Cross country: Southerns and Sunday League
After the flat, fast croquet lawns at the posh kids' school last week, it was back to 'proper' (ie, attritional and horrid) cross country for Heathside at the Southern Championships on Parliament Hill. There were bogs, quags and dogs all over the course, as well as any number of testing climbs.
Despite the race being pretty much in our back yard, the rescheduling from January meant a lot of people were away for half term, focusing on marathon training instead, or plain just couldn't be bothered.
As there was a fair bit of number-trading going on, I can't be sure the results below are correct (in fact I'm fairly sure they're nothing of the sort). However, we look to have had a good turnout from our younger runners with Lucy Carter's brilliant 12th place in the U15 girls the pick of the results.
In the senior women's race, Aldershot Farnham and District were rampant, having what seemed like half of the top 20 between them. Our girls bravely held their own against the funded ringers though, managing a brilliant third place in the team competition. Our four to score were Sue (16), Sarah (35), Claire (40) and Elspeth (51). There were some other great runs in the ladies' team, with Fiona, Edie, Bridgit and whoever was masquerading as Jackie making the top 100. A great result and all the more gratifying on home turf.
Last on the day was the grueling 15k senior men's race, which Chris predicted would be like 'an hour on the rollercoaster'. Anthony certainly was moving like he was on rails, going up and over the testing course well inside the hour to finish a very creditable 82nd. There were some brave runs behind him but, with quite a few of our better runners missing, the only real highlight for the men otherwise is the discovery that Leo's middle name is 'Cador'.
For photos of the undulating mud-fest, check out Steve's photostream on Flickr.
SOUTHERN CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS (Parliament Hill)
SM (15k)
82 Anthony Hall 57:19
114 Daniel Mckeown 59:04
205 Matt Convery 63:30 (Dave H?)
227 Andy Owen 64:23
239 Tom Fancett 65:09
244 Gavin Evans 65:14 (John F?)
251 Chris Hartley 65:32
307 Pete Crockford 68:49
325 Carl Heap 69:58
333 Simon R Hazel 70:19
355 Leo Cador Pemberton 71:13
394 Anthony Wilkinson 72:55
417 Chip Halmer 74:57
U20M (8k)
82 Izaiah Turner 51:14
U17M (6k)
46 James Wooldridge 21:36
U15M (4.5k)
43 Johnny Naylor 16:16
160 Harry Vinall‐Smeeth 18:55
180 Oscar Banyard 20:02
181 Alex Ahern 20:15
192 Harry Johnson 23:03
U13M (3k)
97 Jack O'Shea 12:11
116 Jack Froome 12:22
121 Tom Mills 12:25
160 Antanas Weston 13:05
SW (8k)
16 Sue Rust 31:41
35 Sarah Swinhoe 33:22
40 Claire Morrissey 33:38
47 Leigh James (Heathsider in disguise) 34:28
51 Elspeth Storrar 34:59
62 Fiona Alston 35:28
65 Edie Fassnidge 35:40
70 Bridgit Napleton 35:55
95 Jackie Wastell 38:06 (Cathy J?)
122 Caroline White 39:41
139 Ruth Miller 40:47
149 Almudena Garcia Gomez 41:36
150 Jo Irwin 41:42
197 Gabrielle Johnson 45:39
U17W (5k)
84 Kathleen Jackson 24:52
U15W (4k)
12 Lucy Carter 14:39
133 Genevieve Weston 17:27
U13W (3k)
193 Naomi Conlon 15:20
204 Alice Fox 18:04
The club was in cross country action again on Sunday in Watford. Robin contributed the following account:
"14 Heathsiders made it to this race – it seems the sun in Watford brings out the Heathsiders! It was a pleasant day with ideal running conditions. Even better, although there were a few muddy patches, overall the going was pretty good (by comparison to some other waterlogged courses this winter). There were a few hills, but nowhere near as testing as Royston.
"Tony was the first Heathsider home, having returned from a short holiday in good form. Sadly we still don't seem to attract many women, so thanks to Stephanie and Laura for turning out!"
This was apparently Robin's last fixture as captain of the Sunday League team, so a huge thanks and well done to him, and good luck to Nik, who has volunteered to take over.
Sunday League, Watford, 17 February - Course 6.1 miles