Met League Mudfest and Track Gold (Part 1)

The weekly report first starts on the verdent green (or brown) slopes of Ally Pally...

Metropolitan League 4, Ally Pally, January 11

Our women, once again, excelled in the mud over the 8km, three-hill distance with Beth Hawling taking third place and Rebecca Bunting fifth. They are top of the table and on their way to yet another trophy.

Our gentlemen tried their best and turned out in numbers, 71 of them, and finished in third place, which is a big improvement. Our first gentleman was sprightly young Seyfu Jamaal in a splendid fourth place but this week we also want to commend a man of a certain age (he’d rather not say), Tom Aldred: father, husband, 12th-placed runner and, we believe, he has a full-time job too (and keeps nice and slim all year round!): a man-who-has-it-all!

On the gentlemen’s performance overall, former club captain, Sarah ‘Swanny’ Swan, noted that most of them had little trouble doing the same distance as the women, and hardly any of them complained about the mud despite a few thrills and spills. “They may not be winners, but it was good to see them really getting into the spirit of the occasion,” she said. “And in the pub afterwards our boys really know how to scrub-up. Phwoarrr!’

For the slightly more official report, here’s Simon Baker and Sue Rust:

It seems amazing that we are already heading to the Business end of the 2019/20 Cross Country Season.  With the mud of Wormwood Scrubs and the County Championships still fresh the Club hosted the penultimate Met League Fixture of the season at an even more muddy Ally Pally with it’s notorious hill.  While it had dried out a little since Christmas the lower field was still very heavy and Ivor and Jerry chose to alter the course a little bringing the finish forward and moving part of the course to avoid the worst of the mud, the hill of course remained the same! Over 1000 runners turned up to compete making it one of the biggest ever Met League events and one which looked like a “Tough Mudder” by the end.

There was again a host of fantastic racing in the challenging conditions not least from Heathsiders.  The Senior Women returned to the top of the podium after the 2nd place at Uxbridge while the Senior Men secured 3rd place.  In the Junior races there were wins for the U11 Boys and 2nd places for the U11 Girls, Junior Men and Vet Men with 3rd places for the U13 Girls, Junior Women and Vet Women.  Individually there were 2nd places for Kiara Corkin (U11G), Ben Redland (U11B), Jake Evans (JM) and 3rd places for Beth Hawkings (SW), Mimi Blake (JW) and Edward Metcalf (U11B).  There were 7 other top 10 finishes across the 8 races.  Seyfu Jamaal finished 4th in the SM race and was the 1st Under 20 with other age group leaders being Tom Aldred (V40), Roger Maidment (V45) and Sarah Swinhoe (VW45).

Many thanks go to Ivor Wiggett, Jerry Odin and Dave Robertson who spent so much time organising such a successful event. And of course thanks to all the hardy club members who volunteered to help set up, clear away and marshal the race so enthusiastically.

Senior Report

The Hill was familiar to the senior women from previous year’s Met League races at Ally Pally, but this was the first time they had to run it three times, given the distance equalisation across the sexes. In other words, they had to dig deeper than usual and a very big bravo to all of those who completed the course.

Heading into the fixture we were in a battle to defend the A-team’s title and there were some concerns about how injuries would affect the turnout. But we should have known Heathside’s strength in depth would mean we had no reason to fear. Despite missing top scorer Rebecca Piggott and other previous A-team runners the A-team ended up with three ladies in the top 10 and six in the top 27.

Beth Hawling was back in cross-country action after having injured her knee at Claybury, running strongly to third place. We also benefitted from an impressive performance by Heathside relative newcomer Brogan Wallace, who was our fourth scorer in 17th. Rebecca Bunting showed no sign of ankle problems in her well-paced run to fifth place, and Eva Divetain continues to improve and was our third scorer in 10th place. Olivia Desborough and Annabel Litchfield have been key assets throughout the season and completed the scoring A-team, who won the fixture. Unless things go really wrong at Trent Park this means … aagh, I don’t dare jinx it but let’s say things are looking good for retaining the Met League title.  

The women’s C-team have been doing a pretty good job in Division 2 although a fourth place finish at Ally Pally didn’t lift them from fifth in the league. Overall we had 29 Heathside women out racing.  

Congratulations are also due to the senior mean for another impressive turnout (70) and performance.  All the 12 A-team scorers finished in the top 100: Seyfu, Tom, Roger, Charles, Kimon, Ewan, Francesco, Matthew, James, Pete, Sion and Ismail.   Conditions by the time the Men reached the Hill were pretty atrocious, although the sight of almost 500 runners snaking up and down the Hill was pretty awesome.  Equally exciting was the site of runners negotiating the bottom of the slope which by the third lap was literally a foot deep in liquid mud.  Seyfu again ran a tremendous race staying in the front bunch until just being out sprinted at the line by Alexandra Lepretre (Highgate).  Tom Aldred again  ran an unflappable race to finish 12th and the first Vet. 

The team event was an exciting affair with plenty of Highgate, VP&TH and SBH vests battling out with Heathsiders.   Victoria Park & Tower Hamlets narrowly took the fixture over Highgate, with our men in third by a wide margin either side and are now well consolidated in that league position too. The B-team had a good result on the day with third in Division two, and sit in fourth in that league, while the C-team, which is in the same division, finished sixth and sits in seventh.  A mention should go to Bob Gould who again completed the course serenely negotiating the hill 3 times crossing the finishing line the last of the days 1055 competitors.

Looking at the Howard Williams trophy, which combines the men’s and women’s points, we’re tied with Highgate heading into the last fixture, at Trent Park.  Both Clubs have exactly the same scores with the Mens and Womens scores reversed and both having 3 individual race wins.  The Club have never won this trophy so that's reason to see a big turnout at the last fixture at Trent Park on 8th February.

Junior Race Report

The U11 Boys race was eagerly awaited with the league carefully balanced with Ben Redland and Arthur Philips tied on equal points.  The two of them headed the field with Edward Metcalf running his first race for Heathside in close contention.  As has been the case in the latter part of the season the SBH runner pulled away over the closing stages to win and now be favourite for the League title.  However Ben and Edward’s 2nd and 3rd place plus Eden Brown in 6th (the first U10) with Sam Turner 18th supported by Rory Willis 21st ensured the team were 1st.  

In the girls race Kiara valiantly tried to catch Posie Shaw (SBH) but finished 2nd again as Posie secured the league title with her 4th win.  However Kiara is now assured 2nd place in the League.  Elkie Baker and Lettice Gundry finished 15th and 16th with Charlotte Beale in her second race of the season 22nd to ensure the team finished 2nd.  After the race Head of LH Juniors Russell Watson awarded the girls their team silver medals from the Middlesex Champs.

The U13s were the first to tackle the Hill, this race was a little marred by confusion over the course route.   Tynan Parker was in 3rd going up the hill but was gradually reeled in to finish 8th, Ivor Joslin coming in soon after in 11th.  The team was completed by Kamran Bakashi (26th), Gregory Berrisford (29th) and Eric Beale completed the team. 

There was a great representation of U13 Girls with Hattie Munday who has got stronger as the season has gone on finishing a superb 5th place with Milly Watkins in one of her best races 9th and Ruby Walls 11th.   Ella Higgins in her 2nd race of the season finished 25th with Amara Odeogberin 27th.  In a rare Cross Country outing Martha Jolly and Libby Judd-Hawkes performed admirably in the testing conditions.

The Junior Boys race featured probably the outstanding junior performance of the day with Jake Evans aggressively working the hill at the head of the field and finished 2nd an agonising 2 sec just behind the winner.  Oliver O'Connor followed in aa great 11th place followed by some great packing by the team led by Jack Davis Black with Michael Smith, Ruairi McGonagle and Bedo Draskoczy all finishing in the top 30.  Stan Hasson, Lucas Maher, Arthur Reid, Fred Beale (with Dad making 4 Beale's running on the day) and Kit Naylor all ran valiantly considering the conditions to ensure the team secured 2nd Place.

Mimi Blake, continuing her excellent season led the Junior Women's team to third place.  Unfortunately missing out in a 3 way tussel for the lead she still lies 2nd overall in the League Standings.  Evelyn Dumbleton was next followed by the first U15, Alice Metcalf in her first race of the season.  Maia, Lorna, Ella and Fabiene completed the runners for the club all great runs as their course include a lap almost completely through standing water..

The Juniors are now firmly estabished in 3rd place in the Junior Howard Wilson Trophy.

COYH!

Met league #4, Alexandra Palace 11th January 2020

U11 Boys (2,000m, 39 runners)

1st A Phillips (SBH) 7:00

2nd Ben Redland 7:09

3rd Edward Metcalf 7:10

6th Eden Brown 7:33 (1st U10)

18th Sam Turner 8:01

21st Rory Willis 8:18 (7th U10)

1st London Heathside 123 pts

Overall League:- 1st WG&EL 604 pts, 2nd SBH 546 pts, 3rd London Heathside 483 pts

U11 Girls (2,000m 34 runners)

1st P Shaw (SBH) 7:00

2nd Kiara Corkin 7:05

15th Elkie Baker 8:13

16th Lettice Gundry 8:15

22nd Charlotte Beale 8:48 (7th U10)

1st WG&EL 114 pts, 2nd London Heathside 81 pts

Overall 1st WG&EL 492 pts, 2nd SBH 299 pts, 3rd London Heathside 285 pts

U13 Boys (3,000m, 48 runners)

1st G Stubbs (SBH) 12:14

8th Tynan Parker 13:10

11th Ivor Joslin 13:32

26th Kamran Bakashi 14:13

29th Gregory Berrisford Sweet 14:21

30th Eric Beale 14:30

1st SBH 149 pts, 5th London Heathside 116 pts

Overall: 1st SBH 718 pts, 3rd Highgate 521 pts, 4th London Heathside 519 pts

U13 Girls (3,000m, 49 runners)

1st A Reid (WG&EL) 10:54

5th Hattie Munday 11:43

9th Milly Watkins 12:08

13th Ruby Walls 12:26

25th Ella Higgins 13:24

27th Amara Odeogberin 13:25

36th Martha Jolly 13:59

40th Libby Judd-Hawkes 14:38

1st WG&EL 180 pts, 2nd VP&TH 154 pts, 3rd London Heathside 144 pts, 10th London Heathside B 44 pts

Overall: 1st WG&EL 705 pts, 4th Hillingdon 551 pts, 5th London Heathside 417 pts, 18th London Heathside B 51 pts

Junior Men (4,000m, 88 Runners)

1st M Musa (SBH) 13:07

2nd Jake Evans 13:09

7th Oliver O'Connor 13:58

20th Jack Davis-Black 14:34 (6th U15)

23rd Michael Smith 14:37 (7th U15)

26th Ruairi McGonagle 14:47

27th Bedo Draskoczy 14:50 (10th U15)

55th Stan Hasson 15:55 (26th U15)

61st Arthur Reed 16:15 (31st U15)

66th Lucas Maher 16:30 (33rd U15)

74th Fred Beale 17:02 (41st U15)

76th Kit Naylor 17:33

1st SBH 325 pts, 2nd London Heathside 304 pts, 10th London Heathside B 185 pts, 22nd London Heathside C 51 pts

Overall:- 1st SBH 1361 pts, 2nd WG&EL 1273 pts, 3rd London Heathside 1271 pts, 15th London Heathside B 619 pts, 26th London Heathside C 162 pts

Junior Women (4,000m, 66 Runners)

1st J Miranda (SBH) 15:43

3rd Mimi Blake 15:59

17th Evelyn Dumbleton 17:07

18th Alice Metcalf 17:11 (8th U15)

35th Maia Hampton Phillips 18:08 (17th U15)

37th Lorna Dumbleton 18:13 (19th U15)

54th Ella O'Flaherty 19:35 (34th U15)

65th Fabienne Weston 22:02 (44th U15)

1st SBH 235 pts, 2nd VP&TH 218 pts, 3rd London Heathside 192 pts, 17th London Heathside B 45 pts

Overall:- 1st SBH 820 pts, 2nd London Heathside 732 pts,  16th London Heathside B 160 pts

Harold Wilson Trophy (Juniors)

1st WG&EL 102 pts (11 Wins)

2nd SBH 100 pts (9 wins)

3rd London Heathside 94 pts (2 wins)

4th VP&TH 80 pts (0 wins)

Senior Men (8,000m 498 Runners)

1st D Evans (SBH) 26:58  

4th Seyfu Jamaal 27:18 (1st U20)

12th Tom Aldred 27:56 (1st V40)

27th Roger Maidment 29:04 (1st V45)

28th Charles Hardy 29:05               

41st Kimon Doulis 29:41 

45th Ewan Gault 29:52

51st Francesco Melloni 30:01       

57th Matthew Rallison 30.13

59th James Hurrell 30:20               

62nd Peter Gould 30:26

73rd Sion Lewis 30:45

90th Ismail Abukar 31:05               

105th Matthew  Field 31:34          

115th Alex Sweet 31:47  

123rd Simon Dunderdale 31:55   

145th David Mccormick  32:44

148th Chris Holmes 32:49              

149th Daniel Haile 32:50

153rd Jack Hardy 32:59

156th Joseph McKeown 33:08     

168th Rob O'Grady 33:21               

170th Simon Brown 33:22 (16th V40)

175th Steve Armstrong 33:29 (7th V45)

179th Michael Cockings 33:35 (20th V40)

190th Mark Jefford 33:50 (4th V50)

195th Matt Collins 34:00 (25th V40)

203rd Christopher Vincent 34:10 (27th V40)

206th Doug Rendle 34:14 (28th V40)

208th Andrew Wooding 34:16     

214th Leonard Martin 34:22         

220th Oliver Negus 34:32              

230th James Gardner 34:44          

231st Nicholas Hodges-Gibson 34:44        

236th Matthew  Cockerill 34:48 (13th V45)

238th John Flahive 34:53 (5th V50)

239th Asmelash Abrha 34:55 (3rd V55)

242nd Tom Hollis 34:57  

248th Liam Hazelton 35:11            

249th Peter Scodie-Ward 35:14  

256th Tom Bedwell 35:26 (35th V40)

259th James Caven 35:30              

264th Filippo Minelle 35:40          

265th Oliver Murray 35:41 (7th V50)

266th Paul Beale 35:45 (20th V45)

276th Lee Connor 36:07 (9th V50)

277th Jonathan  Halliwell 36:07

276th Tony Shearer 36:08              

283rd Tom Haworth 36:22             

289th Henry Hamilton-Gould 36:42           

293rd  Dennis Curry 36:50 (40th V40)

295th Tom White 36:54  

299th Mattthew Cartledge 37:03 (41st V40)

302nd Ian Anderson 37:14             

305th Nick Haward 37:25 (27th V45)

307th Matt Beard 37:26 (11th V50)

313th Gavin Evans 37:36 (8th V55)

319th Valentin Valeanu 37:45 (V40)

323rd Trevor Wilson 37:52 (12th V50)

325th Adam Jauncey 37:54           

327th Rob Shulman 37:56 (14th V50)

341st Richard Peachment 38:26 (16th V50)

347th Conor Forbes 38:45             

384th Jos Hickson 40:24 (39th V45)

385th Fabian Thehos 40:26           

398th Andy Law 41:02 (54th V40)

421st Leo Pemberton 42:18 (58th V40)

423rd Ben Montilla 42:26 (59th V40)

428th Joel Hawes 42:51

459th Russell Weston 45:38 (25th V55)    

483rd Alun Nash 48:50 (32nd V55)

498th Robert Gould 56:29 (4th V75)

Senior Men Division 1

1st VP&TH 1419 pts, 2nd Highgate 1405 pts, 3rd London Heathside 1249 pts

Overall:- 1st Highgate 5510 pts, 2nd VP&TH 5255 pts, 3rd London Heathside 4,344 pts

Senior Men Division 2

1st VP&TH B 1572 pts, 2nd Highgate B 1507 pts, 3rd London Heathside B 1347 pts, 6th London Heathside C 1072 pts

Overall: 1st VP&TH B 5656 pts, 3rd Ealing Eagles 4567 pts, 4th London Heathside B 4563 pts, 7th London Heathside C 3422 pts

Veteran Men Division 1

1st VP&TH 360 pts, 2nd London Heathside 341 pts, 6th London Heathside B 227 pts

Overall:- 1st VP&TH 1427 pts, 2nd London Heathside 1316 pts, 7th London Heathside B  819 pts

Veteran Men Division 2

1st Ealing Eagles 356 pts, 2nd London Heathside C 355 pts

Overall:- London Front Runners 1192 pts, 2nd London Heathside C 1108 pts

Senior Women (8,000m, 236 Runners)

1st E Janes (Herts P)  30:14

3rd Beth Hawling 32:16

5th Rebecca Bunting 33:27

10th Evangelista Divetain 34:06

17th Brogan Wallace 34:32

23rd Olivia Desborough 35:00

27th Annabel Litchfield 35:12

32nd Sarah Swinhoe 35:16 (1st V45)

34th Emily Mckane 35:23

35th Rosa Serafini 35:26

53rd Eilidh Wagstaff 36:53

56th Lily Woolcock 37:04

61st Sara Black 37:10 (2nd V45)

63rd Emily Reichert 37:19

74th Tatyana Potiyenko 37:55

80th Ciera Kennedy 38:15

90th Satu Hietanen 39:26 (3rd V45)

100th Amy Cook 39:57

105th Ania Popielarska 40:31

113rd Ruth Miller 40:56 (2nd V60)

128th Jaqueline Wastell 41:54 (4th V55)

129th Jessica Vinluan 41:59

140th Trudy Kearney 42:51

142nd Kimberli Butler 42:59

148th Rebecca Sweet 43:18

165th Caroline White 44:30 (4th V60)

170th Heather Marshall 44:56 (17th V40)

181st Natalie Shoham 46:10

189th Marianne Gibson 47:19 (13th V60)

200th Emilia Vynnycky 49:32 (15th V50)

Senior Women Division 1

1st London Heathside 373 pts, 9th London Heathside B 236 pts

Overall: 1st London Heathside 1434 pts, 2nd VP&TH 1311 pts, 6th London Heathside B 824 pts

Senior Women Division 2

1st Trent Park 292 pts, 6th London Heathside C 156 pts

Overall: 4th VP&TH C 1102 pts, 5th London Heathside C 1032 pts, 6th Highgate B 906 pts

Veteran Women Division 1

1st VP&TH 142 pts, 3rd London Heathside 132 pts, 9th London Heathside B 48 pts

Overall: 2nd Barnet&D 482 pts, 3rd London Heathside 449 pts, 10th London Heathside B 177 pts

Veteran Women Division 2

1st Ealing Eagles 98 pts, 10th London Heathside C 8 pts

Overall: 9th Ealing Eagles B 84 pts, 10th London Heathside C 61 pts, 11th TVH 6 pts

Howard Wilson Trophy (Seniors)

1st Highgate Harriers 44 pts (3 wins)

2nd London Heathside 44 pts (3 wins)

3rd VP&EL 44 pts (1 win)