Review of 2010 Birmingham XC League Round 3, Wyken Croft

by Mark Coyle

The heavy downpour through the night had washed away all but the hard packed stubborn icy remnants of the snow as the runners and riders pitched up for the third round of the Birmingham XC League. At our home venue of Wyken Croft.

Having changed and met up with Dave Kelly we returned from the community centre to find the four mile women’s race in full flow with the lead group – a mixture of Coventry Godiva women and students from Loughborough – making the course look ridiculously easy. Didn’t they know this was a Bob Carey creation! The Sphinx Ladies team – minus the injured Kathryn Stuart – put in a solid performance. Heather – minus a club vest - smiled, or possibly grimaced, her way around the four mile route to be first counter. Julie Cozens revelling in her first Birmingham League XC race – continues to impress - came home very close behind Heather to take second counter. A determined performance from Ladies Vice Captain Tracey Higgins who battled through to the take the third counter, her Walsh’s now well and truly christened. While Ladies Captain Jackie Stuart took things very sensibly coasting round in third gear to complete a run which - fingers crossed - confirms she is over the lengthy injury that has frustratingly sidelined her recently.

It must be heart-warming for the Stuart ladies who have competed for sometime now as almost the lone bearers of female Sphinx cross-country running to see that even with Kathryn injured and Jackie returning from injury the Ladies section can still field a team and still have several ladies i.e. Jackie Timms, Becky, Sally, Lorraine, Karen, Helen and Liz although absent on the day all more than capable of competing in XC. Not to mention a crop of young girls from age 13 up of whom the coaches have high hopes will come through at senior level in the next few years. The future looks bright for the Ladies section.

With some of the ladies still out on the course the men’s race – containing a very healthy turn out of Sphinx lads, many of them running in the Not The Roman IX the next day - began with a stampede up the first rise of the day (thanks Bob) as we completed the first small lap encouraged by our marshalls and settled in for the three big laps that made up the 5.5 mile route. The ladies race had made a fine job of churning up several sections of the course and the lead runners in the men’s race continued the women’s “good work” as the sections on the corners slowly disintegrated into a muddy morass. Thankfully other sections remained surprisingly firm if wet particularly the long stretch down by the river which still was still coated in ice. It was a cracking course, a real cross country route of undulations dotted with peaks and troughs, twists and turns, firm and muddy under foot. A credit to the usual suspects – Bob, Alan, Mick and others no doubt - who would have been out since dawn that morning marking the course not to mention the marshals who helped take it down afterwards. Ashley, Matt, Tom, Nigel Timms, Pete Fahy and Ben Orme made light work of the conditions to finish as the six Sphinx scorers which, on the day, saw the men finish 13th.  Eleven more Sphinx runners crossed the line in the three minutes proceeding Ben Orme, with Tall Paul, Dave – returning from his burst appendix - Kelly and Mick “The Chairman” Pelling all finished strongly.

Despite the healthy turn out, relegation to Division 3 of the Birmingham XC League was all but mathematically confirmed. The point’s deficit with just one event left (Worcester Sat 13th Feb) is just too big to recover. As we feared the damage done at Sennellys Park in October was irreparable. Injuries and illness, clashes with other races, work commitments, university life are all legitimate reasons accounting for several Sphinx XC stalwarts whom, had they been available, would have surely cemented us in our customary Division 2 mid-table slot.  We consoled ourselves with a hot brew and cake from the huge selection baked or donated by the good people who support the club and plotted our promotion from Division 3 next year.

Women’s 4 mile race

150     Heather Barrett   34:42
152     Julie Cozens      35:44
155     Jackie Stuart     36:27
157     Tracey Higgins    37:33

Men’s 5.5 mile race

 24     Ashley Miles      32.45       
 55     Matt Melia        34.49
 64     Tom Delaney       35.06
 96     Nigel Timms       36.42
128     Pete Fahy         38.11
134     Ben Orme          39.09
138     Bryan Pears       39.24
140     Ian Gower         39.33
141     Barrie Adams      39:38
147     Trevor Clark      40.01
155     Mick Hudspith     40.25
157     Mark Coyle        40.27
162     Graham Patton     40.47
168     Darren Handley    41.23
170     Barrie Burows     41.29
171     Nick Gilkes       41.31
182     Andy Norton       42.31
201     Paul Kenning      45.21
207     Dave Kelly        47.29
209     Mick Pelling      48.03