National cross country champs: Women 11th, men 36th at Wollaton Park
A great result for the Belles and something to build on for the Bels on a course that was kinder to photographers than it was to runners.
Charlie Dickinson’s women’s team continued their blistering run of form with an 11th place overall which saw Georgie Fenn finish comfortably in the top 50.
The men’s side struggled for luck, losing Callum Stewart (expected second scorer) on the Friday night and Euan Campbell (expected first scorer) to an achilles tweak halfway round.
Women
Report by TM Charlie Dickinson
In the end it was a day that the small Belles team can look back to with immense pride. The scoring four finished in 11th place out of 94 teams, a result that is better that their 5th in the Southern a month before, and ahead of all the Surrey league clubs except Thames. In doing so they not only had to overcome a course more muddy and difficult than any in recent memory, but those who travelled up by train on the day endured the drama of train delays, a missed connection and then emergency taxis from Grantham.
Once finally there, the mood was immediately very positive. It was wonderful to see family of Mimi, Georgie and Alice parents to help and cheer the team on. Then there was Steve Gardner with his camera, with the many members of his men's team plus Terry O'Neill with his juniors and their parents. They all created a great Belgrave buzz.
All the Belles had exceptional runs on a course which at some places was saturated with mud and water. The organisers even gave an added little challenge: a log jump. The only problem was that where you landed was a foot deep in mud. This race was not about times or PB's, it was about determination and character and the whole Belles team showed that in abundance.
They were led home by Georgie Fenn well inside the top 50 in a field of almost one thousand runners. Georgie has had an excellent late winter season finishing high up in all her races despite training hard for the London Marathon. We all look forward to seeing her on April 26th.
Next to finish was Olivia Papaioannou in the mid eighties. What a great addition to the team Olivia has been since joining just before Christmas. She has turned out in every race since and has just got better and better. She is basically a 400m track runner and it will be very interesting to see how she performs in the summer.
Then finishing very close together just outside the top hundred came Alice Reed and Mhairi Hall. Alice knew Wollaton Park well having lived in Nottingham when a student at the University. She had run there many times but never in conditions like Saturday. She has also had a fine cross country season and like Georgie will be tackling the marathon in April.
Team captain Mhairi had easily her best race of the season. Mhairi loves cross country but her season has been blighted by illness and she has only been able to compete in three of the races since Christmas. Here, with a storming last lap nearly catching Alice, she ran herself to exhaustion and had to be helped to the first aid tent after she finished.
Those four completed the scoring team but they were backed up by another fine run from Mimi Corden-LLoyd who finished in the mid-200s. Mimi is frequently hampered by a painful hip, but has been a wonderful team member all season, competing in no less than 10 races throughout the winter, more than anyone else. She will be the very deserved winner of the prestigious Ladies Cross Country Plate competition.
So in all, a very hard but successful day and one which will be remembered and talked about for years to come.
Men
Report by National veteran Will Cockerell
Footer... Carter... Blowfield... North... Bicourt... Miles... Wicks... Mulhare... Owor... new boy Michael McCarthy joins a heady list of Belgravians to take home the magnificent Parker Bowl for first man home at the National. Our congrats to him for peaking at the right time and 'hanging in there' in the chaos all around. He won’t have expected this one but after losing Callum Stewart the night before and Euan Campbell halfway round, the stage was set for a new man to step forward.
Second home…it's Miller time! Ahhh Alex Miller loves this sort of thing, and had one of the best runs of his Belgrave career - and there have been some gems, including a team silver at the Southern cross 5 years ago. “I just love watching people suffer,” he grinned as he crossed the line.
The TM Arne Dumez had a perfectly acceptable run, despite somewhat losing heart as at times he looked like Bambi on ice. But he wasn't so very far off optimum and the feared collapse never came.
Conall McNally, 468th, worried he hadn't done enough long runs - don't we all - but he was fine and the blow-up never came.
Ben Hurley was another man who managed to get it just right - he's been battling a tiresome knee niggle for months. This run was SO against doctor's orders, but sometimes you don't want realism, you want magic. He somehow got away with it and kept moving through all day.
David Walsh hit his run dead centre after struggling in the last couple of Surrey leagues. But he found form at just the right time and had a terrific scrap with Ben Hurley in the latter stages which really helped both men.
Ben Ireland had just about the most courageous run of us all. He went out hard and spent time as our 5th scorer. It was a very long day after that, but he hung in there like a trooper and stood guard over the scoring 6 all day. He grinned all the way home.
Will Cockerell is not putting in the miles to really trouble the scorers, but the mind is willing if the body less so... so no 19th score at the National, but a 22nd consecutive run has him eyeing up a silver jubilee at 'the big one'.
Our 8/1500 specialist Rob Norville knows that a long season of xc sets him up for long burn-ups on the track in the summer, so he's always game, and in this case provided a crucial 9th scoring slot to boost our 6 to score position up by 11 spots to 25th.
The one! The only! Terry O'Neill described the run as "a piece of piss" and looked like a man on holiday in the Bahamas. He swore he'd only put 100 in his wake - well it was 240 souls exterminated for our junior TM who will have been well up there in the M65s.