Thousands of club runners battled for honours at Beckenham Place Park in Kent on Saturday

At a venue that only staged its first serious cross-country race less than a dozen years ago over a disused municipal golf course, Bournemouth’s adopted asylum seeker Abdinasir Mohamoud Elmi took no prisoners and ran out a winner by over a minute as Megan Gadsby added the women’s race.

In its first years the chosen course had some bottlenecks that have been gradually eliminated as firstly the Surrey League, then South of Thames and more recently South of England championships, brought in refinements.

Men

The South of England area championship sticks to its previous distance with an advertised 15km distance, that replicated the nine miles that was the norm for the English and other area events until things went soft elsewhere.

Not that Elmi had any problems with course restrictions, as his modus operandi since breaking on to the scene last summer, has been to blast off from the start. He came into this race after suffering a rare defeat in the Battersea Park New Year’s Eve 5km, a race that followed a nine-race undefeated streak.

James Kingston had won over this course for the past two years as well as taking the English National title in 2023 and ran twice in the Euro Cross championships, finishing16th in 2024, but had no answer to Elmi.

The Tonbridge man who was third in the delayed English National last September, had a pretty much lonely race finishing some 40 seconds clear of third placed Flurry Grierson, a distant 12th last year, who led his Highgate club to the team title.

There is no separate category for veterans but Kent’s John Gilbert was the best on show in ninth and led his club to third placed team medals behind Highgate, who had six in 29 and Hercules Wimbledon.

Men: 1 A Elmi (B’mth) 43:30; 2 J Kingston (Ton) 44:39; 3 F Grierson (High) 45:19; 4 A Milne (HW) 45:26; 5 S Eglen (AFD) 45:32; 6 A Lawrence (VP&TH) 45:38

M40: 1 J Gilbert (Kent) 46:32

TEAM: 1 Highgate 94; 2 Hercules Wimbledon 136; 3 Kent 141

Women

Over an approximate 8km course and in a much closer race, Megan Gadsby ran out a winner for her City of Norwich club by about 30 metres over Naomi Kingston, as Kate Estlea-Morris was a close third.

Gadsby, fourth here last year, had won the Euro cross-country under-23 trials in Sefton Park in November before going on to finish 23rd in those championships in Turkey, in what turned out to be a breakthrough autumn following a sixth spot in the delayed English National in mid-September.

For Kingston, this was a bit of a breakthrough run and followed two years of Kent championship silver medals, while Estle-Morris has been a regular scorer in Aldershot medal winning teams over recent years.

Packing their four scorers within a minute in the top 17-runners home, Thames Hare & Hounds, led by sixth placed Elizabeth Apsley won team gold from Belgrave and Aldershot.

Women: 1 M Gadsby (Norw) 28:01; 2 N Kingston B&B) 28:15; 3 K Estlea-Morris (AFD) 28:23; 4 K O’Neil (Hav’g) 28:43; 5 S Tooley (Herne H) 28:53; 6 E Apsley (THH) 28:56

TEAM: 1 Thames Hare & Hounds 52; 2 Belgrave 65; 3 Aldershot F&D 92

Young athletes

Frank McGrath, the All-Ireland silver medallist, who went on to compete in the Euro Cross in Turkey, led home the junior men over an 8km course, ahead of Chelmsford runner Joseph Grange, who moved up from third last year.

There was a slightly bigger gap to third placed Alden Collier, the English National under-13 champion back in 2020. That gave Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow two home in the top three but they were headed by Aldershot in the team stakes.

Alex Lennon, who was fifth in the European under-18 1500m championships last summer, ran out a comfortable winner in the under-17 men’s race over Norwich’s Michael Clark and led his Sutton & District quartet to the team golds.

Lennon was also 2022 English Schools 1500m junior champion, while it was a repeat silver for Clark, who went on to win the delayed 2024 English National at Weston Park.

It was closer behind, as Luke Dunham took third for Herts Phoenix as the rest followed in close order.

The closest boys’ race was the under-15 boys' event where Finn MacLennan squeezed home by a couple of ticks in a four-way battle for gold. This was just ahead of Tom Ford, Freddie Gibson and the luckless fourth placer Caspian Holmes but who had the consolation of leading his Herne Hill club to the team awards on countback. This was after tying with MacLennan’s Cambridge & Coleridge on 70 points but fourth scorer Luca Boulton comfortably did his job.

No club put their four scorers all in high spots in the under-13 boys’ race as Filip Kounoupas Prastalo won overall and Hercules Wimbledon the team.

Jenny Leggate has had a good winter hitherto and won the junior women’s race by almost a minute over Hannah Clark after moving up from second last year and eighth two years ago.

It was Windsor who took team gold as five teams managed to finish four runners from a total finisher list of 54.

Under-17 women’s race winner Katie Pye has a string of successful titles behind her and here, headed Lucy Wilkinson by about 30 metres, with Sabrina Coppola-Johnson a distant third. This was comfortably ahead of previous race and win anywhere Olivia Forrest, who was some way back in fourth.

Pye, the European under-18 3000m champion, was second here last year and won the Southern under-15 title in 2022.

It was Aldershot team-mate Kitty Scott who had earlier added the under-15 girls’ title from clubmate Poppy Guest with Kara Gorman third and the team gold went to Aldershot from Gorman’s Windsor.

Pre-race favourite Madison Kindler had a 30m margin over Skye Widdows to take the under-13 girls’ race.

U20 Men: 1 F McGrath (WSEH) 24:58; 2 J Grange (Chelm) 25:05; 3 A Collier (WSEH) 25:19

TEAM: 1 AFD 51; 2 WSEH 72; 3 Tonbridge 99

U17: 1 A Lennon (S&D) 18:44; 2 M Clark (Norw) 19:04; 3 L Dunham (Herts P) 19:08

TEAM: 1 Sutton & D 60; 2 Bedford & C 87; 3 Blackheath & Bromley 143

U15: 1 F MacLennan (C&C) 14:10; 2 T Ford (Chilt) 14:12; 3 F Gibson (M&M) 14:12

TEAM: 1 Herne H 70; 2 Cambridge & Coleridge 70; 3 Eastbourne Rovers 86

U13: 1 F Prastalo (Lon H) 10:20; 2 J Docherty (Dac) 10:25; 3 T Bainbridge (WSEH) 10:27

TEAM: 1 Hercules 121; 2 AFD 130; 3 Blackheath & Bromley 145

U20 Women: 1 J Leggate (C&C) 21:33; 2 H Clark (B&B) 22:25; 3 S Barrett (Norw) 22:41

TEAM: 1 WSEH 38; 2 Norwich 92; 3 Blackheath & B 97

U17: 1 K Pye (AFD) 21;36; 2 L Wilkinson (WSEH) 21:46; 3 S Coppola-Johnson (E&E) 22:09

TEAM:1 WSEH 49; 2 Eastbourne R 84; 3 Milton Keynes 99

U15: 1 K Scott (SFD) 15:20; 2 P Guest (AFD) 15:31; 3 K Gorman (WSEH) 15:37

TEAM: 1 AFD 24; 2 WSEH 52; 3 Chelmsford 65

U13: 1 M Kindler (B’wood) 10:53; 2 S Widdows (B&H) 11:04; 3 S O’Brien (Herne H) 11:13

TEAM: 1 Chelmsford 65; 2 Brentwood Beagles 77; 3 S London 96

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