Surrey League 13 Jan 2018
MEN’S SURREY CROSS -COUNTRY LEAGUE, DIV 1, COULSDON, JAN 13,2018
NARROW VICTORY MEANS IT’S STILL ALL TO PLAY FOR AT THE LAST FIXTURE
In order to keep our hopes alive of retaining the Surrey League title it was felt vital to win the third fixture at Coulsdon. Through spirit and commitment to the cause a win was achieved – albeit by a pretty slim margin.
Late on we were dismayed to learn that Chris Greenwood wasn’t able to run, but greatly heartened when we heard that Nick Torry was going to turn out for us again. And we owe a debt of gratitude to Nick who went above and beyond the call of duty to appear for us in this fixture. Unsurprisingly with his wife recently having given birth to twins, Nick was chronically sleep deprived. Nevertheless, he ran well, achieving a fine fourth place. He demonstrated what a good tactician he is. He started very steadily and then moved to near the front of the field.
After fine wins in his last two races, it looked for a fair part of the race that John Gilbert might be able to make it three in a row. At the beginning of the second lap he had established a decent gap on Clapham’s, Andy Maud. However, the talented Maud is clearly a good down hill runner. It was on the descent to Happy Valley that Maud made up ground on John and surged into the lead. John chased hard, but was unable to get back on terms.
After Nick Torry’s heroics, our next man in was Max Nicholls (8th) who like last season has proved such an asset to the team. Tom Mower, who’d missed a couple of races recently, showed what we’ve missed. He just lost out on a top ten finish, coming (11th). Then there was another fine run from Jordan Weaver (16th). It was particularly good in the light of the fact that Jordan was battered and bruised after a collision with a moped a couple of weeks back. Just outside the top twenty, in this top quality field was Noah Armitage-Hookes (22nd). I believe he was a bit disappointed with his run at the Kent County the previous week. Hopefully, though, he’ll have been pleased with this run for as an Under 20 he was in and around some very good senior runners. A few seconds behind Noah we had Ben Harding (24th) and Dame Dibaba (26th). The scoring ten was completed by Neil Phillips (31st) and Ben Hope (40th).
As the full results show, there were plenty of other highly creditable runs from our runners who were comfortably ahead in the ‘B’ team stakes. But echoing what John Gilbert said post- race, this wasn’t just about the scorers, it was about the spirit and endeavour shown by all the runners who turned out for the club. I believe we declared 42 runners and although not quite that many made the start line, it was still an incredible turn out.
So after last weekend’s race, things are nicely set up for an exciting finale at Wimbledon. There have been some tight, competitive contests this season. Thames won the first fixture, but it was close with ourselves just down on Hercules. Hercules claimed victory at Mticham, but we weren’t far behind. And now with our narrow victory at Coulsdon, the destination of the league title looks set to go to the wire.
Mens Surrey CC League – totals after 3 matches
- Hercules Wimbledon 735
- KENT AC 749
- Thames H & H 982
- Herne Hill H 1246
- Belgrave H 1471
- Ranelagh H 1557
- South London H 1589
- Clapham C 1644
- Reigate P 2312
B teams
- KENT AC 334
- Hercules Wimb 944
- RanelaghH 1012
- Clapham C 1119
- Thames H & H 1159.5
- Herne HillH 1410.5
- South London H 1660
- Reigate P 2301.5
- Belgrave H 2344.5
Race 3 results – Sat 13th Jan 2018
- KENT AC 184
- Hercules Wimb 201
- Thames H & H 346
- RanelaghH 480
- Clapham Chasers 484
- Herne HillH 514
- South London H 556
- Belgrave H 564
- Reigate P 766
B team results – Sat 13th Jan 2018
- KENT AC 92
- Hercules Wimb 194
- RanelaghH 310
- Clapham C 320
- Thames H&H 426.5
- Herne HillH 528
- South London H 625
8..Reigate P 794.5
- Belgrave H 805
3rd Women’s Fixture Wimbledon Common.
The third of the four Surrey League XC 1st Division Fixtures was held at 11am on 13th January on Wimbledon Common, SW19. With favourable weather conditions (dry, a comfortable 7 degrees with a light wind), there was no room for complacency for the Kent AC ladies given their mid table position and the absence of Amy Clements owing to a calf niggle. The warm-up run led to much indecision as to whether spikes or trails were the footwear of choice as much of the course was on firm, stony ground but with the conditions in the woods unknown, it was a gamble of sorts.
With footwear decisions made, 23 Kent AC ladies crossed the start line upon the blow of the whistle at 11am; a start which was both narrow and uneven underfoot leading to a number of runners from other clubs taking a tumble in the first 50m. For anyone who did not position themselves near the front of the pack at the start line, the first 600m were both narrow and crowded and many runners were (frustratingly) held to the pace of those immediately in front of them. However, things soon opened up and the course thereafter provided plentiful space for overtaking – with the added bonus of being 80% dry and flat.
Katie Rowland and Teresa Murphy both committed to strong starts, with Isabel Bradley, Alexa Parker, Catherine Kandie and Sarah Hanley all in a good position to score for the As. Georgina Wiley, an Australian who has recently come over to the UK, made her debut appearance for the club and was also in the mix to score.
With Teresa pulling up during the first lap owing to a calf issue, the A scorers were Katie (37), Isabel (40), Catherine (42), Alexa (57) and Sarah (58) earning Kent AC 7th place overall. The B scorers were Georgina (63), Eliza Grant (78), Victoria Buck (82), Lydia Blackmore (87) and Emily Pignon (111), resulting in a 19th place (of a total of 30 teams) for the match.
Going into the final match of the season on 10th February at Richmond Park, Kent AC’s place in Division 1 seems secure and the goal for the final fixture is to close the 17/18 season above the current 8th position.
A Team Standings after 3 matches:
- THH 242
- C/C 270
- SLH 415
- BEL 471
- RAN 494
- HHH 496
- H/W 515
- KEN 557
- REI 660
- FUL 944
- FOT 954
- STR 1000
- E&E 1024
- DUL 1055
- WOK 1094