CAPITAL CONQUESTS
LONDON CLUBS TAKE HONOURS IN SENIOR RACES
REPORT & PICTURES: MARTIN DUFF
SOUTH OF ENGLAND CROSS RELAYS
HIGHGATE HARRIERS retained their men’s title, just hanging on over the final leg as Brahma Pochee did enough to hold off the fast-closing Niall Sheehan for Newham & Essex Beagles.
Brahma Pochee: Highgate runner brings home the victory
Paskar Owor put Belgrave Harriers ahead on the opening stage, with a 13:31 that suggested that the distance was somewhat shorter than the advertised 5km. His time was the best of the day.
Owor then revealed that Belgrave would put out a very strong team in the Mansfield national event with Phil Wicks and Nick Goolab likely to be in the squad.
Newham’s Josh Trigwell followed him home, before handing over to 1:48 800m runner Dale King-Clutterbuck, who muscled his way to the front by halfway.
Senior women’s winners: (l to r) Sue Rust, Ella Waldman and Kelly Thorneycroft
Then it was Highgate’s turn in front, as Robel Bahelbi took the lead for the holders on the penultimate lap with the second fastest time of 13:33, before Pochee secured the win. Bahellbi said: “I was 20 seconds quicker than last year so thought that I would be the fastest.”
The combined under-20 and under-17 men’s race saw Shaftesbury Barnet’s allconquering under-17 squad retain their title, but with a totally different trio to that which won the national road relay two weeks earlier.
They also headed the top under-20 squad, Chiltern Harriers, for whom Will Perkin was fastest over the 3km lap with 10:16. He was led on the first leg by Shaftesbury’s Hamza Kadir, whose 10:07 beat Perkin’s 10:17 under-17 best from last year and was comfortably the quickest overall.
Paskar Owor: the Belgrave Harrier ran the fastest leg of the day of 13:31
London Heathside relieved a missing South London Harriers of the women’s title after Ella Waldman was a close second to Newbury’s Sophie Crumly on the first 3km lap. The race for the title was close, but Sue Rust and Kelly Thorneycroft just squeezed the north Londoners home.