Ranelagh win mob match by 12 points!

Well that's another batch of mobs completed and what a finale to the 2011/2012 season! In rapidly deteriorating conditions - one always feels for the officials in these circumstances - an epic battle ensued between old rivals South London and Ranelagh Harriers over the hilly terrain of the cruelly worded Happy Valley near Coulsdon.

Both clubs were under strength in terms of numbers, a combination of the previous week's final Surrey League fixture; mob match 'fatigue' (an extra mob was included this winter to accommodate Orion's centenary celebrations); and the inexorable rise in the popularity of the iniquitous Parkruns which are impacting negatively on the traditional xc fixture list. Paradoxically this created the perfect menu for the closest mob match result and best atmosphere at the end of a race that I can remember in 37 years of competing*. Both at the finish where every runner in either blue or white was cheered home by clubmates, and back in the changing room where there was a buzz of conversation: "it's close, but I think we might have nicked it."; "they packed well but had a long tail."; "surely we've won it."; "a couple of their guys dropped out, that could make all the difference." were just some of the comments shared by both clubs' runners as we showered and changed.

We didn't have long to wait as SLH's efficient but bedraggled officials announced the result. Prefaced by the individual winners & times, age group leaders, SLH handicap result, the tension mounted ... a win for Ranelagh by a mere 12 points out of total scoring of 670 points. Those SLH dropouts had made the difference as had Ranelagh's Chris Owens' brave decision to plough on despite sustaining an injury. The Stubbs Cup retained by Ranelagh but a more telling statistic, the first win for the team in blue at Happy Valley since 1975, my 4th mob match (this was my 148th).

Personally I made a big mistake in wearing flats on what became a sodden course; spikes are out of the question these days because of my Achilles' problems, but I should have put on my trail shoes. Still, it made for some amusing moments on the steeply cambered top of the valley where for every 100 metres forward I slid 10 metres down the hill! Other than that a good comfortable run with no stress. This race was about the team. Sport at its best!

* I do remember one other close mob, it was against Thames Hare & Hounds on Wimbledon Common in the early 80's. Now Thames, the oldest club in the country, are reknowned for their intellect - being the host of the annual varsity match they tend to attact the best runners from Oxbridge when they graduate into their highly paid City jobs - but ask them to sort race results from a field of 100 you have utter chaos. This particular day it was clearly close, the huddle in the corner of the tea room were clearly getting nowhere so the runners from both clubs strolled across to the Duke of Cambridge at opening time (5.30 in the old days, folks). An hour and a couple of pints later the officials came into the pub proudly announcing a close win for Thames. Ranelagh's disappointment soon turned to joy when we spotted that one of ours had been missed from the results, and so it went on ... another couple of pints, a raucous supper with the infamous stories & songs from Thames' John Bryant and our Aussie Mal Cother, the bell for last orders, yet still no-one was any the wiser. The result kept changing and in the end nobody cared. To this day I don't know who won, but what a great evening.

Winter running

What a lovely weekend in the snow. Conditions were gorgeous last Saturday, as was evident when looking out of the window at home (see pic). The previous day's snow covered the countryside, the roads were generally clear, it was bitterly cold and the sky was blue. After being warned by Claudie to take care, I wrote my name and number down on a piece of paper and popped it into a pocket in case I fell or collapsed (again Claudie rightly insisted on this as well as asking what my route was - this should be done as a matter of course as previously blogged about), I set off in the sunshine.

To non-runners it is almost impossible to explain the pleasure of the sport, but on days like this I'm reminded of why I've battled to avoid hanging up my trainers for the joys of the golf course. One of Haruki Murakami's memorable quotes, which I've used on here before, also came to mind:

"I have only a few reasons to keep on running,

and a truckload of them to quit.

All I can do is keep those few reasons nicely polished."

This was a glorious run in the delightful surroundings of Cirencester Park. Although the snow was fresh and wasn't deep, care was needed as each step crushed down on the white stuff. as a consequence my pace was even slower than usual. Since I've been back doing a modicum of training I've invariably run too fast and therefore tired very easily. Again to the non-runner this must sound bizarre but it is difficult to run slowly at times, especially when running alone. The snow forced the issue, so despite the extra effort needed underfoot I did not get fatigued at all. It was one of those all too rare days - other runners will recognise this - when running felt effortless and one could run forever.

As ever with this great sport we are always learning - in my case after nearly 45 years of trying to get it right - we all run too fast on our steady runs. Slow down!
The next day was just as bitter but cloudy instead of sunny; the snow was 24 hours older and therefore harder to run through and there was lots of dodgy ice. The park was, however, still at its majesterial best and for me there was the great bonus of bumping into two of my best running buddies, neither of whom normally run in the park on a Sunday. I therefore turned round and joined them; having done virtually all of my running alone since starting back, it was a pleasure to swap inane banter as we ran easily through the park. A very positive weekend.