Heathsiders pound the pavements in XC interlude

Heathsiders hit the tarmac this weekend in an interlude between cross-country racing, with the Stevenage Half drawing the biggest crowd of navy, gold and red vests. Sarah Swinhoe blew away the opposition to take first place and Steve Monaghan led the men home for a third place team finish.

With the Stevenage Half done and dusted only one race remains in the Rob Jackson Road Race Championship – the Perivale 5 on 1 December – and clear leaders are emerging. Will Cathy Jeremiah and Julian Ferraro be reeled in? Check out the up-to-date tables on the club champsionships webpage here.

Other exotic destinations visited by Heathsiders for road races this weekend were Billericay and Marlow, with some action closer to home, too. Monika and Emerson pounded the pavements for 10k in Essex, a good Marlow half made up for a bit of disappointment in Amsterdam for Phil, and Carl trotted out 10k in Regent’s Park. [Correction: I had taken a reference to Carl 'running as a choir boy' to mean he ran dressed as a choir boy. Such a wild imagination ... with Halloween not long ago I thought that may explain things. I was wrong. Carl did not run dressed as a choir boy, just as part of the Crouch End Festival Chorus team. You can stop looking for photos. Sorry Carl.] Rebecca, meanwhile, broke 19 minutes in the Oak Hill parkrun for what looks like a 5k PB .

Before handing you over to Gavin for a quick report on the Stevenage Half a reminder about the upcoming Met League, which takes place this Saturday, incidentally also in Stevenage. It’s the second race of the season, and as Captain Chris has already made clear … COME ON HEATHSIDE! In other words, grab your vest, grab your spikes and see you there, ready to race and ready to rabble. You should have received an e-mail about the fixture last week, but info about race times, transport etc can also be found here.

A pre-Met League visit to the streets of Stevenage:

“Sarah Swinhoe took top honours at a dry but windy Stevenage Half Marathon on Sunday. Despite being ill during the week, she was the first woman by five minutes, and, of course, also the first V35 (there was no V40 category), completing the irritatingly undulating course in 1:23:13.
 
Steve Monaghan was the first of our men home in a solid time (given the wind) of 1:18:32. He missed out of one of the V40 prizes because three of the first four in this race were veterans. Julian Ferraro (1:21:25) was second in, followed by Gavin Evans (1:23:05), Sarah, and then Henry Andrews (130:43) - although Patrick Waldron edged him when it came to chip time.
 
Fourteen of our runners completed the race, several for the first time, and at least one, Rob Bowler, picked up a PB. Heathside were the third men’s team.”

Results as follows:

Stevenage Half Marathon, 03/11/2013

(Chip times, but finish time places)

8. Steve Monaghan  - 1:18:32 (5th V40)

14. Julian Ferraro – 1:21:25 (8th V40)

19. Gavin Evans – 1:23:05 (4th V50)

21. Sarah Swinhoe – 1:23:13 (first woman)

60. Henry Andrews – 1:30:43

62. Patrick Waldron – 1:30:34

70. Will Whitaker – 1:31:43

141. Max Mastro – 1:38:50

156. Gavin Parish – 1:39:45

162. Rob Bowler – 1:40:40 (PB)

178. Michelle Banks – 1:41:33

253. Jesper Lycke-Petersen – 1:48:36

369. Sarah Illingworth – 1:56:44

535. Ruth Kiang – 2:14:54

583 finishers

Marlow Half Marathon, 03/11/2013 

45th Philip Hogg 1.28.50 

Mornington Chasers Regents Park 10k

111th Carl Heap 45:27

248th Tony Shepherd 53:56

Billericay 10k

348 Monika Thaler 53:36

39th Emerson Paul 40:20

Parkruns

Finsbury Park 

16 Costi STAVRIANAKIS 00:20:01

17 Richard HEWETT 00:20:06

19 Kris MILOVSOROV 00:20:26

23 Russell WESTON 00:20:40

37 Brian BOYLE 00:21:46

56 Tammela PLATT 00:23:17

64 James PARKER 00:23:42

79 Caroline BOYLE 00:24:14

108 Alice PARISH 00:25:51

Gladstone

8 Nick DE SAUSMAREZ 00:20:19

Hampstead Heath

6 John DRISCOLL 00:19:32

11 Asa CUSACK 00:20:26

13 Joseph MCKEOWN 00:20:36

98 Bob GOULD 00:25:52

Highbury Fields

15 Tim MARSHALL 00:19:42

52 Ben CLARKE-JANSSEN 00:23:51

66 Claire THORNHILL 00:25:20

Oak Hill

1 Edward SAMUEL 00:17:28

4 Rebecca BUNTING 00:18:58

Preston Park

18 Mark DERRY 00:19:59

Whitstable

39 Julie KHAN 00:24:02