Met League race 4: Seniors
On Saturday 16th of January the 4th Start Fitness Metropolitan CC League fixture took place under clear blue skies at Perivale. Even though the temperature was close to zero the competition between the teams was still hot with Serpentine looking to close on us again and Highgate wanting to stay clear of any last fixture tussles.
First man in for us was Tom Phillips (pictured above racing Highgate's England international Shaun Dixon) in 7th. This was the first time this season that this manager thought he may write 'first man in for us' and not put Tom's name beside it, such was the class of some of our men behind Tom. But the new Essex champion looked in fine form and even under the conditions that certainly did not suit any road or track man, he showed that if he goes better on the track then the cross country, he will now be in some very elite level races this summer.
Photos (by Alex Wardle)
Next in for us was Matt Gunby in 11th. Matt has only been back running since the start of the season, this after nearly two years out with only a slight running hiatus in that time. But such is his quality he has already done a 31 min 10k this season, but still came into the race unsure of how it would go. At the end of the first lap Matt was in the leading group and at times was even pushing the pace, but having done all his training on solid ground the conditions started to take their toll at the end of lap 2. But finishing in 11th on a course where track/road specialists like Martyn Cryer have found it tricky (Martyn was 72nd here in Met 4 then a month later was 12th in Met 5 in 2013!), Matt should feel that this was just a tick in the box, and for the club it was great to have him back. In third for the team was Angus Holford in 28th. This manager is getting used to writing 'this was an excellent run by Angus', as under his new coach he is making good progress and he should be looking keenly at the Southerns in a fortnight's time, as he builds up for a shot at the marathon this year. In fourth for the team was Stephan Wenk in 31st. 
It has been a bonus to have Stephan (pictured right) in the team, as it looked likely last season that he would be moving back to Switzerland permanently this season. When club man Darren Southcott had to work in Zurich, Stephan had welcomed him to his training group, and the report from Darren was that Stephan was in good form. This was shown here as, although flat and muddy might be what Stephan would put as his worst combination to run on, he showed how good his conditioning is by putting in this performance. If he can make the next Met at Ally Pally, the mountain runner may be one of the few athletes to view the hill as a mere mound and not the vast task that it feels to others!
In fifth was Daniel Steel in 35th. Daniel had been well beaten by Angus last week at the County Championships, but admitted on the way up that he had taken it easy over Christmas in order to recover from the Istanbul marathon, and also so that he'd peak at the right time for the big races coming up. After only two weeks back in training this was another good run, and when we get to the road races it will be hard not to see Daniel in any of our A teams. In just behind was Simon Beedell in 37th. Simon had done the Berlin Marathon, and this manager before the race enquired if Simon had eased back on training over the festive period, but found out that Simon had in fact kept training up as he had wanted to run 3000 miles in the year! This manager just hopes that Simon's brother Tom isn't reading this and is now plotting how to do 3000 miles in 11 months. In next was the globetrotter, Jordan Donnelly in 40th. 
Jordan (pictured left) had come on an overnight flight from America and had been in the airport for 4 hours before getting on the train, so had had about two hours sleep. How he was standing up, let alone racing, is testament to his toughness, but he admitted after, that by lap 3 just lifting his legs up was a major challenge! In eighth for the team was Bertie Powell in 42nd. If Simon has done 3000 miles last year, in the past 4 weeks Bertie has done just 28 miles as injury has hampered him again. Fortunately he has a lot of miles in the bank, and it has to be remembered when fit, Bertie had been 7th at Perivale in the Met in 2011, so showing how much ability he has.
In next was Tony Russell in 49th. Tony has been training consistently and racing consistently for a while now. When this happens a jump up sometimes occurs and with Tony already setting his 10k pb on the road this season and forever narrowing the time difference on those ahead of him, he is making it so only a small jump is needed to see him in the lead Woodford pack. In just behind was Tomaz Plibersek in 54th. Tomaz on the train up said he was considering his options for next year, to lose the Slovenian CC international would always be a bitter blow, as even though his training is some way off where he said he would like it to be, Tomaz can still produce solid A team performances like this one. In next for the team it was great to see the return of Donatas Tumaitis in 79th. Donatas has only been back running for a few weeks and the fact that his warmup was running from the train and just making the start, to produce a run to get into the 70's shows his considerable ability. With just under a month of training possible before the next Met race, if training goes to plan we could easily see Donatas back in the 50's! Closing the A team and first time under 100 was Julian Russell in 85th. Sometimes after a long period of consistent training and racing you get towards a peak where you get two outstanding results at the same time. When one thinks back to Julian's first Met race, two seasons ago, when he came 233rd at Stevenage, the fact he closed our A team and was inside the top 100 for the first time shows how well Julian has progressed, I hope this new found fitness will help him as he targets the Comrades Marathon in the near future!
This closed our A team in 85 and gave us 3rd place on the day behind an excellent Serpentine and solid Highgate team. To close 12 in 85 is a very good performance, but how the squad really rallied round, with people coming from all over to help the cause was really a mark of how the team all pull together over the many months of the Met League season.
Opening the B team was Louis Clark in 88th. It is great to see Louis getting back to his best, as at the end of last year he made it his goal to run a 33min 10k (a pb) at 33, but then misfortune struck taking him out for the next 3 months. But now he is back, and with rapid improvement suddenly his 10k goal seems a lot closer, so a nice spring 10k could well see him achieve his feat. In just behind was Rob Wilbraham in 91st. Having Rob back in this new year has been a big bonus and although his mileage is high so takes the edge off his racing at the moment, when he tapers we could see some very impressive results from him. And he could have a very handy track season, which he was denied last year as he broke his ankle right at the start of the summer when he was in very fine form. In next was Joe Everitt in 98th. Joe had an injury scare in the week when, after doing sprints in S&C, his legs and hips tightened so much that he couldn't sleep without cramping up! So it was impressive to see Joe line up at the start, but this manager's heart sank when at the end and collecting Joe's disc, Joe had said his hamstring had "gone" - this manager can only hope it is severe cramp and with a few easy days all is well.
In fourth for the team was Pete Caton in 102nd. Pete, like Julian, had been hoping to break the top 100 for the first time in this Met, and to come so close is annoying. But Pete's passion is for the summer and the track where he has some lofty best of age ambitions and so all these hard miles on the mud will be strengthening his core and legs so when he gets to firm ground his natural speed should be even more enhanced. In a day when this manager had many pleasant surprises, none were more pleasant than when Daniel Mann appeared, as we had not seen Daniel since the first Met League of this season. He picked a good race to come to, as he scored excellent points for the team coming in 125th place, and didn't look too far off being in very decent form. In next was Gareth Cavell in 142nd. Gareth showed great team spirit by coming out and running, as racing on the country is not clicking at the moment and so the races are just survival for Gareth. This manager hopes that when he gets back to firmer ground Gareth sees all his hard work pay off.
In seventh for the team was James Perry in 182nd. This was a landmark day for James too, as this was his first time in the 200 and to do it with so much room to spare shows how he is now running at a higher level then he has before, and his action showed this as he now drives forward with great impetus even on surfaces as treacherous as the mud at Perivale. In next was Alun Evans in 262nd. Alun is in good form and should have been pleased with his position, only 4 places off his best Met position in the last two years, shows that it was a very good run. In next was Paul Stockings in 321st. Before the start Paul admitted that he had an ingenious plan to keep his Met League streak going as, although injured, he was not running between races and then willing himself around the 5 miles! I hope that as he reads this on the ski slopes this week his legs are not giving him too much grief! Closing the team was Grant Corton in 343rd. It is great to have Grant who is first claim Orion willing to come do the Mets and although he may have been sorry to see Paul get back ahead of him, he still finished 20 places higher than in the last Met race. And to start and close the C team was fittingly the man who has been given the mantle over the seasons of 'C team Captain' the good Dr, Trevor Powell in 372nd. 
A stalwart of the team, Trevor (pictured below) is never phased by conditions or opponents - in fact he was one of the first to sign up to the Southerns in two weeks time!
The B and C teams stay mid table (ish). The post-Christmas Mets always test squad depth as high quality races are now all lined up, but to get 23 on the start line was a great team effort and some of the performances from the team were excellent, as was the effort put in by all and the team spirit. It was noted that Woodford had good support around the course so many thanks to the spectators who came up to watch and cheer the athletes on. The next team race is the Southern Cross Country champs at Parliament Hill on January 30th.