A busy weekend of racing part 1 for BellesAuthor: Charlie DickinsonPhoto Credit: Ed Auden

This is not a competition that Belles often do, but without a November league race there was considerable interest and so a team of seven plus supporters met at Clapham Junction and made the journey to the notorious Parliament Hill. None of the seven had run there before and although the course had been trampled  somewhat by the youngsters running in the London Boroughs in the morning, they found the course far more forgiving than the usual mudbath.

However, the hills were still there and all started very sensibly on this two lap 6km course having been warned about the uphill start and the nasty one round the back which is harder. First to appear on the first lap was new member Sophie Harris, she was followed closely by Christina Pennock, improving with every race, then Helen White and Iona Cousland who only joined us in the summer. Then, within sight of each other, Justine Lynch who got up out of her sickbed to run, Megan Bailey and Jodie Albrow (in, can you believe, her third cross country race of the winter).

Sophie had emailed the club in response to the website saying, 'I am looking to join a club to develop my passion for running, I regularly run 12 to 24 miles daily'.  I thought she sounded like a jogger and meant weekly not daily, but after she came to Battersea she admitted that she had sometimes run 120 miles a week and had done 3.14 in London two years ago.

In fact, with Christina being given one of the Belgrave London places and Justine and Iona qualifying together with Sophie, there were no less than four of this team all gearing up for the London Marathon next April.

As they came down the hill towards the finish on the second lap, all our women had all moved through the field and they all finished strongly.  Sophie was still our leading runner having moved up  from low 40's too inside the top 30. This slipping around wearing road shoes having never run XC country before. The order was the same except Iona had moved a little ahead of Helen.

No medals here, but again as at Reigate two weeks ago, a wonderful team spirit with several different members gaining experience together with great support from  Matt Welsh and Ed Auden who train with these women at Battersea. We are gradually developing a bigger and stronger group so that we don't always have to rely on the same people turning out for every race.

1 S Ward (Herne Hill H) 21:29; 29 S Harris 24:12; 42 C Pennock 24:53; 52 I Cousland 25:16; 58 H White 25:44; 87 J Lynch 26:35; 96 M Bailey 26:49; 109 J Albrow 27:23.  250 finished.1 London Heathside 44; 2 Herne Hill 90; 3 Ranelagh 91... 6 Belgrave H 181.  21 teams closed in.London XC Champs Photos