SEAA Cross-country Championships, Parliament Hill, 30 Jan 2016
Tremendous Fighting Spirit By Both Squads
All things considered, we can be quietly satisfied with what we achieved at another brutal edition of the SEAA’s. With injury, illness and unavailability decimating both squads, it was a select band of 14 Belgravians who tackled the gloop, but each fought hard and there were many heroes.In the women’s event, perhaps defying wisdom, Mel Wilkins came to race. Her injury is still bothering her after some four months of woe, and another spell on the sidelines may loom as she can’t train effectively. Bringing her leg through with power is tricky enough on macadam, but impossible on this. It must go down as one of the gutsiest Belles’ runs in history, and we can all be thankful to have such a trooper in our ranks.Jojo Rhodes started out quicker than usual but her heavy working hours with frequent night shifts are not permitting the training blocks she craves to pull off such a raid such scot-free. She was duly subjected to a forensic audit by the ever improving Felicity Cole. As ever this season, it was the “Lady with the Lamp”, our very own Florence Nightingale – Christina Pennock – who ably tended to the ailing patient the Belles have been this term.And not far behind, the most reassuring of all sweepers in Megan Bailey. So, 16th was our lot, hardly a disgrace, and it all adds value to the epic silver, silver, 6th and bronze since 2012.1 N Taschimowitz (SBH) 30:34; 41 M Wilkins 33:56; 80 F Cole 35:33; 86 J Rhodes 35:46; 166 C Pennock 38:36; 191 M Bailey 39:15. 501 finished.1 Aldershot F&D 56; 2 Serpentine RC 156; 3 Herne Hill H 188; ... 16 Belgrave H 373. 53 clubs closed in.
Fresh Faces Plug The Gaps
Like the Belles, the men also saw a very brave captain’s innings, in this case from Craig Ruddy who grimly journeyed down from Inverclyde despite knowing we had lost our three biggest guns. Despite being on little running due to his own problems, the Rudster kept us very respectable in 10th. Zek Abera and Paul Lowe both excelled, the latter losing a shoe in the last mile which cost him a few; while Nick Buckle dazzled, before hitting the wall with 500 yards to go. Barely maintaining forward momentum, and white as a sheet with runners streaming past, he was “all in”. What courage to run yourself into the ground like that. Many give Parliament Hill a wide berth because they feel it doesn’t suit them – but that’s missing the point. It only suits 10-20% of the runners, while the rest of us turn up to improve our leg strength, mental toughness and to ‘take one for the team’, and Nick summed up that ethos perfectly. The other Nick [Smallwood] keeps progressing every time out, and runs curiously well on the Heath given his great height.
I was sure I’d never do the Southerns again after enjoying our brilliant result last year from the comfort of the dug-out, but as the runners fell like ninepins in the days before, I gruffly discarded the pipe and slippers. Strictly in survival mode, and with sharpshooter Tom O’Beirne placing a bead on the back of my head all race, there was at least a club record to be knocked off, that of Bert Footer’s most scoring runs at the Southern [14], that’s stood since 1939. I thought of Bert and his incredible pioneering spirit a lot during the run, and how he'd travel to the Southern and National year after year, sometimes as the club’s solo entrant. But after 10 seasons of hard toil he got his pay-off, when we were crowned the best in the land. Bert would have probably scored in one or two more Southerns if not for the war, where he became a top Royal Marine Commando.The last word goes to Messrs Goymour and Norville for toiling away as sweepers lest the above hit trouble, and to Charlie Dickinson: first to the course at an early hour for tent assemblage, and pretty much last to leave and going far beyond the call of duty on a cold day with water, pins, tea, cake, sagacity and much more.1 J Hay (AFD) 49:08; 28 C Ruddy 52:59; 66 Z Abery 54:53; 82 P Lowe 55:29; 133 N Buckle 57:27; 154 N Smallwood 58:05; 274 W Cockerell 61:25; 287 T O’Beirne 61:53; 440 J Goymour 65:44; 731 R Norville 73:20. 1016 finished.1 Highgate H 162; 2 Serpentine RC 186; 3 Bedford &C 206; … 10 Belgrave H 737. 70 clubs closed in.