


A relatively mild Saturday saw the 2024 LondonCross Country Championships at Parliament Hill Fields, over the same iconic undulating terrain which will be the scene of this season’s English National Cross-Country Championships in February 2025.
For the second successive Saturday the Herne Hill Harriers women’s A team were second, and men’s A team placed fifth in big competitions.
The women’s squad added to their growing collection of team and individual medals. In their 6km race Lucy Jones and Sophie Tooley underlined strong form as they ran away from the field of 217 finishers to finish first and second.
Jones was first across a finish line for a third time in three November Saturdays so far, with a clear victory by 44 seconds. Tooley in second place has stepped up to another level during the last month and here the 25-year-old claimed an excellent silver medal with her best race so far as a senior athlete.
This pairing led the Harriers women to team silver medals, with the other two team scorers being Jenny Nandi in 15th and Shannon Sinclair 29th. They were backed up by Ella Newton 66th and Jess Winfield 133rd as the club’s fine women’s team season continues unabated.
In the men’s 10km race in-form Herne Hill based Australian Brandon Dewar placed fourth, another fine run after his fifth place in the Surrey League seven days earlier.
Andrew Clarke showed a return towards his best in 10th place with Daniel Shaw close behind in 17th. M45 Ben Millar closed the scoring quarter in 70th.
The men’s turnout was completed by Alex Lee 71st, Fintan Kearney 93rd, Stephen McLeod 110th, Jamie Brown 124th, Craig Duncan 191st, M55 Norman Urquia 244th, William Oliver 273rd, M55 Jonathan Ratcliffe 306th, Leon Kong 345th and another M55 Andrew Simms was 349th.
In the USA, former Great Britain junior cross country international Phoebe Anderson enjoyed a superb result at the NCAA Regionals as she placed second in a high-quality field at the Northeast Championships.
Anderson’s performance secured her qualification for the NCAA National Cross-Country Championships this coming Saturdayin Madison, Wisconsin, where she will be looking to make her mark on the biggest stage.
Prior to the senior women’s and men’s London Championships the London Youth Games Cross-Country races were held on the Parliament Hill course, with youngsters representing their London borough of residence rather than their clubs.
Top results were achieved by Herne Hill athletes in an event which had been contested in past years by a young Sir Mo Farah.
These included a bronze medal for Tommy Clerkin in the under 15 boys’ race where he was followed in by club mates Leau Roch seventh and Caspian Holmes 17th.
In the under 13 girls race another bronze medal was secured by Skyla O’Brien, with Marnie Millar 12th and Isobel McLennan 14th. Henry Kucerov was fourth in the under 13 boys’ race, while in the under 17 women’s event Sophie Jack placed sixth and Maeve Minielly was 12th.
Geoff Jerwood