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We claimed three sets of team medals at Fryent Country Park in Kingsbury on Saturday, competing in two concurrent cross country competitions: the Liddiard Trophy and the North of Thames Championships.
The senior women ran a 3 mile circuit of the course, setting off in mild and sunny conditions, with the ground still firm underfoot. Fiona Kennedy was first home for the club, finishing in sixth place and winning an individual medal as first veteran. Jane Ruhland followed a couple of minutes later in 22nd, with Carol Jones in 26th and Lynn Wilson in 31st. In the 3-to-score Liddiard Trophy, Fiona, Jane and Carol took bronze medals. In the 4-to-score North of Thames championships, all four club representatives took home bronze medals. With all four being over 50 for the south of England veterans championships in December, there are good prospects of age category medals.
Our men were well represented, with 11 runners, though many of the faster men opted for a week off from the busy cross-country schedule. Over the 5 mile course, Pete Flewitt was first ESM finisher in 16th. He was followed two minutes later by promising newcomer Florjan Bakalli (46th), who is still under 20. Mark Delahunty was hot on his heels in 49th, having swapped places during the race with Andy Dodd, also only a few seconds adrift in 52nd. A few minutes later, Steve Norris (68th) and Ian Leslie (70th) were also across the line. The last two to count for team positions were Steve Plested (92nd) and Andy Leung (111th), while Martin Wilson (119th), Gary Stringer (121st) and John Falvey (124th) fought their own personal battles for places. Gary was left to rue his early enthusiasm as Martin went past mid-race, but Martin was himself out-sprinted to the line by a V65 veteran from TVH, determined, like so many others, to show he hadn’t lost his competitive spirit.
In the 6-to-score Liddiard Trophy, the men’s team finished fifth. The North of Thames Championship awards medals in three different combinations: 4-to-score, 6-to-score and 8-to-score, and Ealing’s men finished 7th, 7th and 6th respectively – pretty comparable to last year’s performance, albeit with a largely different team. Pete, Mark, Steve Norris and Ian won bronze medals in the veteran men’s team competition.
Full results are below.
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