Last updated
28 February 2015
National Cross-Country,
Parliament Hill Fields, 21
February 2015
Good conditions if a little on the muddy side....
Photos start here...
Full
results
here...
U13 Boys were 3rd team
U15 Girls were 3rd team
U17 Women were 4th Team
Junior Men took 6th place
U13 Girls were 18th
U15 Boys 19th
Senior Men 9 to score 37th & 6 to score 44th
Other teams didn't close in.
The National
Cross Country Champs took place last weekend at Parliament Hill. The turn
out was not great in all honesty, which is slightly disappointing
considering that the rest of the year has been so good. However appreciate
lots of people giving us the heads up that they couldn't make it and
especially given that no team manager was running either ;)
Before we
start a special note to Alex Gibbins who ran in his 13th consecutive
National - good going old man!!
Alex Gibbins -
247
Peter Tucker -
295
Kev May - 353
Dan Kennedy -
528
Gareth Evans -
568
Tim Nash - 631
Chris Tuck -
837
Andy Lawes -
1,487
Chris Pikett -
1,714
Nigel Bulmer -
1,851
2005
Finishers!!! And well done to all who ran in what looked like atrocious
conditions.
Blackheath and Bromley HAC young athletes closed the
domestic winter season this weekend at the brutal course that is Parliament
Hill!
The National Cross Country Championships, ‘The
Nationals', are the highlight of the cross country season and this year it
was back in the South at the tough hilly course run over Hampstead Heath.
All running clubs throughout the country, from Cornwall to Northumberland
and counties between converge to compete at the very highest level England
has to offer.
Parliament Hill, with its up hill start is daunting
enough but add to that conditions under foot that have not been seen for
many years and you can’t help but have massive respect for every single
athlete who makes the starting line, let alone those that finish! Recent
rains made the already sodden course a quagmire with mud and puddles a foot
deep (30cm for the metric folk), you only have to look at the photos on our
web site to fully appreciate them. Great character building!
The day started early for Hanna and Dave Cordell (once
again) and after surveying the site found the perfect lofty spot to position
the club tent, affording spectacular views over the London skyline and
relatively dry under foot. Hanna somehow even managed to keep her chair
clean!
School half term, skiing holidays and injuries
affected our numbers but we were still proud to have 43 of our young
athletes making it to the start.
The U17 girls were first off and Niamh Bridson Hubbard
led the girls home with a fantastic run finishing in 12th place, this
despite spraining her ankle last week. Niamh was moving down some steps at
the local train station and slipped on anti freeze, put down to melt the ice
and to prevent people slipping!! No running for a while but plenty of aqua
running obviously kept her fitness levels up. Jess Keene hasn’t trained for
two weeks due to illness so it was great to see her back in action and
finishing a respectable 25th, all things considered. Georgina Taylor had a
solid run in 120th follow by Mary Guy continuing her great season in 149th
completed the scoring team finishing just outside the medals in a fine 4th
place. Jenny Sheasby, having missed some training recently due to her
studies did well finishing in 205th.
Six U15 boys set off and Coleman Corry was first home
having a strong run coming just outside the top 100 in 101st place. Michael
Eagling was next home in 118th but later had to forfeit a box of chocolates
for misplacing his Blackheath top! Oscar Hussey, running his last cross
country race as an U15, came in 142nd. Callum Myatt fresh from his Kent
debut, completed the scoring four in 261st giving the team 19th place
overall. Charlie Andrews running in his National debut finished strongly in
the muddy conditions in 282th as did Lewis Stickings in 290th.
Sam Leighton was our sole representative in the U20
women race and crossed the line in 82nd.
The U13 girls race had the most athletes running with
433 girls finishing. BB’s first home after a gutsy run was Jess Neal in 60th
place, next was Rosie Allen in a strong 120th, followed by Morgan Squibb in
a great 138th and Zoe Austridge, over 150 places higher than last year, in
213th ensuring the team finished in 18th out of 49 scoring teams. Niamh
Milmo in her first National was 221st, Lauren Goddard was 312th and Caitlin
Prifti, also on her debut was 393rd. U13 Isobel Bridge who is currently
injured travelled with the team and spent the day cheering them all on,
hopefully she will be able to compete again soon.
The U17 boys were affected by holiday and injury and
only had three boys start but Joss Barber continued his great season with
his highest National finish in a fine 44th. James Crawley on his National
debut was a respectable 218th. Charlie Davis, having not run for a few weeks
due to injury was determined to run in the National because, to quote
Charlie “ It’s the National! ”. Unfortunately Charlie’s lack of running
caught up with him and he rightly decided to pull out half way into the
race, hopefully with no lasting damage done, I just hope physio Gemma Viney
won’t be too hard on him!
Next up hoping to defend their National cross country
title were the U15 girls who had also won two National relay trophies this
season. Yasmin Austridge set off in determined fashion holding a top ten
place over the first half of the race and finishing her highest ever
National in a great 8th place. Millie Smith a year young had a fantastic run
finishing 15th place bettering her great performance of last year when
finishing 19th. Naomi Kingston continues to run with guts and determination
and crossed the line in a very respectable 38th. Naomi’s standards and
expectation of herself are very high having finished last years National in
a brilliant 5th place but she shouldn’t be disappointed with her performance
as we are only talking a matter of seconds making the difference in very
difficult conditions. Genny Allen completed the scoring team in a great 79th
securing team bronze medals. Amy Leach, at only 14 years old was our first
lady home in last weeks 7 1/2 mile mob match, continues to improve and had a
fantastic run finishing well inside the top 100 in 87th, nearly 100 places
higher than last year. Kelsi Cornish had a good run finishing inside the top
100 in 98th and Stephanie Taylor finished well in 211th.
We haven’t had a scoring quartet of U20 for many years
so it was great to see four Blackheath vests on the start of the U20 men 10k
race. Will Fuller has had a couple of bouts of illness so great to see him
back racing again and he should be very pleased with his 26th finish.
Richard Webb had a strong race in 74th as did Will Ruiz making the top 100
in 89th. Most pleasing for me was seeing ever present Thomas Desborough
finally be part of a full scoring team and his fine 124th was good enough to
secure a great 6th in the team competition.
The U13 boys was the last junior race of the day
before the mass numbers of senior women and men took flight. Having won team
bronze at the South of England hopes were high for another great performance
and the boys didn't disappoint. Rowan Fuss showed his class again with a
brilliant 10th place finish, Peter Guy showed his strength leading the field
up the nasty start hill and finished in a great 18th. Keir Lundy and Joseph
Georgiadis could only be separated by one second but their 83rd and 84th
positions made safe the teams bronze medal finish. Such is our strength and
depth in the U13 age group another six boys were backing up the bronze
winning team. 11 year old Sam Reardon making his National debut powered
through the mud to finish a fantastic 138th in a field of nearly 400
runners. Robert Suckling was a strong 149th and another 11 year old Thomas
Penlington ran superbly to finish 174th. Cameron Swatton showed his
continued improvement with a strong run knocking off nearly 100 places from
last year in 208th. Two further debuts from Jake Leng in 253rd and Ethan
Kitteridge, who described the conditions “as like running though PVA glue”
in 307th completed the Blackheath presence. Many thanks to David Lundy who
was able to collect the medals on behalf of the U13 boys.
For those of you not familiar with Parliament Hill and
the Nationals, it is such a big prestigious event that many BB members make
the difficult journey to get there to watch and support our athletes. This
year that included track coach Nigel Stickings and track team manager Nic
Corry and they were both able to drag themselves away from the renowned
farmers market long enough to watch their off spring! Mike Peel and Terry
Shotton were welcome spectators as they also doubled up taking quality
photos (see above) and helping Hanna and Dave dismantle the tent after
proceedings. Great to see past president and former National cross country
competitor Graham Botley showing PP Pat Calnan around the course! Grahams
take on the course was interesting as he commented on how dry under foot it
was compared to the old days!! Tony ‘the Pope' Pontifex was also out on the
course blessing and supporting the athletes along with PP Tim Souter,
desperate to run himself. Current club president Dick Griffin was as usual
there enjoying his last few weeks of presiding over our club before the next
incumbent??? All will be revealed at the AGM on 21st March. The cakes at the
farmers market were also the draw for track manager Ken Daniel although
being the athlete he is, he would never admit to that. Coach to 27 of the
athletes running, Mick Jones was all over the course cheering all on, as
well as making sure they had warmed up and had their electronic chips on!
Another team manager there supporting (as always) was Karen and Mark
Desborough (Tom’s mum and dad) along with countless other parents,
grandparents and family. Two mums Kathryn Suckling and Jenny Leng actually
ran in the senior women race, finishing the day as dirty and tired as their
sons Robert and Jake.
This weeks team managers awards are as follows
Girls awarded by Andy
"There were some outstanding performances yesterday led by Yasmin Austridge
and Millie Smith with their best ever placings in the Under 15 race, and
Niamh Bridson-Hubbard in the Under 17 race. However the team managers prize
is shared by Jessica Neal leading the Under 13 team home in her first
national, and Amy Leach who improved almost 100 places from last year in her
best run of the season”
Boys awarded by Paul
Rowan Fuss wins the managers award at the National for his superb run in
finishing 10th, a fantastic achievement still with another year in the age
group.
Both team managers managed to stay on their feet this
week but by looking at the state of everyone at the end it looked as though
we had all fallen in the mud!
Next years winter season should be as exciting as this
years and the standard will be even higher as nearly two thirds of the
athletes will still be competing in the same age groups.
BBHAC’s future is looking very bright.
Next year’s National will be held in the North of
England and will involve a weekend trip by coach with a two night at a
hotel. As soon as the venue and date are confirmed we will be making a
reservation and then asking you for a small deposit so that we can estimate
numbers.
Paul Austridge
The following from Rod Harrington
The following from Tom Desborough
