Good afternoon Harriers,
A belated race report from the English National Cross Country Championships, held at Parliament Hill, London on February 22:
In Greek mythology, Hades is god of the underworld and king of the dead. Well, I can report that Hades made a determined, audacious bid to enter the over-world at Parliament Hill at the cross country Nationals. He reached up with all his might and stirred the ground above him, all around our feet. His hands reached for our ankles to drag us down into his perpetual darkness. It was a desperate battle. His muddy marigolds clung to our feet, sometimes removing shoes, and despite a vast array of multi-coloured team vests and flags on display, all runners were united in our resistance to the attack from below. We trampled Hades down, stung his hands with 15mm spikes, stamped our authority in this real world, and kept him from reaping any unfortunate prisoners.
It was a brave few who ventured north to Parliament Hill on Feb 22, the spiritual home of British cross country racing, and gathered around a deckchair flag. The senior women went into battle first, with a tremendous field of 830 women completing the hilly 8km. The winner was Jessica Gibbon of Reading AC (29:19), while our own Amelie Karlsson excelled in the relentless mud to finish 63rd (34:27). Not far behind was Emily Nash (110th, 36:02), with a strong team effort completed by Sonja King, Suzannah Kinsella and Alexandra Wolley.
The senior men went off last, with 1,783 runners completing the 12k route. National champ for 2025 was Richard Slade of Chiltern Harriers AC (43:42), who beat TAC’s James Kingston into second place by 31 seconds – an impressive gap over this distance. Liam White, a man in ripping form, was brought to the ground three times by Hades’ grim efforts. Not to be vanquished, Liam kept his shoes and finished an exceptional 95th (49:25) against the country’s strongest field of the year. James Sarre finished 838th (1:03:00), Alex Holmes was 897th (1:04:10), Robin Barwick was 1,093rd (1:07:31), with Martin Sands, Kannan Mahalingam and Duncan Ralph all racing in their deckchairs with distinction.
It was an epic effort, and one that those present will long remember.
Whole-hearted thanks to Andrew and Margaret Deighton, Ed Steele, Cheeky, Sarah Cronin, Ali Farrall and Liam’s mum, for their non-running support, photos, cake and camaraderie. The Nationals are a great way to complete the cross country season, and we all did it together!
Final note of best wishes to Liam and Emily, who are set to represent Kent this weekend in the UK Inter-Counties XC Champs in Wollaton Park, Nottingham. 
Thanks, Robin
