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Met League 1, 2024-25: Senior Women & Men

As Claybury Park took up its traditional role as host to the opening Met league fixture of the season, the incessant rain of September and October subsided for a short while to leave a surprisingly firm course for the seniors to tackle but with just enough mud to take the edge off the mad dash at the start. A sense of renewed optimism surrounded the team manager Whatsapp group in recent weeks with promises of large turnouts and plenty of new faces to join some returning stalwarts.

71 photos by Alex Wardle

Our ladies team saw their first double-figure turn-out in many years and were thrilled with their 4th place finish on the day. Despite some concerns about the 8k distance Emily Caton made her senior debut in style and was the first in green and white to cross the line, finishing in an impressive 19th place. Louise Gilbert was closely behind her in 23rd and if that’s how she runs whilst claiming to lack cross-country fitness, we look forward to seeing her race when she does feel back to full fitness! Suzanne Phillips was next in 26th to complete our trio of athletes in the top 30.

Having been given her Brenda Bray trophy just ahead of the race, Alicia McArdell had another impressive season opener to finish in 45th. Like many of the team, Alicia is always glad to see Claybury and its hills completed for another year as we look towards (slightly) flatter courses from here. Ever the committed club stalwart, Zoe Watson raced the week before her half Iron-man in Greece and finished 66th. Next in was Katie Olert whose 76th finish saw her close the women’s A team. Ever since joining this time last year, Katie has proved to be an invaluable club member, racing NALs and SALs throughout the summer and now returning for (hopefully) a full season of cross-country. With 6 ladies finishing ahead of her, team manager Kate Stockings (83rd) achieved her long wished for goal of not scoring in the A team. Yet with 10 ladies finishing, everyone counted as we closed a B team too.

Louise Cherry (142th) enjoyed the hills of Claybury as she made her club debut although admitted to perhaps going off a little fast at the beginning. Louise was one of many multi-generational pairings representing the club at this fixture with her daughter forming a key part of our U13 girls team. Having been a loyal member of Bertie’s training group for a while, it was also Gillian Whelan’s (160th) first Met League. With Gill admitting that she doesn’t like running on uneven ground, Kate was a little nervous but thrilled to see the smile on Gill’s face at the finish and even talk of purchasing some spikes for the next fixture!

Finally, it was great to see Yasmeen Robinson enjoy her first race for the club and finish in 166th place. Yasmeen and her partner Matt have also been training with Bertie’s group for a couple of months and both made their debut.

Buoyed by the sight of a complete women’s A and B team lapping the 3 loop course, 25 men toed the start line after looking resplendent in a green and white squad photo that took a wide-angle lens to accommodate everyone. It was a squad that delivered a 3rd place finish by the A team in the division 1 match, behind winners on the day Victoria Park and reigning league champions Highgate and a first place finish by the B team in division 3. 

Joel Doye has had a stellar few months after taking the decision to change his training set up. He significantly lowered his 1500m PB in August before gaining his first national podium place at the rescheduled National Cross Country championships. He continued that rich vein of form leading the club home on the day for 3rd place. This was a personal best placing for the young man but you wouldn’t know it from his post race modest tone which suggests there is a desire to add himself to the list of Woodford Met League senior race winners in the near future.

Captain-fantastic Tom Beedell was next home in 9th leading a trio that included Nathan Wright in 10th and Videsh Weerakkody in 12th. Tom leading by example has become the norm for the squad and his versatility on the country, road and track has been invaluable in recent years. Nathan’s break into the top ten for the first time was an eye-catching performance similar to that which his former training partner Joel achieved a few years ago. His second place in the under 20 competition demonstrates the exciting talent that he possesses. Videsh was close enough to see these two all the way to the line and having completed university and now located safely back down south it will be like a new signing for the club! We look forward to him improving as the season goes on.

Next in was Haider Razzaq who was making his Met League debut for the club having competed for the men’s squad at the end of last winter. He just missed out on a top 20 place in 21st but should be confident of lowering this position as the winter season training kicks in. He also managed to hold off the rush of the 20-30 placers that included Joe Owen in 28th. Being an 800m runner by trade the course was 10 times further than he would have preferred but it’s always nice to see the quick track boys getting involved on the country and showing up some of the distance lovers.

A slightly longer gap followed to Woodfords next scorer. Tom Phillips just missed out on the top 50 finishing 51st. As a member of the management team and V35 he doesn’t expect to have to deal with a shoelace coming undone in the first 100m and yet, despite all the experience, he did… Although it didn’t affect his performance, he will be focusing on his pre race-routine in greater detail next time out. Woodford’s second U20 on the day was the next scorer, Ronan Edwards,  just 10 seconds behind Tom and picking up a top 5 placing in the U20 category as a result.

Dan Steel (72th) was next in, admitting beforehand he wasn’t sure of his form or fitness due to a niggle that flared up at the recent National XC Champs. But, it demonstrated how solid a performer Dan is when it comes to Met Leagues and we can all be confident this position will get lower as he works towards his season aim of Boston marathon in the spring.

Simon Beedell ensured that the Beedells ruled the family competition in the first fixture (edging out the Edwards, Caton and Hogg pairs) by sneaking into the top 100 in 96th. Simon has spent most of the last month travelling for work and was due off again within 48 hours of finishing at Claybury. Although not up with Jordan Donelly-levels of Race-Fly-Sleep-Repeat this was still an impressive effort- especially given ongoing issues that have seen him regularly on the physio couch. 

Less than a minute behind Simon was Bertie Powell in 119th. A solid start to yet another Met League season for the ever present grandee. This was Bertie’s 98th consecutive Met League finish in a row and he has his eyes firmly set on making it to triple figures next month.

Closing the A team on the day was Rhys Edwards who scraped into the top 150 in 149th.  This left the Men’s A team on 1615 points for the day finishing behind Victoria Park Harriers & Tower Hamlets Athletic Club (1925 points) and Highgate Harriers (1721 points) and ahead of London Heathside who scored 1556 points. A great platform to build on for the season in what we expect to be an exciting team competition.

The battle to lead in the B team was a tantalising one pitching youth vs experience, speed vs strength. Ultimately Godwinner Nkebani (170th) got the better of 'Pistol' Pete Caton (175th) by less than 4 seconds. Neck and neck over the last half mile Pete knew he would have to drop the senior debutant before the uphill sprint to stand any chance but ultimately, he failed. Godwinner’s smile after the race showed how much he’d enjoyed his first outing and confirmed that the pre race worries about the step up in distance were unjustified. It’s hoped he will become an important member of the A team in races to come.

By now, finishers were coming in at more than 1 a second, Vladimirs Kalinis was next in in 190th. Another U20 making his debut for the men’s side put in a great performance to back up his training partner Godwinner for the B team. Chris Hogg also made his senior debut and was a welcome returnee having last raced in 2015 as an U17. He finished 231st and was the first part of the Hogg father-son duo. 

Kevin Murphy (296th) (a former winner of this race) led home the veteran triplet that included Jonathon Caton (300th) and Ben Stockhill (306th) separated by just over 30 seconds. Jonathon was racing in response to a discussion with daughter Emily (leading the senior women's team) about the distance of the races. Emily had vocalised some anxiety about stepping up to the senior distance when Jonathon had tried to encourage her by suggesting ‘it’s only 8k!’. Such a response received the cutting (and perhaps slightly predictable) comeback of ‘well I’d like to see you do it, Dad!!’ Ben had also watched son Harry compete earlier in the day and, as many will know,  it’s often harder being a spectator than a runner!

Another recruited father was Asif Hussain who competed for the club for the first time having been on parental and spousal supporting duties earlier in the day. He finished 316th and closed the B team who won the division 3 competition on the day with 414 points ahead of London Frontrunners C with 352 points.

Leading the C Team home was club stalwart Tony Panphilon who was 323rd and in doing so completed his 100th Senior Met League. Having run his first in 1987 before many of the squad were even born (sorry Tony), Tony has competed in Met Leagues in 5 different decades and is the second team member to make the milestone. A few niggling injuries weren’t going to stop him achieve the feat on his home course but it did mean he was willing to accept a few congratulatory handshakes before the race started for fear that others wouldn’t be able to stick around long enough to see him finish. These fears were unfounded though as, demonstrating the excellent club man he is, he finished in time to make the club photo at the end of the race and even help to dismantle some of the finish line!

Like his son Chris, Richard Hogg (324th) is making a welcome return to club races this year and completing the squad’s only father/son pairing of the day. Matt Skinner (366th) has recently joined the club and admirably threw himself into the race having admitted to not having done anything like it before. The smile on his face afterwards and the newly purchased pair of spikes suggests he will be back for more this season. 

Next in was the team’s other 100th Met man Paul Stockings (372nd). Paul is now well into the 160’s for Met League finishes and is eyeing up the summit of 200- there probably won’t be too many betting against him.

Closing a great day’s multi-generational cross country running for the club was Roger Green in 391st also taking second in the Vets 75 category. Woodford's 25th finisher meant that everyone was back in safe and sound before the rain began.  Having three dozen seniors complete the tough Claybury course was pleasing for the management team and one they hope to build on over the winter season.