Beckford, Aldred, Thornhill and Wilson excel in the heatwave
Well, we were all baking away in that hot, hot sun this weekend, but that didn’t stop a fair number of us (32 in all) from squishing our sweaty feet into those trainers and taking to the roads, paths and tracks to race our Saturday and/or Sunday mornings away
Despite the heat, Heathsiders put in a brace of impressive performances this weekend. In no particular order, four really stand out:
· Tom Aldred and Claire Thornhill were the first man and first woman in the parkrun in Medina, Isle of Wight (out of 92 starters).
· Lilly Beckford came fifth in her 300m heat in the National Under-17 Championships in Bedford, narrowly missing out on making the final.
· Ursula Wilson was the first woman in the 40-45 category in Burnham Beeches (although at the prize-giving no-one could believe she was 40). She also raced the Finsbury parkrun the day before!
Incidentally, our official turnout at the hottest Burnham Beeches on record was a lowly eight, although Leigh James, running in a Windsor vest, came in 48th overall (and then went on to do another lap in the 28C sun) and Isobel Rea, who regularly trains with us, was the third woman and first V35 (running for West 4 Harriers). Most of us did recent vintage PWs, or something close, but then so did everyone else.
Sue Rust warmed up for her Swedish holiday by popping down to Tooting Bec for the Herne Hill Harriers open to run the 1500, where she was joined by the steadily-improving Katherine Vinnicombe. Both did respectable times in scorching conditions, even if they fell short of their targets.
Our triathletes and aquathlonetes, if that’s the right word (probably not, but then ‘aquathlon’ is such a rubbish word for such a noble event,) also excelled in the heatwave.
At the Ashford Triathlon on Sunday, Martin Potter was first in the 45-9 age group (and eighth overall) over the Olympic distance, while Jackie Wastell was first in the 50-55 age group over the sprint distance (and third overall) and Ruth Miller was second in the 50-55 and fourth overall.
And at the Banbury Half Aquaman Aquathlon on Saturday Stephanie Robson and Paul Lemmon celebrated six months of marriage by coming first and second respectively. The organisers generously allowed Paul to do backstroke (his only stroke) for the 15 lengths of the 50m pool. Coming out of the water he was in fifth place (out of seven) while Stephanie was third, but, predictably, they canned the opposition in the run.
So, onto the results:
National Under-17 Championships, Bedford, August 18
300 m, Heat 2: Lily Beckford – 5th (42.72)
Herne Hill Harriers Open, Tooting Bec, August 18
1500m
Race C: 3rd, Sue Rust – 4.52.12
Race D: 4th, Katherine Vinnicombe – 5.37.96
Burnham Beeches Half Marathon, August 19
22. Gavin Evans – 1.25.52 (2nd V50)
31 Isobel Rea – 1.27.28 (3rd woman and 1st V35)
48 Leigh James – 1.31.50 (7th woman)
62. Marcus Tillotson – 1.33.36
78 Carl Heap – 1.35.26 (2nd V55)
83. Henry Andrews – 1.35.49
135 Ursula Wilson – 1.41.07 (1st V40 woman)
175 Henry Hamilton – 1.45.20
326 Gavin Parish – 1.55.45
530 Alice Parish – 2.13.05
Ashford Triathlon, August 19
Olympic distance
8. Potter – 2:16.33 (1st, 45-49)
Sprint distance
3. Jackie Wastell – 1:17.13 (1st, 50-55)
4. Ruth Miller – 1.19.08 (2nd, 50 – 55)
Banbury Half Aquaman Aquathlon
Stephanie Robson – 37:04 (swim 15.51; transition 1.16; run 19.57)
Paul Lemon – 38.46 (swim 17.30; transition 1.40; run 19.36)
Parkruns, August 18
| Ally Pally parkrun |
| 14. Lyn EVANS 00:27:29 |
| Cannon Hill parkrun |
| 80 John DOWD 00:22:58 |
|
Finsbury parkrun |
| 9 Sean Thomas CASEY 00:19:55 |
| 11 Brian HEFFERNAN 00:20:26 |
| 21 Ursula WILSON 00:22:03 |
| 82 Laura BOOTHMAN 00:30:45 |
|
Gladson parkrun
|
| 2 Daniel MCKEOWN 00:18:06 |
| Hampstead Heath parkrun |
| 24 Cathy COLLINS 00:22:22 |
| 34 Andrew SULSTON 00:23:39 |
| 55 Bob GOULD 00:25:40 |
| Highbury Fields parkrun |
| 2 David HELLARD 00:18:51 |
| Medina I.O.W. parkrun |
| 1 Tom ALDRED 00:16:08 |
| 13 Claire THORNHILL 00:22:39 |
| Whitstable parkrun |
| 3 Alex WEATHERILL 00:18:31 |
| 44 Julie KHAN 00:24:07 |