The peaks and troughs of the Claybury Met League

There was a definite change in the air on Saturday morning and not just the balmy weather but a palpable sense of anticipation in the North London/Essex borders.  The Met League had finally arrived and it was time to do business – or something like that. It definitely wasn’t cross country weather but we’ve all grown to accept that Claybury is all about the sunshine, long grass and a dangerously steep and narrow descent to start.

This report contains a real mixture of highs and lows; a start to the season which was brilliant in terms of numbers but somewhat disappointing in the senior results. The Juniors have lots to celebrate so we’ll begin with them.

Juniors
The U11 boys’ team  came 2nd, with Benji Bediake coming in first. The U11 girls’ team also finished 2nd, with Hattie Munday putting in an amazing run to finish in 3rd place.

The success story continued into the U13 boys with Spike Blake coming in first for Heathside in 3rd place. The team finished in 2nd place. The under 13 girls’ didn’t have a full team but Ella O’Flaherty was the first runner in for Heathside.

Things got very exciting in the U15 and U17 boy’s races, which were run together. Jem O’Flaherty had a great run in finishing 3rd in the U17s  and Ruairi McGonagle in 7th place in the U 15 followed by Oliver O’Connor in 38th place. The team finished in 7th place overall.

There were some great performances in the girls’ races too, with Rose Garrett  leading the team home in 5th place, followed by Mimi Blake in 9th and just one second behind, Nell Swinhoe in 10th place and Matilda Heath in 15th. This looks to be an exciting season for the U15 girls. In the Y17 Lily Mckay was first home, followed by Meg Naylor and Ella Conlon. The Junior girls are currently in 2nd place.

The Men’s Race
The mens’ team should be congratulated on the huge turnout and it was great to see so many old(er) faces and some new ones too. There was definitely an air of fierce competition and scores to be settled as they trooped off to the start.

Our first scorer home for the men was Charles Hardy in 51st place, followed by Michele Bucci in 57th place, and Kimon Doulis in 69th to complete the first three home. Richard MacCauley, Dan McKeown, Nick Jacohu, Sion Lewis and Tom Fancett  also finished in the top 100. Further behind in the field there were a number of notable performances to pick out, apologies if some heroic efforts are missed but there were so many of you.

Jake Spencer, our captain, has been putting in a huge amount of work (total addiction) on his recovery from injury to ensure that he would be ready to lead the troops and should be thoroughly pleased with his run out. There’s definitely more to come but this was a great stoic performance. From the young to the slightly older and Howard Gold must be feeling chuffed.  Both his performance and his fitness level continue to be impressive - he finished ahead of an old rival, Ed Samuel, who is just returning back from a lingering injury. I’m sure that Ed will dish out some revenge in the next race at ….. Welwyn Garden City, of all places.  Chris Hartley was feeling remarkably sprightly and in his own words, ‘chipper’ on Sunday morning and rightly so, finishing in 133rd and securing a place in the mens’ A team. Well done, Chris, you Hoxton Hipster. Matt Collins 185th, deserves a mention and should be pleased with a solid run after being laidoff with injury, Stu Meicklejohn has missed a lot of training in the past year but performed well on the day and should be feeling confident that he has more to give. It was good to see the return of the 9am stalwarts Sergio Di Noto and Steve Monaghan, who both put in sharp runs. Ash was also a welcome addition, although Gavin Evans may disagree, claiming that Ash literally hitched a ride from him and then sprinted off.

It was great to see some of our Vets doing what they do best – running – and Andy Owen should be mentioned for his respectable 308th and Carl Heap in the V60 age group should be very happy with his strong finish in 410th.

The men finished 7th on the day, not the best start to the season and there’s clearly work to be done.  The vets are leading after the first race.

The women’s race
In the womens’ race there was much to be celebrated, as well as a little bit of disappointment at finishing 5th overall on the day, although our womens’ Vets team is currently in the lead. We were missing some of our A team runners and the team position did suffer as a result of this. We need you to show up! The outstanding knock out performance of the day goes to Rebecca Piggott in a fantastic 8th place. This was her first cross country since her injury and she really does deserve to be congratulated on securing a top 10 finish. I’m sure she had more left in the tank but it’s brilliant to see Rebecca back and long may it last. Sarah Swinhoe was 2nd for Heathside in 19th place and  Kelly put in a gutsy run, quite literally, as she was suffering with stomach pain from the start but true to form, battled it out in the name of Heathside and there was never any question of her pulling out.  Sue Rust, a true Cross Country legend, coming back from injury, calmy and confidently worked her way through the field and scored for the A team. Not bad for a post-injured Vet. Rebecca Bunting was back in her Heathside colours, only recently recovering from a foot injury, and secured a spot in the A team, despite being a long way off her fitness A game. Lily Woolcock ran well to score for the A team too and is one to watch for the future. Sara Black came in just after Lily and was conserving a bit of energy for her Duathlon on Sunday.

There was lots of action outside of the A team too, with Satu and Louisa Pointon having their own battle, coming in 62nd and 66th respectively. Jackie Wastell had a solid run, finishing inside the top 100 and Caroline White put in a good performance. Although Ruth Miller wasn’t that pleased with her performance it’s worth mentioning that she had spent the whole morning organising the Juniors and only changed into her race kit with 10 mins to go.

In summary, a great day out and a fabulous atmosphere but there is a lot of work to be done if we are to be serious contenders in this competition. Thanks to everyone for putting in a shift.

MENS RACE
51 27:51 Charles Hardy 
57 28:03 Michele Bucci 
69 28:20 Kimon Doulis 
77 28:34 Richard Macaulay 
79 28:35 Peter Northall 
89 29:01 Daniel McKeown 
92 29:03 Nick Jacohu 
97 29:14 Sion Lewis 
100 29:22 Tom Fancett 
102 29:25 Tom Livermore 
104 29:28 Alkher Adam 
114 29:52 Peter Gould* 
118 30:01 Joe Garrood 
127 30:21 Daniel Johns 
132 30:30 Esa Valtanen 
133 30:31 Chris Hartley 
151 30:56 Sergio Di Noto 
156 31:00 Jonathan Litchfield 
161 31:07 Steve Monaghan 
165 31:11 James Rigby 
168 31:12 Howard Gold 
169 31:14 Edward Samuel 
172 31:24 Paul Mercer 
173 31:26 Martin Potter 
176 31:30 Michael Cockings 
178 31:32 Edward Adams 
185 31:40 Matt Collins 
199 32:14 Mark Anderson 
205 32:25 Stuart Meiklejohn 
214 32:34 Joseph McKeown 
224 32:43 Terry Lines 
226 32:46 Adam Mitchell 
230 32:52 Asmelash Abrha 
231 32:52 Antanas Weston 
242 33:05 Gavin Evans 
243 33:07 Henry Turner 
247 33:11 Joseph Barker* 
250 33:13 Jacob Howe 
253 33:18 Dominic Jackson 
260 33:28 Lee Connor 
263 33:31 Leonard Martin 
271 33:55 Pete Crockford 
282 34:10 Rob Shulman 
283 34:11 Greg Torr 
297 34:39 Tim Marshall 
307 34:59 Trevor Wilson 
308 35:00 Andrew Owen  
350 36:15 Engin Kul 
352 36:17 Roger Wagland 
355 36:21 Jack Pinnick-Gray 
359 36:29 James Dark 
364 36:36 David Fallon 
371 36:49 Filide Cardoso
373 36:52 Tony Killilea 
380 37:11 Elliot Reed 
384 37:23 David Hallam 
385 37:24 Adam Coffman 
396 37:52 Marco Maserati 
404 38:04 Andrew Johnston* 
410 838:17 Carl Heap 
412 38:22 John McKnight 
419 38:44 Matthew Taylor
434 39:35 Charles Redfearn 
439 39:48 Daniel Wrapson 
458 40:51 Alun Nash 
474 41:58 Norman Mitchell 

LADIES RACE
8 23:02 Rebecca Piggott
19 24:09 Sarah Swinhoe 
22 24:21 Kelly Thorneycroft 
32 24:59 Rebecca Bunting 
38 25:27 Sue Rust 
45 25:48 Lily Woolcock 
46 25:56 Sara Black 
62 26:52 Satu Hietanen 
66 26:56 Louisa Pointon 
70 27:00 Lucie Mauger 
72 27:02 Jennifer Wing 
73 27:03 Yanna Raykov 
80 27:10 Emily Reichert 
87 27:17 Monica Newton 
90 27:20 Jessica Vinluan 
95 27:25 Jaqueline Wastell 
101 27:31 Elizabeth Reece 
112 27:42 Caroline White 
123 27:53 Ruth Miller 
130 28:00 Sarah Duke 
133 28:03 Heather Marshall 
149 28:19 Rebecca Marshall 
159 28:29 Samantha Chapman 
172 28:42 Samantha Taylor 
198 29:08 Laura Boothman 

Junior Womens Results      
8 17:01 Rose Garrett 
14 17:24 Mimi Blake 
15 17:25 Nell Swinhoe 
22 17:51 Lily McKay 
28 118:20 Matilda Heath 
30 18:24 Meg Naylor 
33 18:47 Ella Conlon 
56 20:48 Phoebe Crockford 

Junior Men Results      
3 14:02 Jem O'Flaherty 
16 15:07 Ruairi McGonagle 
38 16:00 Oliver O'Connor 

Under 13 Girls Results      
36 14:30 Ella O'Flaherty 
37 14:31 Rebecca Beliossi 
48 15:24 Fabienne Weston 

Under 13 Boys Results      
3 11:12 Spike Blake 
8 11:31 Bedo Draskoczy 
10 11:38 Jack Davis-Black 
25 12:04 Lucas Maher 
48 12:47 Arthur Reed 
49 12:57 Max Deasy 
59 13:38 Frederick Beale 

Under 11 Girls Race      
3 5:54 Hattie Munday 
5 6:07 Issie Watkins 
18 6:27 Milly Watkins 
39 7:15 Malna Draskoczy
45 7:25 Eloise Dark 
50 7:32 Alice Reed 
53 7:56 Ava Callow 

Under 11 Boys Race      
9 5:59 Benjy Bediako 
14 6:05 Eric Beale