Senior men 11th at South of England championships
9 Woodies contested the Senior Men’s race at the South of England cross-country championships at Beckenham Place Park on 25th January. Oliver Bushdari made the standout, and breakout, contribution, with a superb run for 28th place in his first Southern championship in any age-group, and led the team to a solid 11th place.
The championships were back at Beckenham for the fourth consecutive year, and yet again the weather was kind for spectators and runners alike. This was the first occasion where the course was left the same as the previous year. The labyrinthine pattern of one small lap and two large laps has largely eliminated the lapping that plagued the 2022 and 2023 editions. It provides all flavours of cross-country running, including proper boggy mud, firm and fast grass, clattering over hard paths, woodland, open space, and a hill with a view to the Crystal Palace and Croydon transmitting stations, for those of us into that sort of thing. But it also provided multiple flavours of confusion.
Oliver Bushdari’s started his run for home from the top of the final hill, thinking the finishing straight was soon after the descent. Fortunately, on realising there was a kilometre-long loop to go, his momentum carried him past a small group to take him to 28th place. For more local perspective, this was squarely between the Essex silver medallist Callum Charleston (8th) and bronze medallist James Stewart (45th).
Oliver Bushdari's 1st Southern CC was an outstanding one.
Angus Holford and Tom Adolphus crossed the line in 87th and 88th after Angus caught Tom late and edged out a final sprint. Angus was delighted to be close to his post-pandemic highs of 2022 and 2023, and to still be just about beating his string of 90-ish placed finishes from over a decade ago. Tom has no such benchmarks to compare with, but recognizes it was an off-day after a week of cold and cough, and that this was his longest ever race (full stop). After the finish, his thoughts immediately turned to his targets for the National, but he has many years still to improve.
Tom Phillips was 118th, and immediately afterwards launched into a tempo run in support of his marathon training. He was pleased with his run; finding his position on the opening loop and holding it over the longer laps, staying about the same distance behind the more aggressively-starting Angus and Tom. A Southern champion (like a President, a title for life, surely?!) over 1500m, Tom’s track speed carried him past an Orion athlete at the end, adding another little assertion of Woodford’s local superiority.
Our team was closed in by Dan Steel in 158th; and Simon Beedell in 269th; who had both expected three large laps and shared conflicted thoughts on being grateful it was over, with might-have-beens about slightly different tactics had they been able to gauge the distance to go more accurately. However, both delivered solid runs in line with recent form and can be pleased with their positions.
Skipping ahead briefly, our final two men in were son-and-father duo Chris and Richard Hogg in 508th and 593rd respectively. Both felt they ran out of steam around 2km before the finish, with their current mileage not quite enough to meet the requirements of the longest of the major cross country championships. Both enjoyed the experience on a bright sunny day, and resolve to redouble their efforts ahead of the National.
The team’s back-up came in the form of Bertie Powell (367th), who was there to enjoy getting round, and did. This is an impressive feat for the veteran star. He is one of two of today’s team who have won team honours with Woodford in this championship, the other being Holford, 17 and 15 years ago respectively, both bronzes. The best runners have become much more concentrated in big clubs since, but at the finish Oliver noted a feasible team of current Woodies in which he could have been 5th or 6th scorer, that could surely challenge. However, while Bertie and Angus can reminisce and the team managers plan, second claimer James Stockings got on with the business of the present. His 42nd place closed in Hercules Wimbledon’s scoring 6 to secure a team silver medal. Highgate took gold (94 points). Hercules Wimbledon’s 136 just edged out bronze medal winning Kent AC’s 141.
Woodford’s 11th place, with 748 points, was a fair reflection of the team available, after Ed Shepherd and Tom Beedell made the sensible decision to withdraw due to injury. True to season’s form, Woodford were fourth Met League club, behind Highgate, Victoria Park (6th) and London Heathside (8th). Essex Champions Southend and rivals Havering both failed to complete a team.
The seniors look forward to gaining back the here-separated Juniors Nathan Wright and Nate Harding (11th and 55th in Junior race respectively) for the Met League in two weeks time at Trent Park, and wish a speedy recovery and good training as we plot our assault on the National Championships at Parliament Hill next month.
Mark Hookway’s video coverage (Oliver Bushdari finishing at 23:45; Angus Holford and Tom Adolphus at 26:30)