We successfully retained the Hec Petersen Trophy against Ranelagh Harriers in Richmond Park on Saturday afternoon. In the six-to-score match, ESM scored 139 points to beat Ranelagh by 30 points.
The Hec Petersen Trophy was presented by John Petersen in 1994 in memory of his father who died in 1993. Hec Petersen was originally a member of Ealing – where he served as Club President – then joined Ranelagh as a second-claim member. The trophy is contested annually between the two clubs.
This year’s race took place on a beautiful sunny afternoon. The five-mile cross-country course took in the highs and lows of Richmond Park and incorporated a wide range of surfaces from muddy puddles to tarmac. Much of the pre-race chat was about choice of shoes: studs, spikes, length of spikes…
ESM was represented by a purely veteran team of over-40s on this occasion, and Mark Delahunty (11th) was first to show for the club in 31:35. James Steel missed the start but progressed through the field to finish 17th in a time of 32:25. Fiona Kennedy was 18th in 32:34, and the first female finisher. Ian Leslie (25th) was tracked by Eamon Bradley (30th) but there was a gap of some 100 metres by the end, Ian clocking 34:37 and Eamon 35:01. Steve Plested (38th) was the final scorer for the Hec Petersen Trophy, in 35:56.
The competition took place within a larger inter-club event hosted by the Bank of England Sports Club which included Hercules Wimbledon AC, Milocarians (combined services club), the Bank of England and Dulwich Park Runners. Within the larger eight-to-score meeting, ESM finished third. In 46th place, Darren Halford made a useful points contribution to this score, as did Carol Jones in 58th.
Results summary
11 Mark Delahunty 31:35; 17 James Steel 32:25; 18 Fiona Kennedy (W) 32:34; 25 Ian Leslie 34:37; 30 Eamon Bradley 35:01; 38 Steve Plested 35:56; 46 Darren Halford 36:50; 58 Carol Jones (W) 38:19; 63 Gill Morgan (W) 39:16; 69 John Falvey 41:54
Full results here