6 and 4 stage relays

I got my predictions totally wrong. No mention of Tipton or Bristol. Belgrave not even in the top 3! I did how ever say Bedford would be no where and Morpeth would be up there.

Team Bedford wrote:

I got my predictions totally wrong. No mention of Tipton or Bristol. Belgrave not even in the top 3! I did how ever say Bedford would be no where and Morpeth would be up there.

That was meant to mean Bedford would be up there as were Morpeth

I noticed there seemed to be quite a few people taking photos of the even. Does anyone know if any of these are online anywhere?

You have to remember that a lot of the North guys were missing - McCormick, Jones, Ward, Sutton.

I take the point that the Southern teams lost a few as well, but you also must remember that there are a lot of Northerners actually running for Southern teams - Warmby is from Wakefield but runs for Newham (likewise Hepples, also absent) whilst Anderson and Freary both run for Belgrave. You very rarely see Southerners running for the Northern teams. This trend looks set to continue with Gerrard joining Newham and Gauson running for Belgrave.

Why is it that this happens? Are Southern teams more aggressive in their recruiting? Are Northern teams seemingly lacking in ambition?

bryn_r wrote:

Ward- are you still at Cambridge? If so hopefully we'll meet in a race soon. (fresher at Oxford)

I am, but I have a few injury problems, so I'm not running at all at the moment, although I may be just about back for varsity. Have you got a good group across there at the moment?

so wardy how was the mood in your camp after race, is this the end of an era?

Not a great group. People all seem to be coming back from injury. I'm training with the main group, but the "fast" guys haven't run with them yet (Blackledge, Moreau, Talbot).

That said Dave Bruce and Martin Bishop run a few times a week with the group and that's really good as they're better than me, but not by much.

I'm switching onto my own peaking program for either a) Varsity (if I get selected) or b) a 5k race the week after over a reasonable course.

Hope things improve and see you at the races!

Are there any photos posted yet?

I was quite pleased with my run on saturday considering i have been out for 2months and only had 3 weeks of light training behind me. Furthermore this was the first time i had put any kind of \\\'race pressure\\\' on my leg since the injury and i was therefore pleased to not feel any kind of pain / reoccurance of the injury.

As for belgrave being \\\'finished\\\' and also all this rubbish about there being no team spirit at a club made up of poached athletes - unless you have anyhthing to do with the club how can you make such accusations? I believe the club is in a very healthy state with plenty of youngsters coming through a good mix of experienced runners, and 4th place at the weekend was a good result considering some of the runners (myslef included) were coming back from recent injuries and illnesses.

Write Belgrave off if you want but the runners at this club are all very hungry for more success, which i am sure we are very capable of.

Also, not that it is really anyones business but i joined Belgrave (who are my local club) after completing my degree last year. I had a falling out with WSEH, but it also made more sense for me to run in leagues closer to home than travel to race for a club in another county. I am very proud to wear the Belgrave vest and the banter between club mates is the best i have experienced in my short running career.

I look forward to winning future medals with the team.

Congratualations to Newham on their victory, Tipton who nobody on letsrun predicted to run so well and to Bristol who pipped us for a medal.

Two months off, 3 weeks light training, then you race on the roads over 6k on a course that has a reasonably steep downhill ? Where was the stress fracture, the brain ?

after thought wrote:

so wardy how was the mood in your camp after race, is this the end of an era?

Actually I think the mood is pretty good. How could it be anything else with Dave Anderson's cheeky geordie enthusiasm and Steve Sharp and his wifes cheerful cockney charm. We have a great squad that can really look forward to the future. I think it was a decent performance on the day too. We lost 3 probable A team runners in the week leading up to the event and Phil and Dave were recovering from illness and injury and although both ran well are capable of much quicker times.

It might be the end of an era where there is the expectation that we will win but with Blackledge, Wicks, Gausonx2, Billington, Jones and myself all under 25 there is no reason why we can't be winning medals well into the next decade. Add to that the old guard in the form of Miles, Anderson, Sharp, Freary and Stewart and we will be very dangerous in the immediate future. We also have Neil Speight who wants to start relay running, Tim Watson, Maclean-Foreman, Hassan Raidi and Martin Dent.

And if there are any 14:30 5k/ 30:30 10k runners out there that fancy joining us that could help too. Please send your application forms to:

I've been poached,

Belgrave Hall,

Somewhere in Wimbledon,

Can't say exactly,

I've never been,

SW1 CASH

Loads of pics from Saturday up here.

I never had a stress fracture - it was a bad case of shin splints not that it is really any of your business. Who are you anyway? If your such a big man to critisize me why are you hiding behind a false name?

when an athlete decides to change club, why does everyone assume that they have been 'poached'? is it not possible for an athlete to want to run elsewhere on there own accord, with little or no influence from the new club. people wish to change clubs for a variety of reasons, and clubs/athletes often get unjustified stick by people who know little or nothing of the circumstances involved (e.g reading about phil wicks above).

Exactly - i approached Belgrave because i was moving back home and it made more sense to run in races such as the Surrey League closer to home, and also because i saw more opportunities to win team medals at a friendly club.

Just to confirm also - i have never been paid by Belgrave to run for them.

If you read back through this thread you are reported as having a stress fracture, and you did not give any indication that it was wrong, so what am I to believe ?

My size is irrelevant, but is that your real name ?

loads of photos here

www.dk10k.co.uk

So you believe everything that you read on here? I have never posted on this website before today and only have done today to set the record straight. I dont feel as though i should have to explain my training or injury to anyone else. I just feel there are too many people out there slagging others off and hiding just like you are now.

If you want to slag someone off then that's fine - i couldnt care less what you or anyone else thinks to be quite frank. But at least put your own name if that's what you think.