2011 South of England Cross Country Championship Results

Another fun day at Parliament Hill and my first race for 3 months (left: photos Ken Hoye). All in all it was pretty hard work but an enjoyable one in the Saucony South of England Championships.

Up front Neilson Hall defended his title from last year in a much quicker time if my memory serves me correctly. The course seemed to be the driest I can remember, not that I was any good in the little mud there was ! Runner up was my Wells City Harriers club mate Ben Tickner and third was Jon Pepper with Parliament Hill specialist Chris Smith a close 4th.

A couple of minutes back I finished 29th which constitutes a personal worst for the southern but not unexpected given the lack of consistent training recently. You can only run on former glories (and mileage) for so long ! The lack of miles really told in the mud and up the hills though encouragingly I was able to work up a good head of steam on the flat, dry sections so the engine is in pretty good order. Just need to get some strength back in the leg muscles.

Today was pretty cold and I can't imagine it was much fun for the marshalls who had a long day battling dog walkers and their stray hounds. As has become the norm here the finish system works brilliantly with chip timing allowing results to be available on course a few minutes after the race is over. And this year I was far enough behind the leaders to hear the presentation starting to take place as I crossed the line !

No doubt much discussion will take place about the race starting with what seemed like several hundred people still trying to get through the chip inspection tent. The race started on time but there was a big bottle neck again to get to the start. It would be good to hear the SEAA perspective before passing judgement. On the one hand people knew what the start time was and on the other it did take a long time to get through the tent.

Whatever the rights and wrong of why it happened having a championship race get underway without many competitors on the start line has got to set alarm bells ringing and its something that needs to be fixed for 2012.

Results
Senior Men
1 48:23 Neilson Hall Bedford & County AC
2 48:40 Ben Tickner Wells City Harriers
3 49:00 Jon Pepper Enfield & Haringey AC
4 49:06 Chris Smith Thames Valley Harriers
5 49:06 Gary Thornton Kent AC
6 49:21 Glen Watts Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers
7 49:24 Dean Lacy Cambridge Harriers
8 49:27 Kevin Heywood Bideford AAC
9 49:34 Darren Deed Bedford & County AC
10 49:47 John Gilbert Kent AC
...
29 51.55 Adrian Marriott Wells City Harriers

Full results here

Saucony South of England Cross Country Top 20

It was great to be back running the 'Southern' at Parliament Hill yesterday for the first time since about 1997 for me. My big memory of that race was a battle with a certain Huw Lobb for a place inside the top 10 and 12 years later we were at it again though a few places lower than last time.

For afficianodos the southern is special because it is the only big XC race in britain that retains the old 9 miles distance. Add in the mud and hills of Hampstead Heath and it becomes a war of attrition to say the least. Yesterday was no exception though the mud has decreased in recent years since the council put in some drainage on the heath. (Photo left from 42run.com)

My race was a mixed bag. after struggling to keep up at the start I was back in the forties but quickly worked my up in to the twenties on the opening lap and tracking Dave Wardle but I was struggling badly on the hills. Every time we hit an up slope there was no power in my legs and I went backwards a few places - and hills are normally a strength.

By the end of lap 1 I was in the early 20's and not really enjoying the race. With concentration wavering and more uphills I had slipped to about 25th midway through the lap when Huw caught up with me and my race changed. Most of the guys around me were breathing hard, much harder than me so clearly my fitness was pretty good.

As Huw came past I tucked in and we start on a charge that would last most of the second half of the race (photo left by Alex Robinson and courtesy of Adam Prezedrzymirski). It worked out well. On the hills he was pulling away again but on the flatter parts I was charging past him so we pulled each other into the top 20 and were catching runners all the way to the finish.

Another lap would have been helpful at this point :-) I was even able to raise a good sprint to hold off a fast finishing James Connor. So I managed to salvage something from the wreckage of the first half of my race and will only get better with more races in coming weeks. Bring on the next one.

Left: Wells team tent with Enfield's Jon Pepper getting some love from Big Frank before taking 2nd in the senior mens race (and to keep the internet message board posters happy - checking out a move to the west country before transfer deadline day ?)

Full Results here from Milton Keynes AC (click tabs at bottom of page for other age groups).

Senior Mens Top 20

1. N Hall
2. J. Pepper
3. K Heywood
4. Deed
5. Neuschwander
6. Lacy
7. Mashford
8. Toher
9. Smith
10. Tickner
11. Clarke
12. Dalmedo
13. Wardle
14. Coleman
15. Warren
16. Edwards
17. Marriott
18. Connor
19. Lobb
20. Jones

4th (again) at Parliament Hill Cross Challenge

They say that 4th is the worst position to finish and I seem to be making a habit of it in 2008 with this my third finish just off the podium. The occasion was the first race in the new ECCA Cross Challenge series run in conjunction with the London Championships at Parliament Hill Fields.

With most of the top British runners aiming for the Euro trials next week in Liverpool and having stretched their legs at Gateshead last weekend the field was a bit thin at the sharp end and it was still too good for me as Darren Deed (Bedford) ran out a comfortable winner. The threatened snow failed to materialise and the stiff northerly wind kept things chilly without being biting as the sun shone. These were probably the driest conditions I have raced on at Parliament Hill and that covers a fair few races, especially as we use to run it three times a winter just in student races.

Today's race started near the top of the hill to avoid the path that cuts across from the lido and so after the initial charge a leading group of about 6 settled down for the first lap before Darren made his move on the second lap and quickly opened a gap. I had a good battle with David Bruce as Chris Smith in front of me chipped away at the gap to Richard Franzese of Harrow. By the last lap we were strung out 1 to 5 across the heath and that is how it remained to the finish. At least today was a step forward as I was able to get myself in contention early on but was lacking in the middle part of the race this time. That will come with a few more weeks hard work. Above all i'm relieved that I made a late decision to switch my 15mm spikes for 9mm. My feet are sore from the shorter ones (the ground was that hard) so I would have been in a real mess with the nails in !

Turnout in the age group races seemed a bit thin on the ground but it was great to see a healthy number of former clubmates from Hercules Wimbledon battling it out in the London Championships race.

Next up is one of my favourite races, the Victory 5 Road Race in a fortnight's time.

Results
1. Darren Deed (Bedford)
2. Richard Franzese (Harrow)
3. Chris Smith (TVH)
4. Adrian Marriott (Wells City)
5. David Bruce (Highgate)
6. James Connor (Kent)

Full Results to follow