Heathside become North London Champions, quick times at Leeds Abbey, & Jim's New York Marathon experience

London Heathside added more silverware at the Norh London XC Championships, and Seyfu Jamaal claimed his second win in a week to pick up the individual prize. Heathside bagged a second trophy as the Men’s team were crowned Champions in the team event ( six to score ), with the Vets team  in 4th place.

The Women also picked up silverware, through Olivia Desborough’s third place in the individual, and placing second in the team event ( four to score ), with the Vets team in 6th place

North London Championships XC, Hackney Marshes , 3/11/18 

Men

1              Seyfu Jamaal                    28.32

4              Charles Hardy                   29.25

6              Ewan Gault                       29.57

11           Andy Barnes                      30.35

19           Francesco  Melloni            31.31

21           Peter Gould                       31.34

27           Alex Sweet                         31.45

32           Daniel  Haile                      32.03

41           Luke Wynne                      32.58

50           Jonathan Litchfield            33.33

53           Lee Connor                       34.03

57           Joe Clemoes                     34.16

58           Rajiv Ratan                        34.22

59           Tom Haworth                    34.25

61           Andy Owen                        34.33

71           Rob Shulman                    35.31

82           Liam Hazelton                   36.55

84           Jonathan Parker                37.22

92           Tom Storr                          38.48

95           Carl Heap                          39.26

 106         Tim Sander                          42.18

107         D.Wilkey                            42.41

Women

3              Olivia Desborough           24.32    

16           Tatyana Potiyenko            26.35

17           Satu Heitanen                   26.38

23           Louisa Pointon                  27.07

31           Chloe Bean                       27.56

46           Sarah Duke                      30.29

47           Caroline White                  30.36

70           Rebecca Sweet                33.02

71           Ann Woulfe                       33.20

Youth Cross Country Update

 There were no youth races last weekend, but Simon Baker provides a summary of where the teams currently stand in their leagues

“ In the Met League the Juniors currently sit 3rd overall but are only 0.5 points behind 2nd place Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers.  Within the respective age groups the U11 Boys are 2nd while both the Junior Men and Women (U15/U17) are in 3rd place.

 Heathside is currently 5th overall in the NWLL with the U15 boys team 2nd and U15 Girls 3rd with 4 Heathsiders (Benjy, Spike, Rose and Mimi) the leading runner in their age groups after 2 of the five races completed

 On an individual basis 39 different runners have run for the club so far this season.   In the U11's Benjy Bediako is leading both leagues with Kiara Corkin is 3rd in the Met League.  In the U13's Hattie Munday lies 7th in the NWLL while Spike Blake is 1st with 100% record, he is also currently 4th in the Met League.  In the U15's Rose Garrett has 2 wins in the NWLL and is 5th in the Met league Junior Women rankings (2nd U15).  Ruairi McGonagle is the highest placed boy in the Met League at 27th (8th U15).  In the U17's Mimi Blake leads the NWLL and Lemi Mideska is 4th in the Met League ..

The next club race is The Met League on Saturday 10th at Welwyn followed by the third NWLL meeting at Trent Park on the 24th.  Details can be found on the website diary section."

Leeds Abbey Dash 10K, Leeds, 4/11/18

Moving on to the road racing section, there were fast times at the Leeds Abbey 10K, including a PB’s for Drew  & Kelly

101         Drew Brooker                   32.30  PB

140         Thomas Clark                   33.15

351         Kelly Thorneycroft             36.22 ( PB, 25thF )

948         Andrew Wooding              42.16

Deal Castle 5, Deal,  4/11/18

Martin and Jackie completed the Deal 5 miler in blustery conditions but both were pleased to come away with new age group club records with Jackie also coming 1st in her age category

Martin Potter      28.39                      9th overall ( 2nd V50 )

Jackie Wastell    35.50,                    5th female ( 1st V55 )

New York City Marathon, 4/11/18

" Jimbob takes Manhattan - My 4th marathon of the year and the easily most challenging course.

 Off the back of a good run in Berlin I was looking for another solid performance.  I had unfinished business as I’d ran this race 2 years ago carrying a calf knock, so I knew what I was in for. Running these USA big city marathons is very exciting but I can only get out there for a “quick weekend” which makes for a whirlwind trip. I do tend to sacrifice a bit of race day performance as I’m not one to sit around in a crazy town like New York. I caught up with friends, shopped, walked around Manhattan and also took part in a “social” Abbot NYC 5k on the Saturday morning. (Easy paced of course). I racked up 80,000 steps for the weekend!

 The weather was a bit all over the place, but on race day it was perfect for marathon running conditions – cool, calm and bright sunshine cue the aviators!  Anyone who has done this race knows that you have to get over to Staten Island very early as they release the start in waves.  I’d travelled from New Jersey on the NJ Shuttle bus and it got me there ridiculously early. I was hanging around for 3 hours before going to my start pen.  After a rendition of The Star Spangled Banner and a few cannons going off and making me jump out of my skin, the race got going. The first mile is uphill across the GINORMOUS Verrazano Bridge. After that the course undulates the whole way round. The atmosphere in Brooklyn is amazing with loads of rowdy American spectators yelling at you. The race is through the Five Boroughs – Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Manhattan.  The Queensboro Bridge is particularly challenging at 15 miles as you rise up for a while, and although it’s not steep, it goes on and on until the last minute when you drop into Manhattan for the first time and head North up 1st Ave for a few miles with the crowds just screaming at you. The mayhem continues all the way through the Bronx and then back down (uphill) 5th Ave until you turn into Central Park for the last couple of miles of mainly downhill twisty turny parkrunning.  I picked it up through the park and reached the finish in 3.18.27 (placing 3,190 out of 52,697 finishers) very relieved and having left every bit of energy out on course. This was a very good run for me off my dwindling fitness. There were times when I felt like I might not finish, mind management was definitely a factor – as it is for anyone in any marathon really!  The New York Marathon is really an amazing race to be a part of and I recommend it. It’s almost on a par with London – they are the two best marathons in the world for atmosphere. " 

                        3190       Jim Connell                       3.18.27

Royal Parks 10K Winter Series,  Greenwich Park,  4/11/18

Unfortunately there was an issue with incorrect course measurement in this race, as Laura Hunt reports;

“ New member Thom Hart did his first race for London Heathside at the Royal Parks 10km Winter Series in Greenwich Park ... and did a pb of 39.20. The course was marked incorrectly and they actually ended up running 10.3km so his official time on the results is 40.51.”

7              Thom Hart                                        40.50

 Mornington Chasers Regent’s Park 10K, 4/11/18

38           Mark Jefford                                      40.46

Parkruns - latest results can be found here     

http://www.parkrun.com/results/consolidatedclub/?clubNum=2017                            

Compiled by Mark George, with thanks to contributions from Jim Connell, Martin Potter, Simon Baker and Laura Hunt