2XU Surrey CC League Division One Race 3, Ham Lands, near Kingston

Herpetologian horrors at Ham Lands

Alan Mead reports:- In cold conditions alongside the River Thames the youngsters got under way half an hour earlier than normal, due to the failing light at this time of year, and within 20 minutes we were treated to the sight of Malik Nehaili coming home in third place in the under 13 group. Well done Malik!

With several of our regular seniors suffering sickness it was going to be tight as to whether we would provide the requisite ten men to form a complete team. With five minutes to go we still only had eight – but then Donny, aiding Stragglers in hosting the race, suddenly pulled on his racing singlet and we had nine.

There were some good class runners on display: our own Surrey County Champion Paskar Owor, Johnny Gilbert who won the Kent title from Andy Rayner and then previous Surrey winner Nick Torry (all running for Kent); there was guest Danny Davies from Aldershot and Middlesex Champion Chris Smith (running for Herne Hill). Yet again, though, it was Paskar holding sway and he really is building up a good sequence of runs.

But the race wasn’t without drama. Running along the towpath next to the tidal section of the Thames was no joke. With the swollen river meeting the incoming tide on the first lap, the water was lapping over the river bank ankle deep. On the second circuit it was far worse, up to the knees … and by the time the tail-enders came through, the thighs. With the onset of global warming maybe we are going to have to consult the tide tables and state of the moon before setting start times for races at Ham Lands. Thank goodness the race started earlier than normal.

Runners were somewhat shocked to have to wade through a hundred metres of this, not sure whether their next footfall in the murky flood-water would take them waist deep. Paskar, who apparently doesn’t swim, had the team in stitches in the after-race tall-tale competition, telling us to be thankful that this was an English river and not the Ugandan Kagera: "if this was Uganda there would be pythons in there!"

In spite of the individual win the team placed a lowly 7th. Matt Taylor put in another strong performance to score 37th but Will had a real off-day, losing his shoe twice, and was under severe attack from our super 50s Mike Trees and Knut Hegvold. Overall, however, our league position remains unchanged at 5th.

1 P Owor (Belgrave) 27:20; 2 D Davies n/s Aldershot F&D) 27:23; 3 J Gilbert (Kent)27:36; … 38 M Taylor 30:43; 50 M Trees M50 31:04; 59 W Cockerell 31:40; 60 K Hegvold M50 31:47; 66 R Maddams 31:59; 124 A Luce M40 35:33; 133 T Weeks 36:27; 167 D Anderson M55 40:49; 180 finished.

Teams:

1 Thames H&H (8, 9, 10, 15,18, 22, 27, 28, 30, 34) 201, league total 632 (1st in league);
2 Kent AC (2, 3, 6, 7, 13, 26, 32, 36, 47, 48) 220, 695 (2);
3 Herne Hill H (5, 14, 17, 19, 23, 24, 31, 35, 43, 50) 261, 739 (3);
4 Hercules Wimbledon AC (11, 16, 20, 33, 49, 55, 59, 60, 63, 67) 433, 1412 (4);
5 Ranelagh H (4, 25, 29, 40, 54, 64, 70, 71, 77, 83) 517, 1699 (6);
6 The Stragglers (21, 38, 42, 44, 56, 62, 66, 72, 73, 86) 560, 1766 (8);
7 Belgrave H (1, 37, 46, 52, 53, 58, 87, 88, 89, 90) 601, 1596 (5);
8 Reigate Priory AC (12, 39, 45, 61, 65, 68, 78, 81, 82, 84) 615, 2013 (9);
9 South London H (41, 51, 57, 69, 74, 75, 76, 79, 80, 85) 687, 1733 (7).

Under 13. 1 O Millard (Herne Hill H) 17:32; … 3 M Nehaili (Belgrave) 19:57.

Restored from the club's earlier website, belgraveharriers.com, and published here as originally written.