An ill Alex Brown was denied a gold medal at the English Schools Cross Country Cup on Saturday. The Herne Hill Harrier had to settle for second in the U15G race at Newquay, Cornwall, after losing out to Josie Czura.
The athletes were side by side in the first half of the race, only for Czura to pull clear with Brown succumbing to tiredness caused by a week-long cold. Other Herne Hill athletes in the U15G competition were Tatiana Cooke, who finished 35th, and Maddie Shaw, who was forced to drop out due to injury.
Closer to home, there were wins for Maisie Collins in the U11G race, Christo Chilton in the U11B event, Mohammed Ali in the U13B and Paul Chalobah in the U15B, as Herne Hill youngsters continued their strong start in the Downs cross country league. For Chilton and Ali, it was their second successive race wins in the four-race series.
On the road, Mike Cummings won the Serpentine Last Friday 5k in 15.53, more than half a minute ahead of his nearest rival. Jonathan Ratcliffe was first Briton and 87th overall at the Marathon internacional de San Sebastian in Spain, clocking two hours, 43 minutes, four seconds. Gary Ironmonger was 43rd and second V50 at a competitive Self-Transcendence 10k race in Battersea Park in 35.47.
Earlier in the week, Herne Hill were strongly represented in the Inter Financial Services cross country championships in Richmond Park, with Alan Barnes third, John Kettle sixth and Tom Conlon 19th.