London Marathon, Welsh Half, Woodford Green Open

After months of training in arctic conditions, we naturally had brilliant weather for the London Marathon again. I was as red as the Russian Revolution afterwards and I'm sure I wasn't the only one.

Sadly, rivals from Kenya and Ethiopia proved too strong for us at the front of the field again (how many years is that now?) but there was plenty to celebrate in some splendid runs, some gutsy performances and tremendous club spirit throughout.

Chris "Take a Bow" Hartley was first Heathsider up the Mall this year in a superb 2:41, blowing kisses to the crowd and milking the occasion as he went, the nauseating showboater. Mind you, who can blame him? He was followed in by Mike Stocks, who'd led the Heathside charge for 23 miles. Due to a faulty timing chip, I can't confirm who was next out of Roger and Dan Madams but all of our first four were inside 2:45. Well done, gents!

For the ladies, Sarah Swinhoe ran a remarkable 2:52 PB, despite covering the last five miles with a torn calf. This was good enough for 17th overall in the women's race and third VW40; goodness knows what she could have managed with two sound legs. Also outstanding was Elspeth who made it round in 3:10, thereby earning a championship entry next year. Her tape sponsors will no doubt also be delighted.

Those commentators who criticised Mo "Mine's a Half" Farah's gimmicky antics probably won't be any more impressed by Heathside's Dave Hellard, who had vowed before the race to lead out the first 400m. As soon as the horn sounded, Hellard went off like a prawn - very quickly and he was soon making quite a distressing smell.

Not content with grabbing a spot of limelight at the front of the field, Dave went on to actually complete the course in a whisker over three hours, effectively two-upping double Olympic champion Farah. After the marathon, he told a packed press conference that the experience would be invaluable for 'the real thing' next year, when he intends to lead the race after half a mile.

Elsewhere on the course, less ostentatious Heathsiders were locked in their own battles, some galloping to glorious personal bests, some digging in and dragging themselves to the finish line in various states of disrepair. Gavin probably tied with Sarah for the day's most eye-watering piece of running by battling to the end with a torn adductor, while Chris Shipley was apparently tripped at mile 15 but still made it round.

One constant all the way round the course was fantastic Heathside support: vests were on show, as were home-made banners, cowbells and loud cheers. Whoever said long-distance running was a lonely business was clearly running for the wrong club. Many thanks to everyone who made it out to give the runners a much-needed boost.

Even more dazzling perhaps than the London Marathon sunshine was Elinor "The Beast" East and her choice of shorts for the Great Welsh Half Marathon in Llanelli (see below). We all know that if you wear flashy gear you're not allowed to run slowly and Elinor herself was clearly well aware of this as she tore up the course in just under 91 minutes, earning a famous victory by just over a minute from the second-placed lady.

In early-season track and field news, we had several PBs at the Woodford Green Open: David Ayre in the 200m, Miron in the 3,000, Daniel Szajna in the javelin and Izaiah in the shot put. Well done to all and I'm sure they'll be looking to improve their respective marks during the season.

In parkrun news, Stuart pulled out a good PB at Finsbury Park a week ahead of his trip to the Greater Manchester Marathon, while Leigh was first woman at the same event. "Most exotic parkrun" goes to Mark Derry for his trip to the inaugural event at Preston Park. Don't be fooled by the name - it's actually in Brighton. If any Heathsiders did go to Preston by mistake, please get in touch and I'll start a new feature called "Idiot's corner" or similar.

RESULTS

Virgin London Marathon 2013

212Chris Hartley02:41:21241Mike Stocks02:42:31TBCRoger Braybrooks02:43:00264Dan Madams02:43:14464Dan McKeown02:48:35TBCPaul Jarman02:50:00618Nicholas Bishop02:51:41633Howard Gold02:51:57639Sarah Swinhoe02:52:02 (17th woman, 3rd VW40)1030Rob Shulman02:57:251128Gavin Evans02:58:291305Dan Findlay-Robinson02:59:501577Dave Hellard03:03:051583Costi Stavrianakis03:03:091718Brian Dennehy03:04:581838Paul McCrossin03:06:162071Phil Hogg03:08:382260Elspeth Storrar03:10:512730James Reid03:17:223197Cathy Jeremiah03:19:053285Norman Smith03:19:443316Michael Lee03:20:003465Brian Heffernan03:21:273717Bridgit Napleton03:23:384033Alexander Sweet03:26:034492Henry Hamilton-Gould03:28:465885Chris Shipley03:37:217013Hannah Zwimpfer03:43:337100Jane Higgins03:43:598294Sandra Jane Buckton03:49:3110300Luka Melon03:57:4210954Kate Walker03:59:5414323Eli Jones04:15:4816914Sian Williams04:26:4516284Agi Palanki04:24:1019335Ruth Helen Forbes04:36:49

Llanelli Star Great Welsh Half Marathon

10  Elinor East  01:30:57 (first woman)

Woodford Green Open, 20 Apr 13

100m 

4 12.45 Darnell Plummer

200m

1 24.55 David Ayre PB

200m

5 25.34  Darnell Plummer

3000

5 9:55.03  Miron Woldemichael PB

SP6K U20M 

1 8.79  Izaiah Turner PB

JT800 U20M

3 33.72  Daniel Szajna PB

Finsbury parkrun

4 Stuart MEIKLEJOHN 00:18:05

11 Leigh JAMES 00:19:23 (First woman)

12 Sean Thomas CASEY 00:19:25

13 Richard HEWETT 00:19:27

14 Brian BOYLE 00:19:37

21 Dominic JACKSON 00:20:25

24 Daniel SZAJNA 00:20:37

33 Carl Andrew HEAP 00:21:16

39 Caroline BOYLE 00:22:08

64 Claire THORNHILL 00:23:20

75 David HELLARD 00:24:09

Gladstone parkrun

14 Nick DE SAUSMAREZ 00:21:07

28 Georgie KENNEDY 00:24:15

Hampstead Heath parkrun

5 John DRISCOLL 00:19:10

44 Andrew Simon CONWAY 00:24:10

61 Bob GOULD 00:25:51

Oak Hill parkrun

26 Claire SLIWERSKI 00:25:15

Preston Park parkrun

58 Mark DERRY 00:21:27

Walthamstow parkrun

3 Marco MASERATI 00:21:57