The sun shone – “warmest October day since.……….”.  We welcomed to the team two new members, Paul MacCarthy and Stuart Atkins.  We fielded big teams and there was great team spirit, great atmosphere, great camaraderie.  Our athletes ran their socks off, none could have given more.  Jo Kent and Alex Lepretre led the teams home.  Mary Brown and David Scott closed the accounts for us.

But, as can happen in sport, sometimes you pull out all the stops and still you don’t get the result you want.  Division 1 league tables, after the first of our five Met League races, look like this:

Women                                                                   Men

  1 Serpentine RC 236   1 Highgate Harriers 1118
  2 Highgate Harriers 226   2 Serpentine RC   921
  3 Thames Valley Harriers 225   3 Victoria Park & TH   861
  4 Victoria Park & TH 211   4 SBH   838
  5 London Heathside 203   5 Woodford Green   819
  6 Woodford Green 152   6 Hillingdon AC   766
  7 Hillingdon AC 134   7 London Heathside   671
  8 Barnet   97   8 ESM   565
  9 NEB   89   9 Barnet   488
10 SBH   80 10 Highgate ‘B’   213

Our women’s team is in eighth place, some way behind Hillingdon in seventh and only just ahead of NEB and SBH below.  Our men’s team is ninth and in the relegation frame.  We have work to do.

The next Met League race is on Saturday 11 November at Welwyn.  Please mark this date in your diary, calendar, smart phone, computer or wherever you record your vital data.  If you ran at Claybury please make every effort to run again at Welwyn.  We were a little unlucky at Claybury in that a number of key people were injured or had work or family commitments, as can always happen.  Team managers will be in touch with people all round the club and will make every effort to get out the strongest possible team for Welwyn.  It’s a venue which suits Barnet better than it suits most other clubs, so we start with advantages.  With a mighty effort together we will move up the league tables.

Click here for the full results, an ANJ’s delight, every finisher, every position, every time, every divisional league table.   Our results below.   (ANJ:  Athletics Numbers Junkie, there’s a few in our club).

  24 Jo Kent 24:26 121 Sarah Boxer 27:51
  48 Zoe Levin 26:07 144 Annabelle Lee 28:14
  54 Kath March 26:44 145 Pauline Michael 28:15
  64 Karen Murphy 26:54 162 Danielle Savvas 28:32
  77 Nicola Froud 27:07 176 Erica Ikibiroglu 28:46
  84 Charlotte Michael 27:14 191 Julie Hawes 29:01
100 Helen Hoyle 27:30 196 Margaret Butler 29:06
119 Kirsty Johnstone 27:49 197 Mary Brown 29:07

Senior women  
Divn 1.  1 Serps 236,  ……  7 Hillingdon 134,  8 Barnet 97,  9 London City 89,  10 SBH 80.
Divn 2.  1 Serps ‘B’ 340,   ….   7 H/gate ‘B’ 195, 8 Barnet 152, 9 NEB 122, 10 Morn Ch 120.
Divn 3.  1 Vict Pk. 304,   ……..  12 Barnet ‘C’ 101  (23 teams in Divn 3).

Veteran women
Divn 1.  1 London H/s 126,  2 Serps 120,  3 Barnet 112,  4 Victoria Pk 96.
Divn 2.  1 Serps ‘B’ 114,  2 Hillingdon 112,  3 Barnet ‘B’ 95.  4 Serps ‘C’ 72.
Divn 3.  1 Victoria Pk ‘B’ 90,  2 NEB 80,  3 Trent Pk 76,  4 Barnet ‘C’ 55.

  32 Alex Lepretre 27:03 259 Tim Butler 33:28
  53 Niall Fleming 27:52 266 Paul Carter 33:43
  88 Grant Ramsey 29:01 269 David Crout 33:53
101 Alex Horton 29:24 302 Peter Ellis 34:53
109 Raj Patel 29:39 320 James Smythe 35:21
110 Steve Norris 29:47 366 Mel Davies 36:37
115 Will Morris 29:53 377 Aarif Jeevanjee 37:00
144 Gary Pelosi 30:48 407 Stuart Atkins 38:13
145 Daniel Nichols 30:49 408 Paul MacCarthy 38:13
177 Costa Michael 31:32 420 Chris Violet 38:51
215 Andy Cunningham 32:35 443 Jerry Bryan 40:03
216 Giovanni Muretto 32:37 469 David Byrne 41:43
246 Danny Digweed 33:08 481 David Scott 43:09
257 James Sarner 33:26

Senior men.  
Divn 1.  1 Highgate 1118, ……. 8 ESM 565,  9 Barnet 488,  10 Highgate ‘B’ 213
Divn 3.  1 Vict Pk ‘B’ …  5 Barnet ‘B’ 1266,  …. 17 Barnet ‘C’ 453  (27 teams in the league).

Veteran men
Divn 1.  1 Lond. H/s 479,  ….. 6 London H/side ‘B’ 261,  7 Barnet 251,  8 Trent Pk 175.
Divn 2.  1 ESM 172,  ….  6 Ealing Eagles 110,  7 Barnet ‘B’ 104,  8 Herts Ph 69.
Divn 3.  1 Victoria Pk ‘B’ 890,  ….. 6 TVH ‘B’ 206, 7 Barnet ‘C’ 197. 23 teams in the league.

This week the team managers’ pennant goes to Karen Murphy who, unasked, took a risk running with her injured hand heavily bandaged.  Karen held back in the mad melee at the bottleneck soon after the start, then ran carefully through to the finish to score valuable points for the team, thank goodness safe and sound.  Thank you Karen and well done!

Young Athletes Shine

Is there any better cross country fixture than the first Met League at Claybury? There were world champions (did you spot Ronnie O’Sullivan marshalling on the course?), and international athletes. There were banners, tents and roars from the spectating hordes.

Twenty three Young Stags made the trip out to Essex on a glorious warm Autumn day. Two were disappointed not to run because they are still too young. The best turn-out for a long time on a day of record numbers for the Met League with well over 1000 finishers.

Once again there was a herd of U11’s. Zico had another great run, finishing fourth. He was strongly supported by Luke, Oliver, William and Harrison – the team also finishing fourth. In the girls race, a trio of sisters made light work of the course, together with Grace, now a veteran.

Our U15 Boys were out in force. Finn, in his first race for the Stags, led them home, with Jude, Alex, Kieron and Joe in strong support. Once again the awesome threesome of Joanne, Emma and Pearl put in great performances in the U15 Girls race.

Arthur and Noah were the only U13 Boys, and in the U13 Girls there were also only two. Georgia had a great first cross country race for the club, and special mention must go to Emma. Before the race, she was not feeling well but still started. As she began her second lap it was clear to those watching that she was suffering, but Emma was determined to complete the race. It was only later, having been to hospital, that she was diagnosed with a kidney infection. Get well soon, Emma.

Barnet positions:-
U11 Boys – Zico 4; Luke 20, Oliver 25; William 28; Harrison 29.
U11 Girls – Holly 33; Amy 41; Grace 47; Megan 56.
U13 Boys – Arthur 68; Noah 71.
U13 Girls – Georgia 34; Emma Mc 40.
U15 Boys – Finn 22; Jude 31; Alex Findlay 34; Kieron 53; Joe 56.
U15 Girls – Joanne 18 ; Emma I 37; Pearl 40.

Well done to everyone who raced and supported.  Full results here.