Race Report for Surrey League XC Round 2 written by XC Captain Katie Gow
The second round of the Surrey League cross country season had us venturing outside the M25 to Hurst Green, Oxted. With the lure of some parkrun tourism, the Gents race at 11:30am and the Ladies at 2:30pm there were a few brave folk in for a long day. However, with £4 pints, burgers and the sun shining, we needn’t have worried!
A brilliant 27 Fulham men took to the grass, ready to tackle the 8km race, consisting of many twists and turns around some muddy fields. A very strong performance from Tom Mackay (5th place, 27:23) led the boys in. Followed not long after by Nick, Leo, Callum, Hassan and Tom C, all within a minute of eachother. The rest of the crew shortly followed, all legs suitably covered in mud, as all good XC races should end.
The strong performance by the men led to a very respectable 5th place team, consistent with their 4th place in the last round. Great work! And what better way to be rewarded than post race burgers and very reasonably priced pints from the club house!
Then, before we knew it the Ladies 6km race was almost upon us. 18 bandits lined up, ready to run the (now well churned up) muddy course ahead. The beer fuelled men’s team made even better cheerers than usual, which only helped the FRC runners push through the pack.
Alice Malin was first Fulham home, 8th place overall, in a speedy 24:50. She was followed closely by Jade Maclaren (25:02) and Harriet Lord (25:05)- amazing Fulham Surrey League debuts- Thank you! The scoring A team was made up by the speedy Clover sisters, Charlotte and Annabelle- good genes here!
The rest of the black and white stripes continued to come through the line thick and fast- brilliant running by all. A very special shout out goes to Lara who took a tumble close to the end and lost a shoe but pushed to the line like the hero she is, despite being covered in mud and with one spike in hand!
Fulham ladies finished an amazing 1st team overall, with the Fulham B team close behind in 4th! That’s 2 from 2 for the Ladies so far this season, securing their place at the top of the league!
Holland sports had an amazing debut as XC host venue and I’m sure we’ll be back, if they’ll have us- for the cheap bar, if nothing else!
A few more drinks were had at The Railway back in Putney. Great day all round.
Upcoming events
Next Saturday will see us battling in the Southern XC Champs at Parliament Hill. Entries are now closed but please come along to support and pick up the XC bug.
Closer to home we have the FRC XC ‘Championships’ at Second Sunday 5, Wimbledon Common on the 10th December. This is a great, low key race and one for everyone to get involved in (EA or not).
The next Surrey League race is on the 13th January in Oxshott Woods, and it would be great to have even more of you involved.
Details for all three events and how to enter can be found on the Facebook events, but if you have any questions, please just ask. We’d love everyone to take part so please do not worry about being too slow or having not done cross country before- we’re a friendly bunch and the more the merrier!
Happy Sunday!
Your XC Captains- Katie, Trev, Hannah and Andrew
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