HIGHGATE Harriers scooped their 11th senior men’s Metropolitan Cross-Country League title on the spin on Saturday – and there’s no sign of the club taking their winning streak for granted.

Despite missing some big names for the fifth and final race day of the season at Trent Park, the Gate maintained their incredibly high standards with Terry Fawden leading the club’s contingent home after completing the 8,000m course in 26 minutes, 54.17 seconds to finish third.

Highgate’s other 11 scorers out of 390 finishers were Charlie Haywood (27:47.89) in sixth; Lewis Greaves (27:52.80) ninth; Alex Jackson (28:18.05) 15th; Pete Chambers (28:22.08) 17th; James Ross (28:28.74) 19th; Charles Cooper (28:31.39) 21st; Ash Chambers (29:42.42) 40th; Jonathan Laybourn (29:44.30) 41st; James Barber (29:51.95) 43rd; Aviv Boonin (31:00.86) 70th; and Sam Burgoyne (31:26.99).

It was a team effort that saw the Gate make it five race wins out of five this season, confirming they have now retained their prestigious crown for the 11th time.

Rob Wilson, who has captained Highgate for eight of those victories, said: “To be able to keep winning, even when some of our big-hitters were unavailable, is very satisfying. We’ve probably had three of four waves of teams during our 11-year winning run; to be able to be sustainable and keep bringing in fresh legs during that time is a great achievement for the club.”

Far from being blasé about lifting the title yet again, Rob added: “We’re all very proud. The fear of losing really motivates us – you don’t want to be the one that loses that record.”