Here we are in lockdown #3, but it doesn’t feel like ‘the charm’. With all those 2021 races that felt so far away a few weeks ago (“surely it’ll be alright by then?”) cancelled, men’s TM Arne Dumez felt it was time to rally the troops for some virtual racing. Just to keep morale up, if nothing else. So, he organised a Japanese-style marathon relay - an ekiden - with a twist. Just like with the Belgrave XC Relay Championships, he put together mixed teams of four runners with just enough oversight that they would be as closely matched as possible. Then, he told them to split the 42km between themselves however they pleased, as long as the legs were between 3km and 25km long. The teams were ten given the entire week of Monday 18th to Sunday 24th January to complete their runs. All they had to do was hit their local park in accordance with Government guidance and record their run on their GPS device.

The A(lso Ran) Team - 2:42:08

David Lewis (10km), Dave Walsh (12km), Ben Hurley (10km), Hester Barsham-Rolfe (10km)

Dave Walsh, one of our resident Irishmen, had been building up to the European Masters 10km championships in March, but with those cancelled due to safety concerns he had found his motivation faltering. Arnekiden (as it came to be known) was exactly what he needed to put his trainers back on. While his 43:47 effort slightly disappointed him, it also went a long way in lighting his fire.

Having suffered from Covid and a torn harmstring, Ben Hurley was very pleasantly surprised by his 36:49. He hit a road loop on the edge of Twickenham Bridge, and he hit it hard!

Hester Barsham-Rolfe is a self-diagnosed “challenge hunter” and is currently training at high mileage in preparation for the Marathon des Sables ultra distance race. Needless to say, a 10km TT will have felt like speed work. While she was slightly disappointed with her rust-busing 43:13 time, she will have greatly benefited from something more intense.

David Lewis waited until the very last moment of the race to record his 10km leg. That has both tactical benefits, but risks too. In this case, the risks at least cancelled the benefits of the wait - if not outweighed them! David found heavy snowfall had covered his planned loop in inches of snow so he had to adapt. However, he still managed to bring home a very strong 38:19 time. Considering the conditions, that’s a fantastic run!

Tish Jones Is My Spirit Animal - 2:38:19

Brad Courtney-Pinn (14km), Garret Lee (8km), Jonathan Scott (10km), Jean-François Ferrec (10km)

First to go in this squad was distance man Brad Courtney-Pinn. Having run a 69:29 HM at the Big Half just before lockdown and having trained sensibly throughout, his teammates knew he was a reliable asset. His 46:42 clocking over 14km proved them right!

Garret Lee is one of our most prominent marathon runners in recent years. His 2:18:31 time at CIM 2019 qualified him for a go at the USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Atlanta 2020 where he finished 67th in 2:21:14. Needless to say, he was a big name in this field. However, he has since had a nasty encounter with Covid and is currently negotiating some IT band issues. That being said, he would never miss an opportunity to be part of a Belgrave squad. A nice 8km progression run brought him in at 31:20. Great to see you back in action, Gee. Take care of yourself!

Second claimer Jonathan Scott had been training with Charlie’s group for a few weeks before the third lockdown hit. Our esteemed coach was all praise for the young man, so we were excited to see what he could do here. Another one who waited until the very last moment to send Arne his run, Jonny dipped just under the 35min mark for a 34:56 on a road loop somewhere to the West of Coventry. Next step, get him to join as a first claimer…

Meanwhile, in Lyon, France… Known to us as Errol Stobbart, this young man came up on the radar as a dedicated Belgrave fan. He has our vest and he tags us in his Instagram posts. So why not invite him to join in? Turns out his real name is Jean-François Ferrec and he can run a 10km in 45:20. Not a PB performance, but he was hellbent not to let his squad down. Bien joué, JF! A la prochaine.

Prestige Worldwide - 2:39:35

Samantha Amend (12,89km), Emily Barrett (8,05km), Alex Titmus (10,06km), Andrew Cumine (11km)

There was a slight hiccup for Prestige Worldwide. They originally submitted their allocated splits to Arne in imperial units, which didn’t float well with the Belgian. He tweaked them slightly so that Sam would run 13km instead of 8Mi, Andrew would run 11km instead of 7Mi, etc. However, Sam Amend forgot to change her watch to metric before her run and pressed finish at 48:58 fo 12,89km - 8Mi.

So, Emily Barrett and Alex Titmus, team players that they are, agreed to add a little bit of fluff to their runs to compensate. Emily hit her up trusty Battersea Park loops and ran 8,05km in 32:22 while Alex, currently in Redwick for some mind-boggling reason, added 61m to his 10km for a 39:41 performance. Consider the meterage debt settled, Prestige Worldwide…

Andrew Cumine managed to keep his good name clear of this mile/km conversion fiasco and ran his 11km leg around Dulwich Park (at 7:15am, the madman). The Scot got married just before the pandemic hit and had recently broken 71mins for the HM around Dorney Lake, so the Arnekiden was the high point of his year, bless him. He settled into a nice rhythm and wrapped it up in 38:34.

The Dynamic Distance Destroyers - 2:34:52

Phil Wicks (8km), Daniella Maggs (8km), Alex Mills (16km), Patrick McDougall (10km)

These guys did extremely well. Daniella Maggs, who made her debut in the claret and gold at the Belgrave XC Relays, was the first to brave the scoreboard with an 8km TT around Battersea Park on a cold, dark Tuesday evening. She really wanted to dip under 4:00/km pace, but found herself drifting just a smidge in the final lap. Not to worry, a 32:11 was still a fantastic start to her team’s campaign in the competition.

Phil Wicks is one of Belgrave’s deadliest weapons. His CV goes on and on. His palmares makes jaws drop. His hair is spiky. His calf is a bit capricious. But after a year of touch-and-go training, he got himself out there for a solid 8km run in the middle of a longer outing. It’s nowhere near what he’s capable of, but a 27:20 did very nicely as a return to the team ranks. We really, really, really hope he’s here to stay!

Alex Mills is one of the few who signed up for the long haul - the longest in the competition, in fact. The past year saw Alex PB in every distance from the 1500m to the HM so he was keen to see what the ‘just under 10Mi’ would do for him. Well, he reached the 16km mark in 58:13 well on pace for another HM PB had he maintained his speed for another 5km.

Patrick McDougall waited until the weekend for his 10km Bush Park bash but when it happened, oh boy did it happen! It only took the seasoned Belgrave veteran 37:08 to complete his leg - his 2nd fastest 10k ever and his fastest in 4 years! What a start to 2021. Let’s hope we can see Patrick in action in real life sometime in the very near future.

Nat Nicks a BenArne - 2:34:20

Natalie Beadle (10km), Nick Buckle (6km), Arne Dumez (16km), Ben Ireland (10km)

It took this squad until the Thursday evening to get started, but Nick Buckle was the first to make his move. Having just run a 5000m TT on the track in 15:59, Nick knew he was in good shape over the ‘short’ stuff. Unfortunately, he chose a terrible route for his attempt and had to settle for 20:47 on the scoreboard. That’s okay, Nick is one of those purebred racers who gets so much energy from other people’s suffering. Once real racing picks up again, he’ll be kicking ass and taking names.

Then came Natalie Beadle. She headed down to Battersea Park for some early morning laps and ended up dipping under 42mins for the first time ever. Of course, this doesn’t count as an official PB, but now she knows that she’s on the right track and that, with some more time, she’ll be knocking on that 41min barrier in no time. Keep it up, Nat!

Arne Dumez was next. He had put this whole thing together so he had better put down a good run! After a long block of winter training he was delighted to see his hard work rewarded with a 53:41 time over 16km - signs of a HM PB if he could find one that actually goes ahead this year.

Ben Ireland had been struggling with injury for a little while and keen to take his training back to the basics. After some good racing over the summer (you may recall he won one of the races at the Night of the 1500s), he attacked his 10km TT with a newfound enthusiasm. Dipping under 38mins in 37:52 might not be a PB for Mr Ireland but it’s a clear sign of a strong return to race shape.

Long Distance Relay-tionship - 2:33:02

Jim Rijks (5km), Will Johnson (15km), Jess Saunders (12km), James Nutt (10km)

Meet the winners! They were led out by Dutchman Jim Rijks who had his first outing in the claret and gold at the Belgrave XC Relays in October and had since run a 38:07 10,000m TT on the track. His aim here was to run a 5km in under 18:30. He quickly found that pace a little too gentle and pushed on to finish in his first sub18 clocking! He will have to wait for an official race to put that down on his record for good, but what encouraging result.

Will Johnson and Jess Saunders started their TT at the same time. Running in sync at 6:00/Mi pace (urgh, imperialists!) they got separated at around the 7km mark when Will pushed on to finish his 15km in an impressive 55:13. He had been working hard to improve his strength over the longer distances, so he found a heap of confidence coming out of this one. Jess didn’t run quite as fast as she would have liked but was pretty sure she improved her 10km PB somewhere in the middle of those 45:33 of running.

Finally, James Nutt had come out of hibernation. He took a step back from hard training when he heard the London Marathon would be cancelled, so this was exactly what he needed to get back to some fast stuff. By his own admission, a 34:18 solo 10km doesn’t warrant an “unfit” label, but he’s “just not nailing it at the moment, you know?”. The man came 79th at the Southern XC Championships on Parliament Hill last year so he knows a little something about nailing it. Fair play, mate. You still nailed the win for your team, though! Well played.

Team OGs - 2:33:10

Matt Welsh (8km), Ben MacCronan (15km), Conall McNally (11km), Frida Engström (8km)

When the team line ups were released, the OGs were immediately picked as a fan favourite. Who could have guessed that they would miss the win by only 8s over the 42km distance?!

Coach Matt Welsh was the first runner in the whole competition to register his run, and he wasn’t messing around. His blistering 25:24 8km around Battersea Park immediately set the bar high for the rest of the teams. The Ray Bans were just for the paparazzi, though.

Aussie Ben MacCronan said he would give it his best go “on one leg”. He had spent the best part of 2020 training for the Gold Coast 50km in December, but had to abandon after 19km with a gammy leg. He has an MRI booked on Monday but somehow managed to smash a 50:28 15km a few days before. What an animal… Let’s hope that MRI shows something good so that we can soon what Ben can do with two working legs!

You know Conall McNally as one our rising stars. He just keeps on improving! After suffering from Covid symptoms in the spring, he made a fantastic recovery to run some awesome times on the track in the summer and a 33:48 10k in Kew Gardens in September. This time, he would have to run 1km further. He must have gone through the 10k in very close to 34mins to clock 37:24 so there is clearly more there than he lets on. Let’s unchain him ASAP, please.

Frida Engström is new to Belgrave competitions but was one of the first to sign up for the event, so got immediate points for enthusiasm. She promised close to 5:00/km for 8km-15km. Well, she did a little better than that and finished her 8km in 39:54. We look forward to seeing more of Frida in upcoming races.

Less Naming, More Running - 2:35:18

Michael McCarthy (14km), Dylan Mitchard (14km), James Morris (9km), Sarah Chadwick (5km)

Irishman Michael McCarthy was first of his squad to complete his run as he had to jet off to Rwanda for work on the Friday (I know, right?). His impressive 48:09 would place him atop the individual 14km ranking and was in line with his recent performance over the 5km (his first sub16min) and 10km (33:45 at the Chichester 10k). He was also our first man home in the National XC Champs last year. This man is absolutely lethal on the mud, so it will be great to see what this shape translates to come XC season 2021.

Finally over the huge buzz he got from running a huge 2:48 marathon at the Goodwood GP Marathon in December, Dylan Mitchard had been attacking training with more gusto than ever. This 50:30 chrono over 14km was a clear sign that not only had his fitness not gone anywhere after several weeks of recovery, but it was better than ever. This young man has much more to show us over the next few years. Let’s make sure we are watching.

James Morris had recently moved out of London to Woking where he’s been enjoying the Surrey hills and country lanes. For this one, however, he hit Goldsworth Park. A very fast first km took its toll on Mr Morris but he held on very bravely for his 35:38 finish. We know James as the man who would traditionally run around 8 or 9 marathons every year, but 2021 might be the year he looks to the ‘short’ stuff for some fast times.

Sarah Chadwick is no stranger to the solo 5km TT. They are a real staple of her training routine. She keeps inching closer and closer to that notorious 20min mark, but on that freezing cold Friday evening she was just 2s shy of a sub21min - 21:01 would be the one to be marked on the team scoreboard. Sarah had an awesome debut in the club colours in Morden Park at the XC Relays and we are convinced she has so much more to show if given the chance. Let’s hope this pandemic can piss off so that she, and so many others, finally get a chance to race for the club properly.

Play It Again, Sam!

Jane Vongvorachoti (7.1km), Will Cockerell (6.9km), Sam Gebreselassie (16km), Tommy Taylor (12km)

This is another team with precise approach to their distances. Jane Vongvorachoti, running to time rather than distance as part of a careful post-partum return to running, submitted a 30:23 min fartlek which came out to 7.1km. This meant that Will Cockerell dropped his initially planned 8km to 6,9km which he did in 27:20 around his trusty Battersea Park. He wasn’t exactly displeased with the reduced distance, he will admit.

The last time Sam Gebreselassie ran fast in Battersea Park for an unofficial PB, it was over the HM distance in which he clocked a hugely impressive sub-68. This wasn’t quite as fast as all that, but it was still enough to pip Arne for the fastest 16km leg of the competition - the nerve. That 53:32 would have been useful in any team competition, let alone an intrasquad virtual relay. Make sure you play it again when the time comes, Sam!

Tommy Taylor is yet another story of inspirational recovery. Just four weeks ago he couldn’t walk or cough without agony due to a hernia. Before then, he put on a show at the 5k road race in Wimbledon. Now, just a few weeks after his surgery, he is back in his trainers with a 42:23 12km run saved in his watch. Good man! Another one of those promising young runners who make our pack so deep and solid throughout.

Kings of the Wild Frontier - 3:14:55

Sam Village (8km), India Lee (12km), Ed Hewett (8km), Andy Brodziak (14km)

Kings of the Wild Frontier (KOTWF) is a coaching company based in Brentford and our star guests during Arnekiden. Founders Sam Village and Ed Hewett have a long history in the motorsports world working with teams like Red Bull Racing and Alpinestar. But they wanted to go further than that. KOTWF reaches into the triathlon world through experienced names like Andy Brodziak - coach, Ironman, hydration specialist and sweat tester - and India Lee who is currently ranked 45th in the world by the Professional Triathletes Organisation. Their purpose is to help athletes find their frontier through tailored strength and conditioning plans, endurance programmes, tests, online classes, massages and apparel. Whether you are a cyclist, a runner, an ultra-distance athlete, a triathlete or a race car driver, they will guide you on your journey to the mountain.

Sam is not new to running and was affiliated with Belgrave a few years ago. He was delighted to make a brief return. His 8km leg was done and dusted in 31:23 in the weekend. Let is also be known that Sam has PBs of 77:26 over the HM and 2:50:25 over the full 42.2km distance. The man has legs!

India is a professional triathlete with experience in both the ITU and long-course circuits. She wears the KOTWF brand across the world and most recently did so in Daytona, Florida during the PTO World Championships in December where she was locking horns with names like Lisa Norden, Anna Haug, Nicola Spirig and Holly Lawrence. She completed her 12km as part of a progression run and clocked 52:15 at the finish.

Very new to running, Ed is currently training for his first ever marathon through KOTWF’s own run coaching programme. He was very excited to get stuck into a real team competition and should be very proud of his 48:41 8km. Much, much more where that come from, Ed!

As Head of Endurance Coaching at KOTWF, Andy specialises in hydration, fueling and body composition. He offers corrective exercise programmes and lifestyle coaching so that his athletes can learn to form good habits and make better decisions. He rounded off the KOTWF campaign with a 1:02:36 14km leg.

The solo acts

At the beginning of the competition, we had five runners lined up to run without a team. Either they were negotiating for some running time with a pesky niggle (the winter months, ey) or missed the entry deadline. In the end, only one is still standing - Konstantinos Touse. Assistant Coach Tinos put some very impressive runs down this summer, including a win at the Lockdown Burnup, and was keen to get going. It’s a real shame no team got to benefit from his 28:24 8km leg.

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