Met League 2, Stevenage: Seniors
On Saturday, Herts Phoenix were the hosts and Stevenage was the venue for Start Fitness Metropolitan Cross Country League race two. There were strong contingents of guests from Cambridge University and from much further afield, the foothills of the Dublin mountains, in the shape of many athletes from Dundrum Athletic Club in the Irish Republic. Both sets of guests were of high quality and they swelled the fields to produce new records in both the men's and women's races.
This year the hosts were unable to use the enclosed forest trails, and with wind and rain sweeping the open field, it was the muddiest Stevenage any of us have seen.
From L to R: Nick Andrews, Daniel Steel, Harold Wyber, Ryan McKinlay, Tomaz Plibersek, Gareth Cavell, Peter Caton
Men's A team
Sitting on top of the league, the men knew that rivals would be aiming to reduce the deficit and even take the lead from us, and so it proved as, despite the pouring rain, a top quality race ensued and there was another record breaking field of 447 finishers.
First in for the team was Tom Phillips in 13th. He said afterwards that he had tried to hold on to the leaders for too long when the pace had started to hot up at the end of lap 1. But 13th was still an excellent effort at this high quality Met, and this manager wondered how many clubs' top athlete would have spent time before the race putting up the tent and then at the end stayed around to take it down - would Wayne Rooney have done this? Next in was Andrew Mariani in 29th. It was good to see Andrew back in a cross country race for the club, as injury had taken him out for almost two complete seasons. His quality is undeniable, but even he will take time to get used to the mud again, as he confessed before the start he didn't own any spikes longer then the 6mm for the track! Third in, it was good to see James Stockings down from Durham University and running well to come 34th. He said he is still in short fast mode so this high quality race on the mud was a slight culture shock, but he stuck to the task well for a very good season opener. Fourth in was Angus Holford in 40th. Angus had had a terrific opening Met but work commitments and having run a good half marathon up in Lancaster last weekend (75.25) meant he was interested to see how he went. The fact he kept his form so well was pleasing to see and if he can keep his routine he could go very well in some big races this season.
Fifth in for the team was Daniel Steel in 42nd. Getting ready for the Istanbul marathon next week he had hoped this race would be a confidence boost for the marathon. But the road is where Daniel excels, the mud he is beginning to master, so this manager feels that he should go into the marathon in very good spirits. In just behind was Simon Beedell in 43rd. Simon, who has been in sharp form due to him targeting and getting a pb at the Berlin Marathon, again showed his new level, as he drove through the mud and improved on this 79th last year by 26 places! In seventh was Gavin Lewis in 48th. This manager has noted Gavin's laid back manner many times, but he took this to a whole new level this time, as he was still making his last preparations at the camp when the gun went off! So he had to run after the field and then through it, thereby probably losing at least a minute in total. But the controlled way Gavin ran the race was testament to his ability and the starting handicap may have really made him focus. In eighth was Bertie Powell in 52nd. On being told the team he straight away knew he had to run well to get in to our top 12. But who can doubt Bertie? This was his 60th Met League in a row, and he only missed out on our top 12 when so injured his running style was more like the triple jump, hopping, skipping and jumping than it was running! So it is very pleasing to see Bertie return to enough health to let him do some running - when fully fit Bertie could be right up there.
Ninth in, and just a step behind, was Harold Wyber in 53rd. Harold is also doing the Istanbul marathon next week, but feels training hasn't been fully adequate so a 2.45 is his aim rather than a PB. But Harold is a mud man, loving the bad conditions, and he even sent this manager an email hoping there would be a lot of rain to make the race interesting! (Yes everyone can now blame Harold for the conditions - although the email was tongue-in-cheek we can safely say the torrential downpour was entirely his fault). In next was Omar Mansour in 59th. Omar started well but was afflicted at the end of lap 2 by a stitch-like problem that sometimes strikes and makes running very tough. He said at the end that the mud can cause such a problem, and such is the recent Chingford League winner's talent, that it had this manager wondering if he could get a couple of miles of Astroturf to put down at Wormwood Scrubs for the next Met, but then realised it was probably such bending of the rules that saw so many end up at her Majesty's pleasure at the Scrubs in the first place! In eleventh was Ryan McKinlay in 70th. It is always tough to lose an athlete on the day but as the race neared and no Ryan was seen, this manager assumed that something must have cropped up. So it was with some pleasure that half way through lap one Ryan was seen, but he had started very late and had had a mountain to climb just to catch the field! The fact he did and made our 12 is a staggering example of his talent. Closing the team was Tony Russell in 71st. This was a very good run by Tony, who has now established himself as an A team man, as this was our best Met 12 in this manager's time, and so it was very pleasing to see Tony put illness at the end of the summer behind him and put in a performance like this one, back to near top form.
This closed our A team in 71 places, beating our result from last year by 18 places, and was really a tremendous effort. Unfortunately we came up against a very good Highgate who just managed to edge it on the day and now are league leaders by just 11 points from us in second.
Ken Bray Trophy ranking - Excel
Women's team
After that brilliant first outing of the season comes the inevitable difficult second fixture. If it wasn’t the challenging journey, it was a combination of illness, injury and other constraints that - seemingly in contrast to every other London club and Cambridge University - left the Woodettes unseasonably depleted for this usually favoured flat, fast one. Anybody who knows our girls can testify that the torrential rain had nothing to do with it.
Saturday saw yet another record field in this prestigious league. And because we didn’t start a team at the gun it was no surprise that we didn’t finish one, but that didn’t stop the Woodie quality shining through the gloom (and the gloop). Suzanne Turvey (23) (worth 18th if you discount the Cambridge guests) was first scorer in green & white. A twelve place improvement on last year, and building on her strong performance at “more comfortable” Claybury; Suzanne keeps getting better. More to come from her as those hardcore Mile End sessions, (or maybe some domestic Phillips/Turvey rivalry) start to pay off. Next over the line was Vets' Vet V45 Bernadine Pritchett (67) giving yet another solid performance, worth 56 in a non-guest currency. Third, less than a minute behind Bernie, was race newcomer U20 Alicia McArdell (88), putting in a great run that no doubt caused coach John Stow to glow. Closing for Woodford was another Vet stalwart V50 Karen Horswood (158) (142) definitely running for WGEL, even if her vest suggested otherwise.
A drop to fifth and seventh place in the Division 1 and Vets competitions, respectively, and a bit of a setback to do this so early in the season. Unlucky this time; but lets hope we can get a strong showing out at Wormwood Scrubs.
Senior Men B team
Starting the B team for the first time was Tomaz Plibersek in 76th. The fact that Tomaz was not in our A team shows the strength of the team, but Tomaz will admit he is not in top top shape and he too had to chase down the field as he was standing next to the tent when the gun went off! So these setbacks meant that Tomaz was kept out of our A team for the first time, but this manager hopes it will only be a matter of time before the Slovenian international is back as a main post in our A team. In next was Gareth Cavell in 109th. Cross country can be a funny event as you can run better but come in a lower position due to the strength of the field. But this was a very good run by Gareth, underlined by him beating for the first time another vet who usually beats him by a minute! In next was Pete Caton in 146th. The fact Pete was one of the few to come anywhere close to their Claybury result (136th) shows that this was a very good race for Pete and the gruelling training he is putting in is paying dividends. He would also have been pleased to just edge out team mate Julian Russell who was just behind in 147th. Julian after being so close to hitting his season's target of breaking the top 100 in the first met will be sorry to be further away this time round, but with Cambridge University sending a strong team the result was not a bad one and this manager thinks Julian will break into the top 100 in the next couple of Mets.
In fifth for the team was Nick Andrews in 158th. This really was a good run for Nick, beating his Claybury run by one position and again underlining that if he can stay injury free he could start to climb the placings at a dramatic rate. In next was Alan Rugg in 196th. Always pleasing to see Alan, it is even more so at the moment as he is showing some great form, as again he was the first V55 in the race, but was kept on his toes by fellow V55 Tony Pamphilon who kept him very much in sight coming 205th. What with these two, Gareth Cavell (4th V45 in this race) and our International V60 Dave Cox, people will be wondering what is in the water around Woodford that keeps people powering along so well!
In eighth for the team was Stuart Smith in 207th. Stuart is new to the cross country game and maybe feeling a bit discouraged, as a very good run only saw him make up 6 positions on Claybury. But when you think he came 2 seconds behind Tony who at Claybury had come 48 places and 1min18sec ahead, you can see what a big step up he made in this race. In next was James Perry in 253rd. Having come off a marathon, James has got back into cross country mode to see all the people who he was close to in races last year having been taken out by injury! But he stuck to the task well and if he can stay injury free it won't be long before he will break into the 100's. Closing the team was Alun Evans in 308th. Alun has been running well at the Wanstead Flats park runs and he would have been pleased to beat his position of last year by 6 places and grab the last B team place, to emphasise his good form for this time of the season.
This closed our B team in 308 and gave us third on the day in Division 2 behind London Heathside B and Serpentine B. This means we are third in the table with a gap both to second and fourth, which, as we have been missing many of our mid-pack Met men this season, shows what fantastic depth we have to our squad.
Men's C team
Starting the C team was Paul Stockings in 325th, Paul will be looking to get over injury and get back to his mid-summer fitness so that the only 3 on his disc will be in the middle or last digit not the starting one, but he completed his main aim of ticking off another Met so that Bertie can't make inroads into his met record of 130+ appearances! Closing the team was fittingly 'C team captain' Trevor Powell in 412th. It is only at Stevenage that he has seen 400+ by his name, so no doubt he will be looking to get back to the other Mets where he is getting nearer the 300 than the 400 mark! Mention here must also go to two young athletes, Canaan Solomon and Daniel Rowden. Canaan looked in really fine form close to the top 40 in this excellent Met before it was seen as a prudent move for him to pull out and Daniel was well inside the top 100 before his calves tightened and meant that stopping was wise before he was forced to stop, it was great to see both going so well in the race.
The C team came 19th on the day and are 17th in Div 3 overall. So, at race 2 at Stevenage, renowned for being the toughest of the Met season, the team had done excellently in some awful weather conditions, and with the league title being in the balance it is off to Wormwood Scrubs on the 5th December for Met race 3.