Surrey League Wimbledon 2019
Men’s Surrey League, Div. 1, Wimbledon, Nov 9
We strengthen our position with another excellent victory
After an emphatic victory in the first fixture Kent AC men’s team secured another convincing win in the second fixture at Wimbledon.
Although not on the scale of last year, Wimbledon was again wet with rain for the duration of the race. The course was quite a tricky test, lots of muddy descents and narrow hills with tree roots to contend with. It was no surprise that quite a few runners took a tumble on the course – for some it was more than one fall. Kent AC had five scorers in the first ten while Hercules Wimbledon, packing well like last season, had five from nine to fourteen. Although we had five in the first ten, we actually had six wearing Kent vests at the head of the race. In fact, Ross Braden running second claim was actually second in the race – an absolutely tremendous run from him and I would think it would have to be considered his best ever run. A look at those behind him gives you a measure of the quality of the run. Ross actually ran well for us last year on a different Wimbledon course but this run was outstanding. It seems incredible that we had a second claimer running for us who was second in the race and didn’t actually score, but I guess it’s a reflection of the strength of the training group at Ladywell. The likes of Max Nicholls and Nick Torry have longstanding links with the Ladywell training group and when other commitments have allowed, they’ve been happy to turn out for us. Our first scorer was Jim Allchin and after his excellent second place in the first fixture, he looks a distinct possibility to take the overall title this season – assuming he can race at the next two fixtures. The actual winner of the race Guildford’s John Sanderson eased into the lead quite early on in the race. Although at the start of proceedings Ross had actually been leading the race. Subsequently Sanderson took over and was pursued by Ross and then a group that was initially led by John Gilbert. Jim, Max and Nick were also in the group. Jordan Weaver was just a bit farther back at this stage. On the second lap the order changed with John dropping back a bit. Not content with one fall, John actually fell twice. However, he didn’t suggest the falls were responsible for him not being able to match his winning run at the first fixture. He conceded he’d lost a bit of fitness – partly due to a niggling calf problem. So with Ross not counting, in third we had Jim Allchin, then Max and Nick in fourth and fifth. They were closely followed by John and Jordan in seventh and eighth. Our sixth scorer, again enjoying a strong top twenty finish, was Ben Harding in fifteenth. Next in was Dan Pettitt (35). Perhaps better known as a track runner Dan seems to be stronger over the country this season. His was an excellent run as was that of Rowan Crichton (38) flying the flag for the B group training squad. A second impressive run consolidates his position as leader in the cross- country handicap. Mind you he clearly has competition as there was another great run from newcomer Bradley Smith. Niall Stewart (40) was just ahead of Bradley. However, Bradley, this time wearing appropriate footwear, was our last scorer in the A team (42) – an extremely encouraging result for someone who I believe is something of a novice at cross country. Not far behind Bradley was Neil Phillips (47) having another positive run and the first scorer for the B team. By the looks of it, Neil was second in the V40’s. Then just outside fifty was a relative newcomer to the club, Sam Marshall. To be close to the top fifty in this high-quality field is a very good result. Jo Vis was a non- scorer just behind Sam and so our next actual scorer was U20, Michael Eagling (58). Last season, maybe it was the exuberance of youth, Michael tended to go off too fast and fade. Here, though, he paced things well for what may amount to a breakthrough run. Like Sam, Cameron Forrest (66) is another fairly new to racing for the club and he too showed he’s going to be valuable to our cause. It looked as though he was fourth scorer for our B team which is impressive given some of the quality runners he was ahead of.
As well as wanting to beat opponents from other clubs, there is always plenty of rivalry amongst our own runners and a desire to get one over on training partners. This was amply demonstrated at the finish with a burn up between Pete Lighting (84) and Rob Laing (85) who’d been together for much of the last lap. Captured by a picture at the finish line Pete did one of his renowned all out efforts. Like a soldier charging out of the trenches, Pete looks a fearsome sight. Other runners who scored in our B team who haven’t been mentioned included Dave Morgan (71), Tim Lawrence (79), Sean Fitzpatrick (85) and Calum Fraser (92).
Then a little farther down the field some other mini battles ensued. Ben Cook must have been pleased to get the better of Ian Ellwood and James Bowler. There was just a second separating Ian and James. And only two seconds behind the duo was Stuart Beaney who clearly had the pair in his sights. In turn, just two seconds behind Stuart, improving on his Effingham run, was Lee Haze.
As with the first fixture, we had a very big turn -out of runners at Wimbledon. This is really pleasing as it represents both the strength of the club, and the commitment we have in endeavouring to reclaim the title back. The full results are on the Surrey League site while a complete list of all our runners that Ken Pike compiled should follow on from this report.
All in all, a successful afternoon that leaves us in a very strong position going into the final two fixtures next year. Unsurprisingly there were celebrations post- race. What might be termed the hard core revisited a former celebration when the tops came off. Some will have seen the photos. It does lead one to wonder what will be coming off should we reclaim the title!
Surrey CC League Results
at Wimbledon on Sat 9th November 2019
2nd Ross Braden (n/s) 26 55
4th Jim Allchin 27 07 Teams : 10 to score
5th Max Nicholls 27 10 1st KENT AC 197
6th Nick Torry 27 12 2nd Hercules Wimbledon 281
8th John Gilbert 27 16 3rd South London 414
9th Jordan Weaver 27 17 4th Thames Hare & Hounds 418
16th Ben Harding 27 51 5th Belgrave Harriers 445
36th Dan Pettitt 28 50 6th Herne Hill H 451
39th Rowan Crichton 28 56 7th Guildford & G 547
41st Niall Stewart 28 58 8th Clapham Chasers 616
43rd Bradley Smith 28 59 9th Dulwich Runners 726
47th Neil Phillips 29 10
52nd Sam Marshall 29 18 B Teams: 10 to Score
57th Joe Vis (n/s) 29 20 1st KENT AC 74
58th Michael Eagling 29 32 – 1st U20 2nd Herne Hill H 210
66th Cameron Forrest 29 39 3rd Hercules Wimbledon 328
71st Dave Morgan 29 51 4th Clapham Chasers 471
77th Patrick Vis (n/s) 29 54 5th Belgrave H 473
79th Tim Lawrence 29 56 6th Thames H & H 489
82nd Sean Fitzpatrick 30 01 7th Guildford & G 606
84th Peter Lighting 30 10 8th Dulwich Runners 717
85th Rob Laing 30 11 9th South London H 727
92nd Calum Fraser 30 26
104th Ben Cook 30 47
107th Ian Ellwood 30 55
108th James Bowler 30 56
111th Stuart Beaney 30 57
113th Lee Haze 31 00
117th Joe Hartley 31 10
118th George Russell 31 10
120th Will Pitt 31 13
121st Phil Sanders 31 14
136th Tim Copley 31 56
137th Richard Giles 31 58
139th Chris Busaileh 32 00
145th Arif Merali 32 08
149th Tim Alexander 32 15
165th Che Compton 32 57
171st Jake Herrara 33 06
202nd Jamie Stinson 34 21
216th Duncan Corrie 34 59
223rd Khawaja Shahabuddin 35 28
225th Andrew Johnson 35 36
231st Adrian Dracup 35 57
236th Paul McCrone 36 02
249th Keiron Fitzpatrick 37 26
254th John Greene 37 56
259th Alan Curtis 38 28
261st Michael Pywell 38 32
263rd David Devlin 38 36
269th Joseph Yee 40 05
272nd John Barron 41 01
277th Phillip Marsden 44 29
279 runners finished