Paris Marathon, Reading Half and Aldred Wins Sri Chinmoy 10

It was a massively exciting racing weekend, with events in all shapes and sizes - including the first of the big Spring marathons - Paris - and some great results there, as well as in the many half marathons: Reading, Richmond, Berlin, Wilmslow, Whitehorse and Warwick half marathons, the Orion 15, Regents Park and Stockholm 10Ks, the under 13 and 15s Lee Valley Pentathlon, Lowestoft 5 and Masters Athletics, to name a few. And this weekend also saw the club championship time for 10 miles spectacularly smashed by Tom Aldred for the 10 mile distance, when he won the Sri Chinmoy 10 in Battersea.

European Indoor Masters Athletics Championships, Ancona 29/03/16 – 03/04/16
Adrian Essex went to Ancona for the European Indoor Masters event and thought that there may have been other Heathsiders at the event. The results are almost impossible to search by participant – so apologies for leaving out results of anyone else who was there. Adrian wrote: "The flight was good despite the very windy weather, picking up the car was easy, the hotel beautiful, the weather close to ideal, the venue just about good enough - but getting fourth place was disappointing. Must try harder!"
First four places were:
Valdis Cela (Latvia) 3991
Marek MielCarek (Poland) 3725
Vesa Maki (Finland) 3434
Adrian Essex 3420

Schneider Electric Paris Marathon, Paris, 03/04/16

Jim Connell wrote this full report of the Paris marathon: "There was decent representation from the Heathside Massive at the Paris Marathon on Sunday, with fantastic running from all the boys and girls despite the lovely weather. This was not a race for negative splits, but instead staying on your feet, hydrating well, and making it to the finish safely.

After the long winter it was nice to feel the warm sun on my face. After an hour of that I started to feel dry and realized I had more than 25k to go!

I arrived with a loose target of "similar time" to my Tokyo Run a few weeks back c.3 hours'ish, but I was mainly there for the beers and giggles. I'd already signed for this race before the Tokyo place came up, and with lots of pals and clubmates running it also, I just couldn't sit it out.

Aviators on from start to finish, I was solid and ran even till about 30k, but I was already feeling the fatigue creeping in, and drying out quicker than usual, tipping cups of water over my head and taking on more liquids than usual. From 30k onwards I faded ever so gradually to a 5+minute positive split. Running the through the Bois de Bolougne a.k.a The Woods of Death (km 36-41) is tough enough on a cool day, but coming through there, I'd put money on just about every runner having trouble in those conditions. From 11am it just suddenly seemed very warm and I just wanted to get to the finish without keeling over. The crowd support was great (best I've experienced in my 3 goes at Paris) - probably because it was such a nice day. There were many more drop outs this year with a similar number of finishers to 2015 but an extra 10,000 runners starting. Every runner who crossed that finish line earned their stripes this weekend.

Jake moved his PB out of the 20s and into the teens for a gritty run leaving it all out there on the course .... literally, a nice hurl and he was ready for the rest of the day. Quite a few of us ended up on the beers for most of the day with the Runners World Paris Thread, who are very organized with getting everyone together for this race with meetups etc. We managed to get back to the apartment for showers and changes of clothes before the evening sitting. It was a great weekend!

Just reading the feedback on the thread, and despite everyone having a bit of mare at one point or another, they all really enjoyed it, as did I. Will I go back for number 4? not in 2017 but I'll get back there at some point for 1 or 2 more goes. I recommend this race for anyone fed up with the London or the London Marathon Ballot. 2 hours on Eurostar and you're there."

Under 13's and Under 15's Pentathlon, Lee Valley Athletics Centre, 27/03/16
Zac wrote: “Five Under 13 boys took part, and one Under 15 Boy, and they all did London Heathside proud. I have uploaded a film of the all the individual performances which lasts for nearly 21 minutes, so if you want to watch it, I suggest you set aside a bit of time (Ed. this also contains all the results, so do check it out here):

Although all the children did well, one performance stood out. Billy put the shot 7.75 metres, which was the farthest throw out of all the 21 athletes who took part in the U13 competition. None of the other children managed to put the Shot farther than 7 metres.”

Premiarmilen (10k) 2016, Stockholm, Sweden 02/04/16
Emma Mattsson Duggan ran a 10K in Stockholm coming in 63rd woman in 44.08.

Orion 15, Epping Forest 02/04/16
The 62nd running of this much loved event – a 15 mile cross country through the wilds of Epping Forest, took place in the sunshine of Saturday morning. For some reason the organisers decided to change the course this year, which meant new trails, more brambles and different parts of the forest, with much more mud, and hills than previously, and a certain amount of confusion for some sections of race. The front runners, most, probably locals to the area who knew the forest well, missed taking a wrong turn, but those in the middle of the pack (me, Tara and Jessica amongst them), got swept along by a large group of 80 odd runners, who appeared to know the way, until suddenly they didn’t and we found ourselves running around for a bit - wondering whether we were ever going to see civilisation again. Eventually the route was discovered, and we continued on our way, having added on some extra distance to a course which was already plenty long enough! Described as having “testing climbs and challenging conditions” just about summed it up. But we all finished in the end, and all the mud and hills were instantly forgotten when we were greeted with bucks fizz at the finish line. Rebecca Piggot seemed completely oblivious to the mud and the hills as she skipped in as 3rd woman (and first Heathsider) in just over 2 hours (less than a minute behind the first lady) looking fresh as a daisy, closely followed by Jonathan Litchfield – first Heathside man. Despite the mud and the blood, I for one will be back for another attempt next year.

There were many half marathons:

Reading Half, Reading, 03/4/16
The Reading half had a large contingent of 15 Heathsiders taking part, billed as a fast flat course, it appeared to be just that from the excellent results, with Pete Bakewell leading the Heathsiders home in a great time of 1.19.27.

White Horse Half, 3/4/16

Andy Barnes had a big PB at the White Horse half coming in 2nd place in 73:41.

Warwick Half, Warwick, 03/4/16

James Lynch ran the Warwick Half Marathon yesterday, finishing 8th overall with a PB of 1:20:44.He wrote: "Lovely event, perfect running conditions and beautiful undulating course through the Warwickshire countryside, may well go back next year!"

Wilmslow Half, 3/4/16

Tom Livermore had a great run at the Wilmslow Half coming in in 22nd place in  75:46.

Salomon Richmond Half, Richmond, 03/04/16

Alison Harrow wrote: "Madeleine Minson and Alison Harrow zoomed off to an early 8.30am start at The Solomon Richmond Half Marathon on Sunday (http://www.richmondhalf.com/). Once again, Madeleine, who is a relatively new Heathsider only joining in 2015, proved she is a natural and powerful runner, coming in 3rd FV45, on target time, despite illness and work exhaustion during the week up to the event! (The 1st FV45 finished nearly an hour before her, so is clearly an elite runner, so doesn’t count!) She’s well on her training journey to her very 1st Marathon in June. Alison was pleased to have her Spring Half under her belt, within her target finish time.

Beautiful sunny morning after the heavy rain of the night before. The race start is close to Richmond station, and takes a pretty figure- of -eight route alongside local parks and streets, and paths along the river. Great goody bags! Not sure I’d recommend this one tho: the marshals were not helpful, for example standing idly and giving no warning of a dangerous end of railing hazard that nearly impaled Alison in the stomach within the 1st mile; the paths along the river were quite dangerous with pot-holes (there was at least one casualty of this) and turned to muddy trail-like terrain at Mile 10, altogether making the course very painful underfoot." 1567 finishers, 628 female finishers."

Berlin Half Marathon, Berlin, 03/04/16

Hugh James took part in the Berlin Half marathon this weekend and did well, coming in in 1.36.33.

Lidl Kingston Breakfast Run 2.1 miles, Kingston, 03/04/16

Josie Hinton and Rebecca Carlisle ran in the Kingston Breakfast run 20.1 miles, with Josie coming in first Heathsider and 2nd woman in 2.21.55 in a speedy time of 2.21.55.

Sri Chinmoy 10 mile race, Battersea Park 02/4/16
Tom Aldred came first at the Battersea Park 10 mile race on Saturday morning, Dan sent in this small report:"We had three at the Sri Chinmoy 10 miles in Battersea, *early* Saturday morning (ie 8am kickoff). You certainly have to get up extremely early these days to get the jump on Tom Aldred, who was having a casual pre-breakfast crack at the club 10-mile record.

After a blistering run (in the sense that a. he finished first by some distance, and b. he gave himself blisters), Tom crossed the line in 52:32, scooping the club record and the prize for first place. Gavin and I finished a mere 12 minutes behind, with Gavin winning the V50 prize for his efforts".

Regent’s Park 1st Sunday of the Month 03/04/16
First Sunday of the Month 10K was held this weekend in Regent’s Park, and five Heathsiders took part, led home by Joe in 12th place (and with a PB) in a time of 38.24.

Lowestoft 5 mile Promenade dash, Lowestoft, 03/04/16

Rebecca Bunting took part in the Lowestoft 5 mile race, and came in 2nd place, first lady in a time of 31.16.

FULL RESULTS

European Indoor Masters Athletics Championships Indoor, Ancona 29/03/16-03/04/16
Adrian Essex:
60m hurdles 11.35 / 741
Long Jump 4.09m / 632
Shot Putt 8.78m / 603
High Jump 1.36m / 696
1000m 3:47.11 / 748

Schneider Electric Paris Marathon, Paris, 03/04/16

Jim Connell 3.05.09 (bib 510)

Jonathan Powell 3.13.08 (bib 5484)

Jake Spencer 3.16.04 (bib 6128)

Daniel Johns 3.32.38 (bib 6246)

Francesca Norman 3.40.16 (bib 23478)

Simon Hazel 3.42.49 (bib 4489)

Kathryn Creaney 3.59.44 (bib 32295)

John McConnell 4.38.15 (bib 37160)

Reading Half, Reading, 03/4/16
146th Pete Bakewell 01:19:27
152nd Mario Cadete 01:19:46
156th Adam Mitchell 01:19:57
190th Luke Wynne 01:20:59
240th Steve Armstrong 01:23:13
244th Andrew Welshman 01:23:15
246th Sion Lewis 01:23:24
423rd Edward Adams 01:27:33
474th Ian Parry 01:28:27
983rd James Dark 01:35:39
1151st Nicola Atkin 01:37:14
1186th Liam Hazelton 01:37:32 (PB)
1610th Jennifer Wing 01:40:42
3912th Sally Burrows 01:54:35
10084th Luke Wynne 02:41:32

White Horse Half, 3/4/16

2nd Andy Barnes 73:41 (PB)

Warwick Half marathon, Warwick, 03/04/16

8th James Lynch 1.20.44 (PB)

Wilmslow Half, 3/4/16

22 Tom Livermore 75:46

Salomon Richmond Half marathon, Richmond 03/04/16

607th Madeleine Minson 1.50.38 (3rd V45)

823rd Alison Harrow 1.58.14

Berlin Half Marathon, Berlin, 03/04/16

1955th Hugh James 1.36.33

Lidl Kingston Breakfast Run 2.1 miles, Kingston, 03/04/16

43rd Josie Hinton 2.21.55 (2nd woman)

360th 3.15.40 Rebecca Carlisle

Sri Chinmoy 10 mile race, Battersea Park 2/4/16
1st Tom Aldred 52:32
15th Gavin Evans 1.04.02 (1st V50)
17th Dan McKeown 1.04.43

Premiarmilen (10k) 2016, Stockholm, Sweden 02/04/16
2276th Emma Mattsson Duggan 44.08 (63rd woman)

Orion 15, Epping Forest 02/04/16
32 301 Rebecca Piggott SW 2 0 28
34 238 Jonathan Litchfield M40 2 1 3
82 76 Lee Connor M40 2 11 30
129 250 Marco Maserati M50 2 23 29
168 283 Darrell Osborne M40 2 29 22
206 389 Jessica Vinluan W35 2 47 53
219 396 Caroline White W55 2 49 6
235 371 Tara Tapper W35 2 50 59
265 363 Jamie Stokes M40 3 3 24

Regent’s Park 1st Sunday of the Month 03/04/16
12 Joe McKeown 38:24 (PB)
24 Philip Duggan 40:11 (3rd V40)
45 Gavin Parish 43:17
209 Alun Nash 51:31
284 Frances Powrie 54:52

Lowestoft 5 mile Promenade dash, Lowestoft, 03/04/16

2nd Rebecca Bunting (1st lady) 31.16

Parkruns
Everyone ran well in parkruns up and down the country –and beyond (Monika in Poland) as can be seen here, but special mention and congratulations to all those coming first in their races (all women this week!):
Eilidh Wagstaff 20.17 Hackney Marshes
Joanna Brown 21.37 Finsbury Park
Rebecca Bunting 20.14 Sheringham
Monika Newton 19.57