Saturday 18th December 2021,
A terrific day for the Belles with an emphatic win in the team championship plus individual gold for Rachel Brown and bronze for me and first Vet.
The race was held in Beckenham Place Park, a venue now often used for cross country races since the local council abandoned the golf course a few years ago. In fact, it will be used again at the end of January for the South of England Championships. It is an undulating grassland course, soft in places, ideal for cross country though and where they will stage SEAA XC.
It was a nervous week for the Belles team manager, with Covid reducing the team entry from ten to the six required to score. Also taking nearly 2.5 hrs to get there which was pretty tragic so I could only pray it would be worth while.
On the second lap I moved up to third place with team mate Jess not far behind. As a team we scored an incredible 40 points, the lowest winning score since women were allowed into the race from 2004.
We have had a great record in this race over the last ten years.
2011 3rd, 2012 3rd, 2013 1st, 2014 1st, 2015 3rd, 2016 1st, 2017 2nd, 2018 1st 2019 no team, 2020 no race, 2021 1st.
Belles
- Rachel Brown 46:27, 3. Samantha Amend 48:06, 4. Jess Saunders 48:13, 9. Natalie Beadle 51:08, 11. Mimi Cordon-Lloyd 51:39, 12. Laurel Bray 52:12.
Teams
- Belgrave Harriers 40, 2. Kent AC 88, 3. Dulwich 93.