"Sweatshop" Surrey CC League Division One, Brockwell Park
Herne Hill break the stranglehold
As has become traditional, the cross-country season opened over the rolling Brockwell Park greensward as the eight clubs contesting the “Sweatshop” League Division One came together for the initial fixture. Aldershot, Farnham & District AC and Boxhill Racers have both dropped out of the League but runners from each of these clubs were still present, wearing unfamiliar vests and running as second-claimers for other outfits; and with Kent AC’s talented Jermain Mays lining up with the South London men, the standard was going to be as high as ever.
The Bels didn’t have their normal strong line-up for this opener but there were plenty of bodies – and plenty of interest as well. Stephen Sharp, in the middle of his heaviest ever mileage, was experimenting by going into the race with no tapering down at all, Phil Wicks was tackling his first Surrey League race and intending to give a good account of himself, while the ingenuous Skipper invited the Thames Team Manager to predict a finishing position for him – and was then a little miffed to be told it would be in the “twenties”.
However, it was none of these heading the field as the runners streamed over the first hill although it was a figure in a Belgrave vest – veteran Peter Fallenius, training hard for a 2:20 marathon. Soon the normal suspects took over at the front but Peter hung in there throughout the rest of the race and we were pleased with his sixth-scorer’s position.
Five men had broken clear after a mile and a half with our own Phil and Stephen taking their share at the front with Phil Tedd and John McFarlane leading the Thames challenge and Jermain Mays loping along beside them. Heading out again, though, it was Phil Wicks pushing along at the front with Stephen a few paces back and then perhaps five metres between him, Mays and then the Thames men. Phil knew he’d have to break away well before the finish if he was going to win this race but while the white-vested Hare & Hounds men did fall back, and Jermain Mays quite obviously did not like the way the hills were being tackled, Stephen seemed comfortable with every push.
With a mile or so to go it was Stephen now forcing the pace along, with the elastic between the two Belgravians and Mays stretching almost to breaking point before the next downhill section allowed the South London man to reel them back again. A quarter of a mile out with just a flat section and then the rise to the finish to contend with, Mays began to sense that the race was his. He closed on Stephen with Phil now dropping back as the pace increased even more and then, at the final turn, let loose with all he’d got – and it was just enough. A great race.
Herne Hill Harriers, in the words of their team manager, had seen a huge number of their men “come out of the woodwork” for the race and they comfortably took the team race, breaking the normal Thames/Belgrave stranglehold. The Skipper managed to slot into a position he hadn’t filled before – 13th – to confound the predictions and wily Knut Hegvold paced his race perfectly to get up to 20th, ahead of a disappointed Peter Willis who’d had the better of Knut on the roads of Rushmoor Arena.
In the youngsters’ race we welcomed Joseph Holland as he tackled his first ever cross-country race. He enjoyed himself, overtaking opposing runners to the very end, and we look forward to seeing him at the following matches.
Senior Men. 1 J Mays (South London H) 23:06; 2 S Sharp 23:08; 3 P Wicks 23:15; 13 W Cockerell 24:15; 20 K Hegvold M40 24:53; 36 P Willis 25:34; 39 P Fallenius M40 25:43; 44 J Charles 25:51; 49 M Humphrey 26:15; 52 J Webb 26:26; 57 T Weeks n/s 26:50; 61 E Lyne 26:58; 71 W Lynch 27:15; 74 J Galley M40 27:22; 89 T Watt 28:05; 93 M Whiting 28:23; 102 A Barden M40 28:55; 112 M Taylor M40 30:02; 128 J Stevenson 32:08; 133 L Rehn 34:21; 140 finished; H Corbett M40 dnf.
Teams: 1 Herne Hill H 181; 2 Thames H&H 209; 3 Belgrave H 296; 4 South London H 383; 5 Guildford & Godalming AC 498; 6 Reigate Priory AC 519; 7 Kingston & Poly H 539; 8 Walton AC 615.
Under 13. 1 J Puttock (Guildford & Godalming) 13:49; 7 J Taylor-Holland 15:16; 20 finished.
Restored from the club's earlier website, belgraveharriers.com, and published here as originally written.