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Slugfest in Mansfield - November 16, 2004
So… we haven’t done an Arsenal and gone through the entire season unbeaten! Not a chance, with all the excellent squads suddenly springing up all over the country – and it’s terrific to see. It makes a mockery of those doom-mongers who say there are only a handful of clubs who can realistically shoot at silverware this winter. Try two or three dozen.
The Morpeth-Belgrave slugfest in Mansfield will be etched in the memory palaces of all who were there, and Mark’s run defines the meaning of “great sport”. Brilliant skill and fitness meshed with stunning drama, superb opposition, gut-wrenching defeat... but at the end of day, athletics was the true winner. What a fine day the organizers of this event have crafted. It was never going to be long before Sharpy nailed his first man-of-the-match award for the winter, and all credit to him for putting Mark in with a fighting chance.
On a lower key, I enjoyed watching our engine room boys battle it out in Richmond Park. If not for a very rare ‘dnf’ from the Trondheim stallion we would have got a tasty bronze. And make no mistake, the boys in Richmond are just as important to the present and future of the club as the stars of Mansfield. They form the club’s backbone and legendary depth, and without them Belgrave would all but disappear off the map. And what a run from the rarely sighted Bruce Barton! Straight back to his form of the late ‘90s, with legs more chiselled than ever. I’m almost inclined to give him the man-of-the-match award… but Tom Ellacott nicks that for his super turn.
So – we’re a third of the way through the season, and Mission JJ’s stats read: played six, won four, lost two. The team manager and captain are nervous though. And uneasy. And not a little squeamish. The next two Saturdays see us sailing is dangerously choppy waters. We seem to be juggling too many balls with too few hands. Runners are starting to get a few niggles, others are resting, others are away… We think we’ll have a plausible bunch for the Euro trials/London champs/Reebok league etc etc. at Parly Hill on Saturday – but who does that leave for the Surrey League on the 27th? Can all the Parly boys do both races? My heart says yes, my head says it’s asking too much… it’s a loooong winter.
So – to cut to the chase: Alan and I are chewing our nails about Surrey League 2 on Nov 27. PLEASE BE THERE! Don’t listen to those – and I’m partly to blame – who say the Thames home course is some sort of freak show. It’s not. It’s historic, it’s fascinating, and it’s a real cross-country country course for real men. I would honestly submit only about 60-90 seconds per lap are genuinely tricky to navigate. I struggle over the country far more than the normal earthly being, but five years ago on the course I placed 31st when my previous best in the league was 48th. And two years ago I was 6th – a position I haven’t got near to since. So – it’s not that tough. But it is absorbing and great fun. I’m not necessarily asking for a win on the 27th – I’m just asking for a solid and plentiful turn-out. If Thames take under 75 points out of us, I reckon we’d still be favourites for the league – which is always a terrific achievement to win.
