The 64th Annual Alumni Race

To double the numbers in our Team to eight was good news to start with, but to have last year’s Huntswoman, Liv Papaioannou (EDH 2014-16), and the 2011-12 Huntsman, George Mallett, as well as relatively fit Salopians who have previous knowledge of the 5 mile course over Wimbledon Common, were bonuses which boded well for the fortunes of The Old Salopian Hunt at this year’s Alumni Race.

The Thames Hare & Hounds Running Club, who host this race, now in its 64^th year, have at last updated their systems, so that we were assured of better registration and recording of results. There had been 228 registered entries for this year’s race.

I drove from Shrewsbury to arrive in time to welcome our runners, who had bused, motor-biked, driven and bicycled through pretty awful traffic and foggy conditions, to get to the Roehampton venue. The Team donned their Green & Gold OSH Running Vests to line up for the pre-warm-up photo on a calm but overcast afternoon. We could see that the ground was damp but much firmer than previous years and were assured by local runners that the usual boggy parts of the course were much easier for the day. So with our vest numbers pinned on, we were called to the start at 2.30pm.

Thankfully Sam, one time young guest runner and son of Simon Pickles (M 71-76), took more photos to give a flavour of our day.

It was a hasty start, following up the right side of the busy Rugby pitch until the corner flagpole, where George Mallett (S 07-12) jostled among the top 10 as they entered the wooded area to the right. The first climb was hectic and sorted out many of the elite runners from the veterans well before the mile-long fairly level path. Then we all got tested again negotiating the fast downhills and sudden turns through the undergrowth and mud, before the slippy incline at the 4 mile point, aptly called The Butts!  After this, you try to find some hidden reserves to fend off the person behind who wants to race the final 400 metres around the playing field into the finish funnel.  I was lucky enough to have the encouragement of Simon close by, which helped me complete the course a minute faster than last year and I came in 156^th out of 204 finishers.  However, the 'stars of the show' were already drinking tea and discussing the race before I arrived!  George had made an astonishing impression at the top of the results page, coming 11^th in a time of 27:39.  In fact the winner at 25:14, James Hoad of Winchester, ran 27:23 last year, so, at this rate, could George take the top spot next year?  Then Ben Hebblethwaite (R 86-91), who had fought through the busy Christmas shopping traffic to arrive just in time for the race, ran 29:42, which was a faster time than his last appearance in 2010, and he came in at 33^rd.  Liv showed that she is still as fit as she was when she left the School in the summer, running 33:46 in 88^th.  Rupert Lougee (SH 88-93) was 110^th at a consistent 34:56 on his third appearance for The OSH. He was followed by Justin Jeffrey (SH 85-90) at 120^th (35:37) and brother Nick Jeffrey (SH 88-93) at 146^th (37:25), who both gave better performances than they had predicted.  Preceding me was Simon Pickles (M 71-76), running faster at 38:02 and 153^rd.

Because of the improved quantity and quality of our Team, we finished 9^th out of 34 Schools Alumni Teams (up from 18^th out of 28 last year).

In the V40 category we finished 8^th out of 30 teams and in the V50 category 9^th out of 26 teams. Finally in the V60 category we were 9^th out of 16 and in The Ladies category 3^rd out of 7.

All in all it was a successful day for The OSH, as we improved the placings of all of our Team.  Optimism is in the air for more upward positioning next year!

The TH&H website will eventually show all the results, but they can be found on  https://opentrack.info/c/alumni/alumni/finish   .

There are further photos on The Old Salopian Hunt facebook page.

Peter Birch (Db. 66-71).