We took a minibus up to
Parliament Hill at the end of the 2007/2008 to compete in the South of
England Championships and it was a great experience. When the venue was
chosen for the National Championships most of those who travelled up
last time were up for the challenge once more. All WACers were
circulated and the resulting response saw the largest number of WAC
entrants ever at the National Cross-Country Championships.
This time around, the
increased numbers meant that we needed to travel up in two buses. With
so many runners entered it was only to be expected that we would lose a
few runners pre-race to injury or illness. This is not the sort
of event you should compete in if you are nursing a niggly injury.
Seventeen competitors and
a handful of WAC supporters headed off to Hampstead Heath on race day,
complete with tent, flag and banners. The course is a fantastic
challenge with some serious climbs in extremely slippery and muddy
conditions. The weather on the day itself was close to perfect.
Although we left QE at
7am, there was not much spare time to get race numbers sorted for the
first race of the day, the under 15 boys. Jack and Callum had just
enough time to warm up, before making their way to the start line. The
start line itself was probably about 150metres wide. We stood at the top
of the hill as the gun went off. It brought a lump to the throat
watching 400+ lads come charging towards us from around half a mile
away, like watching an army in some film epic. Somewhere in that mass
were a couple of WACers. Jack and Callum were the only juniors to travel
with us to Parliament Hill the previous season and that experience had
been an invaluable one as, despite the fact they had jumped up to the
lower half of a new age group, they gave great accounts of themselves.
There has been little between these two WACers all season and on the big
stage they were split by a mere 11 seconds.
|
Friends, team-mates, rivals.
Callum and Jack immediately post-race |
The next WACer in action was Maddy
(u17). The increase in WAC numbers meant that it was a tricky job being
able to prepare our runners for each race, be there to support them out
on the course, and see them home. Maddy has been a fantastic competitor
all season, and today was no different. Maddy loves a challenge, and it
seems the bigger the challenge the more she relishes it.
At midday it was the turn of the
under-13 girls and Sharon was ready for her biggest cross-country
challenge yet. Sharon has done superbly in her first season with us and
has grown in confidence as the season has progressed. She ran a great
race and finally looks to have shaken off the illness that has held her
back in the last couple of races.
There was then a lull in proceedings as
the next few races had no WACers in them. At 2pm it was Jordans turn in
the under 13s. Jordan ran a great race and seems to be able to lift his
performance when in the bigger arena.
With all the junior races now run, the
senior women were next. It was in this race where we lost most of our
WAC entrants through illness or injury. This meant that we had just one
runner, Lyn Hutchings, making her way to the start line. The lack of
team mates added to Lyns apprehensiveness, but she went on to put in a
sterling performance on a formidable course. Lyn has been an invaluable
member of our Ladies team this year.
|
Jerry reaches the top of the
hill, while Jordan and Ed look on |
It was fantastic to see so many
Wimborne vests on the start line for the mens race. The view from the
top of the hill must have been something else, there were around 1500
runners in that charge away from the start. With literally thousands of
feet making their way around the course during the day, by the time the
senior men got out there the ground had cut up severely. The course took
on the look of a rallycross course, with beautiful green grass alongside
the race route and an endless ribbon of deep mud for us to run in! The
severity of the course took its toll, with a quite a few runners pulling
out of the 12k race. Unfortunately the tricky conditions gave Steve
Snook some problems with the recurrence of a back injury and Steve was
one of those who had to retire.
|
Steve looks strong in the early
stages of the race |
Jerry and Graeme were the first WACers
home, as they had been at Salisbury in the Hampshire League. There were
great performances throughout the team. There was a particularly
interesting duel between Graham and Daryl, as there has been for much of
the season. Graham edged it by a single second. WAC were the only Dorset
club to field a complete team in the mens race. The team score is based
on the first 6 runners so Stewart, Richard, Graham and Daryl all scored
points for the team. We finished 79th out of the 112 6-man
teams. We were 37th (of 46) in the table for nine-man teams
and in that category Pete, Craig and Ian also scored points.
|
100 per cent all the way to the
line from Richard |
A fantastic day, we had terrific
support from Claire Newby, Jerry Hutchings, Ed Shield and the V-Js and
it was great to see a surprise appearance from Neil and Katy Hopkinson
who were also there to shout their encouragement. How great would it be
to see those two in red vests next time we go back for the cross-country
championships!
It was almost 9pm by the time we got
back to QE and some weary bodies tumbled out of those minibuses in
Wimborne.
WACers times and results were:
Under-13 Girls
273 Sharon Hutchings 16:11
Under-13 Boys
297 Jordan Symington 15:14
Under-15 Boys
380 Jack Snook 22:18
382 Callum Kennedy 22:29
Under-17 Women
161 Maddy Vaughan-Johncey 26:51
Senior Women
469 Lyn Hutchings 47:49
Senior Men
542 Jerry Shield 50:26
601 Graeme Furley 51:15
749 Stewart Little 53:24
927 Richard Atkins 56:16
962 Graham Whiffen 56:55
963 Daryl Davies 56:56
1056 Pete Lemon 58:20
1092 Craig Dixon 59:02
1135 Ian Kennedy 59:53
1274 Jeff Hinsley 63:16
1358 Danny Symington 66:36
Full results for Nationals can be found
at
www.englishcrosscountry.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=39&Itemid=48
