Great North, Middlesex Road relays and a trail marathon

It was a relatively quiet weekend race-wise -  but Heathsiders could be seen taking part in the iconic Great North, a 30K in Amsterdam, a triathlon at Rutland Water, a trail marathon and the Middlesex Road Relays.

Great North run, Newcastle, 10.09.17
Four Heathsiders headed up to compete in the Great North Run, and were led home by Natan Doran (hot on the heels of Mo) in 310th place (and a big PB for him by about 4 minutes).  Sarah Illingworth wrote: “Brendan Foster started the Great North Run in the usual style with the elite races going first. We (about 48000 runners) ran over the Tyne bridge and through the streets of Newcastle and Gateshead to South Shields cheered on by a fly by from the Red Arrows. The atmosphere is always incredible with amazing support from the crowds”

'30 van Amsterdam Noord', Amsterdam, 10.09.17
Well, I guess 'race' is stretching it a bit as I was treating it as a pre-marathon training run, but I participated in the '30 van Amsterdam Noord' this Sunday - a local 30 km race that's a popular feature for those training for autumn marathons. It's a nice, well-organized race that thankfully quickly leaves the somewhat scenically challenged Amsterdam-Noord and mostly weaves through the adjoining countryside. Still, my run didn't exactly fill me with confidence, as I was having a hard time struggling with the wind, and in the end I wasn't particularly happy with my 2:47:13. Ah well, still a month to go to get into proper racing mode.
https://evenementen.uitslagen.nl/2017/30vanamsterdamnoord/ , where you can find an overview if you go to the top left (Selecteer onderdeel... and choose '30 km prestatie'), or you can search on my name in the second search box. My final position was 171.

Farnham Pilgrim Marathon, Farnham, Surrey 10.09.17
Amy Luyendijk took part in the Farnham Pilgrim trail marathon on Sunday, and came in a very respectable 10th woman. She sent in this: This was my first “trail” marathon, and it has made me wonder if I'll ever do another road marathon! The route was breathtakingly scenic and peaceful, running through Surrey from Farnham to Guildford and then back a different way, and covering parts of the North Downs Way. We were following the "ancient footpaths trod by the Pilgrims from Winchester to Canterbury”.

Despite being a slow off-road course, the route never got boring or samey - the trail included shaded foot paths, open hilly fields, mud, loose sand, and a couple of quick sections over little village roads. I ran with the horses, ran with the dogs, ran in the rain, caught some spectacular views, and hiked up a bunch of crazy hills (no running possible there!)… it was A LOT of fun and I would recommend this marathon to anyone looking for a bit of adventure. The marshals were super friendly and always up for a bit of humour along the course. A very rewarding race and well worth the trek!”

YA Middlesex Road Relays, Minet Circuit, Hayes 10.09.17
The Middlesex Road relays took place on 10th September, with an excellent turnout from Heathside. Congratulations to all, and the parents and coaches who gave up their Saturday to help, and especially to Hattie Munday for her bronze medal (3rd girl in the under 11 1500 m) and for the under 15 girls team (Rose Garrett, Mimi Blake and Nell Swinhoe) for their silver medal. Ruth wrote: “All enjoyed themselves – the road relay’s were lots of fun. There were some really strong team and individual performances. Unfortunately there were some incomplete teams due to illness that was disappointing. But looking strong for the x country season”

Vitruvian Middle Distance triathlon, Rutland Water, 09.09.17
Sion Lewis took part in Vitruvian Middle Distance triathlon on Saturday at Rutland Water  The race turned out to also be the British championship. Sion wrote: “After a nice leisurely 1.9km swim in the beautiful lake, I made up some ground on the undulating 85k bike course before I got to enjoy the run and clock a 1:26 half marathon. I just dipped under 5hrs with a 4hrs 57 finish time and came in 146th out of 529 men and 30th in age category.”
Full Results can be found here:

Parkruns
Check out the parkruns for this week here – Leigh James was the only Heathsider who came first in any of the parkruns! She was first lady at Finsbury Park in 20.03 

FULL RESULTS

Vitruvian Middle Distance triathlon, Rutland Water, 09.09.17
Sion Lewis: 4hrs 57 finish time ( 146th out of 529 men and 30th in age)

'30 van Amsterdam Noord', Amsterdam, 10.09.17
171st Bas Vlaming 2.47.13

Great North run, Newcastle, 10.09.17
Natan Doron  310 01:24:03 (PB) 
James McBride  1140 01:32:06 
Sarah Illingworth 7830 01:52:34 
Yvette Ralston  8235 01:53:18

Farnham Pilgrim Marathon. Farnham, 10.09.17
Amy Luyendijk. 04:07:01 (10th female)

YA Middlesex Road Relays, Minet Circuit, Hayes 10.09.17

U11 1500m straight race
Hattie Munday 3rd girl

U13 Boy  3 x 3000m
4th London Heathside 'A' (Max Deasy 12.08, Stan Hasson 11.49, Spike Blake 11.13 (4th fastest leg)
London Heathside 'B' (Jack Davis-Black 11.10 – 3rd fastest leg Middx, Sebe Nikosi-Rawles 12.39)

U15 Boy 3 x 3000m

5th London Heathside 'A'  (Thomas Archer 10.14 (2nd fastest leg), Oliver O'Connor 11.28, Stan Brown 11.56)

9th London Heathside 'B' (Luke Lewer 12.01, Lewis Selwyn 12.01, Kit Naylor 12.31)

U17 Men  3 x 3000m

Incomplete team (Liam Garrett 9.31 (2nd fastest leg), Kenneth Boulton 10.28)

U15 Girl 3 x 3000m

2nd London Heathside (Rose Garrett 11.06 (fastest leg Middx), Mimi Blake 12.40, Nell Swinhoe 11.54)

U17 Women 3 x 3000m

Incomplete team London Heathside (Ella Conlon 11.52, Meg Naylor 12.26)

Full results can be found here