The Battle of Epping Forest in the Chingford League

Saturday morning saw the fifth Chingford League race of the season at Epping Forest. This is widely regarded as one of the toughest races of the Winter Season and it didn’t disappoint in that regard. The course is 2 laps, 8km in total, and included 2 very steep hills, sharp downhills, mud, frozen ruts and ice. There was much discussion in the Clubhouse prior to the race about footwear; trails, spikes, or ice skates? Ed Spencer said spikes and he led our men home with a magnificent 3rd place overall so please direct all future footwear queries to him. He was closely followed home by Tom Thain (14th) and Simon Brown (16th) with typically great races. Our women were led home by Sarah Ralphs with another great run and it was nice to see Anna Murray scoring points for the ladies team too. Ann Phillips enjoyed a great Club debut and was our 3rd scorer while also finding time to perform first aid after the race.

It was an extremely tough race and all the Stags (11 men and 9 women) who competed deserve great credit. Well done all!