Belgrave women finished second team and the men third at the first proper team road relays since the pandemic.

Sam Gebreselassie was the quickest Bel on the day and 4th overall; second-claimer Sophie Cowper was quickest Belle and 3rd overall.

Full results at end of report.

Women

Saturday saw the return of the road and cross-country season with the annual Surrey Road Relays held at Wimbledon Park. On a hilly but quick course the Belles managed to get out two strong teams with a third almost full following a couple of dropouts due to sickness.

There were superb runs by all but it was Sophie Cowper who came away as the fastest Belle of the day finishing in 16:45 for the 3rd fastest individual time and helping secure a silver medal for the A team made up of Steph Hewitt, Laura Goodson, Sophie Cowper and Beth Brown.

This was the first relay in its classic format since before the pandemic and saw a mass start of men and women at midday. Our first leg runners (Steph Hewitt, Mimi Corden-Lloyd and Sarah Dewhirst) got off to a good start and settled in well, coming home in very respectable times. At this point our A team were in 3rd behind both Thames Harriers and Guildford & Godalming.

Leg 2 runners (Laura Goodson, Laurel Bray and Cat Hall) still had a bit of a battle before runners began to spread out. Leg 3 (Sophie Cowper, Lizzie Goldie-Scott and Nat Beadle) pushed hard to bring the A, B and C teams into strong positions going into the last leg, which left Beth Brown and Emily Barrett to finish things off for the girls.

Good runs by all involved, and lovely to see lots of new faces joining the Road and Cross-Country team for the 21/22 season. Thanks to all the Belles who ran and for supporting all three teams. 

Times

Leg 1: Steph Hewitt 17:22; Mimi Corden-Lloyd 18:19; Sarah Dewhirst 19:03.

Leg 2: Laura Goodson 17:57; Laurel Bray 18:37; Cat Hall 20:23.

Leg 3: Sophie Cowper 16:45; Lizzie Goldie-Scott 18:48; Nat Beadle 19:07.

Leg 4: Beth Brown 18:56; Emily Barrett 18:23.

Men

The men fielded two full teams and an incomplete C team consisting of Scott Mills and seasoned Belgrave veteran Will Cockerell who doesn’t really need (or merit) an introduction anymore. With many runners either away on holiday, injured or taking a much needed break after a demanding track season, this was a very satisfactory turnout. TMs Arne Dumez and Steve Gardner have their eyes firmly set on hardware at the Southern Road Relays at the end of September and the National Champs in early October, so they wanted to use this one to lure in the heavy claret and gold artillery and get the blood pumping. Mission accomplished!

Kicking off the A team was talent extraordinaire Sam Gebreselassie. He was supposed to be out of the country for this one and had broken his TM’s heart weeks prior. He was a perfect gentleman about it, but no Sam is a big blow to any TM’s nerves. Turns out none of that was going to happen and swooped back into the roster at the last minute, and it’s a great thing he did. His opening leg of 14:10 put the Bels in the lead, but only 3s ahead of Guildford’s Tom Foster. Yep, we had ourselves a nail biter!

Then went co-captain Nick Buckle, the eternal hustler. Nick is one of those runners who gets better as the season goes on. He is like the human embodiment of “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” He buries himself, suffers, survives and does it all again next time, but just better. He was about a minute slower than Sam which, by his own admission, was a “meh” performance. But, as I said, just watch that timer come tumbling down over the coming months!

Unfortunately, Nick was up against extremely strong competition in the form of Hercules’ Richard McDowell who clocked a huge 13:59 leg and James Share from G&G who logged a convincing sub15. Nick handed over to Conall McNally in 3rd with SLH, Herne Hill and Croydon tangled in a mighty contest not too far back. Would Conall be able to keep himself and his teammates clear of the fight for the minor places? Yes, he would. This loyal Belgrave scorer ran an almost identical time to Nick and kept the fray behind him. Sadly, there was now a rather clear gap between G&G and Hercules, duking it out at the front.

Then came claret and gold legend Phil Wicks. He had finally gotten a grip on his calf issues (touch wood) and was absolutely chomping at the bit. He hadn’t raced in 18 months - he couldn’t wait to make up for lost time. He would be the first to admit he’s not quite the Wicks of old yet, but he still ran a rapid 14:42 leg which meant we were digging into the void to 2nd place which was now held by Hercules. It also meant we had pulled even further away from SLH, Herne Hill and Croydon who kept shuffling back and forth for 4th, 5th and 6th place.

Angus Lamb is a relatively new name in our scoring roster but having just run a fantastic track mile and his first sub16 road 5k, it’s not surprising that he made this squad. After 15:29, he was still well clear of Herne Hill who came storming up the path behind him. Mr Lamb handed over to our anchor leg, Neil Wilson, in the hopes that he could deliver that fancied bronze medal. Neil was nervous at the thought of being last leg, but Arne had every faith that he was the man for the job. He’ll be claiming some credit for Neil’s fantastic run! With a solo leg of 15:14 he managed to stay well clear of SLH’s Ollie Garrod who charged past Herne Hill to bring his team home in 4th place, but the marathon man was still 28s behind our Mr Wilson. A fantastic team effort all around!

The B team was beautifully led out by Chris Warren who had been testing himself over the middle distance events over the summer. New recruit Abdullah Elsadis had gotten in touch with the TMs to emphasis how keen he was to get stuck into the team events - he clearly wasn’t joking! His leg was the fastest of the B team. Carlos Casal has been training for London Marathon and recently ran a 76min half marathon at the London Big Half. His leg of 16:17 set off a beautiful crescendo in the form of David Lewis and David Walsh who each ran a little bit faster than the guy who tapped them. You love to see it. Finally, Big Ben Hurley (now featuring a lovely beard) led his men home in first place.

Results: 1. Hercules Wimbledon (1:28:22), 2. Guildford & Godalming (1:28:36), 3. Belgrave Harriers (1:30:09).

Results (B race): 1. Belgrave Harriers (1:37:59), 2. South London Harriers (1:38:17), 3. Guildford & Godalming (1:46:18)

Full results