Adam sets a scorching PB in Hackney, Velopark Duathlon and human vs car in Cambridge
With many Heathsiders away at the Sandy Balls training week-end, only a few braved the searing temperatures to race this week-end. The highlights this week include Adam Kirk-Smith’s tantalising PB in Hackney, the Velopark duathlon and an epic race against the car in Cambridge.
Road Races
Nine Heathsiders bravely endured testing conditions in the Hackney half marathon, with almost 12,000 others. Once again, Adam pulled off a stunning 2 minute PB, finishing in 74:11 and 7th overall, leaving many Heathsiders speculating as to what he might have achieved, had the temperature been cooler. His race plan (run 8-9 miles flat out and see what happened in the rest) evidently worked, as his second half was less than 3 minutes slower than the first.
Alice was the next Heathsider, finishing in 1:33:50, which is all the more impressive as she stopped for a convenience break. She was followed by Alan Smith and Simon Hazel (1:39:12 and 1:39:40), with Louse Cripps bringing up the rear (2:22:29).
There are also some belated results from Ranelagh Richmond Half Marathon, which Sandra Buckton finished in 1:41:32. She reports: “It attracts a good mix of club and fun runners, although with no timing mat at the start, anyone worrying about seconds needs to be at the front. Organisation and marshalling are excellent. A little switchback at the end had me fooled when I made my final push to the line only to find out that there was still another 300m to run.”
Elsewhere, Kerstin Kinkelin (50:19) had a good run in the Queen Elizabeth 10K.
Multisport and other races
John Driscoll, James Dark, Hannah Boog Carmichael and Adrian Essex took park in the Velopark Dragon Slayers duathlon, again under hot conditions. John led them home, finishing in 1:12:57, followed by James (1:21:49), Hannah (1:25:25) who was 6th woman and Adrian (1:47:06).
Finally, Catherine Doherty took part in the Wings for Life race, in which almost 100,000 runners all over the world set off simultaneously and see how far they can run before they are overtaken by a famous personality in a fast car. The race has a serious side to it, raising money for a charity which aims to make spinal cord injury curable. Catherine ended up running 13.6 miles in the heat before being overtaken by David Coulthard, finishing 12069th in the world. The race should not be undertaken without serious endurance training: the winner in Cambridge ran 39.6 miles before David Coulthard caught up, whilst the winner globally (in Milan) ended up running almost 55 miles…
Parkruns
There were lots of great performances at the various parkruns. There was an exciting race between Tom Aldred and Adam Kirk-Smith in Finsbury Park, with Tom finishing ahead of Adam by just 11 seconds, winning in 16:23; other first place finishers include Charles Hardy in Grovelands Park and Cas Wright in Mile End.
RESULTS
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park 10K, 7th May 2016
Posn Cat posn Name Time
80 14 Kerstin Kinkelin 50:19
Ranelagh Richmond Half Marathon, 1st May 2016
Place Name Time
262 Sandra Buckton 1:41:32
575 Tania Sherry 2:02:39
Hackney Half Marathon, 8th May 2016
11756 runners
Posn Name Time
7 Adam Kirk-Smith 1:14:11
398 Alice Hosking 1:33:50
777 Alan Smith 1:39:12
1066 Simon Hazel 1:39:40
1506 Andrew Hudson 1:44:26
3990 Ann Woulfe 1:59:28
5145 Barbara Tomaszczyk 2:07:56
7576 Stephen Woolf 2:13:17
9084 Louise Cripps 2:22:29
VELOPARK ELT DRAGON SLAYER DUATHLON 8/05/16: 3mile / 15mile / 2mile
Overall posn Cat posn Name Run 1 Bike Run 2 Total
20 8 John Driscoll 18:56.9 42:13 11:47.3 1:12:57
52 16 James Dark 20.59.1 46:25 14:25.1 1:21:49
71 6 Hannah Carmichael 22:52.1 46:50 15:42.6 1:25:25
109 14 Adrian Essex 22:52.1 1:01:39 15:42.6 1:47:06
Wings for Life, 8th May 2016, Cambridge
91048 runners globally, 1997 runners in Cambridge
Global rank Position in Cambridge Name Miles run
12069 1360 Catherine Doherty 13.58
Parkruns: http://www.parkrun.com/results/consolidatedclub/?clubNum=2017&eventdate=2016-05-07