Metropolitan League XC 2017-18 – Race 5 Trent Park, February 10th

Trent Park provides VPH with a fitting finale for the final Met League!

The closing fixture at Trent Park didn’t fail to deliver and rounded off a fantastic season for the VPH&THAC with a testing lactic inducing course. For some it was their first taster of X Country and undoubtedly a true X Country experience, mud, hills, rain, wind and pure guts!

 

The heavens opened as the Juniors commenced and the conditions worsened as the afternoon went on. The Juniors, brilliant as ever didn’t let this deter them proving depth and talent across all age groups and tribute to all the hard work put in by coaches Cornelia and Charlie. The Under 11 Boys rounded off a successful season finishing an impressive 2^nd overall with brave runs from Edgar Sayers (8^th) and Tom Scott-Gall (15^th). The Under 11 Girls nearly matched them finishing 3^rd overall with 2 top ten performances from Ruby James (8^th) and Sophie Whiteside (9^th).

 

The Under 13 Girls dominated their competition putting in the team performance of the day with some outstanding individual runs to finish 1^st and second overall.  The very talented Keira (Arsenal girls superstar) finishing 1^st for the second time already this season followed by Ruby in (3^rd) and Anoushka in (8^th).

 

In the Junior men’s competition Yusuf was back on fine form romping along to yet another met league victory, pursued by Luca in (5^th) and Benjamin in (9^th) rocketing them to 2^nd place and 4^th overall. The Junior women also put in a good shift finishing 4^th and coming 3^rd overall to add to their remarkable stash of bling and finish third in the Howard Williams Trophy.

 

The ladies meant business and donning coordinating jade ribbons courtesy of Sophie battled the elements to finish in 3^rd place, narrowly missing 3^rd place overall in Division 1 (which is a team personal best for the club and a monumental improvement of 8^th place from last year). Mandy on her new favourite course relished the tricky conditions to finish in (17^th) and 1^st V35 with Rachel (7^th), Sophie (22^nd), Helena (23^rd), Hannah (29^th) and Annie (35^th) all working together to power up those hills. The depth of the Ladies which has been evident all year was confirmed by the B team, with Kelly (41^st), Sue (55^th), Faye (58^th) and Ellie (62^nd) demolishing the opposition to secure promotion to the Second Division. Other notable performances was Emily Catmur on her Met League debut.

 

The Vets were also on fire and came second by a mere point and completing the season finishing 3^rd overall in Division 1 with Helen and Agata also adding all important points.

The Ladies jubliant post race!

The 35 strong Men’s squad had some tough acts to follow but equalled the Ladies scores with a season’s best display in 3^rd spot, bagging 5^th overall, showing that numbers in this league really do make all the difference. The first ten home were all impressively inside the top 100, Paul M (7^th), Josse (29^th), Ewan (47^th), James (50^th), William S (54^th), Andrew B (57^th), David J (61^st), Hobbs (75^th), William Kirk (78^th), Tony M (85^th). The B team buoyed by Mike’s return from Dhaka notched the 3^rd spot and maintained 3^rd position overall in Division 3. Promotion to the next division looking like a strong possibility and goal for next season.

Josse battles the bog to a seasons best finish!

The Old Gits put in a great shift to finish in 3^rd and put us in 2^nd overall showing that we not only have youth on our side. The B team also destroyed their opposition to finish top of Division 3 and gain promotion to Division 2 (please no one take an early retirement over the summer). 

 

It was a glorious ending to the X Country season which pitted us against the biggest and the best that London had to offer. Well done to all those that ran, marshalled, baked and supported and contributed to its success and helped us finish 4^th overall in the Howard Williams Trophy (7^th last year). Best of luck to all those running at the Nationals on Parliament Hill on February 24^th and if you are already getting Met League withdrawals don’t forget the Chingford League on Saturday at 2.30pm on home turf where you can get your running/supporting or marshalling fix! #UpthePark #VPH4EVA