Marathon Men: Aldred stars at Chester; Connell completes World Majors set in Chicago

Some great running on the roads this week before many of us turn our attention towards the cross country season later today at Claybury, starting with some fantastic marathon efforts:

Chester and Chicago Marathons, Sunday 8th October

Resident speedster Tom Aldred put in an exceptional time of 2:27:31 (though amazingly, not his quickest of the season) to finish in a fantastic 2nd place. Meanwhile, across the Pond in Chicago, there were celebrations of a different sort for Heathside’s Marathon Man Jim Connell as he completed the set of the World Majors in Chicago. Finishing in a time of 3:18:46 in unusually warm conditions in the Windy City, Jim was the first of 4 Heathsiders home, followed by Tom Bedwell and Bas Vlaming (both with PBs) and Senthil Kumar. Congrats to all.

Ridgeway 15k Trail Race

A bumper Heathside turnout for this one, with 11 men and ladies heading just out of London to limber up for the off road season. Tammela Platt has more: “11 Heathsiders journeyed up to Tring for the Ridgeway Run, a 15km trail race that many but not all of us had run before. The course took us over hill and dale, through woods, and across the eponymous ridge. The view was stunning, and well worth the long, gradual climbs it took to get there. The last few kilometers along the flat pavement were as brutal and endless as I had been warned they would be. Everyone ran well, with special mentions to Jonathan Litchfield for coming 15th man, and Sif Sumarlidadottir for coming 13th woman! The Ridgeway Run was a well-organized event with a low entry fee, lots of marshals and support along the course, technical t-shirts (they even had size XS for the more petite runners among us), on-demand chip times, and free race photos. Highly recommended for all of the above plus the chance to escape urban running for an hour or two.” There was also a good showing from the race report team, with both Emilia and Caroline looking strong, full results below.

Shoreditch 10k

News in from East London as Jonathon Shipley and Ian Anderson took on the new Adidas sponsored run in Shoreditch. First home was Jon, just outside the top 100 in 39:33, while Ian wasn’t far behind in 42:04. There may well have been more Heathsiders there but the results aren’t on Po10 and the 4000+ runners aren’t listed by club, so their efforts shall have to go unnoticed for now.

Quarter Mile Cup, Finsbury Park

A quick mention for the inaugural, and surely in years to come prestigious, 400m race put together by Zac for Heathside’s Veterans at the track last Thursday. A field of 5 can say ‘they were there’ at the start and Michael Bense has the honour of calling himself the first champion as his impressive time of 60.7 was enough to take the spoils. John Driscoll and Paul Mercer had a tight battle for 2nd while Mark George and Senthir Kumar completed the field pre-Chicago Marathon (pretty ballsy from Senthir considering he had the Chicago Marathon 3 days later!). You can relive the race here: https://youtu.be/AQI_LC8VcPs

Parkruns

Double first finish at Oak Hill this week for Rose Garrett and Charles Hardy, while Leigh James was first lady at Reading. Full results here: http://www.parkrun.com/results/consolidatedclub/?clubNum=2017&eventdate=2017-10-07

Full Results

Heathside Vets Quarter Mile Cup, Finsbury Park, Thursday 5th Oct

1st  Mike Bense      V45M  60.7
2nd  John Driscoll   V45M  63.8
3rd  Paul Mercer     V40M  64.7
4th  Mark George     V50M 66.3
5th  Senthil Kumar   V40M 73.1

MBNA Chester Marathon, Sunday 8th Oct

2nd Tom Aldred, 2:27:31

Bank of America Chicago Marathon, Sunday 8th Oct

2574 Jim Connell 3:18:46
5461 Tom Bedwell 3:29:49 (PB)
9511 Bas Vlaming 3:55:23 (PB)
39184 Senthir Kumar 6:05:29

Shoreditch 10k, Sunday 8th Oct

119th Jonathan Shipley 39:33
287th Ian Anderson 42:04

Ridgeway Run 15k Trail Race, Sunday 8th Oct

15th Jonathan Litchfield 1:02.28
103rd Marco Maserati 1:13.35
104th Sif Sumarlidadottir 1:13.41
123rd Amy Luyendijk 1:15.12
128th Emilia Vynnycky 1:15.30
176th Jessica Vinluan 1:19.35
192nd Caroline White 1:20.47
222nd Andrew Conway 1:23.23
243rd Tammela Platt 1:25.08
368th James Taggart 1:34.28
464th Louise Cripps 1:46.33