"Sweatshop" Men's Surrey Cross Country League, Wimbledon Common

Bels in subdued mood on the Common

On a wind-wracked Common it was left to veterans Mike Trees and Knut Hegvold to lead home the Belgrave band. But if we were missing a few right up the sharp end, it was good to welcome back Sean Ryan and Jason Webb, both after a long period of absence.

With a thin team, even the Cockerpillar was in subdued mood, dragging himself from his sickbed to run round one hundred or more positions lower than normal - and fail to score - simply to keep his plate hopes alive and Surrey League sequence intact.

Thames' John McFarlane had the race completely under his control but no club currently seems interested in chasing Herne Hill's squad; their dense packing and solid support seem unlikely to be challenged in the near future.

Our own score of 400 for 4th place now drops us to a point within range of Ranelagh Harriers as we go to the fourth and final race in the series on their home patch at Petersham in Richmond Park in a few weeks time.

In the Young Athletes race Joe Taylor-Holland's swift return to racing after a torrid time in the county championships was rewarded with a much better run here where he was fourth home in his U15 age group.

The challenge for the Bels on this afternoon came in the form of organising the race and here we must pay tribute to Gordon Biscoe who masterminded the officials and start/finish areas, Don Anderson who marked the course, and the Belgravians who stood out in the elements for an hour or so to point out the way. Thanks too to the Thames Hare & Hounds Chief Pioneer Wendy Lynas who kept us informed of the latest position regarding fallen trees and blocked paths.

Senior/Junior Men. 1 J McFarlane (Thames H&H) 26:44; 2 I Lockett (HHH) 27:02; 3 A Barnes (HHH) 27:25; 12 M Trees M40 28:16; 16 K Hegvold M40 28:30; 19 M Byansi 28:38; 31 R Stannard 29:16; 37 A Bodin U20 29:39; 60 J Webb 30:55; 61 T Fordyce 31:03; 61 S Ryan 31:08; 84 J Fairbourn U20 32:11; 101 T O'Neill M50 33:11; 105, R Norville 33:38; 113 M Taylor M45 34:14; 131 W Cockerell 36:17; 134 P Cross M50 36:23; 144 C Moynihan 38:00; 155 finished.

Teams: 1 Herne Hill H 173; 2 Thames H&H 221; 3 Ranelagh H 341; 4 Belgrave H 400; 5 Guildford &G AC 422; 6 Stragglers AC 554; 7 South London H 583; 8 Dulwich R 693.

Overall: 1 Herne Hill H 460; 2 Thames H&H 884; 3 Belgrave H 1110; 4 Ranelagh H 1149; 5 Guildford &G AC 1597; 6 South London H 1604; 7 Stragglers AC 1660; 8 Reigate Priory AC 1734; 9 Dulwich R 2087.

U17/U15. D Sellman U17 SLH 14:33; 7 J Taylor-Holland 4th U15 16:19.

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