The Bels ended their gold medal drought with two team trophies at Lloyd Park, while the Belles also came out on top in the women’s race.

Bels break their duck in Croydon

Words by Big Rob Kelly

After a disappointing result at the SOT ‘Junior’ 5 mile weeks previous, 13 Bels embarked on a challenging course at the grey and boggy Lloyd Park, aiming to transform their team silver into gold. With both 6-to-score and 12-to-score categories available for the men, the team approached the competition with confidence, yet remained wary of the formidable numbers that Kent, Dulwich, and Tonbridge brought to Lloyd Park.

Sam Gebreselassie and Fin Dyer strategically maneuvered through the field and were the first home for the Claret and Gold army in 4th and 7th place. Stellar performances from both men who are close to returning to the top form they had showcased over the summer.

Packing well just behind was Sam Sommerville (10th) and Ollie Garrod (11th). Sam put in another excellent performance we are so used to seeing this season and Ollie as consistent as ever. Having two runners of this calibre as our 3rd and 4th scorers just shows the impressive depth of the men’s squad this year.

Belgrave’s own Xavi and Iniesta (or Crouch and Defoe?) were next up. Conall McNally and Jonny Neville were 18th and 20th to round out the 6-to-score team. It’s alleged that Conall keeps a record of his head-to-head record against various members of the Belgrave team in an excel spreadsheet. No doubt, he’ll be satisfied to accumulate another victory over Jonny.

Anyone who has watched a Belgrave XC fixture over the last number of years will be used to seeing this duo dovetail excellently, picking off fading runners and spurring each other on - two valuable assets to our team.

Next home were even more Belgrave stalwarts in Michael McCarthy (26th), Angus Lamb (28th) and Tom Lole (30th). The trio packed well to overcome the hilly boggy course and were unlucky not to place in the 6 to score team.

Rounding out the 12 to score team were James Preston (35th), Matt Edgar (37th) and Rob Kelly (41st). All picked off Kent runners in the last lap, recognising the potential impact on the team’s 12-to-score standing.

Jonny Scott rounded out the Belgrave runners in 50th. Unfortunately a challenging day for Jonny who was feeling fatigued from a fabulous 10k performance in Telford 6 days previous.

These gutsy performances proved to enough, with the men securing both team trophies – a testament to the remarkable depth of the squad. The team will be hoping to carry this fine form into the upcoming county championships and Surrey league races at the beginning of January.

Gold for the Belles, Silver for Adamson

Words by Charlie Dickinson

The Belles completely dominated the team race in the South of Thames 7.5 mile Championship race in Lloyd Park, with all six scorers finishing in the top ten. Their winning margin over second placed South London Harriers was an incredible 36 points to 101. Léa Adamson had an excellent race finishing second to the very experienced Georgie Buinvels of Aldershot by just 20 seconds.

The firm grass on the start/finish field proved quite deceptive with runners meeting the usual heavy mud and puddles at the top of the course. Lloyd Park in the winter is never easy. However, it was a fairly warm day for December and although it was a gloomy grey day, at least the rain held off.

Georgie and Léa soon broke away from the rest of the field and were running together on the first of the three laps in which they had carved out a substantial lead. Thereafter, the Aldershot athlete, who had won the South of England title last year, and also the recent South of Thames five miler, managed to pull clear, but never by much. Léa managed to keep her in sight right to the end with the winning margin a mere 20 seconds. 

Natalie Beadle thrives in tough conditions so this was her ideal race. She is in fine form over the country this year, and has a second string as a fell runner and is therefore very strong on the hills. She settled into 4th place on the first lap and continued in this position right to the end looking very comfortable throughout. 

Naomi Lenane is another Belle who has come into fine form after several injuries in the late summer. However, she woke up with a cold and was on the point of dropping out until she heard that there were three other late drop outs in the previous 12 hours, and the team was down to the bare six. So, Naomi very kindly agreed to come saying she would just 'jog' round to make up the team. She did rather more than that, finishing in 5th place! 

Another athlete coming into form is club captain Mimi Corden-LLoyd. Perhaps happier now that the races have increased in length, Mimi judged the race superbly, starting quite cautiously and moving through the field as the race progressed. Like the rest of the team, she loves at first catching, and then overtaking the men in the field.  Mimi finished just a minute behind Naomi in 7th place.

Ella-May Hards was just one further place back. After a somewhat slow start to the season recovering from her summer of Duathlons, Ella is now back to her best and had  very finely judged race looking stronger as the race progressed.

Laura Goodson did start rather optimistically on the first lap and subsequently did lose a couple of places, but she is a very competitive runner and held on right to the end without dropping back further. She completed this very strong team finishing in an excellent tenth out of 62 women who completed the race.

The Belles therefore added the South of Thames 7.5 mile trophy to the 5 miler they won in November. They have a fine record in the this race, it was the sixth time they have claimed the Championship win in the last ten years.

Women were only first admitted into this race in 2004 and the winning team receives an engraved plaque to keep. They did note however, the comparison between their small trophy, and the huge shield received by the Belgrave men's winning team. Perhaps the South of Thames should redress the balance.

RESULTS.

1. G. Bruinvels (AFD) 46:34, 2. L. Adamson 46:54, 3. P. Smith (SLH) 48.24, 4. N. Beadle 50:53, 5. N. Lenane 51:19, 7. M. Corden-Lloyd 52:17, 8. E-M. Hards 53:02, 10. L. Goodson 53:27.

TEAMS.

1. Belgrave Harriers 36, 2. South London Harriers 101, 3. Dulwich 140, 4. Kent AC 169.