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... another memorable and fulfilling day - April 14, 2007

On another memorable and fulfilling day at the National relays, for some reason the Bels left their “A-game” on the cutting room floor, which wasn’t the best place for it since all of us had to be at our best to strike gold.  However, with that said, you can sometimes only perform as well as the opposition allow, and midway through stage 8 when we were only a minute-and-a-half off the front, Leeds started cranking through the gears in real style, and our last four runners were never given the illicit hope which they craved.

I don’t begrudge Leeds their win one iota.  For a while now their ever-present team members have been cult heroes of my mine, for their incredible consistency, willingness to race regularly and defiance of the aging process.  To be sure they deserved this triumph.  And whilst on the aging process, what a remarkable sight to see Freary and Hudspith duelling on stage 11: two runners at their peak between 1991-1995.  (Hudspith won bronze at the ’94 Commonwealth Games Marathon, 14 seconds off the silver).  Inspiring to us all.

Before we wallow too much in self-pity at having a sub-par day at the races, there is much to be proud of.  Not only did we show great fighting spirit, and narrowly defeat Newham for a savoured bronze medal, but also it may be the time to look at our achievements in this race from a wider perspective. 

I have dug into the ‘race-results.co.uk’ archives and peaked at the top clubs this Century at the National 12-stage.  Taking the top 8 finishers from the last eight 12-stages, I have awarded points based on the BAL scoring system: 16 for a win and then 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4.

18 clubs have returned a top eight finish since 2000.  Here they are:

Club

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Total

BELGRAVE H

-

14

16

16

14

16

12

12

100

TIPTON H

14

16

10

14

-

-

4

6

64

BIRCHFIELD H

10

10

14

12

-

14

-

-

60

SALFORD H

16

12

5

8

12

6

-

-

59

MORPETH H

4

-

12

10

6

-

-

14

46

LEEDS CITY AC

-

-

-

-

5

12

10

16

43

SALE H

-

8

-

6

4

-

14

4

36

NEWHAM & ESSEX

-

-

-

4

-

5

16

10

35

ALDERSHOT F&D AC

-

-

-

-

16

4

6

-

26

CARDIFF A A C

-

-

8

-

8

-

-

8

24

BEDFORD & CTY H

-

-

-

-

10

10

-

-

20

BRISTOL & WEST AC

-

-

-

-

-

8

8

-

16

SHAFTESBURY BH

6

6

4

-

-

-

-

-

16

NOTTS AC

-

-

-

5

-

-

5

5

15

SWANSEA H

8

5

-

-

-

-

-

-

13

LONDON IRISH

12

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

12

BINGLEY H

-

4

6

-

-

-

-

-

10

BORDER AC

5

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

5

Thanks, as ever, to all the supporters and helpers who made yesterday such a great club day out; let’s hope for much more excitement like this in the years to come.  And a particular vote of congrats to the Belles for their brilliant top ten finish.

Good luck to all our marathoners on Sunday.  I look forward to returning to the carnival after a three-year hiatus (could get very messy for me).  The final Skipper’s Corner of the season will provide a resume of our endeavours.  Meanwhile my message to our marathoners borrows from the opening lines to “Gallipoli”:

COACH:  What are yer legs?

BELGRAVIAN:   Steel springs.

COACH:  What are they gonna do?

BELGRAVIAN:  Hurl me from Greenwich to the Mall!

COACH:  How fast can ya run?

BELGRAVIAN:  Fast as a leopard!

COACH:  How fast are ya gonna run?

BELGRAVIAN:  Fast as leopard!

COACH:  Well, all right, leopard, let’s see ya do it then!

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