The Club launched its Met League campaign on Saturday on a twisty challenging Claybury course, bathed in Autumn sunshine. With several athletes unavailable for this first fixture our A Team closed in 8th position in Division 1 with the B Team 11th in Division 2. Our Masters Team came 5th in that category.
There were strong performances across the team with Daniel Titcomb finishing 23rd and also one of Britain’s top obstacle sports specialists and our first athlete home. Next counter in was Jack Whitebury in 39th and fresh from his recent sub 33 at the Vitality 10k. Curtis Stevens recently ran the Middlesex 10k finishing in 35.34 and finished 61st. Jim Cooper was 68th and first in the V45 category and Fergal Keaney placed 100th , a solid run after a break from competition over the Summer.
A welcome return to competitive cross country racing for Terry Mackin placing 112th – an athlete with real pedigree as he was a National Cross Country Champion as a schoolboy! Next home was Adam Towle in 173th in good form after his sub 37minute 10k at Battersea Park. London Ever Present Chris Finill was 200th and first in the V60 category and Graeme Jones in hot pursuit with 202nd – a decent run and a welcome return to club competition.
John Bignall ran in 224th for a very solid run with Nick Andrews next home in 250th – the most versatile athlete in the Club and now in his 10th season of competition for the Club! Joe Gammell ran in with 259th and a welcome return to competition having last competed at the 12 stage relays in April followed by Rob Hawkes – a really consistent and committed member of the squad having competed 39 times for Harrow so far in 2023!
Jabbil Chibwana was 312th -a regular Met League athlete who also is versatile enough to cover sprints and jumps in the Summer. Bringing home the veterans scoring was Mike Lepps in 335th and Gary Collins with 388th who has recently returned to regular competition and we hope to see him regularly at the Met Leagues.
We expect to have a stronger squad for the next fixture which is at Wormwood Scrubs on 11th November.
Finally please remember to bring the race number you were issued with to all Met Leagues – athletes have the same allocated number for all 5 races.
Womens senior team: Claire Bentley led the ladies team home as she ran to a superb 8th place with an in form Federica De Caria in close support in 13th. Jennifer Keal was delighted with her strong run as she finsihed in 61st with Emily Antcliffe following home in 66th. Renata Olas made it a family occasion as she finished 139th having watched her daughter Vivenne finish 12th in the U11’s earlier! Katia Andrews, 156th, Claire Rosser 158th, Danielle Lee 160th and Claudine Crisp 162nd and making her cross country debut brought the team home in 7th place.
In the U15 girls race the Club welcomed Amae Van Zyl, having just joined Harrow and having a great race as she finished 6th (4th u15) as they ran with the U17s. Sam Tarling was only just returning from his sickbed and did well to place 87th as he was also competing with u17 athletes. For the boys U13s, Ethan Hinds, 25th and Eliyaan Jamal placed 26th.
The U13 girls continued their strong winter 2023 form with a third place team result: Katie Dalton, 5th, sister Beth was 9th, Nilou Heath 22nd and Ellen Antcliffe was 44th. Well done to Eloise Suffield,18th, and Niva Patel 20th who also ran with Vivienne in the U11s.
