On a day that got a lot colder as the wind got up and in conditions that were supermuddy for both runners and spectators, there was an excellent turnout from ESM members – particular credit going to all those who worked hard to mark and marshal the course and clear up afterwards (like the man in the hoody below). Many thanks also to all the start/finish officials and to the ladies who did a great job doing the teas back at the Community Centre.
Steve Barrington
ESM’s runners ploughing their way through the mud were:
Under-13 boys: George Kerry had another great run to finish 7th but with only Freddie Scarborough (25th) and Bradley Payne (34th) as support, they were one runner short of a full team. The team came ninth and have slipped down to fourth in the table.
Under-13 girls: after three fourth places, the team picked up a third place and move up to third in the table. Nicola Ravenhill improved six places from Ally Pally to lead them home in 9th place and Roisin Lynch (14th) just got the better of the other scorers, Maryam Hussain in 16th and Laura Stewart in 17th. More good scoring from Shiva Basu (22nd), Cameron Thomas (23rd), Beth Neil (27th) and Leah Kelly (28th) saw the B team take fifth place. Newcomers Charlotte Mather and Sarah Freegard finished 34th and 36th.
Under-15 boys/Under-17 men: a return to form for Sam McGonigle produced ESM’s best individual result of the day with 5th place. Three under-15’s, Rashid Riyad (14th), Sam Loveless (35th) and Conor McCarthy (44th), completed the scoring ahead of another U15, Karolis Narvilas (46th). Although the team only finished sixth, they move up three places in the table and are now fifth.
Under-15 girls/Under-17 women: U15 Courtney Marshall (13th) pipped Olivia Will (14th) by one second to lead the team home to their best league result of the season. With another U15, Martha Hayward, in 22nd and Katrina Will in 26th, they finished equal third and stay fourth in the table. Josie Elliott was the first B team scorer in 29th place ahead of U15’s Millie Atherton (31st) and Jennie Connelly (32nd).
Women: Ealing’s best ever turnout in the league saw the team finish third in Division 2 and tighten their hold on the second promotion place. Alison Hopkins (28th) and Sarah Richardson (42nd) led the way for them before a trio of V45’s, Simonetta Taccuso (64th), Claudia Manera (67th) and Patricia Thomas (71st) came home in close order to complete the scoring.
Alison Hopkins
More good packing from Christine Meek (78th), Carol Jones (86th), Gill Morgan (92nd), Jane Ruhland (94th), Nikki Baker (96th) and Mary Walsh (105th) secured an excellent result for the B team, leaving them with an outside chance of promotion from Division 3. Beverley Packwood made her long-promised cross country debut to finish 126th, Julia Gristwood was 130th and Helena French, was 131st. In the veterans team competition, the women had their best result of the season to beat three other strong teams to second place.
Men: Rob Wilson continued his fine run of form to come home 20th, well ahead of Jonny Lane in 79th. In only his second appearance, under-20 Max Wells-Pestell showed his potential by finishing third scorer in 96th place to leapfrog over Mark Cameron (118th), Mark Delahunty (134th), leading veteran Rob Brown (153rd) and James Steel (161st) who were all ahead of him at Ally Pally.
Luke Nicholas, fitting in his first appearance of the season before returning to sea, was next home in 176th place. The A team scoring was completed by Tom Yates (197th), Pete Drew (221st), Eamon Bradley (250th) and Ian Leslie (265th). Scoring for the B team were James O’Neill (275th), Steve Plested (282nd), Dave Foley – a familar face to many but new to ESM (315th), Steve Treanor (316th) and another newcomer Omar Camilleri (348th).
With ninth place, the men’s team stay ninth overall in Division One and will need to produce a monumental effort at Ruislip if they are going to avoid a quick return to the drop. However, on a brighter note, another good result from the vets keeps the team top of the Veteran Men’s Division Two table and well placed for promotion.
Men’s club championships: the leading positions with one race to go are: 1 Mo Hashi 105 points (5 races), 2 Mark Delahunty 102 (6), 3 Rob Wilson 100 (4), 4 Rob Brown 96 (5), 5 Angelo John 92 (4), 6 Mark Cameron 89 (4). Mo Hashi also leads the under-20 men’s championship and Rob Brown leads the veterans. The full standings will be posted on this website before the last race.
The final ATW Metropolitan League fixture takes place at Mad Bess Wood, Ruislip on Saturday 9th February.
Photos by Andy Dodd.