My first encounter with Parliament Hill Fields, now well over 60 years ago, was to charge off rather too fast for comfort—only to encounter a large bog. Not much has changed in the intervening years. Indeed, one wonders how the bog survived the afternoon after liberally coating thousands of runners and spectators with mud. In truth, it had accomplices: fellow bogs covering the entire course.
Parliament Hill provides a grandstand view of the start, but it is not until the top of the second steep incline that you can see how people are faring. They were packing well, with mountain trail runner international Chelsea Creak leading the team in around 40th place. Ella Waldman was next, with Katrina Entwistle not far behind. Elaina Gard, Caroline McAleese, and Eleanor Carney were close together, followed by a pack including Emma Clark, Ailish Craig, Katie Strange, and Marine Soudais. Amy Brammer was a little further back, followed at a distance by Francesca Knapper and Tanya Chowdhury, who earlier had to deal with daughter Amira losing her shoe in the under-15 girls' race.
By the second long lap, the field had spread out sufficiently to count positions. Chelsea was moving through, and I made her 39th. Ella and Kat were now close together in the 70s, while Elaina and Caroline were around 160. Eleanor had dropped back a little, and Katie was now leading Emma and Ailish.
At the finish, Chelsea placed 36th (eight places higher than her first visit to Parliament Hill Fields in 2022). Kat (70th) had overtaken Ella, who had lost a shoe on a particularly glutinous section of the course but bravely held on to finish 75th. That left Elaina, who never fails to excel on these occasions, to complete the team in 153rd position. With 335 points, the A team finished in a meritorious 6th position.
Sadly, B and C teams are not counted in the National Cross-Country. If they were, it would be clear how much quality and depth there is among the Nippy Ladies. For the B team, Caroline really showed her strength, finishing 165th and surely one of the top W45s. Eleanor was 194th, Katie 199th, and Emma 204th. For the C team, Ailish was 214th, Marine 215th, and Amy 275th. The B team had 1,174 points and, by interpolation, finished 18th, while the C team, with 2,126 points, placed 29th—making them the first three Midlands teams, with Bournville a distant 53rd! Both Francesca (307th) and Tanya (462nd) finished in or close to the top half of the field of 830 women, showing how well they ran.
Many congratulations to team manager Sian Davies for assembling the team. With Amy Hammersley having to pull out of the National Cross Country due to a stomach bug, Megan Brewer with a strained knee, Chelsea Baker winning the Bourton 10K in 35:11, Charlotte Taylor placing 4th in the Wokingham Half Marathon in 74:59, and Miri King setting a PB of 84:57—not to mention the potential return of Kirstin Bamford, Deborah Bruce, and Jessie Sanzo—how about three teams for the 6-stage Midlands Road Relays? Please let Sian know if you want to run!
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