Men's ECCA English CC Champs., Parliament Hill

A new name on the 'Parker Bowl'

Alan Mead writes:- One hundred and twenty five National Cross Country races have now taken place and this latest edition, held on a balmy spring-like day, was a classic as the perhaps overlooked Keith Gerrard of Newham & Essex Beagles proved unbeatable.

It wasn’t a bad day for the Bels as we turned out ten men and reminded ourselves that tucked away among our non-runners was an entered sextet that could have given team winners Leeds City a run for their money had they been in good 'nick' or otherwise available. Still, it’s not about those one enters but those who actually run and we had to settle for a final team spot of 25th. It’s been far worse than that.

Yet another super run came from James Kelly (who, nevertheless, was hoping for something a little higher) and thus a new name goes onto the ‘Parker Bowl’ awarded to the first Belgravian to finish. Good to see Tom Hadfield and Kevin Gadd turning out – their first outings this winter!

Always enjoying his racing, Malik Nehaily was pleased to hear his name being called out by our men’s team as they paused in their preparations to give him a shout as he passed the flag.

Senior Men. 1 K Gerrard (Newham &EB) 35:56; 2 S Vernon (Stockport) 36:07; 3 J Beattie (Newham &EB) 36:13; 4 F Tickner (Wells City) 36:27; 5 J Wilkinson (Leeds C) 36:30; 6 J Walsh (Leeds C) 36:31; … 42 J Kelly 38:28; 85 D Agustus (Woodford GwEL) 39:29; 169 W Cockerell 40:59; 284 M Holm 42:46; 338 K Gadd 43:30; 356 M Byansi 43:41; 519 L Eguia 45:45; 536 T Weeks 45:59; 598 K Hegvold M50 46:39; 898 T Hadfield 50:14; 1552 D Anderson M55 1:01:51; 1688 finished.

Teams: (6 to score) 1 Leeds City AC 219; 2 Tipton H 304; 3 Stockport H&AC 310; 4 Bedford &C AC 325; 5 Highgate H 360; 6 Notts AC 413; … 25 Belgrave H 1708; 125 teams closed in.

(9 to score) 1 Leeds City AC 566; 2 Tipton H 695; 3 Bedford &C AC 779; … 23 Belgrave H 3740; 62 teams closed in.

Under 13 Boys: 1 C Solomon (Woodford GwEL) 10:51; 255 M Nehaily 13:19; … 373 finished.

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