Steph Twell runs alongside fellow Aldershot team member Steve Conway in the early stages of the Keith Falla Memorial Cross-Country. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 0755183)
THE course record eluded her, but Steph Twell again produced the outstanding performance on day two of the Easter Festival.
Over the 4.75-mile traditional L’Ancresse cross-country course, the big new hope of British women’s distance running chased the top men in the annual Keith Falla Memorial event.
But Lesley Morton’s formidable 1991 course mark of 25min. 57sec. proved just out of reach for the 19-year-old from Aldershot on a breezy morning out on the common.
Not that she was particularly chasing the record, she said afterwards.
‘I didn’t really want to focus on the record and I just wanted to race,’ she said, before admitting she lost a few seconds after straying off course on a couple of occasions.
‘Myself and Andy Conway went slightly off course and it probably cost us about five or six seconds.’
Twell had gone into the race in the knowledge that her Good Friday run was the second fastest ever by a British junior [under-20].
Only Zola Budd, the controversial South African barefooted protege, had gone slightly quicker than Twell’s 32-35 over the Port Soif course.
On the cross-country she made a conservative start, part of that due to her slight detour coming out of the crossroads within half-a-mile of the start.
As Ben Hunter headed the field over Rocque Balan, she was down in 10th.
At that point Steve Connor and Williard Chinhanhu were tracking Hunter at the front with Dan Bradley fourth and Lee Garland the leading Guernsey runner in fifth.
But by halfway Twell had made a positive move.
As they came out of the narrow tracks of the Fort Le Marchant section into L’Ancresse, she moved ahead of Dan Bradley and Conway and looked to push on in the distant wake of the leading trio, 300m ahead.
But the breeze along the bay and around Chouet headland to the finish point was always going to have a negating effect in her chase for Morton’s mark.
Indeed, she looked fairly spent coming down the final 200m and had to give best to the two men she had spent most of the race vying fourth place for.
By then, Chinhanhu was preparing for his warm down, the Zimbawean having pulled away from the Aldershot duo Hunter and Connor in the closing stages to win by eight seconds in 24min. 35sec.
Chinhanhu will be going for a hat-trick of 2009 wins in today’s closing KPMG Half-Marathon but he faces a tough test from Nottingham University’s Neil Renault.
The student has been saving himself for the longest race of the weekend and, with a 2hr 15min. marathon best, is said to be in good nick ahead of the London Marathon in a fortnight.
Today’s race got underway from the South Esplanade at 9am.R. G. Falla sponsored Keith Falla Memorial Cross-Country: 1991 course record stays intact
Article posted on 13th April, 2009 - 2.29pm
Most Commented: