Silver service, but Maud in for Highgate triggers Maudlin Bels

Our senior lads first got a chance to cheer on a very rare sight of an M40 Vets’ team in action, which was good fun. Our masters history at this event is pretty much confined to two M60 wins in the early ‘90’s when the legendary Laurie O’Hara would run amok. The rarely sighted Ben took one for the team in a big way, with a sore calf and a riotous first 1500m, before grimly grinding out the remainder; but set up Will to pick off seven, and then Mike to slay four more, with an excellent run, fresh from trying to run a 4x800 M50 world record the day before. Patrick was now just a few seconds down on medals, but is some way short of top fitness. He reacted well though and held the ship steady, by only losing three spots, as the battle for minor medals became very heated up the road.

1 Kent AC 1:20:20; 2 Overton H 1:22:47; 3 Orion 1:22:49… 7 Belgrave H 1:25:01. 38 teams started, 33 finished.B Hurley (15) 21:39; W Cockerell (8) 20:54; M Trees (4) 20:16; P McDougall (7) 22:12.-------------------------------------We knew our senior squad was good on paper, but there were still plenty of unknowns. Our lead-off Andrew has never given us a bad run in four successful years, including an epic top 15 at the Southern Cross; but he got whacked in a big way here as his running has been heavy on miles, but short on quality. He never gave up though, and Belgrave always love a chase.PO took it up and roared to a magnificent 18:05, peeling off 16 runners, and a welcome return to form after a flunk at the Surreys. Nick was originally a no due to a break, but we changed his mind as an unfit Goolab is still better than anything a stand-in could hope to offer. He was clearly in a world of pain from early doors, but slogged away and four more spots were advanced.The deficit to the lead was down to a minute, but Craig was up against Aussie ace Andy Maud, who Highgate have collected off Clapham, making their already strong squad lethal. Up to 4^th then thanks to another nigh on perfecto from the Rudster, and Phil was now just a few yards off bronze, with Aldershot less than 30 seconds away. PW ran a brilliant first lap in 8:40 – 17:20 pace, but still no Highgate visible. He barked at the TM with 1500 to go, “What is it?!” “About 50 secs,” I replied. “Fuuuuu**in ‘ell!” he proclaimed despairingly. How do you chase a man you can’t see?  Not sure, but Phil still blazed his way to the day's fastest.So it was left to Kris to quite literally flay himself alive for 5 minutes just to see if we could at least get a sighter of Shaun Dixon. The first 1500 was ripped out in 4:22 but Kris still couldn’t get a subject in the crosshairs. “I ain’t catching him,” he rightly deduced, with smoke starting to come out the engine, and set about cementing a very welcome set of silver medals. It marked the 10 year anniversary of Kris’s first run for Belgrave, where as a 17-year-old shrub he ran a sassy 19:07.The spirit shown here was a fine reminder of what Belgrave is all about, and how the efforts of our sextet can inspire the club as a whole to crack on and keep the Belgrave brand going strong. The evidence is overwhelming that a strong Belgrave at the sharp end, trickles down and influences the club in a positive manner. The members feel proud, the website gets copy, the training groups buzz with atmosphere and focus, and marketing for new athletes becomes a hundredfold easier.1 Highgate H 1:50:14; 2 Belgrave H 1:51:32; 3 AFD 1:52:40; 4 Tonbridge 1:52:57; 5 Kent 1:53:25. 80 teams started, 69 finished.A Connick (28) 19:42; P Owor (12) 18:05; N Goolab (8) 18:45; C Ruddy (4) 18:16; P Wicks (2) 17:45; K Gauson (2) 18:59.Fastest:  P Wicks (Belgrave H) 17:45; J Davies (Reading) 17:55; A Maud (Highgate H) 17:57.[gallery_bank type="individual" format="thumbnail" title="true" desc="true" responsive="true" animation_effect="bounce" album_title="true" album_id="20"]