Belles maintain grip on Surrey League while record Bels turnout floods Mitcham Common

The Belles were edged out at the second round of the Surrey League, but remained top of the league standings. An enormous Bels entourage, meanwhile, was unable to preserve its own lead in the team classification.

Belles second in the Mitcham sunshine

Words by Charlie Dickinson

Laura Goodson and Anna Sharp share post-race thoughts
*Credit: Danny Easton*

The Belles were beaten by a very strong Thames Hare and Hounds team in the second Surrey League match on Mitcham Common.

They do however, retain a slim overall lead as they look forward to the third match in January. The Belles 'B' team were 6th in the match and extend their lead over Herne Hill to a massive 200 points.

Mitcham Common is not the most picturesque venue, but with courses becoming more and more difficult to find, it is now used every two years in the league. After a rather wet and gloomy week weather wise, runners were treated to a surprisingly warm sunny day.

The team were led home by Kristina Popadich in an excellent third place. Now injury free, Kristina is running better with every race. She wisely got off to a fast start avoiding the crush on the early bend leading to the narrow path through the woods. She then sat behind a leading group of four for the two lap race before a fast finish produced her best finishing place in the league so far.

Having also run well in Mansfield the week before, Karen Xiang is getting fitter and stronger with every race. Here she improved from 21st in the first race to 15th, the second Belgrave finisher. Next in 18th was Anna Sharp, another to improve drastically from the last race and now hopefully over the persistent knee injury that has held her back throughout the Autumn.

Making a welcome return to the team after her excellent marathon in Berlin at the end of September, Jess Saunders was next in 22nd followed by captain Steph Hewitt leading by example in 28th. These five were the scoring 'A' team.

Then came the Belles train, the real strength of this club, the next five scoring for the 'B' team, and then also pushing runners from all the other clubs back to enhance our team scores. Almost every other finisher was in maroon and gold, an incredible sight and so off putting for the other clubs.

Emily Bradley made a massive improvement from 52nd to 30th, followed by the ever-reliable Sophie Cowper in 34th. Natalie Beadle would have preferred a much longer tougher course but still managed 36th, while Sam Munday is getting back to her best with 38th and Hannah Hawker posted an excellent first race in 40th. These five scored for the Belles 'B' team.

But with 21 runners supporting the team, the Belles kept coming: Laura Goodson in 44th, Phoebe Davies improving twenty places from last time in 53rd, and Ella-May Hards, who loves cross country in 55th. She was just in front of Orna McGinley who unfortunately lost about twenty places when she fell but still carried on to the finish.

It was wonderful to see Olivia Papaioannou thankfully back in her first race after a long term stress fracture injury, and Mhairi Hall, supporting the team as always. She was ahead of Sarah Riceman who has still to find her legs after her recent first sub three hour marathon. And, just inside the top hundred, lovely to see new recruit Emily Goff over from Ireland and in her first race for a long time.

Flora McPherson finished just outside the top hundred followed by another new member Lara Mangan and finally, Sarah Dewhirst raced cautiously for the first time after her injury but anxious to support the team as always.

Belgrave are massive

Words by Alex Janiaud

Sam Sommerville leads Henry Hart
*Credit: Matt Holman*

The Bels headed into the second round of the Surrey League at the top of the standings. Sixty one runners stood in a circle before the race, building an intense firepit of claret and gold. Team manager Steve Gardner fired up the troops, vice captain Big Rob Kelly spelled out the first three letters of our club’s name, which were enthusiastically echoed by his teammates.

An imperious display by Hercules Wimbledon leaves the boys with a lot to do if they want to win the league this season, but individual performances and the absurd throng of Belgrave vests across the field marked a proud day for the club.

The day belonged to Sam Sommerville, our first finisher, who came home in 12th place. Sam’s trajectory over the past year has been mesmerising, transforming from an exciting prospect into a known hitter. Henry Hart finished 12 seconds behind Sam in 16th, followed by James Wootton, who put in an excellent performance to come home in 24th place.

It’s a reflection of the sheer quality and depth of the Surrey League that some outstanding Belgrave Harriers finished further down. Sam Gebreselassie is still working his way back to peak performance and finished in 26th, and was followed home by Conall Whelan, Conall McNally and Fin Dyer, with debutant Mack Downey finishing just one place outside the top 50. Jonny Neville was our last ‘A’ team scorer, edging out Scott Singleton to 56th place by one second.

Providing almost a fifth of the entire field does come with its advantages. While we didn’t get the result that we wanted in the ‘A’ team standings, there was clear water between Belgrave and Hercules in the ‘B’ race, our victory in these standings powered by the likes of Angus Lamb, under-20 Eddie Jodrell (on debut for the seniors) and James Fox. A special mention must go to juniors coach Terry O’Neill, who finished the day at the head of the V70 standings.

We congratulate Hercules on an outstanding team performance. The race was followed by a well-attended social. If you want more details on that, you’ll have to come to training for the debrief.

Full results can be accessed via the below link

https://www.surreyleague.org/slm/race/360/

Photos by Jerry Sun: