Chingford League 2 – Eastbrookend Country Park
Woodford athletes produced a series of spellbinding results this Halloween weekend in the latest Chingford League fixture. Barking Road Runners were hosts at Eastbrookend Country Park (Dagenham). The opening fixture at the Olympic Velodrome attracted over 800 athletes from the 12 participating clubs, and this fixture was almost equal in size.
The Course
The park terrain was largely flat with grassy sections connected by long gravel paths. U11 & U13s ran a lap of ~2.25km. U15 & U17s ran 2x laps (~4.5km). Seniors ran 3 laps with an additional section of 750m making ~7.5km. The weather was fair. Conditions under foot were suitable for trainers although recent rains made spikes viable.
Senior Men (~7.5km)
191 senior men competed in this race. MacAulay (Heathside), the winner from race one, took victory in 26mins 18. Second place Mokenen (Enfield) stuck close to over the three laps but was unable to close a 5-10 second gap. Mokenen was closely followed by Barnes (Heathside) who repeated his third from the first fixture running 27mins 08.
First for Woodford, behind the leading trio was Aidan O’Driscoll (4th) in 28mins 10. Aidan looked strong, holding off experienced men behind and claiming good scalps. Aidan’s run came off the back of excellent performances in the Met league and SEAA CC relays. Aiden’s progress is testimony to his consistency over the last 3-4 seasons. His all-round athleticism has improved initially by taking on pole vault and more recently hurdles and steeple chase and he is gradually increasing his mileage this winter. As a winner of the junior age groups in this league he has stepped into the senior races with aplomb.
Senior Women (~7.5km)
177 senior women competed in this race. It was won by Zoe Oldfield (Loughton), for whom this first victory confirms her fine form as a veteran. Woodford’s Matilda Frith was first placed U20, running 46mins (121st overall). Matilda described the course as “horrible” but continues her outstanding record in the league. Like Aidan, as a previous winner of junior age groups Matilda is now plying her trade well in senior ranks.
U17 Girls (~4.5km)
12 U17girls competed in this race. The winner, and first home for Woodford was Isla Fulling following her second place from the opening fixture with a great victory running 19mins 40. Due to the proximity of home, Isla recently joined Harlow AC first claim but still dons the green and white when she can and continues to be a very welcome addition to the team sheet! Team-mate Alice Padian (2nd) also improved on her third place from the first race, running an excellent time of 21mins 43s to finish well clear of third placed Espinosa (Eton Manor). Alice is a good all-round athlete and can be found on Wednesday nights at Ashton topping up her middle-distance training with pole vault!
U15 Girls (~4.5km)
10 U15 girls competed in this race. Woodford’s Chloe Summers continues to make terrific progress and sealed a fine victory in Dagenham. Chloe led the team home in 19mins. Teammate Sophia Parker improved on her third place from the opening fixture with second place. Sophia looked strong run and ran 20mins 01. Rosie Muffett (3rd) was close behind and completed a clean sweep of the podium for the team and improved from 5th in her first race running 22mins 43.
Just behind the leaders, Woodford’s Emilia Kozinska led a chasing pack. Looking strong into the finish Emilia held off challenges from Ley (Loughton) and Adams (Ilford) to take 5th behind Wan (Ilford) in 23mins 04s.
U15 Boys (~4.5km)
10 U15 boys competed in the race. Woodford’s Eric Frith bounced back from disappointment at last weekend’s Essex trials to take a fine victory, running 17mins 03s and improving on third place in the opening fixture. Eric was unwell last weekend, but this run fully restored his confidence. He finished 30s ahead of second placed Zanaya (Enfield) and Perkins (Ilford).
Recent debutant Adam Findlay (5th) improved on his sixth at the first fixture and is improving race after race having joined the club in recent months. Teammates Tayo Adetona (6th) and Declan O'Brien (7th) were right behind Adam and both well under 20mins in a sign of their continued improvement and form in training sessions.
U13 Girls (~2.25km)
22 U13 girls competed in the race. It was a commanding performance from Woodford’s girls with Grace Cherry leading the charge running 8mins 42 to win the race, closely followed by teammate Chloe Ward (2nd) in 9mins 08 and Poppy Barker (3rd) in 9mins 10. The girls secured a clean sweep of the podium for the team who were also celebrating Grace and Poppy’s recent selection for Essex by virtue of their top 6 finishes in last weekend’s trial race.
Lottie Oates (4th) was next home for Woodford and is regaining her strength after illness. Lottie ran 9mins 16 and led a fantastic pack of young Woodford athletes with Sophia Stephenson (5th) in 9mins 28, Sarah Ramdane (6th) in 9mins 30, Maia Lalani (7th) in 9mins 39, Phoebe Quorn (8th) in 9mins 42, Rosie Barron (9th) in 10mins 02 and Phoebe Woods (10th) in 10mins 15 all finishing in the top ten.
Rosie’s finish was impressive given she tripped at the start and made her way up from last. In a strange way it was a great experience in terms of developing her technique as how to move through a field!
The team’s depth continued to show with Kehanique Lowe (11th) chasing down the top ten in 10mins 29, with Emilia Herbert (12th) running 10mins 37 and Ava Pugh (13th) running 10mins 51. Beatrice Pender, (14th) making her debut ran a solid 11mins 04, closely followed by Sophia Khan (15th) in 11mins 07 and Jessica Daza (16th) in 11:20 all placing in the top 20. Kaina Uddin (17th) in 11mins 21 and Karima Hussain (18th) completed the team in 12mins 20. Amongst this group, Ava Pugh deserves special mention after slipping at the first corner. Undeterred by a bleeding knee and grazed hips she fought her way around the course.
It’s worth mentioning that many of the U13 girls (and boys) are all-round athletes who thrive on team competition. Their enthusiasm and depth bodes well for the rest of the cross-country season and looking ahead to track next summer.
U13 Boys (~2.25km)
16 U13 boys competed in this race with Woodford’s boys showing superb strength in depth led home by Henry Richards. Henry won the race in 8mins 15 and oozed confidence fresh from his successful selection race at Essex trials last weekend. Teammate Jack Tonge (2nd) had his best race of the season running 8mins 22 for second with recent debutant Eli Sabb (3rd) running 8mins 57 for third securing another clean sweep of the podium for Woodford.
Maximilian Tharratt (4th) ran a composed 9mins 01. He is rapidly improving since joining this summer. Alfie Perkins (6th) ran 9mins 21 which was good considering he is more accustomed to running sprints these days! Luca Cook (7th) ran 9mins 27 with Arlo Barron-Smith (9th) running 9:49 to complete the top ten. The boys packed superbly well and the only non-Woodford athletes in the top ten were Lukas Vernal (5th) of Orion and Morgan Nash (8th) of Trent Park.
Just outside the top 10 were Woodford athletes Patrick Langan (11th) who ran 10mins 20, Ben Welsford (13th) who clocked 11mins 01 and Harry McNally (15th) who completed the team in 11mins 19. It was a very impressive display from all the boys.
U11 Boys (~2.25km)
A huge field of 31 U11 boys competed in the race with Woodford’s Raphael Thomas taking his second win of the league campaign in fine fashion in 8mins 27. Teammates Jesse Geller (2nd) and Theo Burke (3rd) packed superbly at the front of the race to fill the podium in 8mins 35 and 8mins 40 respectively. Like Theo, Josiah Sulola (4th) is another Wasp graduate showing potential and despite feeling unwell before the race ran an excellent 8mins 54. He was closely followed by George Davies (5th) in 9mins 07, Lenny Curling (6th) in 9mins 14, Noah Gavin (7th) in 9mins 20, Dominic Daza (8th) in 9mins 22, James Sambridge (9th) in 9mins 25 and Charlie Tonge (10th) in 9mins 40 making it 8 Woodford athletes in the top 10.
The team was not finished there with Rudy Pearson (11th) in 9mins 41, Seth Fayinka (12th) in 9mins 37, James Fall (13th) in 9mins 56, Luke Bachmann (14th) in 10mins and Michael Berry (15th) in 10mins 11.
Brothers Jack (16th) and Dylan Williams (17th) had a great tussle finishing just ahead of teammates Rex Quorn (18th) in 10mins 39, Harry Davies (19th) in 10mins 43 and Jude Brin (20th) in 11mins 02 who all finished in the top 20.
Ross Houston (21st) ran 11:02, Jude Oronsaye (22nd) ran 11mins 06, Cassius McQuaid (23rd) ran 11mins 17, Teddy Gull (24th) ran 11mins 23, Stanley Perkins (25th) ran 11:29, Konrad Wright 12mins 46 and Oscar Everitt (31st) ran 14mins 47 to complete the team with style sprinting to the finish!
These were all exceptional runs from the boys with many making debuts and stepping up from WASP age groups (U9).
U11 Girls (~2.25km)
18 U11 girls competed in this race, and it was Olivia Spink (Ilford) who won in a nail-biting running 10mins 01 to finish seconds ahead of Woodford’s chasing pack led by Nola Glover-Hammond (2nd) in 10mins 03, Kaya Affleck (3rd) in 10mins 04 and Esme Cherry (4th) in 10mins 06.
It was a terrific race and Woodford’s junior girls were not finished there with a huge chase group led by Deedee Brittain (5th) finishing in 10mins 30, Adriana McNally (6th) in 10mins 40 and Effie MacQueen (7th) making her debut in 10mins 55 with fellow debutant Mia Francis (9th) in 11mins 10 and Hannah Hussain (10th) in 11mins 13 completing the top ten.
Amelie Fabian (11th) ran a superb 11mins 24 in her first race this season as did Dami Adetona (12th) and Reeva Vora (13th) who crossed together in 11mins 27. Another debutant, Cora Norton (14th), finished in 11mins 52 with Nell Ferreira-Kocijancic (17th) finishing in 13mins 46s and Sofia Lalani (18th) completing the team in 14mins 29.
This was a brilliant performance from the girls and congratulations to all the Wasps coaches, young athlete helpers and assistants on the progress they are making as a team.
Summary
It was another terrific morning of racing at Dagenham. Many thanks to all the parents for remembering the numbers and volunteering to marshal around the course.
Next Chingford fixture is Saturday 22nd November (Trent Park). Hosted by Barnet & District AC and Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers, the Chingford League combines with the Northwest London League for this match as part of the historic Fraternity Cup.