OW Cross Country 2018
Our one event in 2018, as a team, was the Annual Alumni Race, organised by the Thames Hare & Hounds Club and run on Wimbledon Common, in mid-December. This is mainly run by school alumni teams, both ladies and men, but anybody else can enter as an individual guest runner. There are trophies to be won at various age levels, so competition is inevitably strong. Our aim is to do well but also to enjoy what is a good opportunity to meet up with fellow OW runners.
Saturday 15th December 2018, however, was not a good day to be outdoors, let alone running 8k on a hilly and muddy Wimbledon Common. The forecasters told us it was “ice rain” and unusual. The start (supposedly 2.30pm) was delayed due to a hiccup with the distribution of race numbers, so in the thunderously overcast conditions some of the back markers were finishing in near darkness. We raised a cheer for the persevering Fi Miller when she finally appeared out of the gloom and crossed the finish line with an elegant slide in her tennis shoes! (Trail shoes next time Fi)
Our leading finishers (out of the 257 who made it) were Will Campbell-Barnard (77th), Ross Maclagan (122nd), James Campbell-Barnard (144th) and Ben Cope (183rd). The first four finishers from each school score towards the Open Trophy and thanks to our gallant four we finished 21st out of the 37 schools competing. Polly Amos was our top lady, being the 15th out of 18 female finishers, and Fi Miller was not too far behind Polly. So OK, we weren’t among the medals and we were all close to hypothermia afterwards but everyone agreed that it had been tremendous fun and we’ll all be back on Saturday 14th December 2019 for more of the same.
Since then, things have moved forward. We are now a recognised club (Old Wellingtonian Cross Country) within the OW Sports Society. We have a committee and we are charging just £25 for a one-off lifetime membership, which includes the cost of the new OWXC vest (as worn in this year’s team photo). We have a website, owxc.co.uk , which contains links for any OWs who enjoy running and would like to join the club. Our mantra is “we run for fun”…to do well, yes, but mostly to enjoy getting together and competing as a team. There will be other events besides the annual Alumni Race where we can meet and these will be suggested via the website and also on the OWXC Members WhatsApp group.
If you’re interested and would like any other information, please contact Gary Lloyd (galloyd2000@hotmail.com). GAL
Team photo Back row: (L to R) Polly Amos, Fi Miller, Luke Bowler, Finn Paisley, William Campbell-Barnard, James Campbell-Barnard, Ben Cope, Peter Mansell-Jones Front row: (L to R) Ned Clark, Alexander Vlassopulos, Gary Lloyd, Ross Maclagan Photographer: Jasper Lloyd
OWXC TH&H Alumni Race Report 2017 Thames Hare & Hounds – Parkland Relays 2019