Heathside Success in Trent Park Cross Country Fest; best of the rest

The bulk of last weekend’s action took place up the road in Cockfosters (made a nice change to end up there for a reason other than falling asleep on the Piccadilly line after one too many…) as Trent Park hosted both the NWLL Cross County meet for the youngsters, while the Sorority and Fraternity Cups took place straight after for the seniors. News of some strong running and more Heathside silverware to follow below, along with some PBs from northern Spain, a new V60 club record and a couple of other PBs spotted on Power of 10 in the results section!

On to Trent Park and big thanks to both Simon Baker and Caroline White for doing the leg work on the reports. First, here’s Simon with how the youngsters got on:

North West London Youth XC League, Trent Park, Saturday 24th November

"There was another great turnout of 29 young Heathsiders for the 3rd NWLL fixture of the season at Trent Park.  Rose Garrett maintained her 100% winning record in the U15 Girls while Benjy Bediako secured 2nd in the U11 Boys with Mimi Blake 3rd again in the U17 Women. The stand out team performance was the U11 Boys victory by almost 50 points while the both U15 teams finished 2nd.

While the course was predominantly mud free for the youth team races the rough grassland posed a challenge for the younger athletes and combined with an uphill finish times were generally slower as a result.  The meeting also saw runners from Orion Harriers competing as part of the Chingford XC league, while the absence of many ESM and Hillingdon runners suggests they chose to focus on next week's Met League meeting.

The U11 Girls started the meeting and Selma Lawrence ran her first race of the season finishing over a minute quicker than her time last year while Elkie Baker also improved her time by over 40 seconds.

The U11 Boys had their best turnout of the year. Benjy, recovered from injury, finished 2nd, also improving his time from last year by 2 minutes showing his progression over the last 12 months. Ben Redland, in his first club XC race, finished in an excellent 4th place and as he will still be an U11 next year the future looks bright. Eric Beale crossed the line close behind in 5th, his highest finish so far and with Kamran Bakhshi another debutant in 19th, Gus Kendall (20th) and Levi Simmons (34th) the Boys won the team event convincingly by 46 points from Harrow. The result moved them up 4 places and they are now league leaders with TVH on 23 points

The U13 girls who run alongside the U11 Boys also had their best turnout of the season with the team led home by Izzy Fornasari-Watkins in 5th and Hattie Munday, who has run all our races this season, not far behind in 11th. This race saw them supported by three debutants: Libby Judd-Hawkes in 41st; Nancy Forsyth (52nd); and Mabel Smith (53rd). Welcome to the world of cross country girls!

The U13 Boys were without Spike Blake this time as he was watching football in Manchester. In his absence Stan Hasson anchored the team finishing 5th with Ivor Joslin next in 10th with our final runner Max Deasy finishing 22nd. Despite having only 3 runners the team finished 4th.

The U15 Girls race was again won by Rose Garrett who has won all three NWLL meetings and only needs one more to make sure of the Age Group Title. Mia Manttan followed 8 sec behind in 3rd with Martha Lucas (23rd) and Fabienne Weston (24th) ensuring the team finished 2nd overall to Harrow by just 1 point. The team now lead the age group and have a strong chance of a podium finish at the Middlesex Championships.

The U15 Boys have been our largest group of competitors this season with 13 runners and were again were well represented. The team produced a strong team performance ahead of the championship races finishing 2nd to Decorum.  Bedo Draskoczy was first home in 4th with Jack Davis-Black in 7th just piped on the line by a Queens Park Harrier. Scoring was completed by Lucas Maher and Sam Ingram. The B team of Alex Reed, Ray Edwin, Kit Naylor an John Carey all provided great support.  The team are 2nd overall in the league.

Mimi Blake was our only competitor in the U17 Girls age group finishing 3rd again and currently leads the overall standings in this age group.

The club remain 5th overall but have closed the gap on the teams above.  The next NWLL fixture now is not until 16th Feburary at Hampstead Heath Extension.  The next and last XC race of the year is the Met League on Saturday at Uxbridge which is a real challenge including a river crossing (weather permitting) and former ski slope for older age groups. The club are currently 3rd in the Junior standings.  In addition those who want to enter the Middlesex Cross Country Championships, in which Heathside are the current Senior Women and U13 Boys Champions, on Saturday 5th January need to let Ruth Miller know by 21st December. Medals are awarded to all the runners in the top 3 teams not just the scorers.”

Now over to Caroline for a rundown of the seniors race:

Sorority & Fraternity Cross Country Cup, Trent Park, Saturday 24th November

 “30 Heathsiders headed over to Trent Park last Saturday afternoon to take place in the Fraternity and Sorority cross country race there. The Fraternity Cup was first awarded by Hampstead Harriers in 1933 to celebrate comradeship, and the Sorority Cup was added later for ladies competition. Men and Ladies race together over a 7.8K (5ish miles) hilly course, and Trent Park has been the host for this race for many years. Half way through the race the course cuts back on itself meaning that the second half of the field are running towards the first half, and could cheer on their teammates. Unusually for XC, it’s a joint race, men and women running together.

The men’s A team won the Fraternity Cup, led home by Seyfu who had a great run and came in 2nd place overall, and the rest of the A team followed closely after - Tom Aldred 4th, Charles Hardy 5th, Liam Garrett 7th, Francesco Melloni 19th and Stuart Meiklejohn 48th. The B and C team were all closely packed in behind and it was good to see Bob Gould back on XC form after some time out following injury.

The women’s A team were led home by Satu who had a speedy run and came in 12th women, followed by Tatyana 21st, Jessica 40th and Natalie 50th.

It’s a great, inclusive race with a fantastic and friendly atmosphere . Thoroughly enjoyed by all!"

San Sebastián Marathon and Half Marathon, Sunday 25th November

Two Heathsiders travelled to the gourmet capital of Spain last weekend and both returned home with PBs! Jack Hardy took on the full marathon and was pleased with his finish after a few weeks out injured, while Louisa Pointon shaved around 90 seconds off her previous best in the half to come home in 92:33.

Wolverton 5 (Milton Keynes), Sunday 25th November

Pete Crockford set a new V60 record for a 5 mile road race as he took part in this race, which included the Buckinghamshire County and East Midlands Masters’ championships. Pete negotiated the ‘twisty bumpy paths around lakes in Milton Keynes’ and contended with woodchip and grass sections as he ended up pretty please to finish in 31:23 and set that new record.  

Hackney Primary Schools Cross Country League, Race #1, Monday 26th November

Last but not least, there’s more news of XC success, as proud Mum Amy Spiller let us know that up-and-coming Heathside star Benji Bediako picked up where he left off at Trent Park to come 1st out of around 100 boys from primary schools across Hackney in a 1.4k race over Hackney Downs. The win was made all the sweeter by pipping a Met League rival from Victoria Park & Tower Hamlets - great stuff, Benji! There are three more races in the series, so we look forward to hearing more over the winter.

Parkruns:

Only one Heathside first finish this week, so congrats to Sif Sumarlidadottir at Ally Pally, although Dan Johns also gets a shoutout for a sub-18 finish on his 100th parkrun at Victoria Dock. As ever, full list of runs here. 

Full Weekly Results:

RunThrough Chase The Moon 5k, Olympic Park, Wednesday 21st Nov

4         18:27 Phil Hogg (PB)

NWLL Cross Country, Trent Park, Saturday 24th Nov

U11 Girls - 1400m - (41 runners)

18th Elkie Baker 8:2922nd Selma Lawrence 8:34

8th London Heathside 70 pts

U11 Boys - 2450m - (49 runners)

2nd Benjy Bediako 10:564th Ben Redland 11:025th Eric Beale 11:2419th Kamran Bakhshi 12:2120th Gus Kendall 12:2734th Levi Simmons 13:58

1st London Heathside 28 pts

U13 Girls - 2450m - (57 runners)

5th Izzy Fornasari-Watkins 11:1711th Hattie Munday 11:4141st Libby Judd-Hawkes 13:1352nd Nancy Forsyth 14:1953rd Mabel Smith 14:19

6th London Heathside 55 pts

U13 Boys - 3000m - (42 runners)

5th Stan Hasson 12:3810th Ivor Joslin 13:0222nd Max Deasy 13:55

4th London Heathside 71 pts

U15 Girls - 3000m - (27 runners)

1st Rose Garrett 13:223rd Mia Manttan 13:3123rd Martha Lucas 16:5224th Fabienne Weston 16:55

2nd London Heathside 25 pts

U15 Boys - 4200m - (50 runners)

4th Bedo Draskoczy 15:497th Jack Davis-Black 16:1414th Lucas Maher 16:5116th Oliver O'Connor 16:5519th Sam Ingram 17:0229th Arthur Reed 17:5132nd Raymond Edwin 18:0335th Kit Naylor 18:0844th John Carey 29:14

2nd London Heathside 41 pts9th London Heathside B 112 pts

U17 Women - 4200m - (13 runners)

3rd Mimi Blake 18:17

4th London Heathside 29 pts

Sorority and Fraternity Cup, Saturday 24th Nov

Senior Men     

Senior Men    
2         25:10 Seyfu Jamaal    U20 M
4         25:31 Tom Aldred    V35 M
5         26:31 Charles Hardy    SEN M
7         26:55 Liam Garrett    U20
19       28:01 Francesco Melloni    SEN     
48       29:24 Stuart Meiklejohn    V35     
50       29.25 Scarlett Parker V45
52       29:29 Marco Serena    V35     
62       29:52 Rajiv Ratan    SEN     
74       30:38 Lee Connor    V50     
83       30:58 Kenneth Boulton    U20     
93       31:12 Robert Shulman    V50     
95       31:20 Olly Murray    V40     
96       31:28 Gareth Marshall    V35      
114     32:12 Gavin Evans    V55
117     32:16 Liam Hazelton    V35      
128     33:23 Tony Killilea    V50      
156     34:59 Richard Peachmentt    V50
192     38:13 Alan Nash    V50
202     39:38 Michael Hickey    V55     
218     46:04 Bob Gould    V75           

Senior Women

12       33:24 Satu Hietanen    V45      
21       34:15 Tatyana Potiyenko    SEN       
40       36:58 Jessica Vinluan    V35      
50       37:52 Natalie Shoham    SEN      
57       38:24 Caroline White    V60      
71       39:58 Kimberli Butler    SEN      
83       41:04 Ann Woulfe    V35      
87       41:31 Rebecca Marshall    SEN      
95       42:17 Marianne Gibson    V50

RunThrough Half Marathon, Lee Valley VeloPark, Saturday 24th Nov

6        87:48 Stephen Barron (PB)

San Sebastián Marathon, Sunday 25th Nov

760   3:21:58  Jack Hardy (PB)

San Sebastián Half Marathon, Sunday 25th Nov

404   92:33    Louisa Pointon (PB)

Wolverton 5, Milton Keynes, Sunday 25th Nov

69   31:23   Pete Crockford (V60 Club Record)

This week's report compiled by Gareth. Thanks again to Simon and Caroline for their reports, any errors or omissions please let us know at lheathside@gmail.com - cheers!