Hundred-plus Heathsiders get stuck in at Horsenden Hill

The fourth Met League fixture of the season had everything that makes mid-winter cross-country so compelling - mud, hills, puddles (with a bit of ice), cold, mud, and more mud. Add to that some outstanding individual and team performances and you have the makings of another memorable afternoon for the Heathside faithful, of whom more than 100 did battle with the other clubs at Horsenden Hill and lived to tell the tale. Despite much flouting of Hartley’s Rules* among the ranks, results proved to be more than satisfactory.

(Please note that the official Met League team results were not yet available at the time of writing. Those included here have been calculated by resident Heathside stato, Jacob Howe: so they’re bound to be accurate.)

The course at Perivale has always been known as one for the cross-country purist - its mud is sticky and can be particularly challenging, its hills are testing, and it has several points where the wily can make an attack, not to mention some great rabbling vantage points for spectators. On Saturday, it lived up to its fearsome reputation. It took serious commitment just to get round the course, let alone race it against committed competition. Judging by the looks on many faces at the finish, Heathside came through a testing afternoon with flying colours. Even Gavin Evans’ perennial race-day smile had a hint of defiant grimace about it. All in all, a massive Heathside turnout, and a massive performance!

Starting - in time honoured fashion - with the Juniors, standout individual performances of the day came from Arthur Reed, who finished 10th from 49 finishers in the Under-11s race, Rose Garrett (14th from 42 in the Under-13 Girls race), David Keto (7th from 58 in the Under-17 Men’s race), Jem O’Flaherty (11th in the Under-17 Men’s race, and 3rd Under-15), Liam Garrett (19th in the Under-17 Men’s Race and 5th Under-15), and Meg Naylor, who finished 10th from 46 finishers in the Under-17 Women’s Race. Heathside Juniors are graduating into the Senior races with fantastic results of late - testimony to the fabulous commitment and coaching of Ruth Miller, Russell Weston, Zac and Kabir. Nice one, Heathside nippers ‘n’ coaches!

It is fair to say that Heathside’s Senior Women came to Perivale with some serious work to do. In Division One, our Champions trophy has been seriously under threat from a resurgent H*ghgate all season long. Saturday was make-or-break time. Meanwhile, in Division Two, our fabulous squad has been pushing both the B and C-teams towards promotion. We needed a big performance if any sort of success was to be secured. Another big Women’s field of almost 190 made for some fantastic racing.

In what looked to be a brutal race from the off, H*ghgate’s fastest quartet set a blistering pace through the treacly mud. Behind them Rachel Seckl showed why she is one of Heathside’s brightest talents, giving valiant chase and leading the Heathside contingent home. On what seems to be her favourite course, Rachel finished a superb 10th from 187 runners. The run of the day, however, came from Rebecca Piggott, easing her way back to fitness after a lengthy lay-up through injury with an expertly timed run that all the hallmarks of real cross-country talent. Finishing 12th in a strong field at her first race back in action was a fabulous performance indeed. Cas Wright put her battle around Wormwood Scrubs last week out of her mind with a terrific 16th place finish. Behind Cas, Sue Rust (19th and 1st V-35), Rachel Newstead (25th), and Anna O’Hare (28th) all put in strong shifts, to make up the fourth, fifth, and sixth scorers for the A-team.

Our Women’s B-team has been peerless this season in Division Two. On Saturday Leigh James (29th), Colette Monahan (35th), Captain Cathy Jeremiah (48th), Ula Cartwright-Finch (53rd), and Alice Hoskins (56th) took the prestigious B-team berths with yet another fine performance. Satu Hietanen (58th, and 3rd V-40) led the Women’s C-team home. Back down the field, the massed ranks of Heathsiders did a superb job of shutting out the competition. Welcomes to the Met League this season go to Hannah Carmichael (109th), Catherine Doherty (117th), and Katherine Vinnicombe (131st), a welcome returner after a long injury.

Jacob’s calculations suggest that our Women’s A-team finished in second place at Perivale, behind champions-elect, H*ghgate. Although it looks likely that we will not be repeating our triumph of last season, it must be conceded that H*ghgate have six extremely strong A-teamers this season, and appear to have been lucky enough to avoid injury problems. Still, with one fixture still to go, we’ll push them all the way. The good news from Jacob is that our Women’s B-team looks set for promotion from Division Two, having secured second spot at Perivale. The B-team stands top of Division Two after four fixtures, with the Championship title within touching distance.

Heathside’s Senior Men’s squad has been quietly getting stronger this season, both in terms of speed and size. With 62 Men toeing the line at Perivale, the club once again showed why the future looks so bright. With the earlier races having carved the course up nicely, the men put the finishing touches to what became a total mud-bath. With deep, sticky stuff never far away, the race drained the strength from even the hardiest of runners, making for a battle for survival on the last lap. Tom Aldred not only survived, but thrived in the conditions, finishing 14th from 406 with another superb run. Behind Tom there were outstanding runs from James Wooldridge (25th) Adam Kirk-Smith (27th), Andrew Brooker (41st), Ryan McCrickerd (50th), Charles Hardy (52nd) and Andy Barnes (53rd). Special mentions must go to Kimon Doulis (another huge improvement, finishing 66th), George Stewart (back - with ‘the Kiwi stone’ - from NZ, in 104th), and Jonathan Hopkin (105th), who bagged the A-team berth that his excellent season this year has warranted.

More photos available on Steve Woolf's Flickr photostream - see if you can spot yourself! »

Amongst the great swathe of Heathsiders who packed in behind our A-team, edging our B-team closer to promotion in the process, were Stuart Meiklejohn (124th), and a returning Alan Whatmough (137th). Met League debutant Ed Adams had an excellent run, finishing 141st, and bagging a place in the C-team to boot. Great to see Matt Fassnidge (220th) back out on the course. Hassan Nahal (322nd) put his favourite football boots through their paces at the Met League for the first time this season. Amongst the doughty and battle-hardened towards the back of the field Carl Heap (355th), Tim Sander (356th), Neil Davies (363rd and 2nd V-65), Ken Townson (368th), Andy Conway (379th) and Ray Watts (387th) all put in brave shifts, especially Ray, who landed face first in the mud towards the end of the race. An honourable mention also to James Felstead (268th) who lost a shoe in the mud, went back to retrieve it and then had to re-tie mud-covered laces with frozen fingers before resuming his race. That’s the Heathside spirit right there!

Jacob’s number crunching indicates that Heathside Senior Men’s A-team finished a solid fourth in Division One. Once again, the exciting news is from the B-team, which did well enough again to make promotion to Division One a real prospect. The B-team finished second on Division Two at Perivale, and occupies the second promotion spot after four fixtures. One last push up the hill at Ally Pally next month and we’ll have two teams in the top flight! Sadly, however, it looks as if our 8-year reign as Vets Champions is about to come to an end. Serpentine Vet Men appear to have pipped us for the fourth time this season. It’s not over yet though - one last fixture means that we can still overhaul what looks to be a pretty narrow points gap between Heathside and Serpie. Let’s not allow our winning streak to end without a big fight at Ally Pally!

Many, many thanks indeed to all the helpers and supporters who looked after us so well in the mud on Saturday, especially Phil Hogg, who helped distribute race numbers, Laurel and Hardy (otherwise known as ODL and Pete Holland), who collated the results, Russell Weston who set up (and cleared up) Heathside Base Camp, and Steve, John, Ken and Edyta, who took so many wonderful photos.

One more race to go at the Met League this season - our home fixture at the legendary Ally Pally course on Saturday February 13th. Be part of a massive Heathside grand finale!

* Hartley’s Rules of cross-country running clearly state ‘no second layers, no hats, no gloves, no t-shirts - unless the air temperature is below zero degrees centigrade at the start of the race.’ The rules are based on the belief that if a runner is truly racing he or she will not feel the need for extra clothing. Given that these rules have no support from any statistical source whatsoever, they are regularly ignored. Nonetheless, the originator insists that they be upheld anyway, ‘in order to intimidate the competition’ and ‘to avoid the derision of northerners’.

Results

Under 11 Boys & Girls Development Race (1,500m, 49 finishers)
10 Arthur Reed 8:40
29 Hattie Munday 9:54 (2nd 9yo F)
Under 13 Girls (3,000m, 42 finishers) 
14 Rose Garrett 13:28 
33 Kate Driscoll 15:10Under 17 Junior Men (4,000, 58 finishers)
7 David Keto 13:32
11 Jem O'Flaherty 13:43 (3rd U15 M)
16 William Griffiths 14:01
19 Liam Garrett 14:06 (5th U15 M)
29 Luke Gray 14:59Under 17 Junior Women (4,000m, 46 finishers)
10 Meg Naylor 16:26
35 Phoebe Adugna 19:51Womens Race (6,000m, 187 finishers)
10 Rachel Seckl 24:46 (2nd U20 F)
12 Rebecca Piggott 25:16
16 Dorcas Wright 25:25
19 Sue Rust 25:29 (1st V35 F
25 Rachel Newstead 26:02
28 Anna O'Hare* 26:15
29 Leigh James 26:17
35 Colette Monahan 26:46
48 Cathy Jeremiah 27:27
53 Ula Cartwright-Finch 27:46 (4th V35 F)
56 Alice Hoskins 28:04
58 Satu Hietanen 28:07 (3rd V40 F)
67 Angela Howe 28:34
68 Lea Michaels 28:46
72 Genevieve Weston 29:00
84 Jackie Wastell 29:20 (4th V50 F)
89 Jennifer Wing 29:38
92 Louisa Pointon 29:54
93 Louise Le Ray 29:56 (5th V50 F)
96 Edyta Szot 29:59 (5th V40 F)
107 Caroline White 30:16 (3rd V55 F)
109 Hannah Carmichael 30:28
110 Madeleine Minson 30:29
116 Ruth Miller 30:52 (4th V55 F)
117 Catherine Doherty 30:54
119 Emilia Vynnycky 31:04
131 Katherine Vinnicombe 32:00
156 Kim Butler 35:18
168 Alison Harrow 37:00
172 Laura Boothman 37:46Men's Race (8,000m, 406 finishers)
14 Tom Aldred 30:51
25 James Wooldridge 31:47 (2nd U20 M)
27 Adam Kirk-Smith 31:53
41 Andrew Brooker 32:57
50 Ryan McCrickerd 33:40
52 Charles Hardy 33:44
53 Andy Barnes 33:52
66 Kimon Doulis 34:30
86 Dan McKeown 35:01
104 George Stewart 35:39 (3rd V45 M)
105 Jonathan Hopkin 35:39 (4th V45 M)
114 Tom Stephenson 35:59
122 Chris Norris 36:22
124 Stuart Meiklejohn 36:23
127 Chris Hartley 36:27 (4th V50 M)
129 John Flahive 36:32 (5th V50 M)
130 Andy Welshman 36:36
131 Daniel Jackson* 36:38
137 Alan Whatmough 36:50
138 Jacob Phillips 36:53
141 Edward Adams 36:56
146 Ben Wolfe 37:02
158 Jonathan Litchfield 37:31
163 Howard Gold 37:42
165 Paul Mercer 37:46
178 Dominic Jackson 38:14
187 Adam Ibrahim 38:28
191 Mario Cadete 38:45
205 Jacob Howe 39:08
206 Doug Rendle 39:08
211 Joe McKeown 39:34
214 Marco Luna 39:44
220 Matt Fassnidge 39:58
222 Jake Spencer 40:07
227 Mark George 40:17
235 Andrew Johnston* 40:34
236 Sam Thompson 40:37
241 Kris Milovsorov 40:43
243 Rick Hewitt 40:48
244 Pete Crockford 40:49 (5th V55 M)
257 Michael Tant 41:25
258 James Dark 41:27
259 Gavin Evans 41:30
268 James Felstead 42:02
272 David Hallam 42:10
273 Neil Mitchell 42:10 (2nd V60 M)
277 Alan Latham 42:26
293 Elliot Reed 43:29
300 Ian Whisson 43:43
320 Andrew Hudson 44:57
322 Hassan Nahal 45:14
328 Charles Redfern 45:37
334 Nick De Sausmarez 45:58
339 Russell Weston 46:33
354 Mark Kelder 47:46
355 Carl Heap 47:49
356 Tim Sander 47:52
363 Neil Davies 49:08 (2nd V65 M)
368 Ken Townson 49:44
379 Andy Conway 51:10
387 Ray Watts 52:30