Autumn long distance running extravaganza

A bumper week of running from Heathsiders who didn't let a wee bit of rain (a common theme in this week's report) stop them from getting out far and wide to take on a variety of marathons and half marathons, with a few trail runs, duathlons and shorter distances thrown in for good measure. It’s hard to know where to start, so here goes the recap:

First up is Ian Anderson who ran the Great Eastern Half in Peterborough (Sun 14th), knocking almost a minute off his previous PB and finishing in 1:30:56: “The weather was horrendous, but the race was really well supported considering the conditions. Special mention to the person who yelled ‘Go on London Heath…row?’ as I ran past them.”

Elsewhere in the midlands, Jack Hardy also ran a PB time as he clocked 1:19:23 at the Birmingham Half, finishing in an impressive 38th place. Chris Ballingall was also successful in his PB hunting, knocking 2 minutes off his previous best and coming home in 1:30:43.

Also ‘enjoying’ Sunday’s rain was Nick Dodd: “I ran the Hatfield House Half Marathon - a small event doing two laps of rolling countryside through Hatfield Park, on roads and trails, with a nice 3km hill each lap.  I finished in 1:38:20, which was 25th overall and 1st M60.”

Further North, there was a scattering of Heathsiders doing the Manchester Half, which sounds like it has a course only a mother could love. According to Alice Hosking: “highlights included the Stratford Arndale Centre and passing under the M56”. But apparently it’s VERY flat, which helped her post a handy time of 1:33:17. Only slightly further back was Robert Bean who overcame the damp and the cold (normal for Manchester, no?) and was inspired by a few ‘G’wan the Heathside’ shouts along the way to help him finish in a PB time of 1:34:09. The official results still don’t seem to have been sorted out yet but Robert's Strava stalking suggests that Paul Beale was also there and scooted round in 1:24:52.

Back in the capital, Alex Sweet took on the Royal Parks Half and did some handy leg work for us afterwards as the results are impenetrable: “I’ve seen results for Charlie Ogilvie who finished 9th in 75:41; a great run for Alex Collins at 79:24 in a hot tiger costume for Great Ormond Street; and Trevor Wilson in 89:11. I was happy with a PB run in 78:56.”

Going on to the full marathons, we hop over to mainland Europe as Marco Serena came away from the Eindhoven Marathon with a big PB and, from his account, an incredibly favourable impression: “I smashed my PB by 3 minutes to finish 50th overall in 2h46’17”. It was hot with 24 degrees at the finish and strong headwind in the last 10k which slowed me down a bit. I am both happy with the PB and gutted as I was trying to get a championship time for London and I was fully on course to do so but then lost crucial 100 seconds in the last 10k”. The course is apparently very flat and the event, and city, comes highly recommended for any Heathsiders looking for an Autumn marathon option next year.

Back in Blighty, Matthew Cockerill seems to have been one of the few people who truly relished the end of Summer, describing the 11°C and heavy rain in York for the Yorkshire Marathon as being “perfect conditions, basically!” Both he and Andrew Prystawsky bagged significant PBs on the day, finishing in great times of 2:53:19 and 2:54:23 respectively. Completing a trio of Heathsiders in York was Helen Robson who came home in 3:43:46.

Previously part of the Rob Jackson Road Champs, the Cabbage Patch 10 is usually a big Heathisde draw but saw numbers down slightly this year. A perfect 10 made the trip down to Twickenham and Steve Woolf emailed in to highlight an impressive run from first Heathsider home Michael Cockings (1:03:37, 55th) but also the stand-out performance from Leigh James who was 3rd woman overall in a great time of 1:06:49. Steve himself says he was disappointed with his time of 1:40:27 but pleased to finish his longest run in 2 years.

That seems to be your lot for the longer distances, so over to Caroline White for a review of the Ridgeway Trail Run: “11 Heathsiders braved the less than clement conditions to take part in this beautiful, hilly, trail race, of approximately 15.5k in the Chilterns. This race varies hugely depending on the weather.  We were faced with torrential, relentless rain and strong winds throughout, and up on the ridge, the tops of the final two hills were kept hidden from us in the fog. The chalk-covered slopes, a joy to run down in dry conditions, became lethal ice rinks and puddles were deceptively deep, catching some hapless runners out (if the tree roots hadn't already done so!). But despite it all, everyone loved the race and the challenge, and came home with a smile on their face. Chris Vincent was our first man home in 1.10, closely followed by Emily Reichert, Louisa Pointon and Tammela Platt who made up the winning Ladies Team (pic above). I was 1st WV55 and Lyn Evans 1st WV65.”

In multi-sport news, Gabi Johnson was 50% of the Heathsiders taking on the Bedford Sprint Duathlon: “Karina Kaufmann and I braved torrential rain at Bedford Aerodrome, a flat and fast course with technical corners on the bike leg, this year with deep standing water throughout, it was especially challenging.  Both of us survived the course and were rewarded with qualification spots for the 2019 European Championships to be held in Transylvania.” Congrats to you both!

And last but hopefully not least, I was just pleased to run my first road race in well over a year at the Run the River 10k up the road at Lee Valley. It’s a pretty grim route in fairness but it’s fantastically well run by the local Edmonton club. I finished in 14th, just under my target time of 41 minutes and it felt great to be running one of these things again, rather than just writing about them!

Parkruns:

Top billing this week goes to Elizabeth Beard at Ally Pally, where she was the only Heathside first finisher! As usual, the rest of the results are here.