With another lockdown looming over us and reliable races becoming a rare find, we decided to organise an informal training event in Morden Park that looked a whole lot like a real XC relay. Instead of the usual three laps of the South of Thames 5Mi course, runners only had to cover one 2.7km lap. That doesn’t sound too bad in regular weather. Unfortunately, as soon as the course was set up and everyone was ready for the opening briefing the heavens opened and plunged us into some sort of cataclysmic ragnarok scenario… Proper XC weather!

The format

Thirty of our most enthusiastic runners were spread into six mixed teams of five - but the teams were allocated ‘randomly’ by men’s TM Arne Dumez. The idea was to gather people who wouldn’t usually train or race together to encourage team-building. Arne did his best to make the teams as evenly matched as possible so that the race would remain exciting for all involved.

The teams were then told to pick their own running order ‘behind closed doors’ and to come up with a witty team name. While the names were revealed to the whole field beforehand, the running orders would remain confidential until Saturday morning. The runners wouldn’t know who they were up against until they saw who was pinning on which bib number. Tactics ‘in the blind’, if you will.

The teams

• The Belgrave Horroriers: Daniella Maggs, Alex Mills, Will Johnson, Michelle Pearson, Julien da Teresa

• Scrambled Leggs: Reece Edwards, Emily Barrett, Sarah Chadwick, Jim Rijks, Dylan Mitchard

• Cirque du Sore Legs: James Morris, Liv Papaioannou, Steph Hewitt, Michael McCarthy, Rob Norville

• Ghoul Runnings: Ben Hurley, Nick Buckle, Jess Saunders, Zoe Cuenoud, Orna McGinley

• The International All-Stars: Will Cockerell, Jurgita Levertaviciute, Saron Haileselase, Conall McNally, Alex Titmus

• The Fresh Princesses of Bel-Grave: Katie-Ellen French, Tommy Taylor, Natalie Beadle, Patrick McDougall, Callum Stewart

The race

Leg 1: Reece Edwards, Ben Hurley, Will Cockerell, James Morris, Katie-Ellen French, Daniella Maggs

Nobody was surprised to see Reece Edwards put a severe lead into everyone else in the field within the first km. The man has run a 2:16 marathon so, even though he hadn’t run XC since school, this little loop of Morden was not going to scare him. Scrambed Leggs had a convincing lead going into the second leg. However, Ben Hurley was not that far behind! Coming back from injury, Ben had clearly been doing the work to come back stronger. He kept the gap to Scrambled Leggs to 1:11.

International All-Star Will Cockerell was next. He had clearly spent quite some time in no man’s land out there but managed to keep James Morris, Katie-Ellen French and Daniella Maggs behind him. While James is one of our most consistent and reliable XC performers, we had not seen Katie-Ellen for a long time. The Aussie had been a regular sight at our club fixtures and was back for more after a leave of absence. Daniella is a brand-new addition to our roster. She joined from Fulham and wasn’t all that confident over the short distances, having come from a marathon and half-marathon background. Nobody can argue with that first go at the short course XC, though! This first leg set the stage for what followed - a real nail biter.

Leg 2: Nick Buckle, Emily Barrett, Tommy Taylor, Jurgita Levertaviciute, Liv Papaioannou, Alex Mills

Emily Barrett was handed a very handsome lead by Reece and set off with much intent. What she didn’t know is that she had Nick Buckle on her heels. Nick has always been one of most fearsome weapons in Belgrave’s XC arsenal and, after much struggle with injury, he was back in fine form. He came charging after her with no intentions to take prisoners. Rather surprisingly, he came charging into the finish line well ahead of her! Reece’s 71s lead was reduced to a 30s deficit in the space of a single leg. Ghoul Runnings headed into leg 3 looking very strong indeed. However, Emily held on to second place and kept her team very much in contention.

Tommy Taylor had made his Belgrave debut at the Wimbledon Road Relays two weekends earlier and was keen to try his legs over the mud. He clearly has a talent for it! His 9:33 leg brought The Princesses right back into the mix. We hadn’t seen Jurgita Levertaviciute for a while either. She had been spotted on the track diligently doing strength and speed work, but her XC career had taken a long break. She raced hard, fast and just managed to keep a charging Liv Papaioannou behind her at the finish line. If that lap had been just 100m longer the positions would have been reversed.

At the back of the line was Alex Mills who has been on a winning streak for the past few months. After several track and road PBs over 1500m, 3000m and 5km, he was ready to ram through these teams and claim the gold for the Belgrave Horroriers. A hugely impressive 9:24.9 leg set the bar high for the rest of his team.

Leg 3: Jess Saunders, Will Johnson, Saron Haileselase, Natalie Beadle, Sarah Chadwick, Steph Hewitt

Belgrave debutant Jess Saunders was Nick’s successor. She joined us very recently from Fulham and, considering her recent PBs, she is sure to be an invaluable asset to coach Charlies’ women’s teams once racing can resume as normal. Behind her was another Belgrave debutant and hardened northerner, Sarah Chadwick, who had also been a Fulham member until recently. In third was Will Johnson who is also known as a tough-as-nails northerner - and Sarah’s live-in boyfriend, by happenstance. We live for these domestic duels. He brought his scrambled legs over the line in 2nd place.

Saron Haileselase was back to training after the birth of her second child and was clearly doing very well. She stormed through her run… until she came to an abrupt stop in front of the timing mat. If it weren’t for coach Charlie and Will Cockerell’s shouting she would have walked back to her bag without actually finishing her leg properly! But she did, and still managed to claim the third fastest women’s leg of the day. Steph Hewitt came into this with a very fruitful track season behind her. Having conquered the middle-distances in the balmy London evenings, she may not have been prepared for the picture painted for her on Halloween morning… She set off right on Saron’s heels but was caught by another recent Belgrave joiner - Natalie Beadle.

Natalie made her Belgrave XC debut at last season’s Surrey League final in Richmond Park and has since then run a great middle-distance debut at the Night of the 1500s in September. Not only is she a promising running talent, she just could not get the smile off her face. Whether she was parked under the one tree uselessly trying to shelter us or running in the mud, she loved every second of that morning. Lord knows every XC team needs a few people like that!

Leg 4: Zoe Cuenoud, Michelle Pearson, Conall McNally, Patrick McDougall, Jim Rijks, Michael McCarthy

Setting off now in the black vest for Ghoul Runnings - still in the lead - was rookie Zoe Cuenoud. She might be Swiss, but she is about much more than cheese, clocks and army knives. By the way she left the start line she must have known Michelle Pearson would be hunting her. It was so on!

In third was Conall McNally who was in extremely fine form and had given his barnet the ol’ buzz cut for maximum aero gains. He came charging up the first hill with fire in his eyes. At this point, Patrick McDougall’s long and slender silhouette was just about visible in the distance. He was the only one who took the fancy dress option seriously and came as his alter ego Patricia. Kudos, Pat! He was trying to keep newbie Jim Rijks at bay, but that was going to be a big ask. The Dutchman was also making his debut in the claret and gold and was keen to make an impression. He had a handicap though; because of the heavy rain he couldn’t wear his glasses and was practically blind! Thankfully he could see the course markings well enough to only miss two turns. The fact that he still run a 10:07 leg is hugely impessive. More to come from Jim!

In last was Irishman Michael McCarthy, last season’s surprise XC star. He came to us in the Surrey League final in Lloyd Park and was our first man home at the National XC Champs in Nottingham. Now he was chasing down so hard that he actually ran the second fastest leg of the men’s race! It wasn’t quite enough to make a dent in the race in front of him though.

Leg 5: Alex Titmus, Dylan Mitchard, Callum Stewart, Orna McGinley, Julien da Teresa, Rob Norville

Most people probably expected Michelle to cross the line first, but it was actually young Conall who came charging down the hill first at the end of leg 4! She did firmly put her mark on the race by running the fastest female leg, though. This thing could still end in a major upset… He

Conall handed over to debutant Alex Titmus. It was his race to lose now… He was stalked by Frenchman Julien da Teresa who had never run XC before but was full of confidence after his win in his debut track race in August. He was within striking distance. Who was going to win this one?

And there were more people to watch. Orna McGinley was the anchor leg for Ghoul Runnings who had run so well all race. She couldn’t let them down. She was going to have to lock horns with Dylan Mitchard, though. Dylan had been prepping for a marathon for the past… ermmm… six months or so? The point is, he is strong as an ox these days.

Behind them - quite a way behind them - was Callum Stewart who had ‘taken the baton’ from Patricia. The Scot has a history of fierce running over this course (over any muddy course, really) and had his eyes fixed on the fastest leg of the day. Just how much damage could he do to this order in the space of 10mins? Rob Norville was supposed to be his team’s first leg but was late (surprise surprise) and had to go last in the end. He had nothing but targets ahead of him. Maybe it was the course, maybe it was the weather, maybe it was the standard of the competition or maybe it was the fact that he had signed up for a 10k race the following day, but Rob couldn’t quite make it back into the mix.

In the end, The International All-Stars’ Alex Titmus held onto his lead and brought home the victory for his team. The All-Stars are your inaugural Belgrave XC Relays Champions! Dylan Mitchard of the Scrambled Leggs wasn’t far behind. He set off in 4th place but made up two places for the silver medal. In third was Callum Stewart who did manage to catch all but two, and was good enough for third fastest leg of the day (just one second behind Michael). It was a beautiful tactical play by The Fresh Princesses of Bel-Grave running him last, as he managed to claw back a medal from Ghoul Runnings who had been beautifully consistent all race long.

Special thanks

This was a huge success for all involved, and it would not have been possible without the help of Don Anderson and his timing equipment. He and his colleague sat in the cold, wind and rain with nothing but two umbrellas to cover themselves - did they ever complain? No. They timed each and every leg with a smile on their face. They are the real heroes of the day!

Also a special thanks to Anya Mustard and coach Matt Welsh who helped mark the course and hand out the numbers and chips. Of course, coach Charlie Dickinson and his wife Mary were also key players in all of this. Thank you for all your help!

It was great to see Carl Lawton come out to spectate from a safe distance and help break down the course at the end. Thank you, Carl.

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