Authored by Graham French
The National returned to Parliament Hill this year, a venue famed for its muddy and challenging courses in February – and this year was no exception.
Twenty-six ESM young athletes took up the challenge, producing some fine individual and team performances.
Team of the day was the under 13 girls. No fewer than nine of our young athletes were on the start line, demonstrating the strength in depth within this age group. The team finished 14th overall out of 26 complete teams (i.e., teams with four athletes or more), with over 100 incomplete teams also competing in the race.
Violet Muralidhar led the team home with a strong finish in 45th place. Eve Johnson (128th), Megan Price (142nd), and Layla Richardson (168th) completed the scoring team. They were well supported by Isabella Matsunaga Michalakis (170th), Marin Hayward (205th), Cleo Kumar (206th), and Alice Wilson Brown (213th), all of whom contributed to improving the team’s position. Christine Ivanova unfortunately turned her ankle in the mud and had to retire injured. Isabella completed over half the course with only one shoe, having lost the other in the mud.
The under 15 girls finished 18th out of 30 full teams (again, with well over 100 teams in total). Alya Johnson was first to the finish line in 48th place, delivering a gutsy run in conditions that did not play to her strengths. Zoe Crichton had an excellent race to finish 129th, while Emilie Walsh showed great determination to finish 171st despite picking up an injury early in the race. The scoring team was completed by Ella Smith, who ran strongly to finish 201st. Sophia Sargeant (221st) and Cordelia Sadler (268th) rounded off another strong ESM turnout.
The under 13 boys were led home by Owen Stubbins, who is having a great season, finishing in 97th place. Clem Poulson had a fine run to finish 143rd, with Josh Phillips (177th) and Ben Muralidhar (257th) completing the team. Ben also lost a shoe in the mud. The team finished 23rd overall.
The under 15 boys finished 26th in a very large field (34 complete teams and over 120 incomplete). Jack Hayward recovered bravely from an early fall to lead the team home in 71st place. Leon Boulting followed in 151st, while Marcus Muers (238th) and Kevin Liyanage (327th) completed the scoring team. All four athletes are in the younger year of the age group, suggesting a higher finish could be in prospect next year.
Injury and illness meant our under 17 men were one short of a full team. However, Noah Levy (209th), Junias Lee (220th), and Tom Price (311th) did the club proud. It was Tom’s turn to lose a shoe, completing most of the course with just one shoe and a sock!
As the races progressed, parts of the course turned into a mud soup, and our young athletes deserve every plaudit for performing so well in what were, frankly, pretty horrible conditions. Sunday morning dog walkers on Hampstead Heath will undoubtedly have found a treasure trove of abandoned spike shoes!
The last junior club cross-country race of the season is the North West London League event on Saturday, 1 March, at Brent Lodge Park, Hanwell. Several of our young athletes will also be representing Middlesex County in March at the National Inter-County Championships and the English Schools Championships.