The last race of the season is always a difficult one to call in Division 1
of the Birmingham League because the teams who are facing relegation
generally fight for their lives and the title race often also goes down to
the wire with Loughborough and Birmingham Universities calling on their full
squads of top juniors. In the circumstances 8th place on the day was a fair
reward for the smallest squad in the division.
On this occasion it was Tom Gayle who led the team home. Using his
experience Tom gradually moved through the field for a fine 29th, showing
that he has now got over the ankle injury and bad cold that derailed the
middle part of his season. Despite this Tom still completed 3 out of the 4
fixtures and underlined the commitment that Stoke AC have to maintaining a
presence at this level.
In 41st Pete Benyon showed that he has really moved up a
level this season. Suffering from a bad head cold Pete was very nearly a non
starter, but such is his level of commitment that he said he would give it a
go and get round... Some getting round - I am sure that in a healthy state a
definite top 25 placing would have been on the cards! Overall this has been
Pete's best season with an average placing in the low 30s as he completed
all 4 fixtures.
Alex Hall yet again started the fastest and one day he will keep that
pace going and show everyone a clean pair of heels. On this occasion he paid
slightly more for his effort in a very competitive field, but still finished
a creditable 45th in his 4th Birmingham league race of the season. By my
calculations Alex was also close to being 2nd Junior overall and we will
check this out with the organisers. Alex is now off to University and may
miss the next few years of Birmingham League, but we know that when he comes
back we are likely to have a top 10 star on our hands.
Andy Allen has competed for Stoke in the Birmingham League more times
that even I can remember, and although still returning from a January cold
his vast experience helped him to 51st. Later this year as he reaches
'master' level we can expect big things from Andy as he regains his strength
after a couple of relatively low key years.
Sandwiched between experience came youth as Liam Jones continued his
steady progress up the results to 70th. It usually takes even the very
best juniors a couple of years to get used to the strength in depth in this
league. All of
us reckon that Liam has what it takes and look forward to considerable
progress next winter.
Continued problems with injury and illness amongst other regular squad members
such as Mark Kinch meant that I had to run yet another
'last ever' cross country race... After a month off with injury and then
feeling unwell on the day Gavin Walters was one of those
suffering, and even though he started he did very well to get round at least
a lap and a half before dropping out (having made sure that we were safe
team-wise). Placing 78th and 6th counter was a great performance for me on the training I do now, but it must be the last one Steve!
In 136th Adrian Thiemicke yet again made sure that we had a final
reserve, and we would have been safe even if he had been a counter. Richard
Barrington also started just in case but stopped after a lap or so to
concentrate on giving us much appreciated verbal support from the sidelines.
Overall, 7th place in the league was an astonishing result for a team who
everyone had thought would be prime candidates for relegation after 13
consecutive years in the top flight. However, the combination of new blood
from the junior ranks and Steve Shubotham's managerial efforts made
sure that next year's new influx of high quality juniors such as Alex
Derricott and Damian Gallagher, and hopefully some external
recruits, will join a committed core and enjoy the hardest cross country
league races in the country for yet another season.
John Danahay
Photos
by Steve Shubotham
Full results at www.birminghamccleague.co.uk
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