Showtime for the Stags at Trent Park in the Fourth Chingford League Race

Saturday 25th November saw races galore for the Seniors including the fourth Chingford League race of the season as well as our own Club Championships and the Fraternity & Sorority Cup; all hosted by the Club at Trent Park. Forty-eight of us raced but the Club also provided marshals, officials and volunteers in abundance; such is the Club Spirit. The staging of the race went like clockwork and for many perhaps it seemed straight-forward and easy to organise but it isn’t; it really isn’t! The successful organisation of this fixture, which is the most complex in the Chingford League, is down to the hard work of Rob Scott and his team over several weeks and the enthusiasm of the many volunteers. We runners appreciate it and the friendly smiles and words of encouragement from marshals on the course are invaluable. Well done and thank you!

It was sunny if a little cold but ideal weather for cross country. Our gazebos and flags were out in force and the atmosphere was fantastic. The course on the South side of the Avenue was great, marked out and marshalled superbly, very muddy in parts, with even a little stream to cross in the woods. Proper cross country!

The racing was terrific too and there were so many great individual performances there isn’t room to mention them all in this report. The Club is renowned for the strength of it Vets (and they remain a formidable force) but the story of this season is the emergence of a large and growing group of fantastic younger athletes joining the seniors; some are former juniors now racing in the senior ranks as U20s while others are in their 20s having returned from university. All 5 U20s racing for the Club scored points while one, Emma, won our women’s senior Cross Country Championship (31.59; 5th overall and 2nd in the Division 2 Chingford League race). Magnificent! Our men’s senior Cross Country Championship was won by 21 year old Ed Fraser (27.52; 8th overall). Brilliant!

In the women’s race our 2nd scorer, Charlotte Harris, is another superb U20 while the 3rd scorer, Jana Jilkova, won our women’s Vets Cross Country Championship with a fine run. Jana's cakes also made a welcome if all too brief appearance. The 4th scorer, Florence Humphrey is yet another of our great U20s, 5th scorer Steph Harrison continued her great form in this League while the ever reliable Sarah Moffatt made up the scoring 6. Sian Stanton in her first cross country race since school had a great run as did Oana Labontu-Radu in her first club cross country. Before the race Oana said she liked mud which is just as well.

In the men’s race our 2nd scorer, Ed Spencer, (28.23; 11th overall) had a great race and won our men’s Vets Cross Country Championship. Noah Clarke, another of our terrific U20s was our 3rd scorer and Richard McCormick was 4th; scoring maximum points for the 4th race in a row (just awesome!) in the Chingford League M60 contest which needless to say he leads. The 5th scorer was Callum Sydenham, yet another great U20 who was closely followed home by Charlie White who made up the scoring 6. Matt Clark deservedly enjoyed his Club debut and it was good to see the return of Nick Bingham too.

In the Division 2 contest both our men and women came 2nd on the day but lead the Division after 4 races.

Last season over the course of 7 races a total of 69 Stags competed in the Chingford League while this season after 4 races 72 have competed and to date 15 Stags have raced in all 4 Chingford League fixtures compared to 7 at this stage last year. We’re having a great Winter Season! and although our youngsters shone in the Chingford League contest once again it is worth noting that our athletes ranged in ages from 17 to 78 and indeed 40% of the M70s who contested this fixture were Stags. We’re in a growing position of strength across all age groups and this coupled with great team spirit and great organisation bodes well for the future.

In the Fraternity and Sorority Cups against very strong opposition our men finished 4th while our women were 6th. 

Well done all!