MUD, MUD, GLORIOUS MUD!

PHIL WICKS

AA ' Were you pleased with your run after last year when things did not go too well at Parliament Hill and you ended up ninth, before improving to second in the National?
PW ' I actually injured myself during that race at Paliament Hill quite early on, I tweeked a muscle in the abdomen. I felt as though I had a stitch all the time but it was actually my muscle strained on the up and down bits.'
AA ' In 2007 you did your fastest 5000m at Crystal Palace in 13:56.50 Would you like to improve on that?
PW 'Definetly! I misssed the whole of the Summer season of 2008. I really want to get that time down this Summer.'
AA ' You appear to love running on your own out in the front in races.'
PW 'I love front running . I feel I can push myself better'
AA. 'In the Surrey Cross country Championships' you won won by huge margines on soft and hard ground and, at Maidenhead on the road  you did the new course record of 48.34 in 2006, several minutes ahead of the next man!'
PW ' I have not liked the mud in the past but I am getting a lot better on the mud. I am learning to get better on it. I feel I have got a lot of confidence on the mud now.'
AA. ' When did you decide to go for it in this year's Southern'
PW   'Start of the second lap. I got a bit of a gap. I thought I would push it on a bit but Ben was conming back at me all the time.'
AA ' Are you being coached at the moment?'
PW ' I am advised by Mathew Whiting a Belgrave runner. He helps me out quite a lot.'
                                              
BEN WHITBY

AA 'You were an international steeplelchaser ( 8:32.68 AAA's Champion 2001 and Commonwealth finallist 2002)- and now you have made  a sort of a comeback but not worried about getting too serious about it all like before.'
BW 'For a couple of years I did not run a step. Then I started running for fitness and got back into it and I just enjoy it really. Regarding the race I first of all wanted to get into the first 15 then it bacame the first three.'
AA ' You did a couple of marathons in 2008 (2.22.37 in Berlin and 2.30.15 in London)'
BW ' I was quite pleased how that running had gone so well'
 
First Four teams in the Southern were 1 Wicnhester & District AC 162, 2 Newham & Essex Beagles 201 3 Bedford & County AC 210 and 4 Belgrave Harriers 274.

Were They Robbed ?
 
Because two of the first six Newham & Essex Beagles runners were wearing a more 'up to date club vest' according to the information I was told,  they were pulled out of the results so, Newham & Essex Beagles were relelgated to second place.
 
DAVE MITCHINSON who has won the event before and was 18th this year, gave an 'Off the cuff' opinion and although it may appear ungrammatical I don't want to misquote him so here we go:-
          " I think the race referee has taken it upon himself---No other teams complained---To me he was so happy that a little defecit in the the rule' and decided to pounce on it. He said ' If you told us before it would not have mattered!' We just did not realise two club vests registered with the AAA's of England and apparently, it was a different organisation (within) and that is confusion in itself as, I thought we were all working towards ther same thing. I explained that what you have got is 10 lads club running because they enjoy it and that is what the sport is about. The fact that no team had complained. No one tried to cheet or anything like that. Both vests waere Newham & Essex Beagles. In fact the new vests are emblazoned with the words Newham & Essex Beagles where as the old vests are small letters in the corner. I personally would call for the his resignation over it!
    The ironic thing is our old vest is exactly the same as Winchester. I think that causes more confusion than anything else. I think it is wrong and not what sport should be about. In a time we are tryng to encourage people in the sport, which is struggling at distance running, expecially cross-country. At the end of the day it is hard enough to get people to run through 15k's of mud and you have got some over zealous official, for no reason---I think it is a shame.'
' The irony is that had we come here and got silver medals, I think, we would all been 'Over the moon'.You come to do well as a team and have the best run you can but two win and have it taken away I think it is a real shame."