the Southern Veterabns
Championships, John Hall lopped another 10 seconds from the
mark during the BMAF Championships at Lee Valley. In taking the
title for his age group, John clocked 14:45.25.
8 Mar 2009
Mark Miles hits the road
The
Fradley 10k Road Race, near Lichfield, saw Mark Miles sailing
so close to 30 minutes. Mark was over two minutes ahead of the
rest of the field as took the finish line in 30:07.
8 Mar 2009
European Indoor Championships, Turin.
Dwain Chambers - European Champion
It's amazing that a man can soak up so much pressure and refuse to
let it deflect him from the target he has in focus. Dwain
Chambers was outstanding favourite as he lined up among the 60
metre finallists - but the start still has to be negotiated and the
race run. Happily all went to plan and Dwain crossed the line as
European Indoor Champion in a time equalling the old British record
- 6.46 seconds.
Neil Speaight got stuck into the 1500m final, pushing for a
forward position in a tactical race, but he was unable on this
occasion to handle the increase in pace when it came and once off
the back, at this speed, there is no way back.
After winning the National Junior CC Championship Nick
Goolab was majestic in taking the Junior Inter-County title.
He won in 25:40 from James Wilkinson, 25:56, and will now surely be
invited to take part in the World Cross Country Championships
in Amman, Jordan, in three weeks.
It was not a happy story though for Phil
Wicks who was "gutted" to place 7th and therefore will probably
miss a third consecutive World Cross outing. The race was won by
Andy Vernon from Frank Tickner and Lee Merrien. Russell Dessaix-Chin
was pleased with his run to place 15th, taking some good scalps.
James Kelly was 64th and Surrey placed third in the team race.
In the women's race Sarah Murphy was our only runner, placing
72nd.
"I knew it was in the tank but I didn't want to let it out too
soon."
So said Dwain Chambers after winning his 60m semi-final at
the European Indoor Championships at Turin, Italy, in the third fastest time in
history. Only Maurice Greene with a World Record 6.39 and Andre
Cason's 6.41 are now above him on the World All-Time list. Dwain's
6.42 is a European and British Record - and we still have the final
to go.
Neil Speaight lived dangerously in his heat of the 1500m.
Planning to use his strength to come through in the latter stages,
Neil took a knock just as he started his move. That's all it takes
when racing the top guys and with the whole field now flat out an
automatic qualifying position was out of reach. But finishing
in sixth he still had the hope of a "fastest loser's" spot - and so
it worked out. Neil will line up for Sunday's final.
Belgrave's other representatives were not so
lucky. Samson Oni was unable to go higher than 2.22m in his
high jump qualifying round while one of the favourites for the 400m
title, David Gillick, was twice baulked in his semi-final,
the second clash sending him tumbling to the track. Protests were to
no avail and sadly the Irishman was unable to take his challenge for
a hat trick of European Indoor titles to the final.
1 Mar 2009
Russell back on song
Racing in the 32nd Cross Internacional das
Amendoeiras em Flor 10.2k event near Albufeira in Portugal,
Russell Dessaix-Chin came up against strong opposition but in
his own words, "redeemed" himself after a couple of less than
successful weeks. He "came home like a train" to end up 6th.
1 Mar 2009
Steph vaults 3.75m
At theSussex/Surrey Indoor
County Championships held at Sutton over the weekend, Stephanie
Smith (pictured left) raised her personal record for the pole
vault by no less than 15 centimetres to win the Sussex title.
The summer season is beginning to look very exciting
for the former gymnast who only took up athletics a short while ago
and had a best of 3.40m going into this winter's indoor
competitions.
28 Feb 2009
Belles
are league Runners-up
The postponed final Women's Surrey Cross
Country League race of the season was held at Lloyd Park and the
Belles finished off their campaign with 3rd team place to clinch
their excellent runners-up position for the season 2008-9.
An awful start in the opening match had been followed
by two glorious wins and after this final match our small team are
rightly proud of their final placing in the top division of the
league.
Pictured right (by Charlie
Dickinson) are Tilly Heaton, Sarah Murphy,
Jennifer Beecroft, Anne Hegvold, Vicky Goodwin and
Team Manager Catherine Eastham (who thought she'd stepped
down at the beginning of the winter - but remains in charge!).
24 Feb 2009
Eric Penny 1941-2009
Regrettably we must announce the passing of
Eric Penny who died last night aged 68. Eric had been a
Belgravian since 1952 and was the son of Arthur Penny, British
Empire & Commonwealth Games 6 miles gold medallist from 1934.
Eric's days of running were mostly as a Junior
but he always remained faithful to the club and as a terrific piano
player, carried the infamous Belgrave skiffle group, being the only
"real musician" in the band with a real talent for playing "boogie".
His funeral took place at Amersham on Wednesday
11 March.
23 Feb 2009
National Cross Country
Stats
Part
One(Team stats)
Part Two(Best individual positions, most runs, etc)
If anyone has any thoughts on catching Don Anderson's most
ever runs in the National Cross Country Champs., they'd better think
again. At 18 runs he is now four clear of Bert Footer - and if we
can ever find historical records of the results going back to the
very early 80s and late 70s, no doubt there are a few more in the
colours of Surrey AC.
But whereas Don takes a year off every so often, Will Cockerell
never misses. As a result he moves into equal second place
with the late Charlie Walker on the "most consecutive" runs
list. Next year he could equal Pat O'Connor's record of
12 and in 2011 - go clear. Malachi Byansi has now broken into
the "most consecutive" list with 4.
21 Feb 2009
Nick Goolab - National Junior CC Champion
Nick Goolab ran the race of his
life to win the National Junior CC title at Parliament Hill.
Following up the good form shown in his recent international win in
Portugal against strong opposition, Nick didn't put a foot wrong on
Hampstead Heath as he won by around 150 metres. Belgrave's only
previous male winner (of any age group) was Kassa Tadesse who
took the Junior title in 1994.
Phil Wicks ran a great race to place fourth after a difficult
couple of weeks. He was silver medallist last year. The team placed
13th and it really was a case of "unlucky for some" as some found
the muddy conditions too much to handle.
Sarah Murphy (41st) led home the Belgrave women's team to a
creditable 21st place.
In the Scottish Championships at Callendar Park, Falkirk, Mark
Pollard was unable to make it a hat trick of wins, placing 8th
this year.
21 Feb 2009
Now Neil goes
to 3:39.17
At the Aviva
Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham, Neil Speaight ran to a
brilliant 4th place in the 1500m, clocking 3:39.17, less than a
second away from his club record set at the same meeting in 2006.
19 Feb 2009
Bels win in Armagh
The
20th Armagh International Road Race had as strong a field as ever
but resulted in a club team win for Belgrave Harriers with
Stephen Sharp 14:24 (12th), Simon Jones 14:28 (18th) and
James Kelly a personal best of 14:36 (25th).
Race winner was David Nightingale of the USA in a course record of
13:54 from England's Chris Thompson (13:56) and Ireland's Mark
Caroll (13:57).
15 Feb 2009
Season's best for Neil Speaight
The
second day of the Aviva UKA Indoor Champs
.
saw Neil Speaight make a bold bid in following Mo Farah's
searing pace in the 1500m. Eventually Neil dropped away but came
again strongly in the end to take 2nd place in a season's best of
3:42.67, closing on the winner. Steve Davies was 4th in
3:43:44. Michaela Hutchison won the women's B 800m
final. But there was disappointment for William Sharman
as he accompanied Andy Turner out of the 60 metres hurdles final
after they both false started.
14 Feb 2009
Top of the World Rankings at 60 metres
Dwain
Chambers went to equal top spot in the World Rankings when he
twice ran 6.51, a personal record, in the Aviva UK Indoor Champs
& European Trials at Sheffield today.
By powering to victory in such
style, the 30-year-old stands out as a firm favourite for gold in
Turin in March where the British record of 6.46secs must be under
threat.
"I'm very pleased, it's an
indication of what I can do when I'm allowed to run," said Chambers.
"Now I can just concentrate on trying to win the title ... there's a
bit more to come and hopefully it will come out in Turin."
With 2.22m,Belgrave's
Darvin Edwards of St. Lucia was the surprise winner of a
lacklustre high jump competition. Samson Oni was unable to
better 2.15m after clearing 2.29m in Glasgow two weeks ago and may
now be in doubt for a Turin berth.
Comfortable qualifiers for tomorrow's 1500 metre final where they
will clash with Mo' Farah, were Neil Speaight and Steve
Davies. Graeme Oudney placed 2nd in his 800m heat but
wasn't quite fast enough to advance to the A final.
For the fifth time Alex Wright improved our Under 20 5k
Race Walking Club Record. Racing in the
Cambridge Harriers Winter League event, his winning time was 22:15,
lopping off another 11 seconds. Even Carl Lawton's long
standing 21:39 - our Senior Record - is hoving into sight.
8 Feb 2009
British
Masters' Record
for our President
We know that John Hall, our Race Walking Club President, has amassed a huge
collection of championship titles to his name over the years but at
Pickett's Lock, Lee Valley, on Sunday, in the Southern Counties
Veterans' Champs, he not only won the 3000m but set a British
Masters M60 Age Group record to boot. His time of
14 minutes 55.49 seconds, handsomely beat the
previous record of 15:00.1.
8 Feb 2009
More success for Neil Speaight
Ahead of the Aviva UK Indoor Champs. & European Trials next weekend,
Neil Speaight took the Irish Indoor 1500m title in Belfast on
Sunday, racing away to 3:43.31 and gaining a six second win over
O'Brien of Crusaders.
Neil seems to be enjoying his running more than ever these days and
we may yet seem him competing in Turin, in March.
7 Feb 2009
Flyder Cup crosses the Common
As with the inaugural event, this was a
nail-biting affair with the result in doubt almost until the last
dart. Herne Hill Harriers joined the fray fresh from their triumph
in one of the most bruising and violent Surrey League campaigns
since the infamous Belgrave massacre of 2000. Thames had put up a
valiant struggle all winter and it soon became clear that it wasn’t
just over the mud that these two clubs desired to wage all out war,
but over the oche too.
36 players descended upon the stage, with no
fewer than 15 supplied by Thames, armed with a handful of reserves,
wives, girlfriends, infants, and newborns – all designed to
intimidate or distract the opposition. The format was for each club
to play 6 doubles matches against each other club, thus 18 points to
fight over.
Defending champions Belgrave came out of the
blocks like startled Rottweilers and armed with their secret weapon
Mark Humphrey, who had his opponents, spectators and referee
cowering in trepidation, surged into a 2, 1, 1 lead. Thereafter
Belgrave struck something of a void for the next hour or two, as
they gallantly offered the floor to Thames and Herne Hill to try and
rip each other’s kidneys out, as they so desired.
Herne Hill tore into a 5, 3, 2 lead but then
Thames had a purple patch in the final three-quarters of an hour,
and with the final two matches out on the course they led 7, 6, 3.
However, both of those matches involved Herne Hill, and only one
Thames. Belgrave were wounded furry animals by now and the wise
heads were already chalking up another point to the Brixton
bombers. Thus, the deciding match saw Larry Mathews and Ian
Harkness going into a nip-and-tuck race with Spencer Mason and Keith
Newton. Neither team was able to conjure up a 9-dart finish in
their 501 match, but both were flirting with the equally rare
90-dart finish.
Herne Hill had the slim lead and looked as though
they’d have first go at the out-shot; but then Mathews,
multiple-Surrey League winner, and undefeated in two years of Flyder
Cups stepped up. A high-scoring dart gave him the out-shot – double
seven. He took brief aim and pulled the trigger. DOUBLE-SEVENS –
very first dart! The finest player in Flyder Cup history had
produced its equal finest dart (along with the Trondheim stallion’s
master-stroke from last year), to secure the famous Lord of the
Rings tankard.
W.V.L.C.
RESULTS
Thames vs Belgrave
(4-2)
James McMullen and Darren Talbot BEAT Hazel Mead
and Pete Willis
Nick Gould and Tim Beer LOST to Maureen Jones and
Dave McMillan
Ian Harkness and Larry Mathews BEAT Anne Hegvold
and Alan Mead
Simon Molden and Alun Johns BEAT Knut Hegvold and
Dave McMillan
Robin Dixon and Simon Wurr LOST to Maureen Jones
and Malachi Byansi
Nick Gould and Evan Bond BEAT Knut Hegvold and
Alan Mead
Herne Hill vs Thames
(2-4)
Ben Halifax and Andy Lea-Gerard BEAT Alun Johns
and Simon Molden
Valdis Pauzers and Dave Taylor BEAT Robin Dixon
and Evan Bond
Ben Paviour and Spencer Mason LOST to Dave Symons
and Andy Weir
Jeff Cunningham and Geoff Jerwood LOST to Andy
Robinson and Erik Roeed
James Ward and Keith Newton LOST to Darren Talbot
and James McMullen
Spencer Mason and Keith Newton LOST to Larry
Mathews and Ian Harkness
Belgrave vs Herne Hill
(1-5)
Knut Hegvold and Mark Humphrey BEAT James Ward
and Keith Newton
Malachi Byansi and Matt Whiting LOST to Jeff
Cunningham and Geoff Jerwood
Pete Willis and Will Cockerell LOST to Andy
Lea-Gerard and Ben Halifax
Maureen Jones and Hazel Mead LOST to Ben Paviour
and Spencer Mason
Will Cockerell and Matt Whiting LOST to Dave
Taylor and Valdis Pauzers
Dave McMillan and Hazel Mead LOST to Ben Paviour
and James Ward
Overall Scores:
Thames - Played 12 won 8 lost 4
Herne Hill - Played 12 won 7 lost 5
Belgrave - Played 12 won 3 lost 9
Flyder Cup All-time Hall-of-Fame
THE UNTOUCHABLES -
100% wins
Name
Wins
(Matches)
Larry Mathews
THH
4
(4)
James McMullen
THH
4
(4)
Ben Halifax
HHH
2
(2)
Andy Lea-Gerard
HHH
2
(2)
Allison Carpenter
THH
2
(2)
Mark Pollard
BEL
2
(2)
Maureen Pritchard
BEL
2
(2)
Dave Taylor
HHH
2
(2)
Valdis Pauzers
HHH
2
(2)
Mark Humphrey
BEL
1
(1)
Andy Robinson
THH
1
(1)
Erik Roeed
THH
1
(1)
DEAD-EYE DAZZ
- 75% wins
Darren Talbot
THH
3
(4)
The PLAY-MAKERS
- 66.6% wins
Andy Weir
THH
2
(3)
Dave Symons
THH
2
(3)
Maureen Jones
BEL
2
(3)
Ben Paviour
HHH
2
(3)
The TALISMAN
- 60% wins
Dave McMillan
BEL
3
(5)
THE COIN-FLIPS
- 50% wins
Knut Hegvold
BEL
2
(4)
Alun Johns
THH
2
(4)
Simon Molden
THH
2
(4)
Nick Gould
THH
2
(4)
Anne Hegvold
BEL
1
(2)
John Martin
BEL
1
(2)
Malachi Byansi
BEL
1
(2)
Jeff Cunningham
HHH
1
(2)
Geoff Jerwood
HHH
1
(2)
Evan Bond
THH
1
(2)
WORTH A PUNT
- 33% wins
James Ward
HHH
1
(3)
Spencer Mason
HHH
1
(3)
WORTH A TIPSY PUNT
- 25% wins
Pete Willis
BEL
1
(4)
Alan Mead
BEL
1
(4)
WORTH A RIOTOUS
PUNT
- 20% wins
Hazel Mead
BEL
1
(5)
WORTH A SECOND
LOOK
- 0% wins
Snowy Brooks
BEL
0
(1)
Cynthia James
BEL
0
(1)
Tim Beer
THH
0
(1)
Simon Wurr
THH
0
(1)
THE PLASTERWORK
ASSASSINS
- 0% wins
Robin Dixon
THH
0
(2)
Megan Clark
THH
0
(2)
Dorchie Cockerell
THH
0
(2)
Brian Pritchard
BEL
0
(2)
Nick Altmann
THH
0
(2)
Simon Jones
BEL
0
(2)
THANK GOD THEY RUN
LIKE COE, OVETT and CRAM
- 0% wins
Keith Newton
HHH
0
(3)
Matt Whiting
BEL
0
(3)
Will Cockerell
BEL
0
(3)
7 Feb 2009
Cross Country
The "Sweatshop" Surrey Cross Country League came to a conclusion at
Ham Lands, near Kingston where on a flat and muddy course adjacent to
the Thames, Herne Hill Harriers won their second match of the season
and took the League title. Only Thames Hare & Hounds had
offered much in the way of opposition while the Bels, 6th on the day
somehow moved up to 4th in the final standings.
The Plate is now "in the hands" of Will
Cockerell. No runner can catch him even if he decided to
sit the National Cross out. But it's a different matter as far
as the other placings are concerned. A rise in form means that
Mark Humphrey occupies second slot - albeit sharing the
position with Knut Hegvold - and then Messrs., Norville,
Ellacott, Weeks, Willis, Byansi,
Wicks and Dessaix-Chin are all within striking distance
of medals and all intending to race on Parliament Hill.
Thirty-five runners have taken part in the Plate competition this winter.
The heavy snowfall earlier in the week resulted
in the Women's race at Lloyd Park being called off. The race
is being rearranged for the same venue on Saturday 28 February.
We've just learned of Catherine Bryson's
superb run to place third in the South of England Inter-Counties
Championship at Shuttleworth last weekend. Catherine,
representing Surrey, led the county to silver medals, with Sarah
Murphy also impressive in 9th.
2 Feb 2009
How slow can ya go!
It snowed a little in
London early last week and it didn't look like going anywhere by
Tuesday arvo - track session day. Aussie Russell Dessaix-Chin hadn't
missed a track session since September 30 last year, and wasn't
going to let a little snowstorm ruin the streak.
Thus, armed with a
snow shovel, appropriated legally from a kind neighbour, he went
down to Wimbledon Park track to clear a lane. It seemed easy in his
head, only 400m.
A
lmost
2 hours later ... it was completed ... must be some sort of record
for the world's slowest 400m eh? He went home, got changed and
headed straight back down for 5x1600.
At
least he didn't need to go to the gym after.
2 Feb 2009
Best
Belgrave times for 5 miles - Update
Oooh! don't we love it when we stir up some new fact from the muddy
depths. Our story about Belgrave's best 5 miles times had only
been posted an hour when Gerry North was on the phone,
reminding us about the Bracknell '5' of August 3, 1968.
Gerry, Martin Hyman (Portsmouth) and Bernie Allen (Windsor & Eton)
had a rare old ding dong that day - resulting in Hyman running out
the winner in 23:10 with Gerry second in 23:17. So our
official best is owned by Mr. North. And checking through the
results that day ... Laurie O'Hara 5th in 23:32, Trevor
Hart 8th in 23:54 and Lionel Mann 12th in 24:05. Belgrave
won the team race with 15 points from Portsmouth, 17.
2 Feb 2009
Best
Belgrave times for 5 miles
Phil Wicks' 23:25 at Alsager takes him
close to the official best we have on record for five miles on the
road - 23:18 set by the great Paul Evans when he placed 3rd
in the Portsmouth Victory '5' of 1999. In those days the field
set off on a two lap route and invariably there was a huge wind to
chase the runners down the Hillsea Road for the first mile while
they were somewhat sheltered by the topography on the return.
Nowadays the course is a single out and back loop following the
water's edge and there is no place to hide when running into the
wind. No wonder nobody gets near Rob Denmark's course record of
22:44.
... until December 2008 that is, when
Russell Dessaix-Chin ran 22:54 in Portsmouth, only to be
informed afterwards that the course was 50 metres short due to a
marshal failing to take the runners onto the cycle track before they
left the stadium. Russell's time would have been a Belgrave
best as had he run over the full distance he would have clocked
about 23:03 - but of course, we'll never be absolutely sure.
But then again, Paul Evans knows all about
short courses - the bane of road runners. In 1997, at Welwyn, he ran
a storming 22:18 for a "5 miler" that proved to be 10.6 yards short!
1 Feb 2009
Wicks wins again at Alsager
Phil Wicks again won the Alsager 5 miles
road race, this time in a personal record of 23:25. Last year,
against a huge wind, his winning time was 23:50.
This year it
was again a little windy - particularly in the third mile - but Phil
put in a powerful performance and was described by one of the
contestants as, "... awesome,
especially as he must have been pretty heavy legged after last
week's epic Southern Champs. ... "
Phil won from Ian Boneham (Notts AC)
24:10 and Ryan McLeod (Tipton), who had thrown caution to the
winds in trying to go with Phil, third in 24:19.
Stephen Sharp
was 8th, 24:29, while Mark Pollard, who fell
at the start, was 12th in a tick under 25 minutes. James Fairbourn
placed 42nd and Belgrave won the team race.
Barred from competing in the
International match in Glasgow by the
EuroMeets Consortium after his drug test failure in 2003, for which
he served a two-year ban, Dwain Chambers turned his attention
to the Birmingham Open - and set the track alight!
His opening run over 60m was 6.59. In his second
round he ran a personal record of 6.52 to take him to second on the
world list for 2009 - only 0.01 seconds slower than America's
Michael Rodgers ran in New York on Friday. Then in the final race he
clocked 6.54 to equal his previous best, set during his World Indoor
Championship silver medal winning run in March 2008.
The European Indoor Championships, for which Dwain is
eligible, will be held in Turin in March, and the qualifying time he
was aiming for was 6.65. It seems this man just cannot be kept down.
He has something to prove and he is intent on doing so. The UK
record stands at 6.46, set by Jason Gardner.
31 Jan 2009
Samson Oni - 2.29m at Aviva International
High
Jumper Samson Oni was so unlucky in 2008. After clearing
2.30m both indoors and out, he failed to do himself justice in the
Olympic Trials, placing 4th, and thus missed out selection for
Beijing.
In Glasgow's Kelvin Hall today he represented The
Commonwealth team while rival Martyn Bernard was given the British
vest; but it was Samson who was the man in best form, clearing 2.29m
at his first attempt to share the lead with Manson of the USA. The
American went on to take 2.31m at his first shot while the
Belgravian failed - and knowing that he could not now win at that
height, took his last two attempts, unsuccessfully, at 2.33m.
Great effort Samson - and congratulations too
on becoming a father. Daughter Lilah made her appearance on
January 4th. In fact we hear that Belgrave's other ace jumper
Darvin Edwards is also about to become a father any day now.
31 Jan 2009
Sharman shines in Mondeville
Competing in
Mondeville, France, Will Sharman raced to a personal record of 7.75
to place second in the 60m hurdles, 4/100ths behind Frenchman
Broothaerts and 2/100ths ahead of Townsend of the USA.
31 Jan 2009
Time triallers raise their game
Richard Ward
has made a habit of winning the Banstead Woods Parkrun 5k races in
recent weeks so took himself off down to Brighton for some stiffer
opposition. Here he ran into Louis Jones and Andy Robinson of the
Beagles and Gavin Thompson of Crawley. In a rare old scrap Gavin had
the edge with 15:48 - but Richard was just one second behind.
In Bushy Park, supervet Mike Trees took the honours with
16:09.
24 Jan 2009
Neil Speaight - close to 4 minutes for indoor
mile
Preferring an invitation indoor
mile at the New Balance Games in Upper Manhattan, New York, to 15k
of muck and bullets at Hillingdon (and who can blame him!) Neil
Speaight scorched to a 4:00.31 clocking to place second to Rob
Myers of the USA who won in 3:59.92. Fifth was another
Belgravian Tim Bayley in 4:01.83.
The following day Kris Gauson ran 4:08.83 to win the
Gladstein Invitation 1 mile at Bloomington, Indiana.
24 Jan 2009
Steve Davies sets European 1500m qualifier
In the Welsh Indoor Championships Steve Davies was in record
breaking form, beating the Welsh All-Comers record and Championship
Best for 1500m. His storming run took him to 3:41.24 - a
qualifying mark for the European Championships in Turin.
At the same meeting William Sharman narrowly edged
Birchfield's Chris Baillie to win the 60m hurdles in 7.78.
Link to full results.
24 Jan 2009
Phil Wicks makes history
SEAA CC Champs., Hillingdon House
Farm, 24 January. Only four other Belgravians have ever
won the Southern Cross Country Championships - Bert Footer in 1933,
Tom Carter in 1946, Len Herbert in 1947 and Gerry North in 1967 -
but none of them have ever won it twice like Phil Wicks in
2007 and now again in 2009; and who is to say that he will not do it
again.
It was a mud bath! Eight earlier
races had churned up the going until it had the consistency of
porridge and then around 700 senior men took to the course to
contest the 15km event.
Apart from a kamikaze effort by
Highgate runner Thierry Lebreton in the opening mile (apparently
he's well known for this), Phil shared or held the lead
for the entire race. Bedford's Neilson Hall ran alongside for the
first lap but then Phil was away and up to 60m clear on laps two and
three until Windsor's Benedict Whitby made terrific inroads over the
latter part of the race, cutting the margin to a mere 5 seconds by
the end.
The Bels had hoped for a set of medals
but underestimated Winchester & District AC who leapfrogged over
favourites Newham & Essex Beagles and Bedford & County to
win, leaving the Bels
fourth team for the second year in succession. But there was
consolation in being 2nd at 12 to score and retaining the Oddling-Smee Trophy as first Surrey club to get
twelve men home.
Catherine Bryson was always
involved in the action towards the front of the women's race over
8km, eventually placing 8th.
Be sure to watch BBC One's Total Wipeout
this coming Saturday (24th January) at 5:35pm to see Belgrave's ace
UKWAL competitor Jodie Favell take on some extreme
obstacle courses, hoping to win a fabulous cash prize.
The show is presented byRichard Hammond and is filmed in
Argentina where each episode features 20 thrill-seeking contestants
taking on four of the toughest, most ridiculous and physically
demanding games ever created. It’s all about poise, balance,
determination and strength… and of course staying out of the mud.
The purpose-built course outside Buenos Aires is a magnet for the
brave and the foolhardy from all over the world.
26 year Media PlannerJodie will be shown competing against
19 other hopefuls from all over Great Britain, each of them aiming
to win the £10,000 prize and be crowned Total Wipeout’s champion.
Jodie will be battling her way through numerous obstacle courses in
good time to stay in the competition.
Jodie saidthat her tactic would be to attack the competition
head on! "I love competition and that’s the reason I applied for
Total Wipeout! I get a thrill knowing I will be competing against
the men. I would love to prove that I can beat them!
Kris
Gauson ran well last week in a regional university indoor meeting over 800m
coming in 2nd in 1:53 (on a 200m track).
He is just coming back to full fitness after his injuries and hopes
to be ready for the outdoor athletics season in the United
States where his plan is to go below 3:40.
Kris
is now being guided carefully by the Butler University head coach as
well as Darren Gauson his brother who is Butler's assistant male
coach this year. Kris hopes to recapture the Scottish 1500m crown
once more in the 2009 season.
Dave
Campbell, his long term coach, will be again be guiding him when he
returns to Scotland in the summer during his university break.
Winner of the under 17 and under 20
1500m
AAA titles before being
plagued with stress fractures, he hopes his performances will have
him considered to represent his country at the 2010 Commonwealth
Games, should he achieve the qualifying time.
18 Jan 2009
Russell goes West
Following his plan of
racing in all corners of the UK Russell Dessaix-Chin
headed
out to Blackweir Park in Cardiff to compete in the Cardiff Cross
Challenge. After a kilometre of "sitting in", he and others took
their turn at pushing on - until suddenly he found himself clear.
Russ died a little towards the end though and had to fight hard to
keep away from his challengers, coming home about five seconds
clear.
18 Jan 2009
Park Life
We had three winning
Park Runners on this, fairly quiet, weekend. Mike Trees
got the better of Will Cockerell in Bushy Park 16:20 to 16:39
- and it was good to see Bruce Barton advancing up the field.
At Cardiff Simon Jones ran 15:46 and at Banstead Richard
Ward was 16:34.
16 Jan 2009
Bermudan mile win for "Sp8y"
Neil Speaight was in road miling action
in Bermuda's KMPG mile, taking on Welsh ace James Thie and Kenyan Haran Lagat. Conditions were not great and all
was decided just 100 metres from the line when Neil unleashed a huge
sprint finish that caught the other two unawares. Just one second
separated the three of them at the end - Neil taking the win with
Lagat being given second place over Thie after much discussion. Winning time
4:19.
11 Jan 2009
Phil Wicks in Spain
Another fine run came from
Phil Wicks, competing over 10.8k in Elgóibar, deep in Basque
country, Spain. Ayele Abshero (Ethiopia) won from two Kenyans with
Scott Overall first Brit in 7th and our own Phil in 11th.
Full result
10 Jan 2009
"Sharpy" wins in Middlesex
Belgrave Captain Stephen Sharp braved 12
kilometres of frosty terrain in Trent Park, near Enfield, to
comfortably win the Middlesex Cross Country Championship in 38:13
from Henry Dodwell of Highgate, 38:56.
Full result
The Berkshire Champs were switched from Newbury Racecourse to
Thatcham due to the frozen state of the ground. Pete Willis
underlined his good form by placing 3rd in the senior men's race and
2nd in the championship. Not bad after starting the week "under the
weather".
Up in Holyrood Park, Edinburgh, Russell Dessaix-Chin faced
the toughest cross country field of his career but was pleased with
his 22nd place. He started a little more conservatively than
usual - somewhere in the 30s at the back of the large lead pack -
and then worked through. The leading runners were all worthy of
similar places in the World Cross so Russell was rightfully happy
with his placing. Nick Goolab and Mark Pollard
featured in the 4km event, finishing close together in 12th, 12:59,
and 16th, 13:08. Full
Great Edinburgh results
Two Belgrave winners showed up in the local 5k time trials: Terry
O'Neill in Richmond Park and Richard Ward in Banstead
Woods.
10 Jan 2009
Catherine Bryson bounces back for a league win
On freezing Farthing Downs, Coulsdon, race three of four in the
Surrey League saw
Catherine Bryson bounce back from her ankle problem sustained in
the previous week's county championships. She won well, running away
from Natalie Harvey of South London over the latter part of the
course. Sarah Murphy was 5th,
Zoë Vail 11th and Anne Hegvold and
Tilly Heaton closed in the team by 30th position - but the
Belles were still unable to hold back a powerful South London
Harriers outfit who must now have the title in their grasp.
The men struggled badly, missing some racing elsewhere, some unfit
after injury and others wiped out by the 'flu'. We had a bare
ten men - and that after pressing a supporter into action. As a
result we sank to 7th on the day and 6th in the league. Will
Cockerell led home the team in 17th - only the second time he
has been first Belgravian home in 41 league outings! It was a day of
changes as Thames Hare & Hounds also struggled to find ten men and
got turned over by a powerful Herne Hill squad who claimed what will
probably be a decisive top spot in the league.
Alex Wright led the Bels to a very
acceptable set of silver medals in the RWA (South) 10k Championship
at Monk's Hill, Selsdon. Alex placed 2nd to Steyning's Darrell Stone
and was backed up by Club President John Hall and Mark
Culshaw.
Full result
Nightmare on Berry Hill
It's a bronze for Phil Wicks in National 10 miles
12th IAAF World Championships,
Berlin, Germany
As
we know, Stephen Sharp's time as Captain of our successful
running team came to an end after the National 12-Stage Road Relay
and taking over the armband was Neil Speaight (left), hugely
experienced on the track but a relative latecomer to the joys of
team road running - and wishing he'd tried it earlier. Neil has
plenty of business to take care of on the track yet, but will also
be leading our running team over the months ahead.
Belles
are league Runners-up
