Summer League 2006 - 2007

Men’s Team

Incomplete and inaccurate reflections on the season

by Peter Kennedy

We won the Surrey Road League last year, on a thrilling (if quite damp) day at Belgrave for a viciously quick 5K race up and down a hill, notable as being probably the last time I’ll ever beat Danny Norman. Nice trophy too. Can we do it again? Well, why not?

The league is from the club’s best four results from:

Sutton 10K

Dorking 10m

Dysart 10K

Elmbridge 10K

and the Belgrave 5K.

Added to these are the Harry Hawkes 8 and the Club 10K to make up our own club championships.

Sutton 10K: So far we’re off to a pretty good start. I missed this one as I was still sulking after a catastrophic London Marathon, but maybe that was a good thing as the rest of the club had a blinder, winning just about everything. Wayne Smith was second overall, with Graham Brook and Danny (describing the course as “a bit long”) in the top ten and Paul Graham rounding off the team scoring to win the team event by a long way. The ladies team dominated their event too, with Louise Watson overall winner, Clare Nicholson third and Dee Smale sixth, also winning her category.

Ranelagh Half: Perfect conditions for this one; overcast, occasional spots of rain, cool and very light winds. A very familiar course around Teddington, Hampton Court and along the river, with plenty of familiar faces from Ranelagh and Stragglers cheering us along.

I had if not the fastest then perhaps the most enjoyable race I can remember, running a relaxed first half and a harder second to finish 25^th; Ian Johnson and Danny Norman way ahead of me finished 7^th and 9^th respectively, leaving the three of us a solid 3^rd in the team event – this doubles as the Surrey Half Marathon Championship and therefore earned us some posh medals too. Lots of great performances from the rest of the 25-strong team, including a 9^th place from the ladies team, and a 4^th place in his category from Steve Sandham.

Dorking 10: The usual hot conditions for this, an enjoyable run around the delightful undulating country lanes around Brockham with another big Stragglers turnout. A strong third place for the men’s team behind South London and Thames H&H, for which we picked up some Sweatshop vouchers (oooh!), with Wayne in 8^th in just under 58, Danny (“not really racing”) 40 secs behind in 12th, and PG and me around the 61min mark to complete the scoring. Danny picked up the Senior Men 17-29 winners trophy for this (presumably because all the people who beat him won other prizes), and we think there may be some more Surrey medals in the post too. Alan Purkiss picked up the silver in the V60 race too.

In the women’s race, Louise Watson stormed to an impressive overall win, with the team coming in 3^rd place, with Clare Nicholson, Cathy Davis and Judith McNickle completing the scoring.

Dysart Dash: Not everyone’s ideal 10K, with a narrow start, fiercely fast field, and bumpy narrow towpath, but one I was sorry to miss for the first time in a few years. Wet conditions for this one too. The ladies finished 8^th, with Dee Smale winning her vets category and Cecilia Hedberg and Kirsty Bangham completing the scoring. The men’s team welcomed back Jimmy Goulis who strode to 2^nd place ahead of Graham in 5^th, both not muich over 33 minutes; a wet and unhappy Danny finished the scoring in just under 36 to come 3^rd team, pressed by PG and a strong run from newcomer Chris Walmsley. A whopping ten Stragglers made it under the magic 40 minutes mark, out of a 21-strong team.

Harry Hawkes 8: Another bumper turnout from Stragglers here. Ugly Wimbledon rainclouds threatened the start, but it turned out quite nice. Stragglers men finished second team behind a huge Thames presence, with Ian Johnson 5^th overall and winning his category, followed by Danny and a very strong run from PG just behind; I finished the scoring after a daftly enjoyable fast start and a very painful last 7. Alan Purkiss won his category, and Noel Hollingsworth was second in his; Steve Sandham was 3^rd V50 despite taking a wrong turn and having to wade through thick brambles to get back on course, needing St John’s Ambulance to patch him up after; heroic stuff indeed. The Ladies also had a great race, finishing 3^rd overall; Cecilia Hedberg led the team with 13^th place, then Cathy Davis just 3 seconds behind; Judith McNickle and Danka Wigley finished off the scoring.

Club 10K next, with Elmbridge 10K just after it. Danny Norman leads the men’s champs, but Ian Johnson lurks; Kirsty Bangham’s steady consistency leads the ladies’ race. Everything still to play for (although due to various diary clashes, these were your roving reporter’s last points of the season, sadly!).