Page 31 - BBHAC Winter 2015-16 Gazette

Feature 29
Sarah Belaon – a first lady’s progress
Sarah Belaon’s triumph in winning
the Bennett Cup follows on from
Wilf Slack’s heartening success
of last year, particularly as an
opportunity taken to break new
ground and was the first time that
it had been won by a lady runner
since its inauguration in 1930.
There have been lady runners up in
recent years such as Kate Pratten
and Angela Cook, but this year
new ground was broken at last.
How did she feel about being the
one who had this honour? Well “it
was pretty amazing” she said and
not quite expected until towards the club 10 mile championships
end of the season. “I didn’t realise then. At first she ran in most
that I was in with a chance until I
was told that I had been in the top
ten all season and could go for it”. completed all nine, a desirable the Nationals and saw the
Also she admitted that
she hadn’t realised that a
woman had never won it,
although the cup had been
around so long (since 1930)
and since lady members
had been admitted into the
club. Sarah’s involvement
in the club has been but a
short time, as she had only
competed in the Bennett Cup
for the last 5 or 6 years. Her
first race back then was in
the autumn of 2010, and she
had run impressively in the
if not all the races. This year had done all of the Bennetts,
was the first time that she had some Kent League, and
requirement in order to win
the Bennett Cup.
It was however only recently
that she had come to realise
that these matches made
up a series which was a
competitive championship,
and also the importance of
completing all of them if
she or anyone could have a
realistic chance of winning
the Bennett Cup. Aiming
to complete all nine events
formed the basis of whatever
game plan she may have had
to win the cup, but since she
was not yet fully aware of the
mechanics of the competition
and how the handicap system
worked (and quite frankly
very few people are) then she
did not have anything specific
in mind at the beginning of
the season. If the significance
of the cup had not yet been
explained to her she has
no doubt picked up what it
means and how it can benefit
the form and technique of
runners of all shapes and
sizes.
Did it encourage her running
generally she was asked. As
she was definitely interested
in improving her technique
she saw running in and
competing in the races as
means of improvement. She
benefit of racing where
you can measure yourself
against other runners
and be stimulated by the
competition, as opposed to
the hard slog of training, and
more training.
The Bennett Cup she
observed was not just a means
to an end. Previous winners
of the cup have suggested
that they often used the races
to accumulate fitness and
put miles in the bank for the
London Marathon but Sarah
had done this and found that
for her it didn’t necessarily
work. Concentrating on
the marathon might be
detrimental to progress in
the Bennett Cup. Tired legs
from marathon training had
held her back in the cup races