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Men's race reports by Alan Mead, Women's by Catherine Eastham
Road Running & Cross Country Team Events, July 2003 - October 2003
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AAA Men's 6 Stage Road Relay, Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield, 25 October 2003
It's a AAA 6 stage hat trick!
Wonderful! Our team are making history. As a squad they were probably never in any doubt themselves of being able to pull off a third successive win to match the achievements of past treble winners Liverpool, Gateshead and Bingley - and now they can start dreaming of a sequence to match that set by City of Stoke AC who won on each of the first four occasions this championship was held, 1969-1972.
Stage 1
Such was the strength of the team that we had the luxury of giving Paul Freary an outing on the opening leg. It was joked that he should leave second stage runner Dave Anderson at least one man to chase but actually we hoped for a first leg place of 6th to 8th - which would be our best ever. But that man Freary knows how to punish himself and as the stage unwound he was edging into the lead and later admitted to considering trying a breakaway. With half a mile to go he was clearly in third and he crossed the line a mere 7 seconds down on the leaders in a personal record for the circuit. What a man and what a start!
1 Charnwood 17:18; 2 Preston 17:21; 3 Belgrave 17:25; 4 Harrow 17:30; 5 Morpeth 17:31; 6 Birchfield 17:32.
Fastest: 1 P.Richardson (Charnwood) 17:18; 2 C.Livesey (Preston) 17:21; 3 P.Freary (Belgrave) 17:26; 4 A.Bowden (Harrow) 17:30; 5 T.Ranger (Morpeth); 6 M.Whitehouse (Birchfield) 17:32.
Stage 2
The man in form, great things were expected from David Anderson, and before the stage was more than a minute or two old he was away from the pack and taking the Bels into a lead that would not be lost. The announcer reminded spectators that Telford's Chris Davies was also on stage two and that something special might be expected of him. It was more than special! As Dave turned at the far end of the course he was able to study the opposition and was startled to see that Davies was up to 3rd and flying. Up the hill through the woods and it was now second place for the Telford man but whereas most spectators expected his yellow vest to reach the takeover zone first, Dave Anderson was having none of that and kept the gap to 6 seconds. Davies had taken his team up from 31st to 2nd and had totally destroyed the outstanding Chris Thompson's course record by nearly half a minute.
1 Belgrave 34:40 (+1); 2 Telford 34:46 (+31); 3 Salford 35:01 (+7); 4 Notts 35:13 (+10); 5 Windsor SE&H 35:32 (+2); 6 Stoke 35:33 (+33).
Fastest: 1 C.Davies (Telford) 16:25; 2 R.Whalley (Stoke) 17:00; 3 D.Anderson (Belgrave) 17:14; 4 N.Wilkinson (Salford) 17:24; 5 N.Talbot (Notts) 17:28; 6 T.Humphries (Cannock) 17:30.
Stage 3
As Spencer Barden took up the challenge, the rain began to fall. Telford had had their day and as they sank back to 9th it was now Salford moving into the silver medal position. Spen never gives us a bad run. By his own admission, not quite in the form he was in at the same time a year ago, he nevertheless gave us what we always expect - a professional and quietly impressive effort that saw the Belgrave lead open up from 6 to 52 seconds by the end of his stint.
1 Belgrave 52:05 (0); 2 Salford 52:57 (+1); 3 Notts 53:17 (+1); 4 London Irish 53:21 (+6); 5 Morpeth 53:24 (+8); 6 Birchfield 53:41 (+12).
Fastest: 1 M.Skinner (Blackheath) 17:21; 2 R.Birchall (Birchfield) 17:22; 3 S.Barden (Belgrave) 17:25; 4 N.McCormick (Morpeth) 17:32; =5 J.Ward (Hallamshire) and J.Brooks (London Irish) 17:32.
Stage 4
Mark Miles had been on site in Sutton Park at sparrow chirp, setting up the Nike sales stand at the same time as the Belgrave tent erection squad were in action. Cold rain was now pouring down as he set out on his mission - and what determination he showed as he splashed his way through the blowing leaves. It was wet. It was slippery. He was nearly a minute ahead of the field. And he turned in our fastest time of the day, just one second behind his own Belgrave Club Record. What more can you say!
Faster still, however, was Van Hest of Bedford, who made such an impression in the SEAA race back in September. He pulled our Southern rivals into third and the medal positions had been settled - or had they?
1 Belgrave 1:09:14 (0); 2 Salford (0) 1:10:48; 3 Bedford 1:11:16 (+10); 4 Morpeth 1:11:25 (+1); 5 Notts 1:11:31 (-2); 6 Sale 1:11:48 (+1).
Fastest: 1 G.Van Hest (Bedford) 17:01; 2 M.Miles (Belgrave) 17:09; 3 M.Steinle (Blackheath) 17:32; 4 B.Royden (Medway) 17:46; 5 K.Ouou (Kent) 17:48; 6 S.Deakin (Leeds) 17:50.
Stage 5
Nothing ever goes exactly according to plan and on stage 5 we reached the point where lady luck was against us. It's the ability to ride the bad luck and still come out on top that sets a champion team above the others and here was our chance to show that have that capacity.
Martin Dent has been running so well but on the Tuesday before the race he met with a freak accident while out training. Running in Richmond Park in the dark he had the misfortune to run into some railings at full tilt and very badly bruise his quads. By Thursday evening he was confident of being able to run close to his recent form but whether the damage was even worse than we and he feared, or whether the icy rain on his bruised thigh muscles had an effect, the result was that Martin was well below par - and he did not enjoy what was probably his last run in Sutton Park.
1 Belgrave 1:27:42 (0); 2 Salford 1:28:22 (0); 3 Bedford 1:29:24 (0); 4 Birchfield (+3); 5 Sale 1:29:54 (+1); 6 Morpeth 1:29:57 (-2).
Fastest: 1 C.Warren (Birchfield) 17:31; 2 A.Jones (Salford) 17:34; 3 N.Anderson (Aldershot) 17:59; =4 J.Trapmore (Shaftesbury Barnet) and G.Raven (Sale) 18:06; 6 D.Deed (Bedford) 18:08; 9 M.Dent (Belgrave) 18:28.
Stage 6
For 30 seconds or so, as Stephen Sharp stood in the rain awaiting a sight of the lead motor bike, Belgrave hearts had a little flutter and Salford supporters began to get excited. Eventually an unhappy Martin hove into sight behind the lead motor bike and as he crossed the line Stephen set out with a 40 second advantage. It was all over. Enjoying his run on the final stage at the head of the field Steve received the applause of the bedraggled supporters and was even able to question what Maria was on about as she screamed alternately at her man on the road and coach Terry Noad, on the 'phone, back in London.
Great running guys. We're proud of you. And as usual, many thanks to all those who make up the support team - those on tent duty, the refreshment girls (have you ever seen such an array of cakes), the supporters and of course two key men - the reserves Jonathan Blackledge and the man on the day, Will Cockerell.
1 Belgrave 1:45:22 (0); 2 Salford 1:46:21 (0); 3 Bedford 1:47:21 (0); 4 Morpeth 1:47:25 (+2); 5 Birchfield 1:47:36 (-1); 6 Sale 1:48:10 (-1); 67 teams started; 63 teams finished.
Fastest: 1 S.Haughian (Windsor SE&H) 17:26; 2 M.Hudspith (Morpeth) 17:28; 3 P.Sly (Thames H&H) 17:37; 4 S.Sharp (Belgrave) 17:40; 5 D.Wardle (London Irish) 17:44; 6 R.Vint (Aldershot) 17:49.
Fastest overall: 1 C.Davies (Telford) 16:25; 2 R.Whalley (Stoke) 17:00; 3 G.Van Hest (Bedford) 17:01; 4 M.Miles (Belgrave) 17:09; 5 D.Anderson (Belgrave) 17:14; 6 P.Richardson (Charnwood) 17:18.
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AAA
Women’s 4 Stage Road Relay, Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield, 25 October
2003
Belles solid - but it's 20th in AAA 4 stage road relay
With
high hopes of a top ten position for the Belles there was an element of
disappointment with the final team position, although not with the
women’s individual performances. All
runners ran to expectations, incredibly with less than 20 seconds between
each of them. With an overall team time 10 seconds faster than the previous
year (where we placed 15th), it’s fair to say that the standard for the
women’s nationals has suddenly become considerably tougher.
Stage
1
With conditions cold and overcast Angela Walker braved the scramble for the start and headed off in the middle of the pack. Not helped by a trip and a push at the top corner, Angela dug in and showed her usual tough approach to racing. Despite solid running, and still having the energy to overtake three runners on the hill towards the finish, Angela brought the team home in 35th place.
1
Wirrall 14:08; 2 Salford 14:28; 3 Wakefield 14:30; 4 Sale 14:32; 5 Windsor
SE&H 14:38; 6 Royal Sutton Coldfield 14:41; 35 Belgrave 16:04.
Fastest:
1 H.Lawrence (Wirrall) 14:08; 2 B.Jenkins (Salford) 14:28; 3 P.Thrackray
(Wakefield) 14:30; 4 K.Gillibrand (Sale) 14:32; 5 J.Lodge (Windsor
SE&H) 14:38; 6 L.Kenney (Royal Sutton Coldfield) 14:41; 35 A.Walker
(Belgrave) 16:04.
Stage
2
With
this being Birhane Dagne’s first road race in about a year (thanks to
baby Emmanuel!), Birhane knew she wasn’t going to achieve the 14:34 time
she’d managed over the course two years previously.
Still, it was great to see Birhane back in action, and within the
safety of stage 2 she was able to gain eleven places to bring the team
back into 24th place. Birhane managed to clock the fastest Belgrave stage
of the day, just, which was an added bonus for her in her efforts to
regain form. Meanwhile, at the front, positions were changing
significantly with Wakefield taking the lead, Wilkinson of Chester Le
Street gaining fourteen places to bring her team into 2nd and Bailey of
Havant gaining eleven to bring them into 3rd spot.
1
Wakefield 29:27 (+2); 2 Chester-le-Street 29:43 (+14); 3 Havant 29:51
(+11); 4 Sale 30:04 (0); 5 Charnwood 30:13 (+3); 6 Wirrall 30:27 (-5); 24
Belgrave 32:04 (+11).
Fastest:
1 A.Allen (Birchfield) 14:33; 2 S.Wilkinson (Chester-le-Street) 14:39; =3
K.Bailey (Havant) and J.O’Mara (Wakefield) 14:57; 5 E.Ford (Liverpool)
15:15; 6 A.Granger (Bristol) 15:24; 21 B.Dagne (Belgrave) 16:00.
Stage
3
Sporting
Belgrave colours in her hair ties, young Rosie Powell was next up for the
Belles in her first ever National outing.
Although somewhat nervous before the start, Rosie was able to
channel that nervous energy into a positive run and managed to gain an
additional six places bringing the Belles home in 18th place. Despite
finding the course tough Rosie came back smiling and happy with her effort
and yet another consistent run. With
Havant only having 2 runners, they were now out of the medals, and more
changes were taking place up front.
1
Chester-le-Street 44:10 (+1); 2 Charnwood 45:01 (+3); 3 Wakefield 45:06
(+3); 4 Sale 45:19 (0); 5 Liverpool 45:25 (+7); 6 Salford 45:55 (+4); 18
Belgrave 48:15 (+6).
Fastest: M.McDonnell (Chester-le-Street) 14:27; 2 J.Clague (Liverpool) 14:36; 3 J.Potter (Charnwood) 14:48; 4 C.Martin (Telford) 15:00; 5 A.Waterlow (Sale) 15:15; 6 A.Buckley (Salford) 15:17; 16 R.Powell (Belgrave) 16:11.
Stage
4
Given
that a top ten place now seemed impossible to achieve, Tilly Heaton, also
in her first National relay outing, decided to just give it her all in an
effort to bring the club home in as strong a position as possible.
Unfortunately, we hadn’t reckoned on Hayley Yelling starting only
20 seconds behind, clocking the fastest leg of the day and sweeping past
to gain an extra place on us. Whilst first and second place stayed the
same, Sale managed to gain almost 10 seconds on Wakefield to take the
honours for third place.
1
Chester-le-Street 59:09 (0); 2 Charnwood) 59:25 (0); 3 Sale 59:58 (+1); 4
Wakefield 1:00:07 (-1); 5 Shaftesbury Barnet 1:00:27 (+2); 6 Salford
1:00:32 (0); 20 Belgrave 1:04:32 (-2); 81 teams started; 73 teams
finished.
Fastest:
1 H.Yelling (Windsor SE&H) 14:07 and K.Reed (Bristol) 14:07; 3
L.Elliott (Shaftesbury Barnet) 14:23; 5 T.Krzywicki (Charnwood) 14:24; 6
A.Parkinson (Sale) 14:39; 20 M.Heaton (Belgrave) 16:17.
Fastest overall: =1 H.Yelling (Windsor SE&H) and K.Reed (Bristol) 14:07; 3 H.Lawrence (Wirral) 14:08; 4 L.Elliott (Shaftesbury Barnet) 14:23; 5 T.Krzywicki (Charnwood) 14:24; 6 M.McDonnell (Chester-le-Street) 14:27.
Plate Competition Photos Top Home Index
Surrey CC League Division 1 Race 1, Kingston Gate, Richmond Park, 18 October 2003
"Sweatshop" League opens with a high-class race
Anyone looking to ease gently into the cross country season was in for a rude awakening in this high class race that opened the 2003-2004 campaign at the Kingston end of Richmond Park. Three runners soon detached themselves at the front. Our own Martin Dent and Hare & Hound Phil Sly were vying with each other for top Aussie slot but as the runners made their way towards the one major hill at the very end of the lap it was Belgravian Stephen Sharp making the pace with Martin tucked in close behind. Heading out for the second circuit Stephen prised open a 10 metre gap but as the ground gently fell away towards the Isabella Plantation, Martin pulled him back and gained a lead which he held to the end. Sly also came back into the fray to bring the Thames saltire into the funnel ahead of our second man home and in the wake of this heavyweight contest going on at the front, Herne Hill’s redoubtable Dave Taylor, Priory’s Ali Moses and “Irrepressible” Stuart Major were shunted into 4, 5 and 6. Serious stuff!
Will Cockerell is rarely far from a top ten place these days and even in this loaded field he placed 12th, pleased to be only a little more than half a minute behind Taylor. Veteran Knut Hegvold was our fourth man across the finish line, just ahead of an eye-opening run from Joachim Wolf. After a long period of working in Sweden, during which his main sporting activity was cross country skiing, Joachim has returned to these shores stating that he is abandoning 8s and 15s for the lure of the longer runs. His 11th place in the Liverpool Half Marathon was a good start and his additional strength showed to good advantage in this field.
Our tail-end was wagged by Roger Alsop, trying to claw his way back to form in this his 40th Surrey League race, and Chris Axe would have been in here somewhere had he not suffered a recurrence of the calf muscle pull sustained in his last 1500 of the summer. Messrs. Catley and Lynch both scored well and that wily fox Charlie Dickinson belied his M55 status by once again squeezing into the scorers. Finally, 20 year-old Mark Humphrey rounded off the team, disappointed to be tenth man but a little happier when it was explained that those guys up the front have years of 80 to 100-a-week under their belts compared with his twice a week sessions for the last few months; he went home smiling after this, his first cross country race having taught him a lot.
A long wait in the Wych Elm for the official results was abandoned after a couple of pints of London Pride but when they arrived a day or two later it was confirmed that we were “only” 100 points away from the main action. We can pull that back in one race – but will we?
1 M.Dent (Belgrave) 25:42; 2 P.Sly (Thames H&H) 25:56; 3 S.Sharp (Belgrave) 26:14; 4 D.Taylor (Herne Hill) 26:27; 5 A.Moses (Reigate Priory) 26:34; 6 S.Major (South London H) 26:38; 12 W.Cockerell 27:08; 26 K.Hegvold M40 28:20; 27 J.Wolf 28:24; 34 R.Alsop 28:48; 52 L.Catley 29:48; 53 W.Lynch 29:49; 58 C.Dickinson M55 29:54; 59 M.Humphrey 30:14; 66 S.Zealey 30:53; 68 R.Poulter 30:58; 71 P.Carstairs 31:07; 72 R.Marcus 31:11; 86 J.Charles 31:38; 92 T.O'Neill M50 32:10; 119 J.Clamp 34:33; 121 Don Anderson 34:38; 126 H.Corbett M40 35:18; 148 finished; C.Axe dnf.
1 Thames H&H (2, 7, 11, 14, 15, 17, 22, 39, 40, 41) 208
2 Herne Hill H ( 4, 9, 13, 18, 19, 30, 32, 45, 46, 53) 269
3 Belgrave H (1, 3, 12, 26, 27, 34, 51, 52, 55, 56) 317
4 Aldershot F&D (8, 10, 23, 28, 31, 33, 43, 47, 48, 50) 321
5 Ranelagh (16, 21, 24, 29, 38, 42, 59, 61, 63, 65) 418
6 South London H (6, 25, 44, 54, 57, 58, 60, 64, 68, 69) 505
7 Reigate Priory (5, 20, 62, 66, 70, 71, 75, 77, 81, 82) 609
8 Stragglers (36, 67, 72, 73, 74, 76, 78, 79, 80, 83) 718
9 Boxhill R (35, 37, 49, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90) 730
Under 17/Under 15 2.5 miles
1 A.Conway (Herne Hill) 14:01; 2 S.Atkins (South London H) 14:30; 3 P.Humphrey (South London H) 14:57; 5 J.McRae 15:27; 10 T.Ashby U15 16:02; 12 R.Collier 17:16; 15 P.Cowling 17:36.
Teams: 1 South London H 24; 2 Belgrave H 73; 3 Herne Hill H 75; 4 Ranelagh H 88.
Plate Competition Top Home Index
Women's Surrey CC League Division 1 Race 1, Kingston Gate, Richmond Park, 18 October 2003
An excellent start to the season
With the challenge for the winter season being to achieve Gold in the Surrey League, the Belles got off to an excellent start. Fielding a strong team of 10 (two full scoring teams of 5), the Belles took a clear lead and showed the competition we mean business.
Angela Walker, having an outstanding year, was the first Belle home finishing strongly despite the killer hill just before the finish. Young Rosie Powell, in her first cross-country for the club, also showed incredible talent over the tough but dry and sandy course finishing just a couple of places down. Racing flats were the order of the day rather than spikes, which possibly helped convince Birhane Dagne to take part (Birhane does not enjoy muddy cross-countries!). In her first race back for the club, post baby Emmanuel, Birhane's 10th place showed how far she had come in her training in the 7 months since the birth, but there's still a lot more to come.
Another regular team runner, Louise Cooper, showed considerable improvement over the country from last season and placed 13th yet thought she could have pushed harder to place better. Likewise with Syreeta Stracey, our fifth runner home to complete the A team. Having suffered from a shoulder injury through most of last year's cross-country Syreeta was pleased to be back and running well, yet again, she thought she had more to offer over the season.
The battle is now on amongst the girls to be up amongst the scorers for the A team, and it looks like competition for the cross-country plate is going to be tough this year. Team captain, Juliette Clark, working hard to regain her previous form was happy with her endurance work to date but still feels she needs to work on her speed to get back up in the mix.
The only junior athlete representing the club today was Kirsty Burns, finishing 11th in the U15's race in 14:51. Having taken the first lap at a rather leisurely pace Kirsty picked the pace up to finish well in the second lap. If this talented young athlete showed more confidence in the early stages of the race she would surely place much higher up the field.
1 L.Hassell (Thames H&H) 21:09; 2 A.O'Neill (Ranelagh) 22:16; 3 A.Walker (Belgrave) 22:40; 7 R.Powell 23:09; 10 B.Dagne 23:28; 13 L.Cooper 23:38; 23 S.Stracey 24:42; 27 J.Clark 24:49; 31 H.Alsop 25:16; 37 H.Smethurst 25:42; 116 J.Patterson 32:23; 117 N.Mills 32:27.
Teams: 1 Belgrave H A
56; 2 South London H 79; 3 Thames H&H 95; 4 Ranelagh H 102; 5 Dulwich R 119; 6 Epsom & Ewell H 169; Belgrave H
B 328.
Full results More photos Top Home Index
AAA, Inter-County & Open 10km Road Race, Bourton-on-the-Water, Glos., 05 October 2003
AAA 10km Champions!
Pictures below: left the start was chaotic. Right, Erica Fogg leads Tilly Heaton early on the first lap.
Photos by Patricia Mead.
In early autumn sunshine around 400 road runners descended on the picturesque
Cotswold village of Bourton-on-the-Water for the AAA 10kRoad Running Championship. The course was a flat two-lapper with a fast out and back section but a few tight bends and a blustery breeze to contend with which held back times a little. The Belgrave men's team hoped for a set of medals (they won silver at Bradford in last year's event) while for the women, the sky was the limit as they turned out eight runners, all looking for
pbs.
The start was chaotic. A sudden influx of slower runners, who took station just behind the very front line in the last few seconds before the gun was fired, meant that a wall of humanity had to be conquered before the task of running for the championship could be begun. Will Cockerell found himself in the early hundreds while Charlie Herrington overtook a man wearing hiking boots as the village was approached for the first time.
As far as the winner of the open race was concerned, it was all over within 2k. Kenyan Julius Kibet had grabbed a handy lead over his compatriots Wilson Koga and Wilfred Taragon - and he continued to extend this advantage all the way to the finish. But the race for the AAA Championship was tight. Hepples, Mussett, Whalley and David Anderson aggressively fought to occupy the same few metres of Gloucestershire tarmac and Hassan Raidi was well forward and tangling with Southern luminaries Lobb, Brooks and Mitchinson. It was difficult to spot the leading teams as runners were mostly wearing their county vests but we seemed to have the advantage with Newham & Essex Beagles (as ever) pushing us close.
Erica Fogg started off strongly for the women's team and set the pace for the Belles right from the start, but Angela Walker wasn't going to let her out of her sight and with a water bottle tucked into her belt (she was suffering from a sore throat), she kept the team momentum going. Up front last year's winner Miriam Wangari (interestingly not scoring for Tipton this year) looked set to retain her title.
Nothing changed much as the runners headed out into the country and returned to start the final lap. Will and Charlie had worked up through the field, Warren Lynch was having another "stormer" while Tilly Heaton was pressing Angela hard with Louise Cooper just a very few seconds behind.
And so to the finish. As expected, the Kenyan trio had the race stitched up although Taragon was in danger of being caught as the group of leading male Brits had split asunder in their efforts to win the individual AAA Championship. City of Stoke's Rob Whalley prevailed but Dave Anderson finished strongly, overtaking Hepples in the last metres to win AAA 'silver'. He might have gone better still but for a very nasty blister. Amazingly, Hassan had also maintained his high placing, a minute or so faster than expected, and Will was another to overtake men in the final stretch to reduce our score by what proved to be a very valuable couple of points. Charles, running in Buckinghamshire colours, was close behind Will - and at that stage we believed that with four to score we had won by a mile. An ecstatic Warren Lynch carved no less than 1:40 from his previous best!
The village green was like a battlefield as runners fought tooth and nail down the straight and then collapsed on the grass to recover; and now the women were finishing. Our eight runners had set out determined to run their best 10kms and no less than four came back having achieved personal records. The the announcer shouted: "Here comes a Belgrave athlete, and here's another Belgrave athlete, and here's yet another Belgrave athlete..."
It seemed that we might have collected medals in both men's and women's categories but a late surprise was that it was only three to score. It had been four the previous year and nowhere on the entry form did it state the actual details. That made things a lot closer. Instead of romping away with the men's event, we had won by just two points from a Bedford trio who were incognito in their county vests and who had actually closed in before our third man. Nevertheless, we were winners, although fourth Belgravian Charlie had missed out on the medals.
For the women the situation was even more confused. In spite of personal bests from Erica, Angela and Tilly, the team did not show up at all on early result sheets. It seemed that Angela had been missed off the results altogether and neither she nor Tilly were included in our scoring team. By the time of the presentation things had been rectified but sadly it was fourth place and just out of the medals.
Louise Cooper had run her fastest time in 10 years and was so close to beating 38 minutes. Vicki Edwards and Helen Smethurst were the next two runners behind her and together they brought the B team home in 8th place - the first B team. Vicki, who had qualified to represent Great Britain in the triathlon World Championships and moved home and job all within the last few weeks, found the race tough, as did Helen, who had been suffering from a cold for the past two weeks. Yet, to watch them race, with gritted teeth and focus, such troubles were not apparent. With two teams in the top ten in the AAA and just one runner short of completing a C team this must have been one of the Belles' best road team performances ever in spite of the lack of medals. They are on the path to championship success. As individuals and as a team they should be congratulated for their hard work and dedication to training. When the medals start appearing, they and we, will know just how deserved they are.
Men
1 J.Kibet (Kenya) 28:42; 2 W.Koga (Kenya) 29:24; 3 W.Taragon (Kenya) 29:39; 4 R.Whalley (City of Stoke) 29:44; 5 David Anderson 29:48; 12 H.Raidi 30:29; 36 W.Cockerell 31:32; 42 C.Herrington 31:58; 84 W.Lynch 33:11; 140 S.Zealey 36:20; 157 G.Reid M40 37:16; J.Browne dnf; 384 finished.
Teams: 1 Belgrave H (1, 8, 30) 39; 2 Bedford & Cnty (6, 10, 25) 41; 3 Newham & Essex Beagles (12, 18, 36) 66.
Women
1 M.Wangari (Kenya) 33:28; 2 P.Wangui (Kenya) 33:36; 3 C.Hoyte (Arena 80) 33:39; 25 E.Fogg 37:22; 30 A.Walker 37:52; 31 M.Heaton 38:07; 37 L.Cooper 38:32; 51 V.Edwards 39:32; 58 H.Smethurst 40:17; 67 S.Stracey 41:17; 71 J.Lawrence 41:44.
Teams: 1 Colchester & Tendring (10, 17, 20) 47; 2 Tipton H (8, 19, 33) 60; 3 Bristol AC (9, 12, 45) 66; 4 Belgrave H (22, 26, 27) 75; 8 Belgrave H 'B' (33, 46, 53) 122.
Statistics Full results Top Home Index
SEAA Women’s 4 Stage Road Relay, Rushmoor Arena nr. Aldershot, 28 September 2003.
Catherine
Eastham reports:- What a result for the Belles. In our best ever
Southern 4 Stage performance, the A team all exceeded expectations to
bring the team home in an incredible 5th place, with the B team not too
far behind in 19th.
All athletes ran their socks off and with conditions being quite
good, despite bad weather threatening in the distance, fast times were the
order of the day.
Leg
1 Angela
Walker stepped in to head the A team off, after Getenesh revealed she was
feeling very tired. With a marathon, a triathlon and a Surrey relay course
record under her belt in the previous weeks Angela was happy to take on
the additional challenge, although admits to finding the course tough.
Just trailing B team runner, Tilly Heaton, at the half way stage, Angela
found some inner strength and brought the A team home in 16th place,
knocking a minute and a half from her previous best over the course.
Tilly’s run too was exceptionally strong with a 21st place after leg one
for the B team.
Leg
2 Rosie
Powell took over for the A team on leg two and with the bit between her
teeth picked off runner after runner to bring the A team up to 9th place. Louise Cooper, meanwhile,
wasn’t too far behind and both athletes
were momentarily ahead of Sonia O’Sullivan who tore round the course to
clock the fastest leg of the day in an astounding 12.03. (Benita
Johnson’s third leg in 11.43 didn’t count as she was an uncleared
athlete).
Leg
3 With
the Belles maintaining a steady position towards the top of the field
Helen Alsop took over on the third leg intending to improve on last
year’s time and bring the team home in a position where Getenesh could
challenge the front runners. With an improvement of over 30 seconds on
last year’s time, Helen achieved all that and more, bringing the A team
back in 13th place. In the B team, Helen Smethurst was determined to do
her bit and managed to gain five places in the process.
Leg
4 With
Shaftesbury’s lead looking unchallengeable, Getenesh’s goal was to
pull the Belles as far into the top 10 as she could manage, this despite
feeling below par. What a performance! Getenesh already holds the two
fastest Belgrave times over the 3.8km course and now managed to better
both those times. Great running and a level head helped bring the A team
into its best position yet in the Southern 4 Stage. Medals must surely be
on the horizon in the coming years. But, lets not forget our B team who
also exceeded expectations to finish in 19th place, with the last leg
completed by Juliette Clark, who’s only be running again for the past 3
weeks. Well done to each and all of you. No doubt people are starting to
notice just how far the team has come in recent years, and we look forward
to seeing where it is going….
1
Shaftesbury Barnet 53:47; 2 Highgate H 55:07; 3 Havant AC 55:30; 4 Bedford
& County 55:48; 5 Belgrave H 56:03; 19 Belgrave H B 59:12; 46 teams
finished; 57 teams started.
A
– A.Walker (16) 14:04; R.Powell U20 (9) 14:14; H.Alsop W35 (13) 14:47;
G.Tamirat (5) 12:58.
B
– M.Heaton (21) 14:15; L.Cooper (23) 14:56; H.Smethurst W35 (18) 14:50;
J.Clark W35 (19) 15:11.
Fastest:
S.O’Sullivan (Thames H&H) 12:03; C.Hoyte (Arena 80 AC) 12:41;
L.Elliot (Shaftesbury Barnet) 12:45; H.Yelling (Windsor SE&H) 12:46;
L.Damen (Bournemouth AC) 12:50; G.Tamirat (Belgrave) 12:58.
Statistics Full results Photos Top Home Index
SEAA Men's 6-Stage Road Relay, Rushmoor Arena, nr. Aldershot, 27 September 2003.
AFD's hopes Dented! SEAA 6-Stage title retained
Above: David Anderson, Martin Dent, Will Cockerell, Jonathan Blackledge, Stephen Sharp, Paul Freary - delighted to hold onto the Ian Logan Memorial Bowl. Photo by Pat Mead.
What a cracking race this turned out to be. Favourites according to Athletics Weekly, we were never out of the first three, but having broken away to the tune of 1:19 found ourselves under severe attack from Aldershot's outstanding international Chris Thompson who gave his team a 5 second advantage going into the last stage. But there was still an ace up the Belgrave sleeve in the form of Martin Dent who calmly ran his own race, reeled back the AFD man in a short space of time and then set about opening up a 40 second winning margin.
A tactical opening 3k saw Steve Sharp comfortably settled in the pack after a bang on the knee the previous day had put his run in jeopardy. No trouble on the day though, and as Harrow's Adam Bowden led the field into the first takeover followed by the Beagle's Ian Grime, Stephen gave us the start we wanted, chased home by Havant's Tim Watson. New man Adam Leane made an auspicious debut in Belgrave colours as he opened up for the Cs with 6th and how pleasing it was to see Charles Herrington out on the race course again - on this occasion for the Bs.
Scheduled to run second leg, Richard Ward had called in sick during the morning. But when selection had already been so tight, there was no hesitation as Jonathan Blackledge, just 2 weeks beyond his 19th birthday, was called up from the Bs. Jon continued his relentless progress as he lopped over half a minute from his previous best for the course to move the Bels up to 2nd. Thames Hare & Hounds had come through to grab a 19 second lead thanks to Phil Sly but our young Belgravian gave everything to deny Bedford's Huw Lobb the second spot.
Paul Freary now took the opportunity to move our colours into a half minute lead as an unfit Larry Matthews slipped back down the field for Thames and Bedford consolidated their second place. Ominously Aldershot were now forging through the pack but Belgrave supporters had no fear now of relinquishing the title, especially as Dave Anderson was up next.
Preparing himself for an appearance over 10k in the AAA Championship the following week, Dave was known to be in good form. A sub-18 clocking went by the board as he was just a little too ambitious over the opening lap but our lead went up to well over a minute. Hassan Raidi, pleased with his outing in the Great North the previous week but still a little stiff in the calf muscles, set fastest time for the Bs.
Standing in the takeover zone, Will Cockerell was happy in the knowledge that we held a clear lead - but waiting next to him and wearing Aldershot's red and green was a young man who had every intention of turning the race upside down. Chris Thompson's first lap was timed in an amazing 8:30 as he ripped into the Belgrave lead. The gap continued to come down around the second circuit too, and half a mile from the finish AFD went ahead. Will's a fighter though, and although "Thommo" had the locals leaping up and down, there was little in it as the scene was set for the final act.
As we've already described, Marty had it covered. Running with that assurance that we have come to expect since we first met him last February, the lead went up ... and up ... and the Ian Logan memorial Bowl was ours to look after for another year. Martin's time was 1 second inside our club record for the stage - previously held at 17:54 by Spencer Barden - and our overall time was also our best - by 9 seconds.
But the drama wasn't quite over. Bedford were staging a huge revival as Van Hest ran second fastest time of the day to tear up the final slope and pip Aldershot on the line.
1 Belgrave H 1:49:47; 2 Bedford &C AC 1:50:27; 3 Aldershot F&D AC 1:50:28; 4 Newham & Essex Beagles 1:52:57; 5 Medway & Maidstone AC 1:53:19; 6 Thames Hare & Hounds 1:53:42; 15 Belgrave H 'B' 1:57:18 (3rd B team); 70 teams finished; 93 teams started.
A - S.Sharp (3) 18:16; J.Blackledge (2) 18:29; P.Freary (1) 18:24; David Anderson (1) 18:00; W.Cockerell (2) 18:45; M.Dent (1) 17:53.
B - C.Herrington (18) 18:55; R.Alsop (25) 19:48; S.Marwood (23) 19:37; H.Raidi (15) 18:41; W.Lynch (16) 20:15; J.Browne (15) 20:02.
C - A.Leane (6) 18:29; M.Humphrey (36) 20:58; R.Marcus (47) 22:35; Don Anderson (54) 23:56.
Fastest: C.Thompson (Aldershot F&DAC 17:21; G.van Hest (Bedford &CAC) 17:27; M.Skinner (Blackheath &BH) 17:49; M.Dent (Belgrave) 17:53.
Surrey County Road Relays, Wimbledon Park, 13 September 2003.
Men's 6 x 3 miles.
Surrey Gold
Here's a quiz question for the future: Which Belgrave relay runner took over in 2nd place - and then in the same race took over again from the man who had set out ahead of him! Answer: Martin Dent.
Our SEAA and Belgrave 10km track champion Martin was looking for a tough training session, ideally two 3 mile legs with 6-7 minutes recovery between. He got his wish by running 4th leg for the A team, taking over just a pace or two behind Harry Corbett who was setting out for the B team which at that stage was still leading the field. After taking Belgrave into an unassailable lead Martin then got just under five minutes respite before he did his second stint as a B team runner, taking over from Harry.
Martin was awarded the medal for the fastest man of the day - but in actual fact David Anderson, not yet eligible as a Surrey runner, had set a time 7 seconds faster on stage one in giving the B squad a lead that they did not lose until lap four. Dave was testing his fitness with the SEAA Road Relay two weeks away and the verdict was "right on target".
Both Warren Lynch and Junior Galley stepped into the breach as previously selected A men became unavailable. Warren in particular ran "out of his socks" on stage one. Given a target of 16 minutes by the TM he delighted Belgrave supporters and amazed himself by running just over a minute quicker than he ever has before on this course - 15:17.
Another man who astounded was 19 year-old Mark Humphrey. A novice to the sport but fit through having played football, Mark set out on stage three for the B team at a pace which had supporters expecting a "blow-up". But this young man is a tough cookie. Simon Marwood for the 'A's didn't catch him until the finishing circuit on the track was reached. Simon gained a 5 metre advantage but Mark wasn't done yet and launched a long sprint for the takeover zone that took him and the 'B's back into the lead. Mark's aim is to make the British League team - and if this what he he what he can without a distance running background then your correspondent, for one, believes he can do it!
A great start to the season. It's been six years since we last held this title - 1997 and the the last time the event was held at Walton. Roger Alsop is the only man who has remained in the team since that day and in the intervening years he has picked up four silver medals in the event. It's nice to get gold again.
1 Belgrave 1:29:18; 2 Thames H&H 1:31:51; 3 Guildford & Godalming 1:34:30.
A - W.Lynch (7) 15:17; 2 J.Galley M40 (6) 15:18; S.Marwood (2) 14:49; M.Dent (1) 13:53; R.Alsop (1) 15:19; W.Cockerell (1) 14:42.
B - David Anderson (1) 13:46; S.Zealey (1) 15:59; M.Humphrey (1) 15:35; H.Corbett M45 18:47; M.Dent 14:35; no 6th runner
Women's 4 x 3 miles.
Bronze for the Belles - Course Record for Angela
While David Anderson was setting the fastest men's time, Angela Walker was doing a similar job on stage one in the women's race. It's a shame, in a way, that the women's race is held at the same time as the men's, because the outstanding women's runs tend to get buried in the pack. But on the plus side it's good to have both teams supporting each other, and Ange received a Belgrave ovation as she led the female teams home with 16:44 to go a minute clear at the head of our all-time list and the fastest female time ever achieved on the circuit.
An unfit Tania Sturton had a torrid time trying to hold things together on lap two but with Syreeta Stracey and Helen Alsop both pulling back places it was bronze medals for the Belles again.
Syreeta was still sporting bruises received when she crashed her bike a month or so back while duathlon training. She was hospitalised for a short time but thankfully has recovered to the extent that she is not only back road running but competed in Switzerland a couple of weeks ago in the World duathlon Championships.
1 Ranelagh 1:12:31; 2 South London 1:13:18; 3 Belgrave 1:15:09.
A.Walker (1) 16:44; T.Sturton (5) 21:18; S.Stracey (5) 18:53; H.Alsop W35 (3) 18:14.
Nonsuch Park 4 x 2.2 miles Relay, 03 July 2003.
Seven wins in a row
So now we are up to seven wins in a row. It was felt that the race might be a little closer this year and when, on the first lap, Stuart Major led home for the Legal & General team nearly a minute clear of the field, with Epsom & Ewell and Sutton Runners (through Lee Greatorex) fighting it out for the minor places, it certainly looked as if the opposition might give us a fright. But Junior Galley, in his first race since an operation to remove a nerve in his foot, was only 40 metres out of the frame and our next man up at least had someone to chase. Mal Byansi calmly reeled 'em in to gain a lead of around 15 seconds which was then extended to three-quarters of a minute by Steve Zealey. With our anchor man James Browne putting up the day's second fastest time our winning margin was up to 2 minutes by the end.
It was a good night for Steve Zealey. Not only did he receive his first ever club medal (bronze for last winter's Cross Country Plate), he also picked up his first ever team prize. Not quite so good for Don Anderson who had to contemplate touring Nonsuch Park in two left shoes before Mal took pity on him and lent him a pair of warm-up shoes in which to race. Not so good also for Junior, who badly twisted his ankle on his warm down.
1 Belgrave H 45:04; 2 Guildford & Godalming AC; 47:05; 3 Epsom & Ewell H 48:07.
A - J.Galley (4) 11:20; M.Byansi (1) 11:19; S.Zealey (1) 11:29; J.Browne (1) 10:56.
B - R.Marcus 11:45; Don Anderson 13:55.
Running for Sutton Runners - L.Greatorex 11:04.
Fastest: 1 S.Major (L&G) 10:19; 2 J.Browne (Belgrave) 10:56.