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Senior Woodies back in the medals at Essex CC

From L to R: Tom Adolphus, Tom Beedell, Darren Southcott,
Dan Steel, Josh Entwistle, Angus Holford

Woodford’s Senior Men’s team won silver medals at the 2025 Essex Cross Country Championships at Gloucester Park, Basildon, on 4th January. Despite the impressive performances of three Woodford men; Tom Beedell, Josh Entwistle and Tom Adolphus all making the top 10, the team title was convincingly retained by Southend, who were led in by individual champion Adam Hickey. Southend scored 77 points to Woodford’s 110, with Colchester Harriers taking bronze with 147.

Results

 

The freezing weather of the past few days made for a firm course. The marquee and DJ setup and multiple hay bales on each lap were retained, but a set of artificial hairpin bends were removed. There was slightly less mud to sap energy on the uphills and to present a metaphorical banana skin on the downhills. But the hills themselves, regrettably in several team members’ estimations, remained.

 

Past double individual bronze medallist Tom Beedell was first in in 6th place. Tom had made efforts to increase his training over Christmas, including organizing a rare squad group session last week, but he had been ill in the intervening week. While frustrated to have been dealing with illness, and noting some absences from the top-end of the field, he was pleased to be back in the top 10. Josh Entwistle does not make many cross country appearances and his run for 8th was perhaps the team’s biggest surprise of the day, not least to himself on his 25 mile per week routine. The squad will miss him from further championships this year owing to other commitments. Tom Adolphus’ 9th place shows the great strides he has made over the last year, and as the youngest scoring team member on the day by some distance, he has the clearest potential to push on for high individual placings and Inter-Counties representation over the coming years.

 

There was a long wait for Angus Holford who was 22nd, and pleased to (just about!) be closer to his 2022 and 2023 form than 2024’s off-year. Darren Southcott was unfortunate also to be ill for half of his two-week visit home from his base in Singapore, and battling symptoms worse than Tom Beedell’s, really felt the difficulties set in as early as the first set of hills. Darren steadied himself and did not cede many places to finish 30th however. Dan Steel, who was 35th, also really felt the hills, but was pleased to have persisted for the team result.

 

Of our non-scorers, but still essential to the team effort, Harold Wyber was first in, in 47th. Harold was excellent back-up and as with previous championships was unfortunate to go away empty handed as our 7th man. Had he been called on to close the team in place of any of our 4th, 5th or 6th man we would still have won the team silver. Chris Hogg was 148th, after a dash from the dentist’s chair two hours earlier. The race was considerably more painful, Chris reported, declaring he wouldn’t be able to look at a hill for a few days! Feroz Manzoor made his county championship debut and was 186th. He felt he had improved on Uxbridge, and was still in the thick of the race, just edged out by a second for the place in front, and with more than a baker’s dozen of finishers behind him.

 

It was clear at the finish that Southend had won the day. Theirs was an unusually, though not exceptionally, dominant performance, only close to but not matching the level achieved by Woodford’s gold medal streak of of 2015 (42), 2016 (51), 2017 (42)  and 2018 (73). Woodford’s own score this year would in turn comfortably have won each of the last three championships. However, Southend may be set for period of dominance akin to Woodford’s 2015-2018 streak unless we can ensure we have all our big (and young) guns out next time.