MEN’S SURREY CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE, MATCH 4, PUTNEY VALE, FEB 10 2018
DRAMATIC FINAL FIXTURE SEES KENT AC SECURE SIXTH SUCCESSIVE LEAGUE TITLE
Wow, what a race and what a season. After an uncertain start to the campaign, and then having to play catch up, Kent AC secured a sixth consecutive Surrey League title at Putney Vale on Saturday. The general consensus has been that this victory was probably the most hard earned. The league this season was keenly contested right to the end – and I mean the end. No doubt about it, this season we faced strong, determined opposition in the shape of a resurgent Hercules Wimbledon.
Our team went into the final fixture with Hercules having a slender lead over us. So we had to win the fixture, and win by a decent margin to ensure we retained the league title. We did, but it looked to observers that it was going to be too close to call – in what was a really dramatic contest. In fact, the drama was such that momentum actually shifted within the race. Typically, John Gilbert (2nd) had surged into the lead early on, and just like the Coulsdon race, he was being pursued by Clapham’s, Andy Maud. However, on the first lap Kent supporters had their nerves shredded, for as well as having a runner in fourth spot, Hercules had a quartet of runners in a tight formation – ahead of runners who we hoped would be right up there earning us victory. But great credit must go to those in question – the likes of Jordan Weaver (5th), Nick Torry (6th) and Tom Mower (7th) For they ran superb races – not only with heart, but with tactical acumen. They all came through strongly in the second half of the race, and it was the way they moved through that undoubtedly contributed to us winning the race and the overall victory. It was a similar story just a little further back. Making a welcome return to racing, Chris Greenwood (16th) again demonstrated what a tactically astute runner he is. Just one place behind Chris at the finish was Ben Harding (17th). Ben’s known more as a middle- distance track man. Unlike some of our runners he was right to the fore early on. And while he may have slipped back a bit, a top twenty finish in this high- quality field demonstrated that as well as speed he’s got plenty of endurance. The club’s seventh scorer, and fittingly at the post -match celebrations named our man of the series, was Dame Dibaba(21st). Dame ‘s background has been well documented elsewhere. Obviously, the way he has taken things out in some of his races has caused a bit of a stir. But aside from the fast starts, what we know is that he’s been a terrific asset to the club. His commitment has been tremendous – demonstrated on Saturday by the fact that a few days earlier he was limping as a result of a persistent calf problem. Nevertheless, he ran and ran ever so well. Although Dame was our man of the series there were other candidates. John of course, was the obvious one. But, also perhaps, Noah Armitage- Hookes (32nd). Running in high quality senior fields, Noah acquitted himself incredibly well in every race. Unsurprisingly, he took the award for top under 20 runner. Not far behind Noah were James Bowler (34th) and Gareth Anderson(36th). Again, these two really raced well – clearly conscious of the need to keep ahead of rivals. So those listed were the scoring ten. A look at the results shows just how well the whole team performed. The strength in depth we possess meant a fairly comfortable B team victory – a bit of extra competition that has been added to the league this season. When you look at how high up so many of our runners finished, it’s surely another sign of just how much it mattered and how much desire there was to succeed. There were notable runs from several who I think would regard themselves as much more at home on the road, but on the day, on a tough, true cross -country course, they really came through.
This season truly was a tremendous team effort, including the outstanding contribution made by our second claimers. Quite rightly in the post-race emails John and Stuart paid tribute to Max Nicholls and Hugh Torry. Whilst they may be second claimers, I know they both have a great affinity for us as a club and really enjoy sharing our success.
After a very long -winded bus journey the bulk of runners and the happy band of supporters ended up in a well- known Putney riverside pub. Predictably the pub was full of rugby followers who looked a bit perplexed at the arrival of the bedraggled band that was the Kent AC party. They also looked a bit bemused when after the Dame man of the series award there was a rousing chorus of Ken Pike’s barmy army. Still, they seemed to take it in good heart. With the National and the relays to come there’s clearly good grounds to think we might have more to celebrate in the coming months.
Mens Results
Surrey CC League – Final match
at Putney Vale (THH course) on Sat 10th Feb 2018
2nd John Gilbert 27 23 Teams: 1st Kent AC 176 5th Jordan Weaver 28 28 2nd Hercules Wimbledon 213
6th Nick Torry 28 34 3rd Ranelagh H 391
7th Tom Mower 28 35 4th South London H 422
16th Chris Greenwood 29 01 5th Thames Hare & H 476
17th Ben Harding 29 03 6th Clapham Chasers 499
21st Dame Dibaba 29 22 7th Herne Hill H 524
32nd Noah Armitage-Hookes 29 57 – First U20 – Won the Overall U20 8th Belgrave H 652
34th James Bowler 30 01 Competition 9th Reigate Priory 742
36th Gareth Anderson 30 03
—————————————————————————————-
41st Joe Hartley 30 15 B Teams: 1st Kent AC 99
43rd Jonathan Tipper 30 18 2nd Hercules Wimbledon 112
44th Peter Lighting 30 21 3rd Ranelagh H 325
54th Rob Laing 30 43 4th Clapham Chasers 344
55th Sean Fitzpatrick 30 44 5th South London H 450
60th Dan Pettit 30 49 6th Herne Hill H 587
67th Phil Sanders 31 01 7th Thames H &H 598
72nd Sam Evans 31 11 8th Belgrave H 787
82nd Lawrence Avery 31 37 9th Reigate Priory 793
83rd Neil Phillips 31 38
————————————————————————————–
88th Adrian Lowther 31 46
90th Tim Alexander 31 50
92nd David Mills 31 58
97th Stuart Beaney 32 08
100th Calum Fraser 32 16
122nd Ian Ellwood 33 07
127th Andy Moreton 33 12
132nd Julian Gevers 33 26
136th Lee Haze 33 22
141st Ben McGeown 33 47
154th Tom Thain 34 09
164th Che Compton 34 31
165th Chris Lederer 34 33
181st Len Reilly 35 35
182nd Arif Merali 35 44
190th Ron Taylor 35 59
209th Adam Garcia 37 25
221st Luke Armitage 39 03
240th Bernie Hutchinson 42 30 – 1st O60 Veteran in Overall Competition
244th Ted Hadlow
40 finishers – a Kent AC record
Surrey CC League – Final table 2018
1st KENT AC 924
2nd Hercules Wimbledon 949
3rd Thames H & H 1458
4th Herne Hill H 1770
5th Ranelagh H 1948
6th South London H 2011
7th Belgrave H 2123
8th Clapham Chasers 2143
9th Reigate Priory 3054
B Teams
1st KENT AC 426
2nd Hercules Wimbledon 1056
3rd Ranelagh H 1337
4th Clapham Chasers 1463
5th Thames H & H 1757
6th Herne Hill H 1997
7th South London H 2110
8th Reigate Priory 3094
9th Belgrave H 3131
WOMEN’S SURREY CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE, RACE 4, RICHMOND PARK, FEB 10 2018
MID- TABLE FINISH ASSURED BY TEAM’S PERFORMANCE IN FINAL LEAGUE FIXTURE
For their final fixture Kent AC women made the short journey across London to Richmond Park – a venue that is many peoples favourite for cross country running. While the conditions weren’t quite as bad as they had encountered at Stanmer Park for the Southerns, they were still pretty miserable. Constant rain had made the normally dry Richmond Park a good deal more slippery than usual. However, the actual course, which I believe was different from the one normally used, met with largely positive approval.
Although some way below full strength, the team was considerably bolstered by several who weren’t able to join the select band who had made the trip to Brighton for the Southerns. As is usually the case, the Surrey Division I boasted a very competitive field, containing a host of quality runners. Our first runner, continuing her excellent season, was Katie Rowland. Katie was 26th – just a few places down on former GB marathon international, Marie Yamauchi. Alright, she may not be training like she did in her heyday, but Yamuauchi is still a class runner. For Katie to be so close to the ex- international would seem to demonstrate the progress she’s made. Jen Smith (36th) had another really strong run, as did Catherine (43rd), who had led the team so well in the difficult conditions at Brighton. Behind Catherine, perhaps even doing well to finish was Isabel Bradley (46th). Just like Alex Yee the previous week, Isabel received a nasty spike wound when tripped during the race. Clearly, being a Kent AC runner, she’s made of tough stuff!
Eliza Grant (62nd) just got the better of Victoria Buck(68th) for the coveted last scoring place in the team. Victoria consoled herself with a trek over Wimbledon Common with a few other intrepid souls to see the men’s race.
The results on the site show that there were a number of other runs that deserved praise. Mention must go to Zoe Gaffen who was in the top five of her age group over the series of races. Zoe, of course, is a long- standing Kent AC member. In fact, she was running for the club long before we had anything resembling a women’s team.
So this season we really consolidated our position in the top division – and commendably we did so when we were missing some of our top performers. If the missing runners can be restored to full fitness, then next season we could make a real impact.
Photos Womens Match:
Photos Mens Match:
Arif
14th February 2018 @ 7:54 am
Very good report.
I think there’s a small slip. Hugh Torry?