Tough Conditions at The Scrubs For Ealing's Runners

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Eagles compete in cross country championships

The cream of the area’s running talent gathered at Wormwood Scrubs for the Middlesex County AA Cross Country Championships on Saturday (Jan 5).

And the recent heavy rain made for tough conditions under foot, as the men took on a course measuring around 12,000m.

Eagles regulars Jose Manuel Pabon and Ricardo Agostinho got acquainted with part of the course by running the venue’s weekly 5k parkrun event beforehand.

And it stood the pair in good stead as they led home the team’s men, with Pabon finishing 19th in 45:14 and Agostinho in 36th with a time of 47:31.

However, they were some way off the pace of winner Chris Smith. The Thames Valley Harrier clocked a splendid 41:58.

The fastest-finishing Ealing runner was Robert Wilson, from the Eagles’ Perivale-based neighbours Ealing, Southall and Middlesex.

The seven-strong Eagles team finished 8th out of nine clubs, a place behind ESM, with the fastest six finishers scoring points in the men’s competition.

Fastest woman for the Eagles was Jennifer Watt, who finished the 8,000m course in 40:18. However, the standard of the field was such that it was only enough to secure her 41st place.

Belgrave runner Tish Jones won in a superb 32:59, while three runners from the Eagles’ Perivale-based neighbours Ealing, Southall and Middlesex made the top 20. (Hannah Pollack 10th in 36:35, Alison Hopkins 13th in 36:53 and Fiona Kennedy 18th in 38:02.)

The rest of the Eagles team was made up of Katya Saville, Arlene Gallagher and Sandra Courtney and their four finishing times meant the club qualified for a team placing – finishing 11th of 11 on the day. (ESM were fourth and won the Corlin Trophy, awarded to the first team that has not finished in the first three positions over the last three years)
Eagles team member Dan Houghton, who finished 139th in 63:55, said it had been a great day, despite the challenging course.

“Cross country has been a new discipline for the Eagles this season and we are gradually building up the skills and experience to compete in this tough but challenging environment,” he said.

The Eagles return to their regular Sunday League cross-country action this weekend at Royston.

Full Eagles results:
Senior Women - 8,000m (approx)

41 Jennifer Watt 40:18
81 Katya Saville 50:13
89 Arlene Gallagher 54:01
92 Sandra Courtney 54:44

Team Result: 11. Ealing Eagles (41, 81, 89, 92) = 303

Senior Men - 12,000m (approx)

19 Jose Manuel Pabon 45:14
36 Ricardo Agustinho 47:31
122 Dave Chryssides 57:53
124 Kieran Santry 58:36
139 Dan Houghton 63:55
143 Anthony Austin 66:01
145 Paul Roberts 69:26

Team Result: 8. Ealing Eagles (19, 36, 122, 124, 139, 143) = 583

Team scores are calculated by simply adding together competitors’ finishing positions. The lowest score wins.

Full event results are available from: http://middlesexaa.org.uk/

 

 

January 9th 2012