It’s something every runner should look to experience at some stage along their journey. The English National Cross Country Championships at Parliament Hill is an iconic race, steeped in history, and its always the pinnacle of the season in cross country terms.

Known primarily for its sheer brutality, the Parliament Hill course can easily relegate a top level runner to pedestrian pace as they make their way round, trying desperately to stay on their feet.

It’s basically thick, gloopy mud all the way round and it’s also very hilly, with undulations all the way through. It’s a real test of strength, character and intestinal fortitude. It will either break or make you – and it will certainly cake you.

Sadly for Bournemouth AC is was a story of what might have been as they were expecting to have Abdinasir Mohamoud Elmi leading the line and looking to follow up on his brilliant win at the Southern Cross Country Champs. He would have been a major contender to win, perhaps even the favourite, but he had unfortunately sustained an injury which meant he had to pull out.

Ollie James had been right up at the sharp end in some of the recent Hampshire Cross Country League meetings and he was another one who could have potentially finished quite high up. He opted for a Battersea Park Friday Night Under the Lights 5k race the week after though instead where he went on to register a PB of 14:46.

That left just only Bryn Smith, Ben Collins and new member Nick Pepin in the Senior Men‘s race.

The club did have representation in five of the other races though with Sian Mcilwaine and Kirsty Drewett going in the Senior Women‘s race, Oscar Newbery and Nathan Mearns in the Junior Men‘s race, Harry Butcher in the Under 17 Men‘s contest, Jessica Long in the Under 15 Girls race and Callum Pearson in the Under 15 Boys race.

Starting the season off well in cross country terms, Callum Pearson had finished 23rd in the Hampshire League race at Prospect Park, 28th in the Dorset Schools’ Championships and and 172nd in the Southern Championships.

The course for the Under 15 Boys race was 4km, so came out at just over 2.5 miles. There was a fair bit of uphill in the first mile so that was probably the toughest part of the race. Callum went through that in 7:54. The second mile for the first half, then uphill for the second half. Registering a 7:37 for that mile, it was then onto the last kilometre which was mostly flat and then downhill into the finish.

Ending the race strongly with a 6:54 pace for the final section, Callum went over the line in 18 minutes and 48 seconds which put him in 243rd place out of 343. That was a decent effort from Callum and its worth remembering that the standard in the National Cross Country Championships is usually higher than in any other race. That goes for all age groups.

His average pace for the run was 7:19 which wasn’t bad considering the 327ft of elevation and the slippery, sticky mud he had to try to negotiate.

Showing a great will to compete in the early part of the season, Jessica Long had produced some good cross country results so far, finishing 34th in the South West Inter County Championship, 9th in the Dorset Schools’ Championships and 37th in the South West Schools’ Championships.

The Under 15 Girls were on that same 4k course at the Nationals and Jessica ran well to complete it in exactly 23 minutes which out her 227th out of 305. Again, considering she was up against the very best, that was a performance to be proud of from Jessica.

Finishing 20th in the Dorset Schools’ Championships, Harry Butcher went on to come in 126th in the South of England Champs. Now he had a chance to have a crack at the Nationals for the second time, having done it at Parliament Hill in 2022.

The course for the Under 17 Men’s race was 6km and Harry made it round in a time of 28 minutes 21 seconds which put him in 244th place in a field of 319. It was a good result for Harry in what must have been an incredibly tough race with conditions as they were.

For Sian Mcilwaine and Kirsty Drewett, it was an 8k course they had to face but it was probably the toughest 8k course they’ll ever encounter. They both did pretty well though considering. Sian finished 470th in a time of 45:12 and Kirsty came 679th in 52:41. That was out of big field of 830.

Having finished right at the back in the South West Inter County Champs at the beginning of the year, Kirsty had made some good progress since then and has already seen her fitness improve a fair bit.

Poole AC lady Fern Kimber did brilliantly to finish 68th in the Senior Women’s race registering a time of 34:45.

Sarah Swift and Rachel Bevan of Poole Runners were in the Senior Women’s race as well and Sarah put in a fantastic performance to finish 364th in a time of 42:34. Rachel came 656th in 51:42.

 

Perhaps the standout performance of all the Bournemouth AC members came from Oscar Newbery who ran tremendously in the Junior Men‘s race. It was a six mile route for him and he showed extraordinary strength the battle through the mud and hills at an excellent pace.

Managing the first mile, which was mostly uphill, in 6:36, he went on to clock a 6:33 for his second mile and then a 6:22 for the third. He then went through the fourth mile in 7:16 before tacking the biggest climb again in the fifth mile.

He went through that in 7:03 before finishing strongly with a 6:06 paced last mile. Going over the line in 39:43, Oscar had come in in a very creditable 76th place out of 190 runners. To record an average pace of 6:40 despite the 750ft of elevation and the crazily muddy conditions.

Nathan Mearns ran well as well to register a time of 46:24 which put put him in 161st place. That was an average pace of 7:47, so all things considered, a decent performance from him.

Poole AC star Mark Ruby delivered the standout performance of any of the Dorset based runners in the Junior Men’s race finished in 8th place in a time of 35:15.

It was a gruelling 12k route for the Senior Men and Ben Collins tackled it really well to complete the 7.64 miles in 56:28. That was an average pace of 7:23 which was strong given the 875ft of elevation he’d faced.

He did fall over at one point as well but managed to keep rolling though and showed tremendous grit and determination to see it through. Finishing in 437th position, Ben had done really well to finish so high in such a competitive field.

Bryn Smith was unfortunately forced to pull out through injury which was a great shame for him after travelling all the way there.

Nick Pepin completed the course in 1 hour 29 minutes and 59 seconds which put him 1,704th of the 1,783 competitors.

With Abdi not present, Chiltern Harriers man Richard Slade was the man to take advantage and he sealed a magnificent victory in a time of 43:52. That was enough to put him around 30 seconds ahead of James Kingston of Tonbridge AC, who finished second to Abdi in the Southern Championships.

Flurry Grierson of Highgate Harriers was third in 44:50 with Louis Small of Ashford AC taking fourth in 44:53. Benjamin Alcock of Bedford & County completed the top five in 44:56.

Poole AC had some good results in the Senior Men’s race with Morgan Tame finishing 193rd in 52:09, Felix Dennison taking 390th place in 55:35 and Marc Ujvari coming 944th in 1:04:56. David Penwarden of Poole Runners finished 926th in 1:04:38.

Although they’d expected perhaps greater numbers and perhaps a few higher placed finishers, it was still a good showing from the Bournemouth AC squad. It can be quite a daunting prospect racing at Parliament Hill as you know you’re in for a tough time and it is going to painful. But the reward of having done it far outweighs any suffering you might have to go through along the way and all the BAC members who competed can certainly hold their heads up high for even daring to take on the challenge.