"Sweatshop" Men's Surrey Cross Country League Race 4, Hamlands nr Kingston

It was the last league match of the season and there was nothing to play for as far as the Bels were concerned. So it was good to see a dozen men out - including Bruce Barton; his vest hasn't seen action for a couple of years and not cross country action for longer still - but he still scored! Several wore long spikes to counter the expected icy conditions and ran foul of the hard stretches of tarmac along the towpath. Not that Pete Willis had that trouble - he'd left his spikes at home and had to make do in the muddier spots with flat shoes.

Herne Hill Harriers were all over the field like a rash and as a result wrapped up the league. In the individual competition it was another win for Stuart Major - his fourth all told with his first coming ten years ago. It was close though, with his clubmate James McMullen being just one point adrift.

1 B Whitby (Herne Hill) 26:40; 2 N Hall (Bedford gst) 26:46; 3 M Janes (Bedford gst) 27:05; 6 R Dessaix-Chin 28:01; 23 W Cockerell 29:13; 28 T Ellacott 29:25; 37 K Hegvold M45 30:07; 60 P Willis 31:30; 66 M Humphrey 31:47; 95 T Weeks 33:29; 97 B Barton M40 33:31; 100 R Norville 33:42; 103 A Luce M40 33:47; 114 P Chapman 34:25; 159 P Cross M50 39:46; 168 finished.

Teams: 1 Herne Hill H 114; 2 Thames H&H 205; 3 Reigate Priory AC 389; 4 Hercules Wimbledon AC 413; 5 Dorking &MV AC 482; 6 Belgrave H 499; 7 Ranelagh H 651; 8 The Stragglers 661; 9 South London H 681.

Final league result: 1 Herne Hill H 565; 2 Thames H&H 761; 3 Hercules Wimbledon AC 1699; 4 Belgrave H 2047; 5 Ranelagh H 2051; 6 Reigate Priory AC 2080; 7 South London H 2139; 8 Dorking &MV AC 2509; 9 The Stragglers 2529.

Individual winner: Stuart Major (Thames H&H)
Individual veteran: Iain Lockett (Herne Hill H)
Individual U20: Alex Robinson (Hercules Wimbledon AC)

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