Hunt runners have a positive start to 2024 races

On Wednesday 31^st January, the Hunt attended the 52^nd running of the prestigious annual King Henry VIII Relays, held in the Coventry War Memorial Park.

This is a race whose alumni have gone on to set British and World records and won Olympic medals; indeed, it is a race that Shrewsbury have historically performed exceptionally well in, with last year’s boys’ team securing silver as well as the fastest individual leg.

With young teams facing blustery, muddy conditions, it was always going to be a tall order to emulate last year’s exploits. Nevertheless, the boys’ A and B teams, each 6-strong, and the girls’ quartet were quick to inspect the course together, noting the softer conditions of the initial woodland stretch, and the stiff headwinds of the more open tarmac straights.

A touch before 14.30, the boys’ first leg runners, Jack K (SH, LVI) (A) and Masimo W (R, UVI) (B) toed the line, impatient to be off. Both were subjected to the quickest of starts, with the Woodbridge School athlete proceeding to dismantle the course record, despite the conditions. His astonishing run, alongside some other very fast clockings, saw Shrewsbury a little further back than we might have expected, with Jack disappointed not to match his previous year’s effort. A little further back, Massimo finished fast, giving his team a solid footing from which to build. The girls’ race had begun five minutes after the boys’ departure, with Sophia C (MSH, LVI) going on to post the team’s fastest time of the day in a competitive leg, before passing the baton to Milly B (MSH, V).

The boys’ race saw Jack handing over to Alex M (I, V), who in turn passed to fellow 5^th former Will R (O, V). Promisingly, Alex and Will both have two years in hand, and they put in equally decent shifts to keep the team inside the top 20 of the 56 teams competing. Over in the B team, Tom E (Ch, LVI) succeeded Massimo with a well-paced and -judged effort, with Archie P-S (SH, LVI) on leg 3 then matching Massimo’s first leg clocking. Shortly after the boy’s second handover, Milly B had passed the baton to Sakura F (MSH, III), our only 3^rd form representative across all our teams. Sakura defied her young years to post an impressive time, keeping the girls’ midfield team position steady.

Taking over from Will R in the A team, Fin C (O, LVI) stormed past a number of schools in an excellent leg. His 12m05s clocking was at that point the Hunt’s fastest of the day, and he dragged the team into the top 10. Suitably pumped up after some worrying signs of illness pre-race, Zac W (SH, V) then kept Shrewsbury hope’s high as he moved the team up a further place or two. On the B team, Dom W (SH, LVI) clocked an excellent time which was ultimately worthy of an A team spot, helping to push the B team higher up the standings, and giving the next runner, Archie T (Rt, UVI), a great platform from which to push on. Archie duly delivered, running the 2^nd fastest split in his team, after Dom’s effort.

By this point, the girls’ race, being 4 legs rather than 6, had finished. Amaya N (M, UVI), on her Hunt debut, had anchored the team home in a very commendable 15^th place, of 28 teams competing. On the last leg of the B team, Huntsman Tim S (I, UVI) secured 24^th place (of 56), finishing a little while after Harry P-M (I, LVI) had powered round for the A team, scooping up a few more teams in the process. Harry’s 12m05s matched Fin’s earlier time and was strong enough to see the Hunt finish a very pleasing 7^th overall.

With all the boys’ A team, and all but one of the girls’ team available for selection next year, this felt very much like a foundation and stepping-stone to even better things in 2025. Whilst the Judd School continued their domestic dominance, it was striking to note that their winning time was nearly a minute slower than the Hunt’s effort in 2024. Although it was a little galling to see the likes of Abingdon and Harrow take the upper hand this year, we remain confident of restoring the natural order in twelve months’ time! 

Knole Run, Saturday 13^th January

Back in mid-January, the Hunt was out in full force at the Knole Run, hosted in Knole Park by Sevenoaks School. The race is always an excellent opportunity to pitch ourselves against some of the strongest schools in the south-east, and it has proved a happy hunting ground in previous years.

Having travelled down the night before, a number of 5^th form pupils undertook supervised exam sessions in the morning – the Beefeater restaurant proving a convenient temporary exam hall! With the Trials papers complete, we travelled together the short distance to the very grand, open setting of Knole Park to walk the course. The race is an exacting one, run over two laps (10km) for the boys and over a single 5km loop for the girls. With a good number having competed before, it was a case of runners reacquainting themselves with the two significant hills and checking that the typically well-drained conditions underfoot were not overly boggy.

The Hunt fielded three teams overall – two boys’ and one girls’. The girls set off first, 10 minutes before the boys, with Sophia C fighting hard to keep in the top ten throughout the race. Despite injury over Christmas, her residual fitness served her well, with an eventual 11^th place finish a great result amidst excellent competition. Hunstwoman Ellie L-L (MSH, UVI) raced excellently to finish as our second counter, finding herself well-suited to the extended racing distance. Just behind her, Amelia B held her form well in the finish straight, before Sakura F and Olivia K (M, LVI), separated by only a second, completed the Shrewsbury finishers. The girls, 4^th team home, went on to be the inaugural winners of the Highgate Plate – just reward for an excellent collective effort.

On the boys’ side, the long distance and elite level of competition naturally led to some significant gaps in the field, with competitors fairly widely distributed by the closing stages of the race. Nevertheless, our first finisher, Jack K - an 800m specialist facing a gruelling 10km distance – ran hard to come home in 13^th. Hot on his heels, in 16^th, was Harry P-M, with Finlay C our third finisher home in 25^th. The other three scoring members of the A team were Zac W (26^th), Dominic W (28^th) and Johnnie T (Ch, V) (34^th). Matching the girls, the boys A team also came home in 4^th, winning the MacGregor Cup in the process.

The vast majority of the selected teams have at least one year left of eligibility, so we look forward to another strong performance next year.

Frank Tickner

Master i/c RSSH