This time round, Belgrave Harriers had to settle for bronze in the Ladies and Men’s team standings in Division 1 of the Surrey Cross-Country league. But one man finished the season in gold.

Ben Hurley was declared V45 champion after four dogged performances, a title made all the more impressive by his management of injuries in between the races. He also finished second out of the male runners aged 40 and above, behind South London Harriers’ Gary Laybourne.

“The buzz of the Belgrave team and Surrey League just seems to get better and better,” Hurley said. “That and the in-race vets battle keeps me looking forward to dusting off my spikes every October.”

Hurley scored for the ‘B’ team at Lloyd Park, helping Belgrave secure the ‘B’ championship.

The ‘B’ team romped home with the win at Lloyd Park

There were some standout performances elsewhere across the Harriers’ men. Josh Trigwell finished third, followed closely by Henry Hart and Phil Wicks in tenth and 13th respectively.

Sam Gebreselassie showed no signs of his own injury woes to finish in 27th, followed by Lloyd Kempson in 34th. Sam Somerville, who now runs first-claim for Belgrave, finished just five seconds behind Lloyd in 37th, while Conall McNally, Jonathan Scott, Angus Lamb and Michael McCarthy rounded off the scoring positions for the ‘A’ team.

For the race itself, Belgrave finished second behind eventual league champions Hercules, taking third in the final league standings.

The ‘A’ team finished second at Lloyd Park behind the eventual champions, Hercules Wimbledon

“The Surrey League is the most competitive cross country league in Britain and I love it,” team manager Steve Gardner said.

“We wanted to go one better than our 2nd place in 21/22 and we came third in the end, but we did so with a much stronger team and an even better spirit. We're a superb squad now, and our rivals really struggle to match our depth and our fight.

“Special mentions this season to Henry Hart's brilliant first Surrey League campaign (5, x, 4, 10), George Loxton's 100% record and Ben Hurley's individual V45 title. Only 245 days until we go again!”

We return to Hurley, who has been a member since 2008 and competed in his first Surrey League race at Coulsdon in January 2009. Hurley is a dedicated Belgravian and a role model for his more juvenile teammates.

“The team and Belles cheering me on after their own cracking runs helped me leave it all out there in the mud,” he said.

“Celebrating over beers and burgers with such a class bunch was the cherry on top. Roll on next season.”

How it all ended after another thrilling Surrey League XC season

Belles finish third in league but retain ‘B’ title

Words by Charlie Dickinson

After a very close battle all season, the Belles were unsuccessful in retaining their Surrey league title with Herne Hill winning for the first time since 1979 by just 14 points from Kent AC. Belgrave finished easily ahead of all the other teams.

However, the Belles with their very deep squad did win the 'B'team shield again, finishing nearly 90 points ahead of Herne Hill in the ‘B’ category with the other teams nowhere in sight.

The Belles never really recovered from the first match in October, after which they had a 40 point deficit to make up. Along with the 'B'team’s success there were many positive performances.

There were outstanding contributuions for Olivia Papaioannou, Ella-May Hards, Lydia Gallyer-Barnett, Mimi Corden-Lloyd and Sarah Dewhirst who all ran in all four races. Bethan Goddard, Natalie Beadle, Mhairi Hall and Clemmie Cooper all supported the team in three of the races. The depth of the squad is illustrated by the fact that no less than 25 Belles scored for either the 'A' or 'B 'team, and 33 ran in at least one race during the season.

After little rain over the last few weeks, the course in Lloyd Park was at its most benign, a far cry from the mud and deep puddles on the same circuit for the County Championships in early January. However, with its many undulations, twists and turns Lloyd Park is always a challenging course.

The Belles were led home by their very talented Canadian, Kristina Popavich in seventh place. Kristina hadn't raced since flying home to compete in her National Championships in November, then she picked up a foot injury in the New year. She is aiming to run in the English National for Belgrave later in the month and needed a race to help prepare and test out her injury. She started quite cautiously and worked through well on the second lap and finished unscathed and ready to race in the National.

Kristina was followed by a quite remarkable performance from Mhairi Hall in 11th, the Belles captain leading by example from the front. This was easliy Mhairi’s best finishing position in the league since joining the club in 2016, and just like in the last match, she ran herself to exhausion at the finish. Over recent years she has had to endure a long term stress fracture and a fairly major hip operation, but still Mhairi bounces back, always working hard in the rehab. The club is very lucky to have her.
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Anna Sharp finished next in 17th. Anna is building back her fitness after being injured for most of the Autumn and showed steady improvemnt from the previous league race. She was followed in quick succession by Olivia Papaoiannou in 23rd and Natalie Beadle in 25th. Liv's legs were suffering rather from her recent skiing holiday, but both her and Nat have been mainstays for the team this season. These five completed the 'A' team who finished 3rd on the day with just 83 points.

It was such a welcome sight to see Sophie Cowper back racing after a very slow recovery from long Covid. Sophie led the 'B'team charge in 36th. She was followed by the ever reliable Ella-May Hards in 42nd, then closely behind, Steph Hewitt and Mimi Corden-Lloyd in 48th and 49th. Steph can't wait for the track season and Mimi is another training for the London marathon. The 'B' team was completed by another of the reliable engine room, Beth Brown in 53rd.

There were another six Belles supporting the team, so important in the women's races pushing down scoring members of the other teams. Bethan Goddard now recovered from her painful toe operation, Lydia Gallyer-Barnett, determined to run despite a troublesome ankle, then Mollie Valentine, another on high mileage preparing for the marathon, along with the ever-smiling Laurel Bray, and another strong run by Sarah Dewhirst, who is such a great supporter of the team. Finally Katherine Godfrey completed her first Surrey league race while training for an Ironman. She was well inside the top half of the field of 199 finishers.

RESULTS

Individual, 1. G. Grgec (HHH) 28:59, 2. S. Monk (G&G) 30:10, 3. B. Murray (THH) 30:13, ...7. K. Popavich 31:04, 17. A. Sharp 32:10, 23. O. Papaoiannou 32:34, 25. N. Beadle 32:36, 36. S. Cowper 33:15, 42. E-M. Hards 33:45, 48. S. Hewitt 33:51, 49. M. Corden-Lloyd 33:53, 53. B. Brown 33:59, 57. B. Goddard 34:08, 65. L. Gallyer-Barnett 34:33, 66. M. Valentine 34:39, 67. L. Bray 34:41, 77. S. Dewhirst 34:50, 82. K. Godfrey 35:17.

Teams, 1. Herne Hill harriers 67, 2. Kent AC 68, 3. Belgrave harriers 83, 4. Thames hare and Hounds 101, 5. Ranalagh 163, 6. herne Hill b 188, 7. C;lapham Chasers 194, 8. Guildford 204, 9. belgrave b 228, 10. Stragglers 247.

Overall after four matches. 1. Herne Hill 291, 2. Kent AC 305, 3. Belgrave A 356, 4. THH 521, 5. Stragglers 730, 6. Belgrave B 768, 7. Clapham Chasers 819, 8. Ranalagh 843, 9. Guildford 848, 10. Herne Hill B 856. There are 15 clubs with both A and B teams.

Hurley storms to Surrey V45 XC title at Lloyd Park as teams seal third

Belles finish third in league but retain ‘B’ title

Belgrave Harriers

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