Bath, Reading and sundry other halfs

Reading Half Marathon

The biggest Heathside turnout of the weekend was at the Reading Half Marathon, where we had 17 finishers.

"Conditions weren’t as good as on cool, calm Saturday," reports Gavin. "We were running into a strong headwind over the last few miles, knocking a good 20 seconds or so off our times, but there were still at least three PBs, probably more, and several performances that augur well for the spring marathon season.

"It’s a massive event – over 15,000 starters – so it’s a good idea to start near the front, as most of us did. The course itself is not quite as flat as I remembered it – lots of bridges in the first half and a decent hill in the second, but for all that it’s normally a fast one."
First Heathsider round the course was Dan Madams and for the ladies, we can copy and paste the words 'Cathy Jeremiah', 'PB' and 'going like the clappers' from any one of several previous race reports. Special congrats to Gavin for his own time, although it seems like it was a day of mixed fortunes as he goes on to report.

"For me it was a bit of a rush from beginning to sticky end – after over-sleeping, I missed my lift, hastily commandeered a Zipcar and got there just in time, and then shot off home afterwards, only to find the Zipcar dying on me outside Wembley." Gavin doesn't specify whether it was mechanical failure or if the hapless Zipcar simply got smashed up by disconsolate Sunderland fans who'd just watched their team lose the League Cup final.

Bath and (Tunbridge) Wells

We had loads of Heathsiders running the Bath Half although no one's given much of an account, other than the observation that it was 'rather soggy'. Moistened but motivated, George Stewart led the way round inside 75 minutes, after his usual breakfast of ninja stars and rusty nails. I know at least one of our runners was raising some money for charity, so if you fancy a year-end tax dodge, get in touch.
Menwhile, Ollie and Vic were experiencing the delights of the Tunbridge Wells Half, as he reports: "As you walk from the train station in Tunbridge Wells to your B&B, or the race HQ - you'll probably notice a few things. Firstly that there is some rather nice countryside there, and secondly that it is in no way flat. The course takes you in a nice big loop round some lovely old villages, over the odd tiny bridge and up a fairly big hill around halfway."The event was brilliantly well organised, with an excellent HQ with good toilet facilities (always a worry), bag drop and a big drumming band to get everyone in the mood." Ollie was also pretty taken with the goody bag, so consider this event highly recommended.

Other races"'Technical issues' with the chip so no results posted as yet. My watch reads 1:30:06 for Llanelli Half marathon," chirruped Elinor, apparently not too put out at running 13-odd miles with a superfluous lump of plastic attached to her ankle.
Jim C came 82nd overall at Silverstone: "Been struggling with horrible cold all week and the headwinds were pretty nasty so I'm dead pleased with that and think there might be a bit more in the legs," wheezed Jim into his handkerchief.

Adam Kirk-Smith blasted round the Last Friday 5k to demonstrate he's returned from injury, Tim Sander ran his best road race for Heathside in the Battersea Park 10miler (which starts at an alarmingly early 8am) , and Jacob can't quite work out how he managed to run so quickly over 5 miles. Tom Bedwell wins 'most exotic half' with his trip to Rome and also came away with a PB.

John Driscoll had another crack at the Box Hill Ballbuster and was pretty pleased with the outcome: "No rain this time and a combination of winter bike training and snazzy new tri shorts improved my time by 11 mins." Also duathling were Sandra and Chris at Eton, Claire Morrissey was rubbing shoulders with Irish running royalty Catherina McKiernan in PREDA'S 5k Run for Freedom in Galway (not sure who won, I'll have a pint on Morrissey), and Paul Lemmon was our one and only cross country result of the week.

Finally, Clare Miller came fifth (first lady) in the Nuts Challenge, a 28-kilometre assault course, in a squeak over four and a half hours; it doesn't sound like it was one for the faint of heart. Dave Hellard is merely recorded as having started in the official results so we don't really know if he's still out on the course, or drowned or something. 

Results

Bath Half Marathon43 George Stewart 1:14:48 128 Phil Wright 1:20:23 2791 Eleanor Jones 1:48:54 3222 Claire Sliwerski 1:51:18 3462 Sarah Guy 1:46:24  Reading Half Marathon453 Dan Madams 01:17:04497 Edward Samuel 01:17:56498 James Pickett 01:18:32649 Gavin Evans 01:19:07
201 Martin Potter 01:19:231038 Ash Abrha 01:19:40544 Howard Gold 01:20:01528 Steve Monaghan 01:22:17645 Paul Jarman 01:23:33650 Catherine Jeremiah 01:25:075053 Mark George 01:30:531931 Andrew Prystawsky01:32:51833 Simon Hazel 01:38:195848 Richard Budd 01:37:442745 Jane Higgins 01:43:593551 Kathryn Creaney 01:44:0217635 Louise Cripps 02:07:21
Llanelli Waterside Half Marathon
TBC Elinor East 1:30:04

Roma Ostia Half Marathon
3810 Tom Bedwell 1:39:40Berkhamsted Half Marathon
139 Patrick Waldron 1:33:21310 Jesper Lycke 1:41:36325 Caroline White 1:42:27

Silverstone Half Marathon82 Jim Connell 1.24.44

Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon969  Oliver Pound  1:55:081007 Victoria Pound  1:56:22
Self Transcendence 10 miles
56 Tim Sander, 1:13:44

Thames Riverside 20
78  James Felstead 02:31:54 

115 Nick De Sausmarez 02:39:08 

247 Martin Hill 03:13:25 

Middlesex Masters Cross Country Championships (92 finishers)

21 Paul Lemmon 31:53 

Regent's Park 10K Winter Series

11 Jonathan Payne 38:57

31 Carl Heap 41:37Last Friday 5k, Hyde Park6        Adam Kirk-Smith 16:35 123        Alun Nash 22:18Cupar 5miles32       Jacob Howe 29:5067       Angela Howe 33:18

PREDA 5k Run for FreedomTBC Claire Morrissey 20:06
Box Hill Ballbuster Duathlon (8mi run, 24mi bike, 8mi run)32 John Driscoll  3:08:48 (49:14, 1:23:44, 52:36) 

Eton Dorney Sprint duathlonRun 1T1BikeT2Run 2Chris Hewertson 1:24:5523:201:1335:0657.024:19Sandra Buckton 1:34:4825:271:3340:121:1226:24
Nuts Challenge 28k assault course5 Clare Miller 04:36:35

Them parkruns

Ally Pally parkrun3 Paul MERCER 00:19:218 Ed BURR 00:20:3128 Tim HALL 00:24:3142 Alice PARISH 00:26:0952 Lyn EVANS 00:27:25 Finsbury parkrun2 Alex GALLOWAY 00:17:305 Andrew WELSHMAN 00:18:209 Dominic JACKSON 00:19:0316 Sue RUST 00:19:46 (first lady)23 Gina HEISS 00:20:2438 Caroline BOYLE 00:21:5283 James PARKER 00:24:4590 Andrew Simon CONWAY 00:25:0394 Sarah ILLINGWORTH 00:25:20107 Raymond David WATTS 00:25:57 Hackney Marshes parkrun7 Philip Thomas BENTLEY 00:17:3925 Michael ABRAHAMS 00:20:38 Hampstead Heath parkrun5 Joseph MCKEOWN 00:19:49 Highbury Fields parkrun10 Leo BURNINGHAM 00:18:4546 Ben CLARKE-JANSSEN 00:22:40 Killerton parkrun2 Tom FANCETT 00:18:47 Marlay parkrun116 Ronan WALSH 00:23:17 Oak Hill parkrun5 Rebecca BUNTING 00:19:21 (first lady) Preston Park parkrun8 Mark DERRY 00:19:09