On a cold, murky day Ranelagh turned out 62 to Thames' 42, usually a sure fire sign of ultimate victory as mob matches allow the club with greater numbers to shed their slowest runners in the final scoring. However, Thames are not Surrey League leaders for nothing and they have immense strength in depth as the trail of white vests down Queen's ride on the first lap attested (clear in David Rowe's photos). I went off far too fast, it just felt really easy. A combination of slipping around on the muddy sections - I was wearing "slicks", road running shoes - and struggling as ever on the hills, especially off no real warm-up, meant that I paid the price on the second lap. Thames managed 12 of the first 13 finishers before I managed to stem the flow and lead home some blue vests. I was absolutely knackered but managed to hold on to not only defend my McDowell Salver club V50 championship but also win the club's Hastings Cup V40 champs!
Highlight of the day from a club perspective, other than a rare win, was Clive Naish completing his 100th mob match to join what is now a club of seven (I sadly lead the field with 133). Remarkably, given Thames' dominance up front, Ranelagh won the 39 a side race by 100 points, a tiny margin in mob match terms. Celebratory beers were quaffed into the evening over some convivial conversation with old friends from both clubs at the Dysart Arms. This was, of course, the location for the famous meeting referred to in John Bryant's history of the London Marathon, where five people sat down and discussed the possible birth of such a race. The five were Messrs Brasher, Disley, Rowland, Hanscomb & Wright. Yep, you can blame me for all the suffering on the streets of London each April!Late in the evening I started getting texts from Cirencester's annual dinner: I am club athlete of the year. This really came as a big surprise - thought I might get the vet prize - and hadn't even occurred to me. Bittersweet indeed.
