Team Spirit to the Fore at Eastbrookend Country Park in the Chingford League

Saturday 21st October saw the second Chingford League race of the season and in spite of the distance and a competing fixture 35 Stags turned out compared to 26 last year. The momentum is building and this was reflected in a great team performance with our men finishing first and our women second. Well done everyone!

It was a new and interesting course, very well marked and marshalled, flattish, mixed terrain, lots of sharp twists and turns, narrow in parts but enjoyable to run. The weather was surprisingly warm and sunny at times. Great conditions for a race and our enthusiasm was high.

Ed Fraser led the men home once again (that’s three League races in a row!) and Steph Harrison led the women home; both with fine runs although both were unhappy with their races which perhaps explains their constant desire for improvement which is now paying dividends.

Richard McCormick had another great race and is leading the Individual M60 Points Trophy with maximum points to date; an example to us all. Will Morris and Costa Michael both racing again after long absences through injury had great runs and scored for the A team while the fast improving Brian Lallaway sneaked under 34 minutes to finish 7th. He is clearly targeting a place in the A team scoring and may yet succeed at Hog Hill. Philip Collington and Kevin Valaydon demonstrated their consistency and scored for the A team too.

Sarah Moffatt continued her great start to the season while Davina Gutteridge was all smiles and speed in spite of an eye injury (hope you’re feeling better Davina). Agnes Jacobs, Geraldine Stapleton and Ann Phillips rose to the occasion too; completing the A team scoring. Sara Atkin and Alison Parsons showed their usual grit and determination while Mary Brown finished with her trademark sprint to loud cheers from the many Stags who had remained at the finish to cheer on their teammates.

It is also worth noting that our women’s B team came third out of all 21 Chingford League clubs and was one of only 4 teams to complete a full-scoring team. Fantastic!

Not only did our runners give it their all on the day we had great support too. Although unable to compete Pauline Michael, Steve Holmes, Calvin Wu and Kelvin Koloko made the long journey to Dagenham to support their teammates and help on the day. Thank you! The Club is in a great place at the moment.

We had the best Cakes, the best Support and the best Team Spirit!