Surrey County Cross Country Champs, Lloyd Park
Another huge win for an unwell Phil Wicks
It was "as you were" at Lloyd Park where Phil Wicks, having seen girlfriend Emily Adams retain her senior women's title, stormed away from the men's field to win by the huge margin of two and a half minutes. His time was nearly half a minute faster than in 2007 and we can probably put this down to the better than normal conditions under foot. It was only after the race that Phil revealed that he was not feeling at all well as he disappeared off home to get into the warm and to try to shake off a bug that is troubling him.
It wasn't only Phil that was under the weather. James Fairbourn had also been bothered by sickness over the last few days and each time he completed a circuit, resisted the temptation to come out. A tough guy, though, he stuck it out to the end and finished an impressive 18th to confirm his form of recent months. We look forward to seeing James at his best when the distance goes up to 15k at Parliament Hill at the end of the month.
James Kelly turned in a masterful performance. Surrounded by Thames and Herne Hill vests for the first lap, he nursed himself through the opening kilometres, opened up a little bit more on the second circuit, and then went for it over the final loop to take a fine bronze medal. What a find this man is - and hasn't he contributed to the Belgrave team over the last six months.
Knut Hegvold and Tim Weeks both looked comfortable working their way through as the race progressed; and we were delighted that new man Richard Merrick turned out in this, his toughest race to date, closing in the scoring six. But we missed four or five men through sickness or the knowledge that 12k in their current state of fitness was too far, and as a result missed out on medals and, dare we say, the chance of a win. As it was, Herne Hill Harriers notched up their seventh consecutive victory while we haven't seen the podium since 1996.
Always a fighter, Sarah Murphy battled away in the senior women's race and was rewarded with a worthy fifth place, while Katherine Swanson made a great debut for the Belles, getting into the top 20.
Evan Langmuir was the first Belgravian in action on this long day. Right at the very bottom of the under 13 age group (being barely 11), he impressed us all with his 27th place. Megan Evans and Jo Foxley ran well in the under 15 girls' event and an unfit Alex Bodin made a last minute decision to race - coming away with the bronze medal in the junior men's race.
Senior Men - 12k. 1 P Wicks (Belgrave) 41:20; 2 W Clark (Epsom & Ewell) 43:50; 3 J Kelly (Belgrave) 44:23; ... 18 J Fairbourn 47:18; 23 K Hegvold 47:53; 30 T Weeks 49:16; 87 R Merrick 56:58; dnf R Norville.
Teams: 1 Herne Hill H 60 (4, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14); 2 Thames H&H 148 (5, 6, 7, 13, 51, 66); 3 Hercules Wimbledon AC 156 (15, 20, 25, 28, 32, 36); 4 Belgrave H 162 (1, 3, 18, 23, 30, 87).
Under 20 Men - 6.5k. 1 S Connor (Aldershot F&D) 22:58; 3 A Bodin 24:38.
Under 13 Boys - 3.25k. 1 S Knuckey (Aldershot F&D) 12:20; 27 E Langmuir 14:31.
Senior Women - 8k. 1 E Adams (Aldershot F&D) 32:54; 5 S Murphy 34:13; 19 K Swanson 37:22.
Under 15 Girls - 4k. 1 E Gorecka (Aldershot F&D) 15:53; 15 M Evans 19:23; 30 J Foxley 22:08.
Restored from the club's earlier website, belgraveharriers.com, and published here as originally written.