SEAA Cross Country Champs., Bicton College, nearExmouth, Devon

Westward Ho!

Much had been made of the fact that the “Southern” was to be held in the far west of the Southern Area and that the entry was sure to be decimated. Well, although the number of men taking part did drop by around 25%, it was not the sharp end of the field that suffered. The rolling Devonshire countryside also provided a pleasant respite from the traffic problems and mud of Parliament Hill Fields. It’s a shame that the race doesn’t get moved around the country a little more often.

Tilly Heaton made a strong start in the women’s 8km race, placing in the low 30s after the first short lap with Tania Sturton not far behind. Unfortunately that enthusiastic start by Tania proved to be her undoing as her asthma problem struck early in the second lap and she had to pull out. Losing a little ground throughout the rest of the race, Tilly nevertheless finished well on a par with her previous year’s 45th and moved into the lead in our Cross Country Plate competition. Angela Walker and Louise Cooper were never far apart and it was Louise who came out on top on this occasion.

Our men’s team were once again unable to break out of the rut which has seen them place 16th, 6th, 9th and 14th in the previous four years – but that rut is considerably better than the preceding few seasons when we didn’t even finish a complete squad.

Will Cockerell set out determined to hang on to the Endurance Cup, awarded to first Belgravian home, but in the end performed a little below par, maybe hampered by a mild bout of “sniffles” during the week. As second man, however, he took good points in the Plate competition and although he barely needs to bother with the remaining two races, we’ll bet he does, in his quest to achieve at least one “maximum-pointer”.

Hassan Raidi was Will’s Nemesis on this occasion; he had returned from Morocco with some solid training under his belt, determined to earn a place in the Inter-County/World Cross Trial in two week’s time. Hassan closely trailed the leading group for the first third of the race but gradually fell away to 15th – our best since Paul Freary’s 6th in 2000. Veteran Knut Hegvold was a minute down on Will but shot up the Plate points table while Warren Lynch, training hard for the London marathon, ran way above his normal cross country form to keep alive our aim of a team position in the top ten.

Men’s 15km. 1 J.Downes (London Irish) 37:15; 2 M.Normington (Herne Hill) 37:25; 3 D.Mitchinson (Newham & Essex) 37:30; 15 H.Raidi 38:43; 42 W.Cockerell 39:47; 70 K.Hegvold (M40) 40:51; 126 W.Lynch 42:41; 170 L.Catley 43:52; 209 P.Carstairs (M40) 44:44; 211 M.Byansi 44:46; 524 Don Anderson (M45) 53:18; 628 finished.

Teams: 1 Newham & Essex Bgls 148; 2 Shaftesbury Barnet H 180; 3 Blackheath H 256; 10 Belgrave H 628; 55 teams closed in.

Women’s 8km. 1 S.Morris (Bedford) 23:29; 2 C.Hoyte (Arena 80) 23:55; 3 L.Watson (Medway & Maidstone) 24:21; 50 M.Heaton (Belgrave) 26:28; 97 L.Cooper 28:32; 102 A.Walker 28:44; 266 finished.

Teams: 1 Windsor SE&H 64; 2 Bedford & County AC 79; 3 Highgate H 105; 31 teams closed in.

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