Congratulations to Harry Brodie, who won the Under 20 Southern Cross Country Championships at Beckingham Place on Saturday 29th January, and to Ben Alcock, who came second in the Senior Men's event.
Bedford & County AC’s athletes were in action on Saturday in the South of England Cross Country Championships, which were held at Beckenham Place Park, South London. With a somewhat reduced squad, the Senior Men’s team were realistically looking at a top 10 finish rather than the usual podium position. The club’s Junior (U20) Mens Team were also understrength so a podium position for them also looked unlikely. But with Ben Alcock and Harry Brodie both in really good form, hopes were high that they could both challenge for individual medals in the Senior and U20 races respectively.
After 3k of the Junior race, it was apparent that not only was a medal looking almost a certainty for Harry, but that the medal could be gold. Running in a group of 4 or 5, Harry was looking extremely comfortable, and so it proved as in the second half of the 8km race he gradually applied the pressure and broke clear to stride to a comfortable 12secs victory with a time of 25:39. He was followed home by Alex Alston in 26th place just ahead of Jamie Webster 27th. With Tristan Cook finishing as 4th scorer in 47th, the Team placed 5th just 20 points off the medals. Harry West and James Vinnecombe were 60th and 74th respectively.
As the 15k Senior Men’s race got underway, Ben Alcock wasted no time in getting in to the front of the field of over 700. As the race wore on a group of around 10 athletes pulled away and was gradually worn down to a group of 4 with 2 miles to go. Ben battled hard over the closing miles, and a strong finish enabled him to snatch the 2nd place silver medal in the last 100m. With an injured Dan Jarvis pulling out after a couple of miles whilst in 15th place, Bedford had only the minimum 6 runners required to finish a scoring team. But with Will Mackay 63rd, Craig Emmerson 88th, Andrew Headley 129th , Richard Henderson 189th and Steve Herring 249th, the team still managed to achieve the hoped for 10th place.
The truly superb performances by Harry Brodie and Ben Alcock reflected the hard work they have both put in under the excellent guidance of coaches Simon and Mark Goodwin.
The highlight from the club’s female distance runners was provided by the Under 15 girls, who came eighth as a team, with Milly Dunger finishing the 4500m in 15:22 to take fifth place, and Lyla Danobrega not far behind in ninth (15:28).
A week earlier, on 23rd January at Beachley, Jack Goodwin continued his recent run of good form with a 29:32 clocking to finish fifth in a high quality 10K.
Full Results of the Southern Cross Country Championships.
Senior Men (15000m)
2. Ben Alcock (47:46)
63. Will Mackay (52:13)
88. Craig Emmerson (53:35)
129. Andrew Headley (55:00)
189. Richard Henderson (56:52)
249. Steven Herring (58:57)
Team Result: 10th
Senior Women (8000m)
39. Lauren Nichols (32:05)
68. Josie Smith (33:12)
106. Ellie Still (34:49)
316. Emma Coombes (45:12)
Under 20 Men (8000m)
1. Harry Brodie (25:39)
26. Alex Alston (27:51)
27. Jamie Webster (27:56)
47. Tristan Cook (29:06)
60. Harry West (30:31)
74. James Vinnicombe (32:13)
Team Result: 5th
Under 17 Men (6000m)
33. Evan Supple (21:36)
96. Ethan Cairns (23:37)
Under 15 Girls (4500m)
5. Milly Dunger (15:22)
9. Lyla Danobrega (15:28)
45. Lily Farr (16:18)
144. Lucy Deller (18:35)
Team Result: 8th
Under 13 Boys (3000m)
61. Harry Scott (12:10)
85. Isaac Raddan (12:24)
99. Zach Vincent (12:34)
130. Zach Danobrega (13:13)
146. Oliver Coombes (13:46)
Team Result: 14th
Under 13 Girls (3000m)
172. Ellie Harper (14:45)
