Fred Hughes 10, Chingford League and Hell Down South

After many weekends of large and frenetic cross country events, this past week and weekend were extremely quiet, although definitely not mud free. There were small but impressive turnouts at two cross country events - the Chingford League on Saturday, and the Sir Sefton Brancker Trophy last Thursday and at a  trail run in Hampshire, meaning the biggest turnout by far was at the Fred Hughes 10 in St Albans on Sunday, the first of the Club championship road races.

Chingford League, Race 4
Jonathan Litchfield sent along this report on the Chingford League, after he'd managed to scrub himself down: For Race 4 of the Chingford League, four intrepid Heathside sorts braved what was undoubtedly the muddiest and puddliest XC course of the season to date.  No less than 50% of the team took spectacular tumbles in the brown stuff.  The course was certainly challenging, constantly undulating and across varied terrain, with a long stretch through the woods where only single-file running was possible and definitely deserving of a better turn-out next year.

Jonathan Litchfield was the sole male runner, completing the slightly less than 8k in 34:16 and 39th of the 182 runners (38th male).  Our Men's, ahem, 'A' team, finished 10th of the 11 competing clubs, while our Ladies, despite missing half a team, came in a highly creditable 7th of 11.

Of the ladies, Jessica Vinluan and Chloe Alder ran together and finished a couple of seconds apart, in 45:39 and 142nd (28th female) and 45:41 and 144th (30th female) respectively.  Chloe might have pipped Jessica to the post had her good running manners not been such that she stopped to enquire as to her team-mate's well-being when a mischievous bramble grabbed Jessica by the ankle and sent her flying face-first.

Kim Butler's time of 50:13 and 165th place (42nd female) were all the more impressive given that she ran a significant part of the race carrying her own body weight in mud after treating the marshals to her most dramatic Supergirl impression.  Kim no doubt then regretted having earlier replied in the negative when asked "Are you in the Juniors race?" at the registration desk.  Still, now we know that it's the mud-pack facials which keep Kim looking so young.  And at least Kim was able to expertly craft some Bin Bag Shorts (TM) to keep herself warm on the way home.

Sir Sefton Brancker Trophy, XC, RAF Halton, Bucks

On Thursday, Tom Aldred and Pete Crockford took part in the Sir Sefton Brancker Trophy - a cross country race at RAF Halton in Buckinghamshire, which consisted of teams from the RAF, the Civil Service, the Police and the Fire Service, all battling it out between each other . 96 participants took part, I have no information on the distance, or conditions, but Tom was 2nd and Pete was 64th (both running for the Civil Service).

Fred Hughes 10
Despite the snow and freezing conditions that were predicted, 19 Heathsiders took part in the Fred Hughes 10 in St Albans on Sunday in dazzling sunshine and relatively mild conditions – no snow to be seen. It’s a hilly, undulating course, which everyone seemed to enjoy. Andy Barnes was first Heathsider home and Emilia first Heathside lady (4th FV45) - many got PBs (I’ve listed the ones I know of) and there was a prize for Gavin Evans who came 1st MV50 in a time of 1.01.23 , also placed were: Carl Heap 2nd MV60 and Caroline 3rd FV55. Emilia had her best time over the distance since 2002, and Jo knocked minutes off her previous times on this race. The goody bag contained pink fluffy socks – at least for the ladies – not sure about the men ....

So Andy and Emilia are off to a head start in the London Heathside Road Race Championship, after their strong performances at Fred Hughes (Race No 1) - but can they hold their positions in race number 2, the Watford Half - which is less than two weeks away on 1st February.

Hell down south
Claire Miller, is clearlywell and trulyback from injury, as she not only survived but came in 2nd woman, and 13th overall in the Hell Down South race in Hampshire on Saturday, a race where I think the title speaks for itself . From what I can gather, (which wasn’t much from the website - I don’t think they want to put people off by being too graphic) it is ”10 – 12 miles of challenging off-road running... tough, twisting trails, including the famed Hills of Hell and the Bog of Doom”. Sounds like a walk in the park.

FULL RESULTS

Fred Hughes 10, St Albans 18.01.2015
58:11 Andy Barnes PB
1:01:23 Gavin Evans (1st MV50 )
1:07:00 Trevor Wilson PB
1:08:10 Chris Hewertson PB
1:10:14 Andrew Prystawsky
1:10:36 Carl Heap (2nd MV60)
1:10:45 Gavin Parish PB
1:11:32 Andrew Hudson
1:11:48 Emilia Vynnycky (4th FV45)
1:12:28 Bridgit Napleton
1:13:36 James Felstead
1:14:29 Robert Bowler PB
1:14:57 Jo Irwin
1:18:36 Caroline White (3rd FV55)

1.23.29 Ellie Jones
1:25:12 Gabrielle Johnson
1:29:40 Sarah Illingsworth
1:30:28 Alice Parish
1:34:13 Laura Boothman

Sir Sefton Brancker Trophy XC, RAF Halton, Bucks 15.0.2015
(RAF v Civil Service v Police v Fire Service )
2nd Tom Aldred 33:09
64th Pete Crockford (V55) 42:41

Chingford League , Hatch Forest, Chingford, 17.01.2015
39th 00:34:16 Jonathan Litchfield
142th 00:45:39 Jessica Vinluan
144th 00:45:41 Chloe Alder
165th 00:50:13 Kimberli Butler

Hell Down South, Longmore Camp, Hampshire, 10-12 miles 17.01.2015
13th Claire Miller 1.27.51 (2nd woman)

SEAA Indoor Champs,Lee Valley

60m, semi 4
2nd Jordan Glaze 6.94

heat3
2nd Jordan Glaze 7.06

400m U20, semi 1
1st Lily Beckford 56.94

heat 2
1st Lily Beckford 55.62 (club overall and U20 indoor record).

Parkruns
Parkruns were well attended as always, by Heathsiders all over the country - and the fastest Heathsider parkrunning this weekend was Andrew Brooker who got a PB (at least in parkruns) with a time of 16.40 at Hackney Marshes, and Tom Fancett was first at Highbury Fields in a time of 17.22 (also a parkrun PB for him). A full list of participants can be found here