Old men and ultras

An overdue report with two weeks of races to include going all the way back to May 22 when an intrepid bunch of our veterans made their way to Stevenage to run, jump and throw in the Southern Veterans League, with first places for Ed Garrett, Tony Killilea, Adrian Essex, Jessica Vinluan and our men’s 4 x 400 meter relay team.

Three of our members ran in ultras over the past fortnight with Lenny Martin coming 16th in the London to Brighton 100km on May 27, and Mike Stocks and Rob Shulman doing well in the 87km Durban to Pietermaritzburg Comrades Marathon yesterday (June 4). Meanwhile Simon Hazel ran the 39th Stockholm Marathon in a time of 3:27.18.

Another highlight was the Vitality London 10,000 on May 29, which saw 13 of our runners taking part in a field of more than 12,000. Our first man, by more than five minutes, was Tom Aldred - 38th in 31:21 - and our first woman, by more than seven minutes, was Ula Cartwright-Finch in 38:10. A day earlier Nick Dodd broke the club’s V60 one mile record with a time of 5:53 in the Vitality Westminster Mile race.

Onto the report….

Southern Veterans League, Stevenage, May 22.

 Fourteen of our members took part (nine men and three women). Our men’s team came 4th out of nine teams and our women came fifth out of six.

Highlights among the men included Ed Garrett, who usually runs as a V45, coming first in the 800 meters in the V35 category in 2:09. Tony Killilea came first in the V50 800 in 2:24.1 and Adrian Essex came first in the V60 category in both the 200meters (28.1) and the shot-put (9 meters). Our male vets won first place in the 4x400m in 3:57.7. Among the women highlights included Jessica Vinluan winning the V35 800m in 3:13.3.

Results

Men: 4th out of 9; women 5th out of 6

200 w50

3 Helene Kehoe 32.2

800 w35

1 Jessica Vinluan 3:13.3

3000 w35

2 Jessica Vinluan 13:01.5

3000 w50

2 Ruth Miller 13:43.9

Javelin w35

5 Jessica Vinluan 4.6

200 m35

3 Ed Garrett 26.5

200 m40

5 Jonathan Litchfield 29.3

200 m60

1 Adrian Essex 28.1

NS Nick Dodd 25.5

800 m35

1 Ed Garrett 2:09.0

NS Dan Johns 2:14.7

NS Jim Connell 2:48.8

800 m40

2 Jonathan Hopkin 2:17.1

800 m50

1 Tony Killilea 2:24.1

800 m60

2 Nick Dodd 2:45.2

3000 m35

2 Daniel McKeown 10:00.3

NS Dan Johns 10:06.0

NS Jim Connell 11:33.0

3000 m50

3 Pete Crockford 10.53.4

NS Mike Abrahams 12:05.2

NS Nick Dodd 12:35.9

4x400m relay

1 Heathside 'A' 3:57.7

NS Heathside 'B' TBC

shot m60

1 Adrian Essex 9

Comrades Marathon, Durban, June 4

Mike Stocks, a comrades veteran in both senses, ran the Durban to Pietermaritzburg 87km up-run in 7.34.59 – a fine performance considering that just two months earlier he won the even more gruelling Richmond 100mile race (April 29th), and his legs had not fully recovered. Joining him on those brutal hills, for the second time, was Rob Shulman whose excellent 8:18 was a huge improvement on his first effort.

Mike, who has a Comrades PB of 6:47.11 (last year’s 89km down-run), gave this exhausted report: “It was a hard day out for me – definitely didn’t have the legs, and I had to manage a lot of issues, especially some severe sciatica. I’m a bit upset to have just silver (7:30), but also happy that it is done. Rob had a fantastic run – especially for a debut up-run.”

London to Brighton 100k, Saturday May 27

Lenny Martin came an impressive 16th in the London to Brighton 100km race. Here is his report:

“While it's primarily a walking event there's a small field of about 250-300 runners who race. Seeing most of this field disappear off in front as we headed down the Thames out of Richmond was frankly a little disconcerting, but sticking to my race plan of slow and consistent pacing I started to move back through the field as the race progressed past the first marathon. A little after the half-way point some nasty stomach cramps set in, and I was reduced to liquid nourishment only. Fearing an inevitable "bonk", I tried to keep my pace strong and get time in the bank in case the wheels came completely crashing off, but somehow (miraculously!) they stayed on, and I kept moving strongly over the steep climbs of the South Downs and continued taking places all the way to the finish at Brighton Racecourse.”

Result

16th Lenny Martin - 11 h 22

Vitality London 10,000, Monday May 29

Tom Aldred was, by a very long way, our first runner home in this event, arriving in 38th place (out of 12,397 finishers) in 31:27 – showing that at the age of 38 he’s in fine nick (though not quite in his 2015 30:43 form). He was followed by Dan Johns (36:29 and Joe Garrood (36:37). The fourth Heathsider and first Heathside woman was Ula Cartwright-Finch in a time of 38:10. Also impressive was Nick Dodd, who was the second V60 in 44:06.

Results

38th Tom Aldred – 31.21

310th Dan Johns (V40) – 36.29

327th Joe Garrood – 36.37

458th Ula Cartwright-Finch (V35) – 38.10

477th Matthew Cockerill (V35) – 35.26

633rd Jonathan Hopkin (V35) – 39.53

676th Jim Connell (v40) – 40.18

799th Anthony Hidalgo – 41.24

1028th Tom Bedwell – 42.55

1182nd Simon Hazel – 43.45

1244th Nick Dodd (2nd V60) – 44.06

1615th Emma Ford – 45.40

2448 Alun Nash – 48.49

Vitality Westminster Mile, Sunday May 28

Tom Bedwell was the first Heathsider home, taking ninth place out of 205 but  perhaps the most impressive run came from Nick Dodd -  41st in a time of 5:58, which is a new club V60 record. Five seconds behand him was another V60, Michael Abrahams.

Results

9th Tom Bedwell – 5:39

41st Nick Dodd (v60) – 5:53

49th Michael Abrahams (v60 – 5:58

95th Esti Guijarro – 6:20

152nd Sebouh Takvorian – 6:55

Stockholm Marathon, Stockholm, Sweden, Saturday June 3

Simon Hazel started the week with his 43:45in the Vitality 10k and ended it running a marathon in Sweden. Here is his report: “It's an undulating tomato course that combines the old town area with the surrounding islands. I managed 1:43 for the first half maintained even splits for the rest of the second lap to the finish in the Olympic stadium in 3:27:18. Hopefully getting me another trip to the Boston Marathon.”

Result

Simon Hazel – 3:27.18.

Great Women’s 10k, Glasgow June 4

Sarah Illingworth’s finished this race in 50:31, coming ninth in the women’s 45-49 category. Here is her report: “It was a scenic route in glorious sunshine with my sister in law.  We ran to piped bands and cheers from a friendly local crowd. A minute silence as a mark of respect to the victims of the recent terror attacks reminded us of how lucky we were to be enjoying the Glasgow sun.”

Result

183rd Sarah Illingworth – 50:31 (9th W V45)

Parkruns

Two Parkruns to report. On May 27 49 Heathsiders ran in 21 Parkruns. There were first places for Sarah Swan in Finsbury Park (19:43), Elizabeth Drake in Aberystwyth (20:51), Rebecca Bunting in Panshanger (18:41) and Mario Cadete (17:51).  Here are the full Heathside results: http://www.parkrun.com/results/consolidatedclub/?clubNum=2017&eventdate=2017-05-27

 On June 3, 49 of our runners competed in 19 Parkruns. There were first places for Tom Aldred in Finsbury Park (16:15), Rachel Newstead in York (19:28), Rebecca Bunting in St Albans (18:27) and Paul Beale in Evesham (19:02). Here are the results: http://www.parkrun.com/results/consolidatedclub/?clubNum=2017&eventdate=2017-06-03