Lemi Mideska first in Hampstead Heath

Highlights from a busy weekend of running include Lemi Mideska’s first place in the U17 category of the NWLL Cross Country league, with Benjy Bediako coming second among the U11s. Josie Hinton was in top form with a PB in the Harrow Half, dipping under 1:20 for the first time as the third woman, while Thomas Foy and Laurie Swan picked up PBs in the low 2:50s in the Seville Marathon,. Meanwhile Elinor East qualified to represent her country in the World Duathlon Champs.

NWLL Cross-Country League, Hampstead Heath, Saturday February 16

Lemi Mideska (first U17) and Benjy Bediako (second U11) were two of the club’s stars in this Heathside-hosted youth event. Here is Simon Baker’s report: 

‘The NWLL XC league re-commenced with the club again hosting this time on a course around the Hampstead Heath Extension.  The race timing clashing with Half Term and between Met League and National Championships meant the number of runners was slightly down on the other races.  However, a number of Heathsiders excelled as well several debuts running for the club.

‘The U11 Girls start the meeting running 1500m on the predominantly grassland course.  Selma Lawrence in her 2nd race of the season finished 18th 4 places better than at Trent Park and debutant Maya Westgate ran well to finish 22nd.

‘The U11 Boys continued their winning run led home again by Benjy who has run every race for the club this year with top three finishes in all but one.   This season he has been involved in a struggle with Reggy Rock (TVH), the same scenario played out on Saturday with Benjy just unable to keep pace to finish 2nd behind Reg who takes the League title with three wins with Benjy second overall in the league to match his Met League placing.  Ben

'Redland went one better than his Met League run with 6th place and will be one to watch in this age group next season.  Eric Beale returned after missing the previous week finishing a solid 16th and with Kamran Bakhshi finishing in 20th the team secured another win and the boys go into the last NWLL meeting at Wormwood Scrubs in prime position to take the league title.  Another debutant Rory Wills produced a well measured race to finish 22nd.

‘The U13 race saw another strong performance from Hattie Munday finishing 11th and she was supported again by Amara Odeogberin finishing in 29th.  Hattie remains on course for an overall  top 10 League finish despite this her first season as an U13.  Tynan Parker led home the U13 Boys in 8th place his best placing of the season and was followed by two more debutants Thomas Matthew and Arlo Harwood who ran together to finish 24th and 25th but with the same time.

‘The majority of the U15  Teams opted to rest ahead of the Nationals so credit goes to Fabienne Weston who has only missed two races all season and recorded her highest placing of the season here.  Lucy Scrimgeour also ran in her first race for the club.  The Boys team were headed by Jack Davis-Black with a 9th place  with Lucas Maher 15th and John Carey in his 2nd race this season, 25th.

‘The U17's saw our only race win with Lemi producing his best race this season for club to win and with his 4th place in the Met League he will head to the Nationals in good form.

‘Thanks must go to all the club members who organised and marshalled the race and ensured the event went so smoothly especially given the Met League only a week previously.  Special thanks to to Ivor, David, Jerry and Russell.

‘As the XC season reaches its climax, the last NWLL takes place at Wormwood Scrubs on the 2nd March with several Heathsiders remaining in contention for final league places and U11 Boys looking to secure the league title.’ 

Juniors, Metropolitan League, Saturday February 10,  and club champs

Simon Baker also sent a full report on last Saturday’s Met League

‘Another strong turnout from young Heathsiders with the added spice of the U11 and U13 races doubling as Club Championships and a number of runners going for Overall Met League titles.

‘The U11 Boys, who have got stronger as the season has gone on, kicked proceedings off with Benjy tied in 1st place for the overall title.  He started strongly opening a 10m lead as they headed past the hill towards the old racecourse section of the course.  However, Louis Reynolds caught him through the heavy mud leaving Benjy to finish 2nd and second place overall behind Louis in the age group standings.  Ben Redland followed in 7th (the 2nd U10 home), and with Kamran Bakhshi and Gus Kendall all in the top 20 the team secured the clubs 1st Junior Team win of the season.

‘The U11 Girls followed with the heavy ground and standing water providing a very different challenge from the first fixture at Claybury. This Age Group is very competitive with Skye Bishop (TVH) who had won the first two races, fading as the season has progressed to finish 3rd overall behind winner Molly Sherin  (WG&EL).  Kiara Corkin kept contact with the pack behind the leaders to finish 8th in what is her first full season of Cross Country and secured 7th place overall in the league.  Elkie Baker and Ella Burridge ran a terrific race with each leading the other at times before Elkie just held out in a tight sprint finish to the line.

‘The U13s were the first of the day to try the hill, with our David Walton desperately completing some last minute repair work to a pot hole on the descent.  As the boys went up the hill Spike Blake was well placed in the leading bunch. However, he twisted an ankle higher up and had to retire from the race.  He also missed out on the club title. However, he had some consolation in that he had already secured a 3rd place finish overall in the Met League.  The focus then followed to Spike's team mates with Ivor Joslin producing one of his best performances of the year to finish 10th, followed shortly afterwards by Stan Hasson and Tynan Parker with Gregory Berrisford Sweet completing the scorers to finish the 2nd placed team.

‘The U13 Girls title was secured by Abigail Reid (WG&EL) who has won all four races she has competed in and produced another demonstration of front running here showing why she is ranked 15th nationally.  It is the first year in this age group for all the Heathside team who were led home again by Hattie Munday in 16th.  Hattie has got stronger as the season has gone on and is a fitting Club Champion, having only missed one race all season.  The heavy ground continued to take its toll on runners with Amara Odeogberin following home in 36th.  Finishing soon after, in their first races this season, were Skye Kelly and Lucy Corkin, both feeling the effects of their London Schools race two days previously.

‘With the hill and course now churned the Junior Mens race started at a strong pace and Lemi Mideska well up in the leading pack.  The leaders were still closely packed together after negotiating the hill on the 2nd lap with Brett Rushman of Herts Pheonix pulling away around the back of the course to secure his 3rd win of the season and the overall title. Lemi dug in to secure a season-best-equalling 4th place, which ensured he finished 3rd overall in the league.  Thomas Archer was next home in 10th, the 2nd U15, with Ruairi McGonagle 30th and Oliver O'Connor 37th the remaining scorers.  Lucas Macnair and Sam Ingram completed the Heathside contingent.  Ruairi finishes in 6th position overall with Bedo Draskoczy 7th.  The team finished 2nd overall which is a superb effort especially as all but Lemi are U15 so they should only be stronger next year.

‘The Junior Women have been dominated this season by Freya Stapleton (SBH) ranked 11th nationally and who has won all five races and again controlled this race well.  Mimi Blake kept close to the leading group finishing 9th as the mud over the closing stages affected tired legs.  Mia Manttan secured 18th with Maia 29th and a plucky 34th by Ella O'Flaherty completing the team scoring and 6th place. Solid running saw Matilda Heath, Edie Friedlander, Fabienne Weston and Martha Lucas all come home with strong performances on what is a very tough course.  Like the boys all but one of the girls are U15 with many just moving up from U13s last year.   Although not running, Rose Garrett finishes 6th overall in the league.

‘Overall the club finished 6th in the Junior standings an improvement of one place from last year and with the U11 Boys here having won a race.’

Hampton Court Half Marathon, Sunday February 17

Josie Hinton ran a highly impressive PB here, dipping under the 1:20 mark for this first time – by a single happy second.. She was the third woman – just 21 seconds behind the winner, and it beat her previous best by 100 seconds. Eight of our lot ran in this half, six of them under 1:29. Richard Taylor was second among the Heathsiders in 1:22:41; Olivia Desborough was next in a PB of 1:24:02 (more than three minutes faster than her previous best) and Annabel Litchfield fourth in a PB of 1:26:03. Olivia was the fifth woman and Annabel the 7th. Anthony Leonard and Matt Mair were also well under the 1:30 mark.

Bramley 20, Bramley, Hants, Sunday February 17

Gavin Evans was the solitary Heathsider in this lovely, friendly 20-miler, which serves as a perfect tune-up for a Spring marathon – with lots of time to recover and it’s so much more scenic than the former Finchley 20. The weather was just about right – a breezy 15C – and the two-lap countryside course is very well marshalled and largely car-free. The second half of the lap is slower than the first (some decent hills). Here is Gavin's report:

‘As so often, I ran like an imbecile. I aimed at sub-2:10 but did my first mile in 5:50, dragged along by those choosing the 10-mile option, and despite consciously slowing down, went through the halfway mark in 63. Inevitably it got harder from then-on, and I waddled in at 2:09:55. I was the second V50 - the V50 winner was two minutes ahead- but they were generous with their prizes and I returned home with a £75 Runner’s Need voucher, so Joe McKeown can expect a visit. BTW, I made two unintended experiments: running with brand new shoes, literally straight out of the box that morning (my old ones tore after around 3,000 miles), and without gels (I forgot) – and there were no adverse effects.’ 

Seville Marathon, Seville, Spain Sunday February 17

Thomas Foy and Laurie Swan both put in huge PBs in this one, both going well under the three-hour mark for the first time. Thomas finished in 2:51:26 – a PB by more than 16 minutes – and Laurie in 2:52:40 – a pub by 13 minutes 30.

Harrow Hill 10k, Harrow, Sunday February 17

The ever-faster Scarlett Parker ran this race on Sunday and was the second V40. Here is his report:

‘I ran the Harrow Hill 10k, a tough decision and a tough course. I'd sprained my soleus on Friday, and after hobbling around marshalling at the NWLL XC on Saturday, competing seemed doubtful. But a solid afternoon and evening of RICE, NSAIDs, vibration (don't ask), and flossing (really, don't ask) meant that by my 9am tube journey on Sunday I was in a semi-fit state to run.

‘The race is organised by the Metros and starts with a lap around the grounds of Harrow school which includes two abrupt climbs (a bit like twice up the top of Swains Lane within the first mile). Then it's two longer laps, both with gradual ups and downs. Not the ideal thing for knackered ankles, but there you go.

‘Friendly marshals kept us on track (no closed roads) and despite my makeshift strapping falling off midway, I finished in 38:16, coming 7th overall and 2nd M40. The winner, in those damnable horizontal black and white stripes, was four minutes over a recent PB, so perhaps I have a sub-35 in me this year. Not sure my ankles agree. This is a highly recommend the race as a postscript to anyone's XC season.’ 

Duathlon World Champs Qualifier, Anglian Water Cambridgeshire, Sunday February 17

Our Elinor East has qualified to represent Britain in the World Champs Standard distance duathlon, coming 8th overall. Here is her report:

“My times don't look great on paper but there were a decent amount of lumps and bumps on the undulating and muddy 10k run (43;49) and 5k (22:46) run course The 40k bike was sandwiched in-between - it was a windy out and back so it really punished the legs for the 5k. Anyway, I’m ever-so-happy with my first duathlon and 3rd AG.

Great North West Half Marathon, Blackpool, Sunday February 17

 Chris Prickett and Shaun Kennedy represented Heathside in this one, also known as the Blackpool Half. They both returned with PBs (1:32:54 for Chris; 1:41:37 for Shaun).. Here is Shaun’s report: 

‘A half marathon up North in the middle of February can be a risky proposition, but Blackpool delivered a beautiful day (if you don't mind a strong breeze) for what was a well organised event for the 30th Great North West Half Marathon.  Unsurprisingly it seems only two Heathsiders, Chris and I, made the trip and both recorded new PBs (I took 15 minutes off my last half marathon PB which was over 10 years ago - so a year of being a member at Heathside clearly paying off).’

Parkruns

Seyfu Jamaal and Rebecca Bunting were the two winners in Saturday’s set of parkruns (with 68 of our members taking part in 22 events). Seyfu won comfortably in Finsbury Park in 15:32 and Rebecca won comfortably in Ally Pally in 18:17, putting her in 4th place overall. The full Heathside results are here.

Results

NWLL Cross-Country League, Hampstead Heath, Saturday February 16

U11 Girls - 1500m - 33 runners

1st P Shaw (SBH) 6:25

18th Selma Lawrence 7:35

26th Maya Westgate 8:07

1st Highgate 26 pts, 12th London Heathside 78 pts

U11 Boys - 2000m - 29 runners

1st R Rock (TVH) 7:33

2nd Benjy Bediako 7:38 🥈

6th Ben Redland 7:54

16th Eric Beale 8:26

20th Kamran Bakhshi 8:35

22nd Rory Wills 8:48

1st London Heathside 45 pts🥇

U13 Girls - 2000m - 37 runners

1st J Heller (Cookham) 7:51

11th Hattie Munday 8:15

29th Amara Odeogberin 8:51

1st TVH 19 pts, 10th London Heathside 78 pts

U13 Boys - 2400m - 29 runners

1st P Opie (Highgate) 11:11

8th Tynan Parker 11:52

24th Thomas Matthew 14:02

25th Arlo Harwood 14:02

1st Highgate 38 pts, 6th London Heathside 90 pts

U15 Girls - 2400m - 24 runners

1st R Keohane (Trent Pk) 11:46

21st Fabienne Weston 15:03

24th Lucy Scrimgeour 17:01

1st Dacorum 17 pts, 9th London Heathside 70 pts

U15 Boys - 3600m - 25 runners

1st J Chamberlain (Dacorum)

9th Jack Davis-Black 14:37

15th Lucas Maher 15:16

25th John Carey 17:58

1st Dacorum 12 pts, 5th London Heathside 75 pts

U17 Men - 4200m - 13 runners

1st Lemi Mideska 15:45 🥇

1st Cookham 21 pts, 4th London Heathside 29 pts

Junior results, Metropolitan League, Saturday February 10,  and club champs 

U11 Boys - 1600m -(44 runners)

1st L Reynolds VPH&TH 6:20

2nd Benjy Bediako 6:29 (2nd overall in the league)

7th Ben Redland (2nd U10) 6:56

17th Kamran Bakhshi 7:13

18th Gus Kendall 7:17

31st No Declaration 7:48

33rd Levi Simmonds 8:04

1st London Heathside 116 pts (6th final overall league)

U11 Girls - 1600m - (45 runners)

1st M Panoutsou VPH&TH 6:53

8th Kiara Corkin 7:17 (6th overall in the league)

20th Elkie Baker 7:57 (15th overall in the league)

21st Ella Burridge 7:57

1st VPH&TH 155 pts, 6th London Heathside 89 pts (9th overall)

 U13 Boys - 2300m - (49 runners)

1st J Gellar WG&EL 10:41

10th Ivor Joslin 11:37

13th Stan Hasson 11:50

15th Tynan Parker 11:53

21st Gregory Berrisford Sweet 12:25

39th No Declaration 13:53

Dnf Spike Blake (3rd overall in the league)

1st WG&EL 175 pts, 2nd London Heathside 137 pts

 U13 Girls - 2300m - (53 runners)

1st A Reid WG&EL 11:31

16th Hattie Munday 12:46

36th Amara Odeogberin 14:09

38th Skye Kelly 14:18

44th Lucy Corkin 14:34

1st WG&EL 157 pts, 10th London Heathside 36 pts (12th overall)

Junior Men - 4300m - (82 runners)

1st B Rushman Herts P 15:41

4th Lemi Mideska 16:06

10th Thomas Archer (2nd U15) 16:26

30th Ruairi McGonagle (14th U15) (6th overall in the league)

37th Oliver O'Connor (20th U15) 18:05 (11th overall in the league)

46th Lucas Macnair (25th U15) 18:45

57th Sam Ingram (33rd U15) 19:12

1st WG&EL 280 pts, 5th London Heathside 251 pts (2nd overall)

Junior Women - 4300m - (49 runners)

1st F Stapleton SBH 18:23

9th Mimi Blake 19:41 (5th overall in the league)

18th Mia Manttan (11th U15) 20:44

29th Maia Hampton-Phillips (18th U15) 22:03

34th Ella O'Flaherty (23rd U15) 22:18 (18th overall in the league)

40th Matilda Heath (26th U15) 22:53 (12th overall in the league)

43rd Edie Friedlander (28th U15) 23:33 (20th overall in the league)

46th Fabienne Weston (29th U15) 25:04 (23rd overall in the league)

50th Martha Lucas (31st U15) 26:21

1st SBH 186 pts, 6th London Heathside 110 pts (5th overall)

 Howard Williams Trophy

1st WG&EL 104 pts (18 wins), 6th London Heathside 80 pts (1 win)

London Heathside Cross Country Championships 2019

U11 Boys

1st Benjy Bediako

2nd Ben Redland

3rd Kamran Bakhshi

U11 Girls

1st Kiara Corkin

2nd Elkie Baker

3rd Ella Burridge

U13 Boys

1st Ivor Joslin

2nd Stan Hasson

3rd Tynan Parker

U13 Girls

1st Hattie Munday

2nd Amara Odeogberin

3rd Skye Kelly 

Hampton Court Half Marathon, Sunday February 17

40th Josie Hinton – 1:19:59 (PB -3rd woman)

67th Richard Taylor – 1:22:41

85th Olivia Desborough – 1:24:02 (PB – 5th woman)

121st Annabel Litchfield – 1:26:03 (PB – 7th woman)

138th Anthony Leonard – 1;27:03 (PB)

253rd Matt Mair – 1:28:59

755th Lewis Hatfull – 1:40:27

2,256th Elisa Martin – 2:11:21

Bramley 20, Bramley, Hants, February 17 (635 finishers)

30th. Gavin Evans – 2:09:55 (2nd V50)

Seville Marathon, Seville, Spain Sunday February 17

Thomas Foy 2:51:26 (PB)

Laurie Swan 2:52:40 (PB)

Harrow Hill 10k, Harrow, Sunday February 17

7th Scarlett Parker – 38:16 (2nd V40)

Great North West Half Marathon, Blackpool, Sunday February 17

83rd Chris Prickett 1:32:54.98

165th Shaun Kennedy 1:41:37.84

Duathlon World Champs Qualifier, Anglian Water Cambridgeshire, Sunday February 17

8th Elinor East – 43:49 for 10k run; 22:46 for 5k run – plus 40k cycle.

Report by Gavin Evans, with big thanks to Simon Baker and also to Jacob Howe, Elinor East, Scarlett Parker, Shaun Kennedy and Laurie Swan.