Gruel before the feast for Heathside, in a tough stretch at Wormwood Scrubs

Among the many things that make the Met League such a compelling competition is its unpredictability. A magnificent 97 Heathsiders turned up at Wormwood Scrubs on Saturday expecting mud and puddles after a stormy week, only to find the course as dry, grassy, and forgiving as it’s ever been. What the course gave, however, the weather took away, with strong winds favouring the smaller, skinnier runners over the tall and broad; perhaps that’s why Richard Macaulay chose to stay away this time. Furthermore, after the extra competition added by Cambridge University’s runners at Stevenage last month (fat lot of good that did them - they lost the Varsity X/C to Oxford at Wimbledon Common on Saturday), I expected a less competitive sharp-end to both Senior Women’s and Men’s races this time. Wrong again: competition at the front was at least as stiff as at Stevenage, and the challenge has left our teams with plenty still to do at the final two fixtures of the season, if we are to meet our lofty ambitions.

Among the Junior races, several individual performances caught the eye. Arthur Reed finished 9th from 46 finishers in the Under-11 Boys and Girls race - tidy running, Arthur (or may we call you Art? It has a more Wormwood Scrubs ring to it, I feel). Ruairi McGonagle, who moved up from the Under-11s to the Under-13 Boys this season, is finding his feet at the new level, and stormed to a magnificent 3rd place from the 55 finishers - a truly terrific run from a very talented and determined young athlete. In the Under-15 Girls/Under-17 Women’s race, Meg Naylor turned in another strong performance, finishing 14th from the 60 finishers, and 4th among the 42 Under-15s. William Griffiths finished 17th in the 79-strong Under-15 Boys/Under-17 Men’s race, with Liam Garrett finishing 42nd, and 13th among the 44 Under-15s. Great running from Heathside Juniors!

In the Senior Women’s Race (6km, 175 finishers), injuries and absences thinned the Heathside squad a little at Wormwood Scrubs. Nonetheless, 24 hardy women enjoyed the flat, dry course, with new member Anna O’Hare leading the club home, in 19th position. Anna is a fantastic addition to our impressive Women’s squad, and put in another inspiring run, chasing down some very quick runners at the front of the race. Cas Wright continued to demonstrate her potential as a race-winner, with another exceptional run, following Anna home in 20th place. Behind Anna and Cas, Heathside stalwarts Celine Murray (23rd), Rachel Newstead (24th), Sue Rust (28th), and Leigh James (34th) packed in excellently to complete the A-team.

Further back, Bethany Scott had an excellent Met League debut, finishing 7th for Heathside, and 42nd overall. I have a feeling that Bethany will get stronger as her experience of English cross-country grows (she’s an Aussie, you know). Ula Cartwright-Finch (50th) demonstrated why, with Collette Monahan (54th), she is the new Fantasy Met League favourite at Heathside this season. Cathy Jeremiah marked her long recovery from injury with a true Captain’s performance, finishing 53rd.

Genevieve Weston has shown that she is not fazed by her step up to the Senior Women’s race this season. Genevieve finished 77th on Saturday, and 7th Under-20. Jackie Wastell put in a hard shift to finish 84th and 3rd V-50. Valerie Keller-Cruchet, in 163rd made up the back of another terrific showing by Heathside’s magnificent Women.

In the Women’s Team Competitions, Heathside’s A-team finished 3rd on the day, and lies 3rd after three fixtures. With H*ghgate’s A-team so strong this season, retaining our title looks a bit of a stretch. I know better than to write us off, however! If H*ghgate suffer a few injuries, or unforeseen absences, we’ll be right back in there. Like last season, Heathside are the dark horses! Not so dark is the Women’s B-team (Bethany Scott, Ula C-F, Captain Cathy, Colette Monahan, Estibaliz Guijarro, at the Scrubs), who finished second in Division Two on Saturday, and sit proudly atop the league after three fixtures. Promotion beckons, ladies! Heathside’s C-team was third in Division Two on Saturday, and is now fourth after three fixtures, still in with a chance of joining the B-team in promotion. Among the Vets teams, our Women’s A-team lie second in Division One after three fixtures. Our B-team are currently 5th, while our C-team sits proudly atop Division Two.

With so many teams and age categories to compete for, every single woman’s race counts, so a huge thank you to everyone who took on the Scrubs on Saturday and won. Nice one, Heathside Women! Relax for a few weeks now, and get ready for the second half of the season in January.

Moving on to the Senior Men’s Race (8km, 443 finishers), 60 Heathsiders took on the course, and  came through with flying colours. Tom Aldred showed exactly why he is one of the region’s strongest cross-country runners by returning from a long injury to lead his club home in emphatic fashion, finishing 24th in a field that contained some of the country’s quickest competitors. Good to have you back in the blue, red, and gold, Tom! Not far behind Tom, Olivier le Polain (37th) had another great run, as did James Wooldridge (54th). Charles Hardy demonstrated why he is one of the club’s brightest prospects with a 68th place finish.

A year ago, when making his cross-country debut for Heathside at Hillingdon, Kimon Doulis snagged a foot on a tree root and fractured his ankle. What a difference a year makes! Kimon has steadily been making his way through the Met League ranks this season, and claimed 118th spot on Saturday, to finish 9th for Heathside. Other improvers who caught the eye were Ben Wolfe (150th, and first B-team scorer), Sam Thompson (151st), and Jonathan Hopkin (156th, and the first Heathside Vet to finish).

There were some epic-looking battles going on throughout the field. Stuart Meiklejohn (172nd), saw off Adam Mitchell (173rd), while Paul Jarman (202nd) won a tussle with Mario Cadete (203rd), and Jacob Howe (205th). Olly Hopkins (222nd) came out on top in a three-way face-off with Nelson Wandasiewicz (223rd), and Jonathan Litchfield (224th), while Dom Jackson (229th) held on from Tony Shearer (230th), and Pete Bakewell (231st).

Huge congratulations to Pete Crockford (247th), who was 1st in the V-55 category. In the second half of the field it was great to see some determined running from Neil Mitchell (320th, and 6th V-60), Neil Davies (394th and 1st V-65), Adrian Essex (421st and 5th V-65), and the indomitable Bob Gould (434th, and 4th V-70). Once again, Heathside’s hardy Men - from front to back -demonstrated exactly why cross-country is a sport for all.

In the team competition, Heathside Men’s A-team (Tom Aldred, Olivier le Polain, James Wooldridge, Charles Hardy, Andrew Brooker, Tom Livermore, Ryan McCrickerd, Rob O’Grady, Kimon Doulis, Dan McKeown, Jacob Phillips, Tom Stephenson) finished sixth in Division One, and now lie fourth after three fixtures. A top three finish this season is still a possibility, but we’ll need everyone out at Horsenden Hill in January if that’s to happen. The good news is that - for the first time in Jacob Howe’s extraordinary memory - our A-team on Saturday did not include a single veteran. Why is this good news, you ask? Well, it indicates that a new, young generation of Heathsiders is making its way to the fore. Our Dear Leader could not be happier about this, and despite being one of the Vets that’s slipping down the finishing order myself, neither could I. 

Meanwhile, our Men’s B-team is on a roll this season. Despite a relatively disappointing fifth place finish on Saturday, the B-team stands in the second promotion spot in Division Two after three fixtures, with a good chance of coming out as Div Two Champions. Let’s do this, Heathside! The Men’s C-team is also doing itself proud this year, finishing 6th in Division Two on Saturday, to lie 5th after three fixtures.

In the Vets category, our Men’s A-team is experiencing possibly the most significant challenge to its 8-year reign as Division One Champions. Serpentine Vets won the fixture again on Saturday, to extend their lead at the summit of Division One. There’s all still to play for, but we need our Vets up and at ‘em at Perivale in January, so take it easy on the mince pies this festive season, gents! The Vets B-team finished 5th in Division One, and our doughty C-team finished 9th. The C-team stands in 8th position after three fixtures, only just above the relegation zone. So, Messrs Mitchell, Reed, De Sausmarez, Owen, Hudson, Weston, Heap, et al, we need you fit and ready, come January. Time for that spirit of determination, gents!

As always, my heartfelt thanks to every Heathsider who wore the vest so proudly at Wormwood Scrubs. You are the pride of your captains and your club, and I salute you all for your team spirit. I hope everyone made it for their respective squad photos. I would also like to thank everyone who came out to support and cheer us on. On behalf of all who ran, many, many thanks to Our Dear Leader, Jerry Odlin, and the indefatigable Pete Holland, who took on the task of making sure we all wore the right running numbers, and collating Heathside results at the end. It is always a pleasure to hand over my finishing disk to the Likely Lads at the end of each race.

The fourth Met League fixture is on Saturday 16th January, at Horsenden Hill, Perivale. Meanwhile, enjoy the Heathside Xmas Party, and the break from cross-country. We’ve had a fine first half of the season, and I know you’ll all be ready to finish things off in style come the New Year!

COME ON YOU HEATHSIDE!

Flickr album via Steve Woolf

Results

U11 Boys & Girls Development Race      

9  Arthur Reed  7:04  

U13 Boys       

3  Ruairi McGonagle  12:18  

U13 Girls       

11  Rose Garrett  14:37  

33  Kate Driscoll  16:40  

U17 Men       

17  William Griffiths  13:30  (11 position U17M)

41  Luke Gray  14:28  (25 position U17M)

42  Liam Garrett  14:33  (13 position U15M)

43  Antanas Weston  14:34  (26 position U17M)

60  Amar Aiyar-Majeed  15:15  (31 position U17M)

68  Gabriel Bazzarelli  15:40  (28 position U15M)

U17 Women       

14  Meg Naylor  15:54  (4 position U15F)

36  Phoebe Crockford  17:25  (19 position U15F)

51  Phoebe Adugna  19:01  (6 position ?F)

Senior Women       

19  Anna O'Hare*  26:41  

20  Dorcas Wright  26:44  

23  Celine Murray  26:56  

24  Rachel Newstead  27:11  

28  Sue Rust  27:25  (3 position V35F)

34  Leigh James  27:35  

42  Bethany Scott  28:11  

50  Ula Cartwright-Finch  28:22  (6 position V35F)

53  Cathy Jeremiah  28:28  

54  Colette Monahan  28:28  

56  Estibaliz Guijarro  28:40  

60  Alice Hoskins  28:47  

61  Ourida Sid  28:59  (4 position V40F)

62  Angela Howe  29:04  (5 position V40F)

70  Lea Michaels  29:19  

76  Jodie Gray  29:43  

77  Genevieve Weston  29:55  (7 position U20F)

84  Jackie Wastell  30:29  (3 position V50F)

94  Madeleine Minson  31:11  (7 position V45F)

115  Ruth Miller  32:06  (4 position V55F)

116  Edyta Szot  32:10  (7 position V40F)

145  Kim Butler  35:21  

159  Alison Harrow  36:45  (15 position V45F)

163  Valerie Keller-Cruchet  37:04       

Senior Men       

24  Tom Aldred  25:42  

37  Olivier Le Polain  26:02  

54  James Wooldridge  26:30  (4 position U20M)

68  Charles Hardy  27:00  

78  Andrew Brooker  27:22  

94  Tom Livermore  27:52  

102  Ryan McCrickerd  28:00  

111  Rob O'Grady  28:13  

118  Kimon Doulis  28:21  

126  Dan McKeown  28:30  

130  Jacob Phillips  28:35  

136  Tom Stephenson  28:42  

150  Ben Wolfe  28:59  

151  Sam Thompson  29:00  

156  Jonathan Hopkin  29:05  (7 position V45M)

160  Chris Hartley  29:13  (3 position V50M)

166  Howard Gold  29:20  (8 position V45M)

172  Stuart Meiklejohn  29:29  

173  Adam Mitchell  29:30  

178  Chris Shipley  29:37  

186  Paul Mercer  29:44  

188  Alan Whatmough  29:46  

193  Dave Browne  29:51  (6 position V50M)

200  Daniel Jackson*  30:00  

202  Paul Jarman  30:02  (7 position V50M)

203  Mario Cadete  30:03  

205  Jacob Howe  30:03  

209  Kris Milovsorov  30:19  

215  Gareth Marshall  30:28  

216  Norman Mitchell  30:29  (8 position V50M)

217  Joe McKeown  30:30  

222  Olly Hopkins  30:36  

223  Nelson Wandasiewicz  30:37  

224  Jonathan Litchfield  30:38  

229  Dominic Jackson  30:46  (10 position V50M)

230  Tony Shearer  30:47  

231  Pete Bakewell  30:47  

233  Jake Spencer  30:53  

239  Marco Luna  31:08  

247  Pete Crockford  31:21  (1 position V55M)

249  Paul Lemmon  31:23  

261  Benjamin Jenks  31:51  

267  Alan Latham  32:04  

285  James Dark  32:43  

286  David Hallam  32:44  

298  Henry Hamilton  32:57  

320  Neil Mitchell  33:54  (6 position V60M)

325  Elliot Reed  34:03  

350  Nick De Sausmarez  34:46  

351  Andy Owen  34:47  

360  Andrew Hudson  35:14  

368  Russell Weston  35:50  

371  Ben Montilla  35:57  

392  Carl Heap  37:05  

394  Neil Davies  37:20  (1 position V65M)

396  Ray Watts  37:28  

397  Tim Sander  37:28  

416  Ken Townson  39:10  

421  Adrian Essex  39:43  (5 position V65M)

434  Bob Gould  41:53  (4 position V70M)