Herne Hill Harriers round-up: Snowden a clear winner at Surrey Cross Country League opener

Katie Snowden kicked off her winter training preparation with an emphatic race win on Saturday at the opening fixture in Surrey Cross Country League Division 1 at Effingham Common, writes Geoff Jerwood.

The 28-year-old from Balham, fourth in the 1,500m at the European Championships, took a rare opportunity to don her red-and-black vest. Snowden’s victory and her presence at the event provided inspiration as Harriers enjoyed all-round success.

Snowden’s time of 16:47 around a dry but bumpy 5km circuit was 50 seconds clear of her closest pursuer. She led the women’s A team to second place, only pipped for the win by a single point by Thames Hare & Hounds.

Great back-up came from Sarah Grover (17th), Jenny Nandi (18th), W40 Gaby Reynolds (19th) and Grace Leyland (22nd) to close the A team with 77 points. The B team of U20 Kaitlin Hewitt (27th), Karen Ellison (46th), U20 Madelaine Parmar (50th), W40 Sue Swaine (52nd) and Charlotte Kenyon (58th) also placed an excellent second among B teams.

Caspian Holmes continued his recent purple patch as he won his race from the front and in the process led the U13 boys team to victory. There were also team wins for the U15 girls and the U17 men.

The U15 girls team performance was a triumph for packing in close formation as Orla Carroll, Sophie Jack, Lily Kitto and Maeve Minielly sealed their win by placing third, fourth, fifth and sixth respectively. The B team finished sixth overall and first B team, courtesy of track star Lily-Rose Brown (10th), Martha Brennan (13th), India Blakey (22nd) and Anna Forster (33rd).

The U13 boys team comprised race winner Holmes, Edward Cunniffe (third), Zacchaeus Kelman (sixth) and Noah Turner (22nd). A quartet of U17 men were the winners of the combined U15/U17M team – Harry Bell (seventh), Robin Bebbington (eighth), Mori Alimi (10th) and Alex Jack (16th).

Florence Mills was the sole Harriers representative in the U13 girls and finished second. The U17 women’s team was Eva O’Hanlon (third), Grace O’Hanlon (fifth) and Vivi Marshall (14th).

Herne Hill men’s A team may rue a missed opportunity as most clubs were at less than full strength. They finished seventh out of nine teams but are have a chance of moving up the Division 1 table with a full turnout at the next round on Wimbledon Common on November 12.

They were led by a superb cross country debut for Sam Bramwell (ninth), with Brandon Dewar having his best league run to date (12th). The rest of the A team scorers were Mike Cummings (41st), George Withers (57th), Joe Elliott (70th), Lewis Laylee (78th), Ronan Tanguy (80th), Ross Brown (94th) and Seve Loudon (99th).

Three Herne Hill veteran men competed in the England Masters Cross Country Team Selection race held as part of a North Midlands League fixture.

John Kettle ran superbly to finish second M45, Ben Paviour was fifth M45 on the day and Simon Coombes finished second M50.

All three have now been selected for the England team for the Home International races in Santry, Dublin on November 12. Paviour will be 50 by the date of the international which means he will race with Coombes as a M50, with Kettle representing the M45s.

Jack Brotchie ran a 2:36.42 PB, with another of the club’s top M45 runners Andrew Perfect clocking a good 2:40.49, to finish 126th at the Amsterdam Marathon on Sunday.

Jonathan Ratcliffe ran 2:58.54 to finish third M55 at the Yorkshire Marathon in York. It was his 97th sub three hours marathon as he homes in on the magic 100.

Gaby Reynolds, 40, makes light of being a mother of two as she followed up her valuable contribution to the women’s team second place at Effingham on Saturday afternoon with a strong run in the Cabbage Patch 10 miles road race in Twickenham on Sunday morning,. She placed fifth female overall and took home the first W40 prize with her time of 61:33.