Met League 2025 Season Race Report Race 1: Claybury
Race 1: Claybury
The cross country season got off to a strong start on Saturday 11th October, with 40 keen Herts Phoenix athletes taking part in the first Met League race at Claybury. Team spirits were high with the warm, sunny weather making a pleasant introduction to the season. Course recces confirmed firm ground underfoot, leading to a mixture of spikes and road shoes being worn.
The racing was kicked off by Henry Bostock (8th) in the U11 boys, followed by Missy Steel (20th) and Becky Maiden (22nd) in the U11 girls.
Josh Maiden (1st) led a strong U13 boys team home. Helping to secure second place team (just 3 points behind first) were George Sims (11th), Zephyr Macalister (13th) and Thomas Summers (16th).
Flying a solo flag for Herts Phoenix in her race was Isla Griffith (36th) for the U13 girls.
In the junior boys race, Jake Summers (5th) was the first U15 finisher, with Freddie Hollings-Yates (18th) and Sean Mazur (19th) leading the rest of the 10 Herts Phoenix team. A special mention to Alexander Shoesmith (45th), Alban Wadley (48th) and Jake Whitaker (55th) performing strongly in their first year in this competitive age bracket.
Building on her strong performance on the track this year, the junior girls were led by Cora Naylor (4th). A third place team finish was achieved with the help of Hazel Spitzer (14th) in her first race representing Herts Phoenix, Penny Field (28th) and Jess Lane (29th).
Ellie Mason ran positively as the sole representative for the senior women but would be hopeful of a bigger turnout for the remaining races to help the team move up the division 1 table.
Fielding a team with the widest age range in the race (U20 –V80), the senior men enjoyed running in the good conditions. Bringing down the average age of the group was first home for Herts Phoenix and first U20, Ben Murphy (11th) in his debut senior race in the league. Close behind, John Eves ran an excellent race placing 13th and first veteran finisher. Ten of the team finished in the top 300 resulting in second place in division 2 for this race. Congratulations to Richard Bloom (V80) for running his 172ndMet League race, putting him clear at the top of the leaderboard of Met League appearances for the club.
The league heads to Horsenden Hill for the second race of the season on 15thNovember. Please keep your race numbers safe until then.