2007/08 Downs League Race Report

Match Three: February 2007
By Paul Graham.

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After previously arriving to the race with torrential rain and winds for the last two fixtures it was nice to arrive at Epsom Race course with the sun shining for the 3rd of the Downs League races.  The group of Littlest Feet was small in every way, but made up for it in personality by performing outstandingly to record some very impressive Personal Best times. The group did their usual pre-race warm-up and Jordan unfortunately wore his Arsenal top providing some pleasant banter from the Manchester United fans.

In the race Ben Howley was once again showed the rest of the chaps a clean (or muddy) pair of heels to finish in 33rd position in a time of 14.45, a PB by 1 minute 12 seconds!

Arthur Vie missed the last event, but he ran a solid race to finish 46th not too far behind his best performance, and Ben Westerby ran 16.44, another outstanding PB of 43 seconds. It was great to see Jordon Allen making his first appearance and he made a good start and looked like he was enjoying himself to finish in 51st to record the same time as his team-mate. Little Peter Gronau was only 6 places behind Jordan and really looked like he was having fun, with Billy "the kid" Smith running his best race to date not too far behind. Billy had a freak tree jumping experience after Littlest Feet training a few weeks ago resulting in him fracturing his arm but the plaster cast didn’t slow him down as he recorded a time of 18.36 to place 61st, his best position so far and a PB of 44 seconds. Although Oscar Vie was last of the Littlest Feet he ran a great race for someone so small to finish 63rd, a jump of 3 places up the field from his first appearance. All-in-all, brilliant improvements from the under 11’s and they all looked like they were enjoying it.

Benedict Chapman was our sole runner in the under 13’s race. Although he couldn’t match his winning run from last month, he was only 11 seconds down on his time to finish in 3rd place with what looked like a training run effort. Whatta talent!

Next race is the Bushy Park Trail Run on 2nd March (junior race 2 miles start 10.45), followed by the last of the Downs League races the week after, 9th March at Epsom Race course main stand. See website for entry form for the Bushy Park Trail Run, and just turn up for the last Downs League races.

Pictures can be found here, for more definition pics please contact rothwell52@hotmail.com

Next fixture is on March 9th.

Previous Events:

Match Two: December 9th 2007
By Paul Graham.

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The venue for the second Downs League race was once again the rain splattered Epsom race course. The weather gradually began to clear for the start of the Under 13’s race where Stragglers Ben Chapman took the individual victory leading from start to finish to record an impressive win over the 2 1/4 mile hilly and muddy course. His run was even more spectacular when you consider that he had raced cross-country for St Mary’s AC the previous day.

The Stragglers also had representatives in the under 11’s race. Ben Howley and Ben Westerby gradually made there way through the field with the tiny Billy Smith taking things easy at the rear. Ben Howley once again was the top Straggler in 47th putting his football boots to good use, with Ben Westerby once again giving a good account of himself to use his speed to progressively take a few scalps on the hilly sections to finish 47th. Although Billy got disconnected from the main group he showed his ultra running talent to catch a few of the older and bigger athletes by the end of the 1 ¾ race.

Pictures can be found here, for more definition pics please contact rothwell52@hotmail.com

Match One: November 11th 2007
By Paul Graham.

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The Strag juniors returned to the venue the chaps ran yesterday for the first Downs League event. The weather was very different to the previous day on arrival but luckily cleared up as the morning progressed to allow the ikle people to run in very pleasant conditions. I have to admit that I didn’t expect the courses to be so hilly, or the level of competition to be so high, but no-one got outclassed and I hope they will all be back next month for some more of the same?

The Stags flag was waving enthusiastically in the breeze, but was no-where near as enthusiastic as the juniors. After doing some drills the ikle people were ready to go, starting with the under 11’s. The course is 1 ¾ miles but with the terrain must have seemed a lot further than that for the juniors; however, they all got round safely and there were some very good runs to be proud of. The team finished 13th out of 22 teams, which is a great start as they had no idea of the course or the hills. Ben Howley showed his experience to move through he field to finish 43rd, with Arthur Vie 46th. India Coomber progressed well to finish a superb 52nd with the very ickle Savannah Coomber keeping pace with people a lot older than her to complete the scoring team in 56th. Ben Westerby started the most sensible out of the Stragglers and benefited moving through to claim 64th place with Oscar Vie very close behind in 66th. Billy Smith started last but just kept going to move up to 69th place showing he is a talented endurance runner in the making. Lily Vie wore the brightest jacket as well as smile during the run and she must be proud of her run to finish in 73rd and no where near the back markers.

The highlight in terms of results must go to Claire Davies in the under 13’s race. Claire is only just in that particular age group, so apart from being the youngest in the field she was also the smallest. The 2 ¼ mile course would be tough for most adults, but Claire just plugged away to claim a well deserved victory finishing first lady, and also beat most of the boyz in the process. As ever she was not happy with her performance, but I must admit that I was struggling to keep up with her to cheer her on. A class run indeed.

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Many thanks to the parents who assisted, to Vince for being around to assist, and to Nigel for taking the pictures. I’ll post the link to the pictures as soon as I receive them.

The next Downs League fixture is on the 9th December:
Under 11’s start at 10.45 for 1 ¾ miles
Under 13’s start at 11.45 for 2 ¼ miles
Under 15’s start at 11.40 for 2 ¼ miles