Newstead top woman in Sunday XC League, Bunting first in Girona, Kirk-Smith breaks 15 minute 5k barrier and gold for Spencer

Many excitements to report this week, including news that Rachel Newstead finished top of the senior women’s table in the Sunday XC League, Rebecca Bunting was first women in the Girona 30k in Spain, Adam Kirk-Smith broke the 15 minute barrier in Armagh 5k, and Dave Spencer broke two Heathside over 60s records, 200 and 400 metres.

Sunday League XC # 5, Royston, 5.6 miles, 14.2.16
The hotly awaited Royston Sunday League XC results are finally in, delayed by a week, but well worth the wait. Gavin Parish reports:

Rachel Newstead bags senior women’s trophy
…was there ever any doubt? After finishing 2nd place woman in this, her fourth race of the season, Rachel finished top of the senior women’s table; her nearest rival having double the number of points to Rachel’s 8 – amazing stuff, given that three of Rachel’s races took place the day after she’d already run storming performances at the Met League! Also ending the season with four-or-more-to-score were Jessica (5th W35, and also qualifying for a trophy if I’ve read the rules right!) and Jonathan (10th V40, having raced various parkruns, XCs and team relays the day before every fixture!) who both ran all five races of the season and deserve extra applause for that. Other season stalwarts who ran four races were Laura (17th W35), Louise (8th W55) and Marco (14th M50) – well done the lot of you.

Before moving on to overall team positions, some feedback on the day from Jonathan: ‘it was chilly and very windy but bright and firm underfoot at least’ – that said, in reflecting on the most challenging Sunday League course of the season, he added ‘you’re either gasping for breath on the taxing uphills or doing your best to stay upright on the generous downhills’, which makes his 28th place finish all the more commendable. Also a big well done to Frances, making her XC debut on this very tough course, and finishing it wanting more – we look forward to seeing you again next season!

Now the team results:
• The women’s A team finished 10th, while the men were unlucky 13th after only being able to field half a team (sorry guys – I stood you up for a wedding!)
• Following that up with a drumroll, this means that the women finish 8th overall this season (only one place down on last season) and the men managed to finish 9th (one place higher than last season). Having both teams finish inside the top 10 (of 20) was something Laura and I have aspired to all season, so it’s fantastic to see this become a reality, and thank you to everyone who made this possible, whether you ran one race or all five!
• Not forgetting the vets categories, the Men were 7th and finish 9th overall, while the women were 13th and finish 11th overall.

Well that’s it for another season. Sorry for the lateness of this report, which I held back while I waited for the end of season results. Thank you to the 25 women and 35 men who ran at least one race and we hope you’ll be back for more in October, along with anyone else who’d like to give the Sunday League a try.

Armagh 5K, Northern Ireland, 18.02.16
Adam Kirk-Smith made a special journey home to Armagh to complete in one of the fastest 5k’s in the world.  Here is his report:
“It was a dark, though thankfully storm free Thursday night in the smallest city on the Island of Ireland. It would take close to 600 of Armagh, with a population under 15,000, to fill London.

A surprisingly large crowd lined the edges of the course, expectantly awaiting by far the fastest 5k road race in the British Isles, implausibility situated yet annually graced by a legion of superb athletes. 20 of the top 30 UK times for that distance last year were run in Armagh, including 8 of the top 10; last year a pack of fifty six broke the magical fifteen minute barrier.

I had flown back home for the event, holding a tenuous and ambitious hope to join that illustrious crowd. Despite my lofty aspirations, and those of the athletes and organisers in general, the race proved an outstanding success, as sixty five athletes, eerily exactly half the field, reached to the line inside fifteen.

Given this information in advance, I would have been absolutely delighted to have been among that number. Despite starting rather too quickly, I managed to hang onto a somewhat silly pace and crossed the line in 14:50. I finished ahead of one of the athletes selected to wear a Northern Ireland vest for the race, and, only knowing this, my ego was at dire risk of inflation.

Just the right amount of reality hit home after the results went up however, and I saw that my local rival, my nemesis, Chris Madden, having also heartbreakingly beaten me in our hometown race, the Lisburn 10k, last year, and taken my course record at the local parkrun, had beaten me by a second in 14:49. I return to London exhilarated, but safe in the grounding knowledge that I'm still not even the best athlete in Lisburn. "

Maraton Vies Verdes, 30k, Girona, Spain 21.02.16
Rebecca Bunting popped over to Girona in Spain at the weekend, to take part in the 30K there, one of the Maraton Vies Verde races (there were 4 distances to choose from).  She came in first woman, (10th overall) in the spectacular time of 2.02.50.  Here is her report:
“Henry and I have been on tour again, this time at the Maraton Vies Verdes in Girona. The route was along a disused railway (think I've run along one of them before...?) between Girona and the Platya D'Aro on the coast, mostly on trails between fields, through wooded areas and with amazing views of the mountains. There were four distances to choose from (10k, 21k, 30k and 42k). For Henry it was the 42, I opted for the 30. Unfortunately, Henry came down with flu on the morning, though still headed out for the start line despite looking very much the worse for wear. He managed to get to halfway before being forced to stop. His first ever DNF! I really enjoyed the 30k. It was pretty flat, a hill or two but with some very nice downhill bits before hitting the beach near the finish. Temperatures reached 18+ degrees and it was blue skies all the way."

The Southern Counties Vets AC Annual Indoor Track and Field , Lee Valley, 21.02.16
Dave Spencer reports: "The Southern Counties Vets AC held their Annual Indoor Track and Field championships one week after the Southern Counties Masters Championships (any Master, any club), plus Eastern Masters and Vets AC Masters. Don’t ask me why they didn’t just join the party last week. I broke 2 London Heathside 0/60 indoor records." Full results below.

Half marathons
There were a handful of half marathons over the weekend:

•    Hampton Court Half, Hampton Court – the search facility wasn’t available on the results, but I found two Heathsiders here - Richard Taylor came in 25th place followed by Louise Dobbyn in 1.40 – apologies if I missed anyone else

•    Old Deer Park Half, Richmond – Five Heathsiders took part and were led home by Jakub Kozel,  closely followed by Tim Marshall and Neill Mitchell (2nd V60), Louisa Pointon was first Heathside lady home, followed by Katerina Firstova

•    Wokingham Half, Wokingham – Mark George and Rebecca Taylor took part

FULL RESULTS

Sunday League XC Race #5, Royston, 14/2/16
(approx. 5.6 miles)

Women (122 finishers)
2 **Rachel Newstead** 42:14
31 Jessica Vinluan 49:39
89 Frances Powrie 59:14
92 **Laura Boothman** 59:44
93 Louise Cripps 59:59

Men (202 finishers)
28 **Jonathan Litchfield** 39:20
66 **Lee Connor** 43:02
108 Marco Maserati 47:23
129 Alun Nash 49:37


Armagh 5K, Northern Ireland 18.02.2016 (Field of 130)
56th Adam Kirk-Smith 14:50

Maraton Vies Verdes, 30k, Girona, Spain 21.02.16
10th Rebecca Bunting 2.02.50 (first female)

The Southern Counties Vets AC Annual indoor track and Field , Lee Valley, 21.02.16
M65 David Spencer    200 metres         28.67   Gold
M65 David Spencer    400 metres         63.58   Gold

Wokingham Half, Wokingham 21.02.16
475 Mark George 1.34.06
1416 Rebecca Taylor 1.58.24

Old Deer Park Half, Richmond, 21.02.16
135 Tim Marshall 1.34.51
143 Jakub Kozel 1.34.13
149 Neil Mitchell 1.35.29 (2nd V60)
299 Louisa Pointon 1.43.56
580 Katerina Firstova 1.56.02

Hampton Court Half marathon, Thames Ditton, 21.02.16
25th Richard Taylor 80.59
907 1.40.42 Louise Dobbyn

And of course many parkruns - with first places for Andrew Brooker at Finsbury Park, Charles Hardy at Oak Hill and Eilidh Wagstaff (1st woman) at Ally Pally