Despite already being assured of our second successive promotion it was business as usual as we swamped the opposition yet again to clinch the title with a record low score for this division and win all three trophies on offer – First Individual, First U20 and First Team.

John Gilbert started slowly with team mate Jim Savage, as both still had the Southern Champs in their legs, but they then got going at the end of the first lap in pleasant sunshine on a surprisingly firm course on Wimbledon Common. They quickly pulled away from the field giving them both the chance to relax, producing big gaps by the finish as they recorded their fourth successive First and Second places in the league.

None the less behind them Steve McGrory had really got stuck in early on but then had to dig deep to hang on really well, clinching 4th place, only a few seconds behind 3rd position. Team Captain Rich Munn produced another solid run in 6th place but he had to be aware of ‘new boys’ Chris Greenwood and Jon Gill as they showed their genuine talents as they took 7th and 8th places. Both are on a steep upward curve and this time next year should be big players for the club.

Stuart Beaney did well to hang on to 10th place, despite a monster session in his legs from 48 hours beforehand, and Luke Armitage showed real judgement as he moved through the field to come home in 12th place. In this 10 to score league Andy Pickett was our last scorer in 17th, despite a real race to arrive there with only 3 mins to spare, but it was great to see him race again after a long period out with injury.

Just in front of him U20 George Quinn tracked his main rival in the U20 competition before pulling away easily with a mile and a half to go to secure the overall U20 title. His real improvement this year as he trains for the ‘London’ shows what a genuine talent he is.

We had our best ever turnout of 17 runners with Rawlston Morian, Stuart Scott, Nicola Maiorano and Nick Park all performing above expectations and pushed back our opponents scorers to further help the team cause. To cap a great day we also had three ‘ever green athletes’ in Bernie Hutchinson, Julian Spencer-Wood and Andy Gardiner on the day supporting our quest to get to Div 1 in record time!

Ken

We had 17 athletes take part (with Ken and Pete both turning up to support).

Jon convincingly won the race again with Jim coming in close behind him. Steve McGrory also had a great surrey league debut setting out fast from the gun (well whistle to be precise) and settling at a pace that I couldn't match.

George Quinn beat his U20 rival which has resulted in a tie for the first U20 spot overall, though on "goal difference" George will take the U20 top spot.

Something else that needs commenting on is that we had more athletes take part this year than last year averaging just under 15 people per fixture. This is really encouraging and it is especially encouraging that we have only used one 2nd claim athlete (who unfortunately broke his ankle and didn't finish the race). The resurgence of the B group is a major contributory factor in this and all the efforts of Dave, Luke and Stuart need to be applauded (plus anyone else who has helped sustain this group).

3 short notices before signing off:
1 - next Sunday is the Sidcup 10 mile race - we need as many volunteers to help make this race a success.
2 - good luck in the national
3 - Remember March 27th is the Southern Road relays (12 stage). Building on what we have done this season (so far) on the country we ave a great chance at our highest ever finish and maybe a medal. Make every effort to be available for this (Andrew Dunwoody is team captain for this race).

Well done and thanks

Rich