Men's SEAA X-country relays, Wormwood Scrubs, 22 Oct 2016

Bels Battle To Fifth Medal In Six Years

 In an absorbing race in which the lead changed several times, this fixture in the calendar is now finally established and respected, with only Aldershot and Shaftesbury missing of the ‘big guns’.We started with Paskar who ran a brilliant leg for the day’s fastest, but company was never far away courtesy of Newham’s Trigwell.  There were quite a few other clubs within the range of a well struck 4-iron too, so Matt Welsh’s mission was a thankless one:  the man to be shot at.Matt ran fine and would have loved to be able to catch any sort of a ride from Newham’s Dale Clutterbuck who sailed past after a mile, but it wasn’t to be.  Dale is one tough cookie who recently ripped open a “Beer Mile” in 4:47 to stand 2nd on the World list.  As Matt grimly slugged away, as many as five athletes encroached on our man – he could have come back in 7^th!  But a very solid 3^rd was his lot, as defending champions Highgate moved ominously into silver.There were some real fireworks on 3 as Nick Buckle could do nothing about Highgate’s outstanding Bahelbi, but chased the small yellow blob in the far distance of NEB, and remarkably nicked his man in the final 50 yards.  What a run, and a big star for the future.Alex Miller is back to his best after a tricky last six months, and he had a fine duel with the strong Niall Sheehan.  Although the Newham man looked in agony (apparently he always does), and Alex seemed ice-cool, his heart-rate stats told another story.  He glanced down and saw 190 hit him between the eyes.  A shockingly high number and we can rest easy that on this day, we gave our all.James Williams ran a pleasing opener for the B’s to show he’s getting his legs back after Lisbon, and can really crack on from here.1 Highate H 56:30; 2 Newham & EB 56:56; 3 Belgrave H 57:14;  4 Herne Hill H 57:38; 5 Serpentine 57:55.  39 teams started, 32 finished.P Owor (1) 13:31; M Welsh (3) 14:50; N Buckle (2) 14:22; A Miller (3) 14:31.B team:  J Williams (16) 14:46.Fastest:  P Owor 13:31; R Bahelbi (Highgate) 13:33; J Trigwell (NEB) 13:43.