Men's Surrey XC League, Div 1, Richmond Park, 13 Oct 2018
Belgrave's men got the 18/19 XC season off to an extremely promising start at a hot and dusty Richmond Park.
Fifth place in the team competition was good - but even more satisfying were the all-round performances across the top-end, the engine room, the new signings, veterans and debutant juniors.
Nick Goolab was only 5 seconds off an overall win - beaten by an in-form Phil Sesemann of Kent - despite having completed a total of zero sessions after a summer of knee problems. Goolab and Sesemann shared a comfortable lead for all but the first few minutes.
Evergreen MVP Paskar Owor was the second Bel and fourth home overall, only 5 seconds off Guildford's John Sanderson in third and happily ahead of a Kent trio in 5th, 6th and 7th.
Next in was Konstantinos Touse making his British XC debut. Expect big improvements over the season from the former Greece international - he only returned to the sport in March after a multi-year hiatus. An overall finish of 22nd would have been better still if not for a stomach issue forcing a (thankfully brief) stop at the top of Sawyer's Hill in lap 2.
Andrius Jaksevicius finished a solid 36th in his back yard despite quality marathon performances in Berlin (four weeks ago) and Jersey (one week ago) undoubtedly still in the legs.
Fifth, 6th and 7th Bels were a close trio of Andrew Cumine (60th), Arne Dumez (63rd) and Bradley Courtney-Pinn (70th), slightly reshuffling their Dumez-BCP-Cumine finish at the Kingston Half just six days earlier. Cumine - seasoning the Belgrave XC lineup for the first time - gave a particularly spicy performance after a conservative start, picking off at least a dozen places over the second lap. Courtney-Pinn is an exciting acquisition from Pontypridd and sure to improve further with consistent training at Battersea Park.
That's a cartographically-pleasing top seven with as many nationalities on show: England, Uganda, Greece, Lithuania, Scotland, Belgium and Wales all to thank for their generous contributions to the scorecard.
Eighth Bel Ed Auden (83) is a stranger to the mid-table, returning from a long injury break and still unable to run more than a few times a week, but if he can keep away from the physio over the next few months he'll be back up in the top 20 in no time.
Nine, 10 and 11 were Ross Finlay (95), Ben Hurley (103), and Alex Mills, packed almost as tightly as we saw them finish together on the track at Battersea over the summer. Hurley put in a thrilling sprint finish to see off an oncoming Croydon Strider over the last 50 yards.
Team manager and 12th Bel Will Cockerell looked strong all the way around, just as you'd expect from a veteran marking his 20th Surrey League anniversary. Will Johnson was next, making a promising start to his first full XC season in claret and gold after joining from Tyne Bridge.
Next home was Timin Kanani, stepping up from the juniors for his first XC at this level. The heat and hills proved troubling in the second lap after a great first, but make no mistake, Timin - in his first race as a U20 - is an athlete of genuine class and will be significantly higher up the scorers' list in years to come. Remember the name.
Track specialist Rob Norville was gutsy on the hills and home just before newcomer Steve Jones (not that one, or that one, or indeed that one), hopefully a longtime Bel after flirtations with Swansea and Derby.
Completing the list of finishers were Alex Luce, resplendent in the retro Tilda-sponsored singlet, and Terry O'Neil - the man to thank for a new era of quality juniors edging towards the senior lineup.
All told a fantastic day out in a golden glow at Richmond Park - and over to Will to keep the turnout as strong when winter proper sets in.
Full results: https://surreyleague.org/slm/race/205/#indiv
Full album of Belgrave photos: https://www.facebook.com/438195776347539/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1097311893769254
