Ickenham 5 and various 10ks
"Ten Heathsiders travelled to the outskirts of London on Sunday to run in the Ickenham 5 mile race, the latest installment in Heathside’s road race championship. It’s reputedly fast and flat, despite the the occasional sharp corner, but the warm conditions on Sunday may not have helped everyone.
"Congratulations to Adam Kirk-Smith who led Heathsiders home in a super-fast time (25:40) and was second overall, followed 5 minutes later by Pete Crockford (30:59, 1st M50), Will Whitaker (31:02) and Joe McKeown (31:14), and the remaining Heathsiders shortly after that."
Rob Jackson Road Race Champs
The big news for the our road race champs after the Icky 5 was the first no-show of the year from competition leader Andy Barnes, although he's clear at the top by quite a comfortable margin. Meanwhile, a good haul of points for Rob Bowler and a few other absences should mean a move up into the medal places next time the table is updated.
On the ladies' side, Emilia took maximum advantage of a small turnout to bag 20 points and should be up to joint third by my count.
There was also a bit of controversy over chip vs gun time, with messrs Crockford and Whitaker baring their teeth at each other on Facebook and having to be separated. When the dust settled, it was Pete who got the nod and took home 29 points for the race, bringing his total for the season to exactly 29. This leaves him a point clear of Will who hadn't raced previously either. I'm sure we're all looking forward to seeing how this exciting rivalry develops over the course of the season.
Race the neighbours 10k
For those who take keeping up with the Joneses literally, there was the Race the Neighbours 10k: a chance for people in the N10 postcode (Muswell Hill, average house price £493,300 according to Foxtons) to put one over on that snooty lot from N2 (East Finchley, average house price £499,125).
Not many could keep up with Rebecca Bunting, representing the N10 slumdogs - she flew home to third overall and first woman. Bridgit (N10) was second lady in. I spotted one or two other Heathsiders lurking in the results (below) but if I've missed anyone, feel free to get in touch.
Other races
Pete C warmed up for his Ickenham triumph with a midweek 1500 at the Watford Open, where Rachel Seckl ran an outstanding 10:27 in the 3000m.
Andrew Brooker sped home as 7th finisher in the Dorking 10
Tony K set a PB of 17:32 at the Self Transcendence 5k ("Not bad for a 51 year old," grunts Tony bullishly)
We had Jon, Jess and Gareth Marshall at the QEOP 10k in the Olympic Park, while Sergio went inside 37 minutes at the Poole 10k
Ray W was happy with his time of 49:09 at the 'undulating' Medway 10k
Simon H was just happy to finish a race (albeit a bike race) after an injury-ravaged year so far. He finished the 83-mile Tour de Cambridge in 4:11:11, 1884th of 4787 competitors. "All of which means I didn't finish in the top 25% to qualify for the World Champs in Denmark," says Simon. "Next week: a triathlon."
Parkrun
There were mass turnouts at Ally Pally and Finsbury Park. This week's first finishers were Rebecca Piggott (Finsbury), Stuart Meiklejohn (Oak Hill), and William Griffiths and Rebecca Bunting (Ally Pally).