On Saturday 1st November, the 77th Liddiard Trophy was hosted at Fryent Country Park, Kingsbury, with representation from Hillingdon AC in the form of both men’s and women’s teams
Fourteen Hillingdon AC men took to the grasslands of Fryent Park in Kingsbury on Saturday to battle for the prestigious Liddiard XC Trophy.
Rob Thompson led the charge, finishing in 5th and marking his 749th comeback. Ahmad Bilal followed close behind in 8th, an even greater achievement considering he thought he’d signed up for a road race! (Note to self – convince Ahmad the rest of the xc races are road races).
Will Mifsud delivered another classy run, gliding through the field like a man who actually enjoys hills, to finish 12th. Dan “the Bulldozer” Thompson lived up to his name, flattening both the course and spirits of anyone who dared get in his way, finishing 20th and keeping his perfect attendance record in this season’s XC calendar. Guy Green (29th), Tony Grant (51st), Patrick Griffin (61st), and Jeremy Cox (71st) rounded out the scoring eight, proving once again that mud is thicker than excuses.
Despite a few last-minute dropouts (who will remain nameless, but you know who you are), the team rallied heroically to finish 4th overall, a fantastic achievement!
A brilliant team effort from the Hillingdon AC women at one of London’s most historic XC fixtures, with great success too, in bringing home the bronze medals after a tough 5-mile race over the classic hills and rutted grassland of Fryent Park! A strong performance from Catriona Paterson in placing 6th, in a time of 32:51. It was a triple HAC finish order, with Jessica Gaffney placing 14th, returning home in a time of 35:13. Melanie Spencer followed in 15th place, in 36:38 and in 16th was Caroline Ford, in a time of 37:08. In 23rd position was Hollie Ford in 39:39 and completing the team in 26th was Chao Cox in 40:00. The team was rewarded with a 3rd place finish, picking up the medal at the SEAA London Cross Country Championships, congratulations all!
Fantastic depth across the field shown from both teams and some great momentum is building through the XC season!
