"Sweatshop" Surrey CC League Division One, Reigate Priory Park
A first ever Surrey League win
for Phil Wicks
Left: The Skipper celebrated his birthday in wintry Priory Park. Photo by Steve Wicks. More pictures
A still frosty Priory Park greeted the senior men as they turned up for their three o'clock race with the winter sun low in the sky and the temperature dropping.
Tom Barry had already placed a fine second in the under 17 race with Joseph Taylor-Holland again enjoying competition in the under 13 group.
It was the Skipper's birthday and the Cockerell household added an additional cake to the post race fare - but first there was a race to deal with.
We were short of a few stars but Phil Wicks looked in determined mood and the with the engine-room boys stepping up to the plate, including a whole bunch of new faces, the team was pretty solid.
Phil immediate set out his stall by leading the charge up the initial slope, testing himself a little after a minor cold before gradually stepping up the pace. John McFarlane of Thames was his only opposition as they dropped down out of the woods near the end of the first lap, but before the loop past the lake had been completed, Phil had pressed the accelerator gently to the floor and was away. His first lap on the same circuit used for the relay two weeks earlier was an outstanding 12:58.
Phil wasn't the only one to have "come on a bit" in the last few weeks. Skipper Will went through 29 seconds faster than his relay split of 14:09 - and then proceeded to turn in another lap of 14:00 - while Tim Weeks was also inside his relay mark.
And so to the finish. Once again there was a host of red and black vests in forward positions making sure that Herne Hill held their advantage over Thames Hare & Hounds but with Phil comfortably leading the field for his first ever Surrey League win (confounding AW reporter Martin Duff's predictions) and beating two very tough Thames men in McFarlane and Sly, we had enough to keep us happy. The Skipper looked particularly mean as he chased hard for 14th and with Peter Willis up 12 places on his Brockwell Park position we had enough early men to ensure that we maintained our third spot in the league. It was good to see so many of our men finishing strongly - whether they scored or not - and to see those who had completed their stint going back down the course to urge on the rest.
Senior Men. 1 P Wicks (Belgrave) 26:28; 2 J McFarlane (Thames H&H) 26:42; 3 P Sly (Thames H&H) 26:47; 14 W Cockerell 27:40; 25 P Willis 28:40; 29 T Weeks 28:53; 32 C Axe 29:00; 33 L Greatorex 29:04; 42 E Lyne 29:31; 62 M Humphrey 30:14; 63 M Whiting 30:15; 65 W Lynch 30:19; 82 T Fordyce 31:15; 93 F Ward M45 31:38; 105 A Barden M40 32:50; 109 S Ryan 33:14; 116 M Taylor 34:12; 118 T Lynes 34:18; 122 R Norville 34:24; 126 J Lynch 34:37; 127 N O'Halloran 34:57; 134 S Baxendale 35:43; 150 finished.
Teams: 1 Herne Hill H 182; 2 Thames H&H 228; 3 Belgrave H 340; 4 South London H 372; 5 Guildford &G 438; 6 Reigate Priory AC 427; 7 Kingston & Poly H 525; 8 Walton AC 598.
Overall: 1 Herne Hill H 363; 2 Thames H&H 437; 3 Belgrave H 636; 4 South London H 755; 5 Guildford & Godalming 936; 6 Reigate Priory AC 1046; 7 Kingston & Poly H 1094; 8 Walton AC 1213.
U17. 1 D Altendorf (South London) 14:14; 2 T Barry 14:41. U13 1 S Huney (South London) 16:15; 4 J Taylor-Holland 17:42.
Restored from the club's earlier website, belgraveharriers.com, and published here as originally written.