On Course for the Title

The Senior Men’s team will go into the final Surrey Cross Country League match on Effingham Common next month with a lead of over 380 points, despite finishing second to Belgrave Harriers by the slimmest of margins on Saturday. Meanwhile the Senior Women’s team enjoyed their highest placing of the season so far, while Lulu Weisz won the U17 Women's race, Millie Thorpe was 4th and Abbie Grey 9th, despite slithering over in the mud, to secure the win for the team.

The U13 Girls team of Ava McAndie, Iona Alexander, Leah Paulson and Julia McDonnell were also winners. The U15 Girls were fourth, the U13 Boys third, and the combined Boys U15 and Men’s U17 team finished fifth.

Below: the Senior Women's team, combining experience with youth

As far as the men's campaign is concerned, 'the plan was always to try and nail it in the first two matches', says coach Ben Noad. 'Then, because we have such strength in depth now, we could afford to rest a couple of athletes for this match and cope with any injuries, as January is such a tough month with the Surrey County Championships, Surrey League, and the Southern Championships all in the space of a few weeks. It is testimony to the spirit of this squad that Belgrave put out their best team for 15 years, minus Nick Goolab, and still only beat us by nine points!

First home for the Senior Men over the 5-mile (approx) course was Dan Cliffe who finished fifth in 26:56. Dan – who with Liverpool Harriers was Cheshire County Cross Country Champion every year bar one from 2014-2021, before moving South – had hoped to replicate his third place in Match 2 on Wimbledon Common. However he was still getting back up to speed after a bug – 'not Covid!' – over Christmas. 'Despite the lads telling me about the course, every venue in the Surrey League is a new experience', says Dan. 'It makes it more exciting – you don't know where the turns are or where you are going!'

Tom Jervis continued his exceptional run of finishing second HW scorer, coming home in 8th in 27.09, with team captain Fred Slemeck following in 11th in 27:33, despite still feeling the after-effects of his silver-medal winning run at Denbies only a week earlier. 'I was cruising a bit on the first lap and tried to push on on lap two and three, but with our focus on the Championship races to come I wanted to hold my position, but not push too hard and snap a hamstring!' he says. Andrew Penney was 14th in 28:00 and happy to notch up his highest team position so far this season. Jonny Cornish was 18th in 28:05 and M40 Richard McDowell 20th in 28:14, only a week after winning the testing 43-mile Country to Capital Ultra race (see his story below).

Jackson Creegan finished in 34th in 29.04, with Rhys Boorman one place behind in 29:07. Finn Johnson, was 43rd in 29:21, and Sam Todd in 45th in 29:31 completed the ten-man scoring team.

'I absolutely love being part of this squad. It has completely revitalised my love of club athletics and training and running with real purpose and intent', says Jackson, who joined the Club last summer and made an immediate impact as part of the scoring team which won the Surrey Road Relay Championships at Wimbledon Park. On Saturday he scored in the League for the first time, having also won a bronze team medal in the County Championships. 'I was previously second claim for Ranelagh, but just dipping in and out, not doing anything consistently. It was (former Olympian) Ross Murray who suggested I come along and have a go training with the lads.

'These cross country races require such a lot of strength and fitness, and the gaps develop really quickly on the first lap' he has learned. 'I came though quite well in the second and third laps to finish seventh, so I guess its about having the confidence to believe in myself more and go out harder at the start so those gaps don't establish themselves'.

Earlier, in the morning, the sun shone on the Women’s Team in the first race, before hiding behind clouds for the rest of a fiercely cold day. First home over the 8K course was captain, Claire Grima (W40), who finished 16th in 34:10. Gina Galbraith (W45) was 31st in 35:08, and adding youth to experience, U20s Albane Fery (33rd in 35:14), Kiara Valkenburg (40th in 35:39) and Niamh Thompson (50th in 36:04) completed the 5 to-score team. 'It was my first time on this course', said Kiara, 'and I really enjoyed it. I think we all paced the first lap well and then carried on through in the second and third lap, thanks to lots of cheering and encouragement from Hercules supporters around the course, which was lovely'.

Full Surrey Cross Country League results

Country to Capital

Ever since distance runner Richard McDowell first decided to explore the territory beyond the marathon distance back in June 2020, Club members have been given a peek into the world of ultra racing with its testing routes that attract runners from all over the world. Having worked his way up through the mileage to 100 miles, Richard downsized for his latest adventure, the Country to Capital race. Run over 43 miles from Wendover to Little Venice, the course undulates over the Chilterns on a mix of asphalt and trail, before runners hit the Grand Union Canal for the final 20 miles to Paddington.

At 42 and unconvinced that he can improve significantly on his 2:23:06 marathon time, achieved at last year's London event, Richard sees ultra racing not only as a personal challenge but as a potential avenue towards international competition over 100 miles. First step is the Anglo Celtic Plate 100K race in Perth, Scotland in April, which doubles as the British Championships.

Richard had originally entered the January 2021 Country to Capital race, 'but due to Covid it was postponed to the summer, and as it fell a week before my first 100 mile race, I thought it was wise to defer until this year', he says.

'I set myself a fairly lofty goal of four hours 45 minutes (which would knock about 11 minutes off the course record), but preparation hadn’t gone quite to plan as a niggling hamstring limited training volume in the lead-up to the race.

'Advice from a friend who had finished on the podium a couple of years ago was to run the first half with someone who knew the route, as there were a few areas of tricky navigation. So the day before the race I was furiously studying the route map, watching the videos on the event website and downloading the route onto my Garmin, crossing my fingers that it was accurate'.

280 runners lined up for the start of the race at the Shoulder of Mutton pub in Wendover, ready to surge down the short section of the high street. 'I led the charge and was the first to turn right and get through the first bottleneck', says Richard. So much for finding a friend who knew the route, as, he says, 'the short story is that I didn’t see any of my fellow competitors again until over 5 hours later!' Fortunately his meticulous planning paid off, and the GPS tracking on his watch proved 'almost flawless. Only once did it suggest I should be cutting through a garden!'

'As it had rained a lot in the lead-up to the race, it’s fair to say that conditions underfoot were slippery, and not particularly fast, so for several of the relatively short but fairly steep climbs I reverted to a brisk walk, rather than wasting lots of energy sliding around, he says.

'I was carrying a litre of Maurten to drink and a couple of gels, so wasn’t planning on stopping at any of the aid stations. In hindsight a few more gels or some food wouldn’t have gone amiss, as I think my total intake of around 600 calories left me with a significant deficit which could explain how the later stages of the race played out'.

Despite the rain, headwind and slippery mud, Richard was on target for the course record, reaching the canal unscathed in around 2 hours 35 minutes. 'The plan was to reach the canal feeling fresh, and then pick up the pace, but it became apparent that maybe I had been pushing harder than I realised earlier, and my hamstring wasn’t feeling amazing either. It soon became a case of conservation and counting down the miles without blowing up or grinding to a halt, which was as much a mental battle as a physical one.

'Once I realised that my goal time was out of the window I stopped paying so much attention to pace and focused more on keeping ahead of the second place runner'. Having checked the tracker on his phone, he was able to monitor the gap – ' It seemed like at least a couple of miles, but if I slowed significantly and he put on a spurt, that could soon be eaten up' – and take the victory by 20 minutes.

As relieved as he was to see the finish line, frustration set in when he realised that in focusing on the race position, he had actually missed taking the course record by only around a minute. 'I was oblivious to it at the time, but I’m sure I could have picked up the pace in the final 10km or so, but I think the fact that I finished 20 minutes ahead of the second-placed runner, and there was a further 10 minute wait for the third to come in confirms that conditions were far from optimal, so I can’t be too disappointed.

'A quick change in the shelter of the finish tent and I hobbled off in the direction of Paddington underground station, considerably less perky than I had been in the morning' he confesses – 'but a solid thumbs up for a very well organised event which I would thoroughly recommend both to experienced ultra runners and first-timers'.