Belles extend Surrey XC League lead with convincing win

Credit: Conall Whelan

The Belles won the third Surrey League match to extend their lead over Thames Hare and Hounds to 42 points, with just one race remaining. The Belles’ ‘B’ team also beat all the other 'B' teams and now have a lead of 350 points over their closest rivals, Herne Hill Harriers. 

It was a very cold and damp day on Wimbledon Common with the host club Thames describing their course as 'traditional cross-country'; a mixture of soft going on the playing fields, stony and rutted tracks and narrow, twisty muddy paths with hazardous tree roots through the 'Butts'. (The 'Butts' is where First World War soldiers were trained to prepare for the horrors of the trenches.) In other words, conditions were tough.

Many of the team made a sensible fast start to negotiate a narrow gap just 80 meters from the start. Emily Robbins was always with the leading few runners and maintained this throughout the race to finish an excellent 4th. Emily rejoined the club last Autumn after a gap of seven years and is fast becoming one of our strongest athletes. 

Léa Adamson bleeds claret. Photo Jerry Sun.

Léa Adamson had been ill for two weeks after New Year so wasn't expecting to run at her best. However, she ran to support the team and seemed fine on the day, finishing in an excellent and surprising tenth place. She was followed in 15th by triathlete Rachel Brown making a very welcome return to the team after Autumn injuries. Rachel can always be relied upon to give her best.

Runners finished thick and fast in the late teens and early twenties and the Belles completed their scoring five with Naomi Lenane in 22nd. Then in 24th finished Karen Xiang who had only recently returned from Florida, which is currently rather warmer than Wimbledon Common. 

The B team were led in by Emily Bradley, running better with every race despite her massive swim training, then was followed close behind in the thirties by Natalie Beadle - supporting the team as ever - and Katarina Bonner with a very strong run. This wasn’t track runner and joint captain Stephanie Hewitt’s favourite course, but Steph is a team player and ran well to finish in the mid-thirties. Liv Papaioannou had her best run this season to complete the B team's scoring five. Liv is slowly regaining fitness after a nasty stress fracture last year. 

Sam Munday and captain Mimi Corden-Lloyd, just back from a skiing holiday, both finished well in the forties which illustrates the Belles strength in depth. Thames have some very strong athletes with three finishing in the top ten, but Belgrave had thirteen runners finishing ahead of their fifth scorer which is the reason they won the match.

Early leader Emily Robbins ahead of HHH’s Georgie Grgec and Karen Xiang. Photo Danny Easton

Mhairi Hall is back training for the April London Marathon and always be counted to run her hardest. Unfortunately she popped her hamstring right at the finish, and hopefully this won't interrupt her training for too long. Then Lydia Gallyer-Barnett inside the top hundred out of 259 finishers, and finally Sara Ridmy who lost a shoe early on and Jennifer Beecroft who has supported the team for many years. 

The Belles will need to be at their best to ensure victory over a very strong Thames team in the final match at West Horsley on  February 10th, but with this performance have given themselves every chance to regain the league title they lost last year. 

Individual results

  1. G. Grgec (HHH) 29:13, 2. E. Aspley (Thh) 30:02, 3. D. Chattenton (CC) 30:13, 4. E. Robbins 30:35, 10. L. Adamson 31:29, 15. R. Brown 32:05, 22. N. Lenane 32:17, 24. K. Xiang 32:22, 27. E. Bradley 32:41, 30. N. Beadle 32:56, 31. K. Bonner 32:57, 37. S. Hewitt 33:20, 40. O. Papaioannou 33:26, 44. S. Munday 33:39, 47. M. Corden-Lloyd 33:55, 50. A. N.Other 34;16, 67. M. Hall 35:28, 93. L. Gallyer-Barnett 36:45, 155. S. Ridmy 40:07, 222. J. Beecroft 47:06. 259 completed the race. 

Team results

  1. Belgrave A 72, 2. Thames Hare and Hounds 104, 3. Herne Hill Harriers 106, 4. Guildford 116, 5. Clapham Chasers 120, 6. Stragglers 152, 7. Kent 152,  8. Belgrave B 158.

Standings after three fixtures

  1. Belgrave A 190, 2. Thames Hare and Hounds 232, 3. Herne Hill harriers 332, 4. Belgrave B 437. 

Charlie Dickinson