Excellent Running at Stevenage with Senior teams finishing 2nd
Bookended by lovely autumn days, Saturday dawned with pouring rain. A smaller than usual Scrubs Parkrun group braved the weather circuiting home territory, led by Sarah Johnson running really fast. Sitting in the clubhouse after did not offer great prospects for the afternoon’s Met League at Stevenage. Always a bit of a slog round the North Circular and up the A1, this Saturday seemed worse than usual, making for little spare time on arrival. Valiant Barrie had been waiting in the café, thinking we were all going to be no shows, but as ever patiently and carefully distributed the numbers as we trickled up to the starting area. Fortunately the rain had by that time eased off to an intermittent drizzle. Phil hurried up with the last of the men, the club tent in hand, providing very welcome shelter for changing and racetime storage.
Amazingly, for all the earlier heavy rain, the course was firm and fast underfoot, the deluge having been soaked into the long desiccated ground, as at the Scrubs. Much better organised than last year when the switchbacks caused confusion and corner cutting, this year’s course was simple, with a shorter first lap, followed by two full laps for the ladies, and 3 for the men, around the entire periphery of the meadowland. With only minor undulations and nicely mowed grass paths for a good part of the course it was fast going all the way round.
Simon Maddison Reports:
In the ladies race Chloe Beckett made her league debut with a good run coming in at 37, with Anna Critchlow catching fast at the finish just 4 seconds and one place behind, also running brilliantly to finish 4th in her V45 category. Stephanie Ainley was only 5 seconds further back at 41, with Lara Scerri from Malta enjoying(?) the change of climate at 75, triathlete Gemma Fairhurst returning again at 141, Barbara Maddison at 159, newcomer Shania Lorenz at 166 and Christine Munden at 180. A very promising start from Heather Timmins was unfortunately cut short as she was forced to withdraw suffering from what must be a virus and we wish her well on her recovery. The final team result brought the ladies in at 2nd in Division 2, holding position at 2nd in the league. Despite Anna’s great run, the veteran ladies finished only 4th in Vets division 2, disappointingly dropping to 3rd in the division.
In the men’s race the drizzle started up again as the race progressed, but this didn’t slow down Ireland’s Olympic marathon runner Kevin Seaward who ran brilliantly to finish in the top 10 at 9th. James Ellis made a welcome return to the Met League team at 62, while Simon Prigent had a very good Met League debut at 66, just ten seconds behind. Kieron Sexton was running solidly to improve on his position and reverse the finishing order with Manuel Caeiro from Claybury, with Kieron in 82 and Manuel at 88. With an influx of Cambridge University students racing as guests, Andrew Mitchell found himself finishing just outside the top 100 at 103, and was once again an outstanding second in the V45 category. Will Jones had another well-paced race and the larger numbers ahead gave him a finishing position of 116. Close behind a fast improving Calum Nicol was only 21 seconds back at 128, with Fergus Johnson chasing a 42 second gap to finish at 161. A welcome appearance by Louis William after a long absence surprised many on the team and he gave a good account with a finish of 291. Not content with a 3rd place finish in the Scrubs Parkrun 5 hours earlier, stalwart James Malcolm was just 3 seconds behind Louis at 295. Manuel da Silva and Scott Brewer were involved in a fierce sprint finish to the line and were both given the same time, with Manuel given the nod at 300 and Scott at 301. Next in at 312 was junior athlete Joe Cooper, with Richard Bell also sprinting hard to catch a couple of places at 335. Greg Bennett still struggling out of a bad cold made some headway at 361, with Mervyn Walker having doubled up on daughter support at 379. The ever-present David Ford came home in 389, followed by Bernie Robbins at 392, and Simon Maddison managing to gain a couple of places in the last half lap at 432. It was a frustrating race for Hugo Dias who stated the race well but a long term injury meant he was unable to finish, though he plans to return for the next Met League at the Scrubs on December 3rd.
The excellent performance of the leading runners in the team brought the Valley team in at second place in Division 2, hauling us up to 3rd in the League. Let’s keep this up guys, and carry on this performance please!
Similarly to the ladies, despite Andrew’s excellent performance the Veteran men finished in 7th place, languishing at a disappointing 6th in Division 2.
Once again very many thanks to Barrie for sorting out the numbers, and to Phil for his organisation of transport and indefatigable welfare for the team in terms of shelter (the tent) and goodies afterwards.
Start Fitness Met League, Stevenage, 12/11/2016
Women’s Division Two Race Result
37 Chloe Beckett 24:52; 38 Anna Critchlow* 24:56; 41 Stephanie Ainley 25:01; 75 Lara Scerri 26:59; 141 Gemma Fairhurst 30:44; 159 Barbara Maddison 32:32; 166 Shania Lorenz 33:10; 180 Christine Munden 37:03; 182 finishers.
Women’s Division Two Team Result
1 London City 271
2 Thames Valley Harriers 250
Women’s Division Two League Positions
1 London City 560
2 Thames Valley Harriers 521
Veteran Women’s Division Two Team Result
4 Thames Valley Harriers 31
Veteran Women Division Two League Positions
3 Thames Valley Harriers 58
Men’s Division Two Race Result
9 Kevin Seaward* 26:17; 62 James Ellis 28:38; 66 Simon Prigent 28:48; 82 Kieron Sexton 29:08; 88 Manuel Caeiro 29:18; 103 Andrew Mitchell 29:35; 116 William Jones* 30:01; 128 Calum Nicol 30:22; 161 Fergus Johnson* 31:04; 291 Louis William 34:24; 295 James Malcolm 34:27; 300 Manuel da Silva 34:44; 301 Scott Brewer 34:44; 312 Joe Cooper 35:14; 335 Richard Bell 35:56; 361 Greg Bennett 37:06; 379 Mervyn Walker 37:47; 389 David Ford 38:17; 392 Bernard Robbins 38:35; 432 Simon Maddison 44:15; 441 finishers.
Men’s Division Two Team Result
1 Ealing, Southall & Middlesex 1,090
2 Thames Valley Harriers 1,040
Men’s Division Two League Positions
1 Ealing, Southall & Middlesex 2325
2 Highgate Harriers ‘B’ 2241
3 Thames Valley Harriers 2051
Veteran Men’s Division Two Team Result
7 Thames Valley Harriers 133
Veteran Men Division Two League Positions
6 Thames Valley Harriers 333
Thanks to Phil, the Met League Cup results are below.
Congratulations to the two veterans currently in the lead!!
Race 2 – Men
Cup Position Handicap Time Cup Points
1 Kevin Seaward 25:59 30
2 Andrew Mitchell 26:30 29
3 James Ellis 28:38 28
4 Simon Prigent 28:48 27
5 Kieron Sexton 29:08 26
6 Manuel Caeiro 29:18 25
7 Will Jones 30:00 24
8 Calum Nicol 30:17 23
9 Fergus Johnson 30:25 22
10 Mervyn Walker 31:11 21
11 Richard Bell 31:26 20
12 James Malcolm 32:48 19
13 Simon Maddison 33:25 18
14 David Ford 33:29 17
15 Manuel Da Silva 34:00 16
16 Greg Bennett 34:01 15
17 Joe Cooper 34:04 14
18 Louis William 34:08 13
19 Bernie Robbins 34:18 12
20 Scott Brewer 34:39 11
Overall Standing – Men
Cup Position Cup Points
1 Andrew Mitchell 59
2 Manuel Caeiro 53
2 Kieron Sexton 53
4 Will Jones 50
5 Fegus Johnson 47
5 Calum Nicol 47
7 Mervyn Walker 44
8 Richard Bell 42
9 Simon Maddison 37
10 Greg Bennett 36
11 Manuel Da Silva 33
12 David Ford 32
13 Joe Cooper 30
13 Kevin Seaward 30
15 Conor Kissane-Wood 29
16 James Ellis 28
17 Simon Prigent 27
18 Bernie Robbins 25
19 Scott Brewer 23
20 Christian Nielsen 20
21 James Malcolm 19
22 Hugo Dias 18
23 Peter Hill 14
24 Louis William 13
25 Will Paynter 11
Race 2 – Ladies
Cup Position Handicap Time Cup Points
1 Anna Critchlow 22:32 18
2 Chloe Beckett 24:52 17
3 Stephanie Ainley 25:01 16
4 Barbara Maddison 26:36 15
5 Lara Scerri 26:59 14
6 Gemma Fairhurst 30:44 13
7 Shania Lorenz 33:02 12
8 Christine Munden 34:12 11
Ladies – overall standing
Cup Position Cup Points
1 Barbara Maddison 32
2 Gemma Fairhurst 26
3 Christine Munden 22
4 Tracy Barlow 20
5 Alex Mundell 19
6 Anna Critchlow 18
6 Lisa Da Silva 18
8 Chloe Beckett 17
9 Stephanie Ainley 16
9 Leanne Lyons 16
11 Jess Bass 15
12 Lauren Morris 14
12 Lara Scerri 14
14 Shania Lorenz 12
14 Kirstie Tew 12