Part 1 covered the first 3 months of the year this section starts with the easing of the lockdown in the Summer with the Olympics having now been cancelled and the normal Club and Open meeting competition fixture list in pieces.

April

Virtual Racing made it’s first appearance with England Athletics launching a National Road Relay Championships. The Club’s Women team finished 15th with Caroline White the 4th V60 and Sara Black the 6th V45. The Senior Men finished 77th.
The day of the London Marathon Day came and went with the announcement a re-arranged race would take place in October.
Lenny Martin launched a series of weekly Strava Challenges for Club members.

May

The London Heathside Choir produce their first socially distanced song
The Club’s 30th Anniversary passed, unfortunately with no celebrations able to take place. Belated celebrations will have to wait until 2021.

June

The British Masters Virtual Relay saw the club finish 25th in the V35-45 Mens race and the Over 60 Women 22nd with Caroline White also 22nd in the indiviidual standings.
Steve Pennington took virtual running to the extremes completing the Centurion 50k in 3:26 and winning the V50 category.

July

Tom Aldred was 6th V40 in the Virtual National 5k Championships with a time of 15:46.
July saw the club return to training at Finsbury Park Track and the Road Running groups at the YMCA and Hampstead Heath. That the Club were able to do this before many other Athletics Facilities and Clubs re-opened is testimony to the efforts of the Club Members, Coaches and Committee.

August

Track Competition returned with the LICC Meeting at Lee Valley Athletics Centre with a host of Heathsiders recording PB’s.
Andy Law finished 7th V40 in a brutal North Downs Way 100 miles race in a time of just over 24 hours.
At Chelmsford a number of Heathsiders took part in a pilot social distanced Mile race.
In more endurance racing, Rob Shulman was the highest placed of the Heathsiders who tackled the Stour Valley 50/50 finishing 16th overall in just under 11 and a half hours.
At Lee Valley Mia Rosen broke the Club U13G 800m record by over 10s recording a time of 2:25.05.
Zac held the first of his successful series of informal Open Meetings at the Finsbury Park Track.
Liam Garrett with 8:38.8 recorded the 7th fastest 3,000m in the UK by an U20M at Wimbledon.
Sara Black was 2nd female at the Lee Valley 10k with a time of 41:16 with Jo Irwin 5th female.

September

With a lack of competitive Road or XC races England Athletics agreed to extend the Track and Field season until the end of the year.
Sadly the Met League decided it could not operate while the current restrictions were in place and cancelled the 2020/21 season. There was more bad news with Ally Pally announcing they would not host any future Cross Country races.
The U13G 4x100m relay team (Eltringham, Burridge, Frost, Paitoo) finished 3rd in the prestigous UKA Club Connect Relays at Lee Valley with a club record of 54:68s the 3rd fastest recorded nationally in 2020. At the same meeting Imani Quamina broke the Club U15G 75m Hurdle record with 12:96s.
At another Lee Valley meeting Thomas Archer set a new Club V17M 800m record with 1:55.51, but more was to come…. In probably the Heathside performance of the year he ran 3:51.57, the 24th fastest all time 1,500m by a British U17, at Battersea setting a new Overall Club Record in the process. He ended the year the ranked No 1 U17 at the 1500m and 8th fastest at the 800m.
At Parliament Hill in the Highgate Harriers Open Meeting Jonny Forsyth set a new Club V45 3000m record of 9:36.1.
Mary Kehoe broke a host of Club V55W records during the month at several open meetings from Chelmsford to Blackheath, there’s dedication to record hunting for you.
At the Kew Gardens 10k Seyfu set a new Club record with a time of 30:14
Steve Pennington ran a Virtual Milton Keynes marathon of 2:53 to win the race, he also entered the time to the Boston Marathon finishing the 6th V50.
The Club held a re-arranged and socially distanced Club Handicap Race at a sunny Ally Pally with Chris Holmes fastest over the course. Sarah Duke and Bob Gould were the respective Handicap winners.
Rebecca Bunting finished 2nd woman at the Goodwood marathon and 11th overall with a time of 2:53.27.

October

Zac’s meetings saw competitive action return to Finsbury Park

George Gurney recorded the fastest time by a Heathsider at the Dorney Lake Marathon. Plaudits also go to Gavin Evans (2:58.49) and Sara Black (3:04.53) who both set Club Age Group records. George also won the Bedford Aerodrome 5k with a time of 15:31 with Julia Bijl the 2nd female in the half marathon with a time of 1:18.19.
A Virtual London Marathon took place in atrocious wet condition with hardy soles battling alone around windswept streets. George Gurney submitted his Dorney Lake time to finish 72nd overall with Sion Lewis (2:42.25) in 80th place.
Ruby Walls broke the club U15G 3000m record with a time of 11:23.28 at Harrow.
At Zac’s Open meeting Magdelaine Paitoo broke a long standing Club U13G 100m record with a time of 13.5s, Martha Jolly also broke the Club U13G Long Jump record with 4.60m the 10th furthest nationally in 2020.
Covid struck again at the end of the month with the first pilot XC fixture at Chelmsford cancelled due to an outbreak at the venue.
Lenny Martin battled the rain at the South Downs Way 50 to finish 27th in a time of 8 hrs 13 mins.
Evangelista Divetain set a new PB to finish 2nd at the Olympic Park 5k. She was also the 1st female and 7th overall in the Dorney Lake 10k in a time of 38:07.

November

Another lockdown mean’t Zac hastily re-arranged his open meeting at Finsbury Park with Angela Pollitzer setting a new Club V70 200m record of 51.2s.
In the Middlesex Virtual 10k Relay the senior women’s team (Desborough, Kelk and Hinton) were 1st.
Actual Cross Country with real mud and even a water jump took place at the ATW Series at Merchant Taylors School, Northwood. Jack Davis Black was 19th in the U17M and Eric Beale 8th in the U13B races.

December

Lots of the Club’s enthusiastic Juniors took part in races held by the Club at Finsbury Park for the Nike London Youth Games Cross Country as well as another weekend featuring a session of 300m races.
Lots of sad news with the remaining major Cross Country Races either cancelled or postponed for 2021. Indoor Athletics had announced a return to action in January only to see Tier 4 restrictions leading to the cancellation of events including the Middlesex Indoor Championships..
Julia Bijl finshed the first female in the Dorney Lake 10k.

And so the year finished as this review started with London in Lockdown and most of Club Training suspended. The Club however ends the year in a strong position with membership increased as more people appreciate the benefits of running in a friendly community of like minded people and supported by a great team of Coaches.

COYH

2020 Annual Review - Part 2