Eiger Warriors do us Proud!
Eiger Trail Ultra Marathon, Switzerland. July 20th
Lenny, one of our resident ultra running experts, led a team of 6 Heathsiders out to Switzerland to take part in this incredible, beautiful, scenic, gruelling “race” (more like Epic Struggle!) and they all performed brilliantly with Lenny opting for the extreme 101K distance whilst the others were slightly more sensible taking on the 51K distance. This terrain is not for the faint hearted when it comes to navigating across it, however the views will take your breath away.
Lenny writes:
Six Heathsiders raced in Grindelwald, Switzerland on Saturday in various distances at the Eiger Ultra Trail. 5 of whom in the 51km distance were taking on their first attempt at an ultra distance race as well as their first time racing in the high mountains.
Stand out performance of the weekend was Pete Northall who finished 60th overall in 7h38m - a truly impressive result at the sharp end of a high calibre race. He was followed by Matt Cockerill in 9h20m (276th place) and then the trio of Louisa Pointon, Liam Hazelton and Dan Johns in 10h45m (151st, 462nd, 463rd respectively).
I also raced my second attempt at the 101km distance, having been cut short by extreme weather in 2018. I finished in 18h54m for 153rd place.
Pete, who placed so highly at his distance also reported back:
A first Ultra for me, and a fantastic experience.
Having failed to curb my over-exuberance in the early (flat-ish) miles, I found myself far too close to the front at the first checkpoint.
Luckily I took a rather more leisurely approach to the aid station than those around me, which settled me into a more sustainable position around 50th. The spectacular views of the Alpine peaks and the camaraderie of the 101 km runners with whom we shared the route was a welcome distraction from the rather slow accumulation of miles and ascent, and the early miles passed without too much concern (other than that it was already too hot by 9am).
In between the running/ power-walking I was spending increasing amounts of time at the aid stations, ingesting all manner of foods and drinks (from cheese to chocolate) in the hope of warding off the cramps that threatened from a little before half-way. It sort of worked, and I was able to keep moving pretty well in the final third of the race, picking up a number of places when on the move (only to give up these places and more at the next checkpoint, where I would invariably be distracted by some snack or other).
After a joyously flat section of road (finally, something I was used to...) I reached the finish in Grindelwald, 7h 38m after leaving and in 68 / 800 overall (60th man, or 2nd Brit of 45, for whatever that is worth).
I would recommend the event to anyone considering a mountain ultra - very well organised and fantastic views. Will it be the start of a new career for me in ultrarunning? Well, it was fun. And I learnt a lot (mainly the importance of managing effort very closely - any injection of pace / effort would usually leave me running with the onset of cramp before it subsided). But I probably won't be leaving the roads/ track behind just yet.
Results:-
101K
Pos Name Time
153 Lenny Martin 18h54m
51K
Pos Name Time
60 Pete Northall 7h38m
276 Matt Cockerill 9h20m
151W Louisa Pointon 10h45m
462 Daniel Johns 10h45m
463 Liam Hazelton 10h45m
Elmbridge 10K, Sunday 21st July
At the Elmbridge 10K Tom bagged the first of his two V40 Club records in two days. He led the race for most of it but was in a tussle with a few other runners and would ultimately take a very good 3rd place overall and 1st Vet in a very sharp 32:05 V40 Club record. His Dad also taking part in the race, and they say the apple never falls too far from the tree ......
Tom writes:
I ran the Elmbridge 10k on Sunday in beautiful morning sunshine. The race starts and finishes at the track at Walton-on-Thames, with the scenic route taking you out and back on the Thames towpath.
Aldred Senior was 3rd v70 in 54 minutes!
Deal Dinosaur 10K, Kent, Sunday 21st July
Martin and Jackie completed the Deal Dinosaur 10K on a hot and hilly day in Kent. Both were rewarded with a win in their respective age groups.
Result
Martin Potter 5th Overall 1st V50 37:12
Jackie Wastell 68th overall (10th woman) 1st V55 47:29
Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team Relays - Battersea, London 22nd July
At the Mile Relays in Battersea, in sweaty conditions, Heathsiders turned out in force for hard miling and a good bit of of team fun and banter.
Gabi writes:
Caroline, Angharad and Myself formed a v50 female team with the sole purpose of getting a medal, so we were quite miffed that although we were the fastest female vet team and we hung around for ages waiting for the prize giving, the vets categories did not differentiate between gender. So v50/v60/v70 and even v80 medals all went to all male teams. Worse still we were late to the pub for nothing!
Anyway I’ll get over it eventually .....
I hope you gave them "what for" Gabi!
See below for the results i could make out where Heathsiders were involved.
Women
Team - Dashing Dashers Finish Position - 6
Team Score (places): 64 Team Score (times): 17:24
Team Pos Bib No Name Time Cum. Time
1 629 Eilidh Wagstaff 5:35 5:35
2 630 Sue Rust 5:53 11:29
3 628 Emily reichert 5:54 17:24
Team - Heathside V50 Hellraisers (ironic) Finish Position - 3
Team Score (places): 25 Team Score (times): 20:15
Team Pos Bib No Name Time Cum. Time
1 901 Angharad Harris 6:33 6:33
2 902 Gabby Johnson 6:50 13:24
3 903 Caroline White 6:51 20:15
Men
Team - Square Milers Finish Position - 11
Team Score (places): 137 Team Score (times): 14:50
Team Pos Bib No Name Time Cum. Time
1 159 Sion Lewis 4:40 4:40
2 157 Simon Egan 4:54 9:35
3 158 Jonathan Ormerod 5:14 14:50
Team - JJB Sports Finish Position - 18
Team Score (places): 172 Team Score (times): 15:09
Team Pos Bib No Name Time Cum. Time
1 72 Andy Barnes 4:59 4:59
2 71 Joseph McKeown 5:03 10:02
3 70 Joseph Clemoes 5:06 15:09
Team - Hello Sailor Finish Position - 44
Team Score (places): 415 Team Score (times): 16:45
Team Pos Bib No Name Time Cum. Time
1 69 Mario Cadete 5:04 5:04
2 67 Ian Shurmer 5:48 10:53
3 68 Stuart Roberts 5:52 16:45
Team - Ofcom 2 Finish Position - 46
Team Score (places): 454 Team Score (times): 16:56
Team Pos Bib No Name Time Cum. Time
1 140 Kevin James 5:32 5:32
2 141 Robert Burgess 5:33 11:05
3 139 Philip Hogg 5:50 16:56
Team - matthew beard Finish Position - 56
Team Score (places): 508 Team Score (times): 17:24
Team Pos Bib No Name Time Cum. Time
1 129 Laurence Russell 5:35 5:35
2 127 Matthew beard 5:43 11:18
3 128 Richard Peachment 6:05 17:24
Team - The Travelling Finsburys Finish Position - 57
Team Score (places): 510 Team Score (times): 17:27
Team Pos Bib No Name Time Cum. Time
1 173 Andrew Wooding 5:20 5:20
2 172 Alun Nash 6:02 11:23
3 174 Fadi Hayek 6:04 17:27
BMC Grand Prix, Eltham, 20/7/19
At the BMC Prix, Rosa continued her fantastic season with a fantastic PB in the 800m
You can watch it here.
https://www.runjumpthrow.com/videos/35513/
Result
800m Women, Race C
1. Rosa Serafini 2:11.56 PB
Vets League, Fixture 4 - Hemel Hempstead 22nd July
The ladies progressed to the end of season Finals at Ashford as predicted with a dominent fixture win capping off a dominent campaign. Cap'n Mary led the lines in her usual fashion and showed her strength in her leg of a tightly fought 4x200 Relay where we were just edged into second (by the fast lady in red from the team that didn't qualify)
Meanwhile, The men were charged with the almost impossible task of overhauling Ilford, who have shown up this season to be the team to be beaten, bringing out all their "ringers"! Our boys very nearly did the deed, but despite taking some wins in the events, they again succombed to second place for the fixture and second overall for the season. There were promising signs, as team motivator Jim managed to entice Tom Aldred and Stuart Meiklejohn to make their Vets league debuts, and they didn't dissappoint taking wins and maximum points in their main events, along with a track debut for new member Glen Taylor in the High Jump and a very sharp non-scoring 200m. Tom the little rascal ran away from the whole field for a new V40 Club record! (number 2 in 2 days!). Pete also grabbed yet another V60 Club Record, this time in the 800m.
Two years ago the guys qualified for the finals, but since then our rivals have upped the ante. We need to respond and put together a strong squad for next season. Please get in touch with me if you are interested.
Congratulations to both teams for another very strong showing this year and best of luck to the girls at the finals.
Results:-
200 M35 4th 27.9 Stuart Meiklejohn PB V35
200 M40 3rd 26.6 Scarlett Parker V45
200 M40 ns 4th 28.1 Glen Taylor V40
200 M50 5th 27.9 Tony Killilea V55
200 M60 2nd 28.8 Adrian Essex V65
200 W35 1st 29.3 Gokce Baydar V35
200 W40 4th 36.7 Rebecca Marshall PB V40
200 W50 3rd 33.6 Madeleine Minson PB V50
200 W60 2nd 40.1 Ruth Miller PB V60
800 M35 1st 02:16.0 Stuart Meiklejohn SB V35
800 M40 3rd 02:15.8 Scarlett Parker V45
800 M50 4th 02:29.7 Jonathan Hopkin V50
800 M60 2nd 02:30.8 Pete Crockford PB V60 CR
800 W35 2nd 03:07.6 Jessica Vinluan SB V35
800 W40 2nd 02:44.7 Sue Rust SB V40
800 W50 2nd 03:06.3 Emilia Vynnycky PB V50
800 W50 ns 1st 02:48.9 Madeleine Minson PB V50
3000 M35 ns 4th 10:59.9 Jim Connell PB V45; 5th 11:04.9 Jonathan Litchfield SB V40; 10 12:35.5 David Walton PB V55
3000 M40 1st 09:03.3 Tom Aldred SB V40 CR
3000 M50 4th 10:58.1 Gavin Evans SB V55
3000 W40 2nd 11:50.6 Sue Rust SB V40
3000 W40 ns 1st 12:56.5 Emilia Vynnycky PB V50
3000 W60 1st 13:24.4 Ruth Miller PB V60
2000W M35 5th 19:30.9 Jonathan Litchfield V35
2000W W35 3rd 17:20.3 Jessica Vinluan SB V35
2000W W50 4th 16:31.4 Victoria Phillips PB V55
4x200 M50 4th 01:49.3 London Heathside V50
4x200 W40 2nd 02:10.4 London Heathside V40
HJ M35 7th 1.35 Glen Taylor V40
HJ M50 5th 1.25 Adrian Essex V65
LJ M40 7th 3.03 Tony Killilea V40
LJ M60 1st 4.2 Adrian Essex SB V65
LJ W60 1st 2.32 Ruth Miller PB V60
DT1K W50 2nd 16.23 Helene Kehoe SB V55
HT4K W35 4th 12.36 Rebecca Marshall PB V40
JT800 M35 8th 15.43 Tony Killilea SB V55
JT600 M60 1st 25.16 Adrian Essex SB V65
Parkruns
There was the usual smattering of Parkrun Action on the Saturday with wins for Roger, Tom, Rebecca, Seyfu and Rajiv ....
https://www.parkrun.com/results/consolidatedclub/?clubNum=2017&eventdate=2019-7-20
Report compiled, published and partly written by The Jimbob with contributions from various other helpful peeps!