A River Runs Through It

The “raging torrent” running through the middle of the Met League course at Uxbridge on Saturday was undoubtedly the highlight of the running weekend. But in addition to the excitement of the river there were many excellent results at Uxbridge and elsewhere as you'll see in this bumper race report. At the Met league the women’s team was first, and there were first individual places in the under 13 boys - Spike Blake, and under 11 boys -  Benji Bediako. Other weekend highlights include the Sunday League, Valencia marathon (a pb for Jo McKeown),  Last Friday of the Month, the Perivale 5 and more.

Met League # 3, Uxbridge, 01.12.18

Because of the entertainment at the “water jump” half way round the course, the rest of the course was pretty sparsely supported, but the enthusiastic cheering at the waterhole more than made up for it. For those of you who didn't witness the water jump first hand here is a small snapshot from the men's race (thanks to Emily Reichert), but you really had to be there...)

The reports are divided in to two parts – Junior and Senior - Here is the report on the Junior section kindly provided by Simon Baker:

Met League Youth race report
"More great performances from the youth team with race wins for Benjy and Spike plus 4th and 5th places for the Junior Women and Mens teams.

The combination of both the tough course a long way from N4 and Haringey Secondary School XC Championships on Friday meant our younger team groups were depleted, however a stunning run from Benjy Bediako saw him return to winning ways and top the U11 League standings.  Kiara Corkin was our only runner in the U11 race securing 11th in a hard run U11 Girls race and was the 2nd U10 to finish.

This was followed by Spike Blake, who returned after missing the NWLL last week, winning the U13 Boys in another commanding performance.  There were no U13 girls, partly as many had taken part the previous day in the Haringey Secondary School Championships where Issy Watkins had won the minor title (yr 6-7).

The Junior Men and Women were the first to be let loose on the river crossing.  Lemi Mideska led the men home with a 6th place finish closely followed by Thomas Archer in 8th who was the 2nd U15 and is now finding his form ahead of the new years championship races.  The A team scoring was completed by Bedo and Jack in 27th and 42nd ensuring the team finished in 5th place, an agonising 2 pts behind 3rd.  The depth of the U15s was shown by Ruairi, Oliver, Sam, Lucas and Ray all finishing well and the group have a strong chance of a team medal at the Middlesex XC Champs. 

The Junior Women team coped valiantly with the river crossing, Mimi Blake leading them home with Rose, Mia and Nell all finishing together, many had also run the previous day in the Haringey Race.  The B team of Matilda, Ella, Edie and Fabienne again ran well given the difficulty of the course.  As all but Mimi are U15 this is arguably the strongest of the junior teams and a favourite for the Middlesex title.

The next opportunity to don spikes will be the Middlesex AA XC championships at Horsenden Hill on 5th January 2019.  Medals are awarded to top 3 finishers and all runners in the top 3 teams not just scorers.

Please check the club Facebook page for the update points championship scores."

Senior Met League race report:

Simon Baker also reports on the senior races: "After the downpours at Welwyn the latest Met League fixture at Uxbridge  proved to be just as wet but for different reasons.  This course is unique featuring an old ski slope, the mandatory mud and uniquely for a London XC, a river crossing.  While last year the water was a foot deep, the rain at the end of last week and overnight ensured the runners had to negotiate or swim a fast flowing 3 foot deep torrent with thick mud on either side.  A great spectacle for those watching but not so pleasant for those having to negotiate it twice in each race. "Heathsiders however need more than cold muddy water to deter them and successful racing saw them securing a team win in the Senior Womens race with the veteran women finishing 2nd.  While the men also had a strong result with the Senior Men in 3rd place and the Veteran Men 4th.  Individually Rebecca Piggott finished 3rd in 26:01 and was supported by Josie Hinton (7th), Celine Murray (15th) who was the 2nd Vet runner home  Olivia Desborough and Rosa Serafini crossed the line just after the 27 minute mark.  For the men Seyfu Jamaal continued his excellent form being the first Heathsider home in 9th and the first U20. Tom Aldred and Charles Hardy both recorded top 50 finishes."

Sunday League cross country, Trent Park, 02.12.18

The second Sunday League cross country of the series was held at Trent Park and was very well attended (23 men and 14 women) in surprisingly balmy conditions although muddy enough to support spikes all the way round).  A good number of the runners had participated in the Met league the day before and had bravely come out for more fun in the mud, including Seyfu our lead man, who seemed totally unaffected by the effort of the day before. He had a storming run, coming home a good minute and a half before the second placed man. 

Olivia Desborough (who had also had a great run at the Met League the day before) seemed equally unaffected by the Saturday race, and was our first lady home with Satu, Sarah and Louisa following on close behind. Mike was delighted to get a PB on this tough course, and there may well have been other PBs. Thanks to all those who took part, and especially to the score keepers Emilia and Nick D, Laura and Tim for being great and supportive captains, and to Jerry, Ruth, Dave, Alan and others for their support round the course. Special mention goes to Emilia’s delicious chocolate and peanut butter brownies which were hoovered up in seconds, along with Tom's cinammon balls!

And now to summarise to date: Heathside placed 4th in the Combined Teams (behind Trent Park in the lead, then Royston and St Albans Striders).

Heathside women were 2nd in the A Teams, and 1st in the B Teams, and 1st in the Masters Team, which means overall the current standing for Heathside women are: 4th in the A Teams, 2nd in the B Teams but 1st in the Overall Masters Teams.

Heathside men were 6th in the A Teams, 3rd in the B Teams and 6th in the Masters Teams which means the overall current standings for the men are: 7th in the A Teams, 5th in the B Teams and 8th in the Overall Masters Teams.
But still everything very much to play for – the next Sunday League will be on 16 December in Stevenage -  the morning after the night before (following the Heathside Christmas party) – full details will be sent out nearer the time. YOUR CLUB NEEDS YOU!

Lee Valley Indoor Open, 02.12.18

Roving reporter Simon also sent in this report: “Not all the action at the weekend involved mud and swimming with 4 Heathsiders taking part in the Lee Valley Indoor Open on Sunday afternoon.  Several PB's were achieved with Gokce Baydar recording the club's fastest female 60m time of the year. 

For those club members looking for track and field action over the winter there are a number of events being held at the Lee Valley Indoor Track open to all age groups from U13 to Seniors.  For entry details and deadlines visit their website: www.visitleevalley.org.uk.

Last Friday of the Month, Hyde Park, 31.11.18

Five Heathsiders took part in the Last Friday of the month 5K in Hyde Park, with excellent times for all – Mark Jefford was our first man home in a time of 19.01, and Karina Kaufmann was our first woman (and first F V35). Closely followed by Stuart Roberts, Alun Nash and Gabi Johnson.

Perivale 5

Leigh James was the only Heathside representative this year, and came in 3rd woman (3rd W35) in an excellent time of 32:38.

Valencia Marathon, Valencia Spain, 02.12.18

Five Heathsiders took part in the Valencia Marathon and were led home by Jo McKeown who achieved a massive PB of 2.47.08. First timer in a marathon Guillaume Pichois was very pleased with his extremely respectable time of 3.45.

Wellington Waterfront 5k, Wellington New Zealand, 20.11.18

A late result from November: Rachel Scott Halls was pleased, after travelling all the way to Wellington in New Zealand, to run a PB in the Wellington Waterfront 5k on 20th November. She wrote" A flat out and back along the water, the change of scenery, and considerably better air quality than I'm used to helped me to a PB."

Parkruns

With the Last Friday of the month and the “dirty double” this weekend,  numbers of Heathsiders parkrunning were down, with only 32 Heathsiders taking part and only one first place  - for Melvin Lewis at Oakhill. Full results can be found here. 

FULL RESULTS

Met League # 3, Uxbridge, 01.12.18

Senior Men - 8000m - 413 runners
1st P Martelletti VPH&TH 27:26
9th Seyfu Jamaal (1st U20) 28:04
15th Tom Aldred 28:24
41st Charles Hardy 29:44
52nd Thomas Clark 30:14
54th Ewan Gault 30:17
64th Peter Northall 30:35
74th Francesco Melloni 31:11
84th David Hellard (9th V40) 31:30
86th Peter Gould 31:34
102nd Alex Sweet 32:14
103rd Chris Holmes 32:15
109th Alkher Adam 32:23
114th Jonathan Shipley (12th V40) 32:28
119th Michael Cookings 32:33
134th Thomas Stottor 32:51
136th Jack Thorp 32:53
146th Jacob Phillips 33:11
147th Scarlett Parker (8th V45) 33:12
148th Joseph Clemoes 33:12
152nd Stuart Meiklejohn 33:19
159th Asmelash Abrha (2nd V55)
161st Matthew Wheat 33:31
163rd Jake Spencer 33:32
173rd John Flahive (3rd V50) 33:52
181st Adam Mitchell 34:06
184th Mark Jefford (4th V50) 34:16
187th Nick Ohora (12th V45) 34:20
190th Matt Collins (24th V40) 34:22
196th Rob Shulman (6th V50) 34:29
199th Paul Mercer (27th V40)
204th Dominic Jackson (3rd V55) 34:41
212nd Christopher Vincent 34:52
217th Tom Haworth 35:03
218th Ismail Abukar 35:04
224th Ben Racie 35:19
226th Anthony Leonard 35:21
245th Pete Crockford (1st V60) 35:58
248th Trevor Wilson (16th V45) 36:01
256th Liam Hazelton 35:25
267th John McKnight 36:50
351st Carl Heap (5th V65) 41:25
362nd Russell Weston (20th V55) 42:43
377th David Walton (25th V55) 44:00
387th Joel Hawes 44:47

Senior Men Team Results
Div 1:- 1st Highgate Harriers 1019, 3rd London Heathside 871 pts

Div 2:- 4th London Heathside B 725 pts, 8th London Heathside C 468 pts

Vet Men Team Results
Div 1:- 4th London Heathside 216 pts, 6th London Heathside B 134 pts

Div 2:- 9th London Heathside C 47 pts

Howard Williams Trophy (Seniors)
1st VPH&TH 45 pts, 3rd London Heathside 44 pts

Senior Women - 6200m - 215 runners

1st R Thomas VP&TH 25.3
3rd Rebecca Piggott 26:01
7th Josie Hinton 26:34
15th Celine Murray (1st V35) 26:57
17th Olivia Desborough 27:01
18th Rosa Serafini 27:09
30th Sue Rust (3rd V40) 28:09
35th Emma Watson 28:25
42nd Emily Reichert (4th V35) 28:51
43rd Angelica Datta 28:52
44th Satu Hietanen (2nd V45) 28:54
45th Rebbecca Wilby 28:54
51st Lily Woolcock 29:21
55th Tara Shrestha-Carney 29:34
62nd Louisa Pointon 30:04
63rd Jennifer Wing 30:06
67th Eildh Wagstaff 30:19
73rd Meg Naylor (3rd U20) 30:34
79th Estibaliz Guijarro-Puente 30:55
86th Jessica Vinluan (13th V35) 31:17
91st Jacqueline Wastell (1st V55) 31:35
98th Alysia Sawicka 32:00
102nd Tammela Platt 32:09
111st Maura Bellio 32:59
114th Ruth Miller (3rd V60) 33:11
118th Caroline White (4th V60) 33:25
144th Rebecca Sweet (22nd V35) 35:18
149th Kimberli Butler 35:29
161st Fiona Holland (8th V60) 36:23

Senior Women Team Result
Div 1:- 1st London Heathside 284 pts, 7th London Heathside B 160 pts

Div 2:- 3rd London Heathside C 243 pts

Veteran Women Team Result 

Div 1:- 2nd London Heathside 120 pts, 6th London Heathside B 53 pts

Div 2:- 9th London Heathside C 41 pts

U11 Boys - 1800m - 44 runners

1st Benjy Bediako 7:45

8th London Heathside 43 pts

U11 Girls - 1800m - 47 runners

11th Kiara Corkin (2nd U10) 8:55

11th London Heathside 37 pts

U13 Boys - 3100m - 48 runners

1st Spike Blake  13:17

11th London Heathside 48 pts

Junior Men - 4000m - 106 runners

1st B Rushman - Herts Phoenix - 14:34
6th Lemi Mideska 15:12
8th Thomas Archer (2nd U15) 15:16
27th Bedo Draskosky (9th U15) 16:04
42nd Jack Davis-Black (14th U15) 16:28
51st Ruairi McGonagle (20th U15) 16:49
54th Oliver O’Connor (22nd U15) 16:57
61st Sam Ingram (29th U15) 17:14
66th Lucas Magnair (33rd U15) 17:37
80th Ray Edwin (44th U15) 18:19

5th London Heathside 341 pts, 15th London Heathside B 192 pts, 28th London Heathside C 26 pts

Junior Women - 4000m - 64 runners

9th Mimi Blake 17:57
18th Rose Garrett (8th U15) 18:44
19th Mia Manttan (9th U15) 18:44
20th Nell Swinhoe (10th U15) 18:45
29th Matilda Heath (14th U15) 19:39
41st Ella O’Flaherty (23rd U15) 20:44
43rd Edie Friedlander (24th U15) 20:46
62nd Fabienne Weston (39th U15) 24:38

4th London Heathside 194 pts, 11th London Heathside B 85 pts

Howard Williams Trophy Junior Overall Rankings
4th London Heathside 81 pts"

Sunday League # 2, Trent Park 02.12.18

Men

1 Seyfu Jamaal  SM 26:11
6 Lemi Mideksa  SM 28:34
46 Jacob Phillips SM 31:10
49 Ash Abrha  M50 31:18
50 Scarlett Parker  M40 31:20
52 Lee Connor  M50 31:29
72 Gavin Evans  M50 32:31
74 Leonard Martin  SM 32:39
76 Mark Jefford  M50 32:44
77 Rajiv Ratan  SM 32:45
82 Rob Schulman M50 32:48
85 Tom Bedwell  SM 32:58
97 Mark George  M50 33:44
108 Filipe Cardoso  SM 34:24
130 Fabio Sante  SM 35:46
132 Tim Marshall SM 35:50
167 Daniel Wrapson  SM 37:46
179 Alun Nash  M50 38:56
192 Nick  De Sausmarez M50 39:56
199 Michael Hickey  M50 40:26
256 Dan Williams M60 46:40
260 Bob Gould  M70 47:24
261 Ken Townson  M50 47:27

Women

4 Olivia Desborough SW 32:53
7 Satu Hietanen W45 34:20
10 Sarah Swinhoe  W45 35:13
14 Louisa Pointon  SW 35:47
17 Karina Kaufmann W35 35:55
21 Sif Sumarlidadottir W35 36:39
23 Tammela Platt  SW 36:47
33 Jessica Vinluan  W35 38:03
46 Alice Hosking  SW 39:33
47 Natalia Shoham  SW 39:51
59 Caroline White  W55 40:31
76 Kim Butler  SW 42:17
80 Rebecca Marshall W35 42:26
85 Edyta Szot  W35 42:53

Lee Valley Indoor Open, 02.12.18

60m

Montana Dennis (U13M) 8.96 and 8.99 sec PB
Rufus Tansey (U17M) 7.57 and 7.58 sec PB
Gokce Baydar (V35W) 8.68 and 8.70 sec PB
Helene Kehoe (V50W) 9.67 and 9.67 sec SB

Long Jump

Gokce Baydar (V35W) 4.24 PB

High Jump

Gokce Baydar (V35W) 1.30m PB

Last Friday of the Month, Hyde Park. 31.11.18

61 Mark Jefford  19:01 V50  
127 Karina Kaufmann 20:51 1st FV35  
152 Stuart Roberts  21:32 V45  
193 Alun Nash  23:04 V55   
203 Gabrielle Johnson 23:38 FV50

Perivale 5, Perivale, 02.12.18

53rd 32.38 Leigh James (3rd woman, 3rd W35)

Valencia Marathon, Valencia Spain, 02.12.18

632 Jo Mckeown 2:47:08
3536 Dennis Curry 3:15:35
5829 Guillaume Pichois 3:30:22
7556 Ruth Forbes, Ruth 3:34:42
9642  Gail Mackie 3:45:39

Wellington Waterfront 5k, Wellington New Zealand, 20.11.18

71st 00:23:45 Rachel Scott Halls

Compiled by Caroline with massive thanks to Simon Baker for all his Met League (and more) report writing, and to Gail Mackie and Rachel Scott Halls, and photos from Emily Reichert, Guillaume Pichois, Emilia, Andrew Wooding, Emma Watson and Jacob.Apologies for any omissions or errors - send along any corrections to lheathside@gmail.com