Rain and Mud and Hills and Medals at the Middlesex Champs: A Very Heathside Happy New Year!
After a very brief Christmas break, Heathsiders were soon back running, either on the roads (or park footpaths) or braving bleak cross-country conditions; a few could even be found racing in indoor athletics tracks.
Whilst many Heathsiders were resting, either after seeing in the New Year or in preparation for the testing cross country later that week, twelve Heathsiders welcomed in the New Year by racing in Hyde Park. Congratulations go to Gavin Evans who the first Heathsider over the line in the first race of the year. There were great performances from others, including Leigh James (4th woman), Caroline White (2nd FV55) and Tony Chin (2nd V55); Gavin provides further details of the race below. Others welcomed in the New Year by racing in the indoor athletics meeting in Lee Valley or in various parkruns all over the country, with Rebecca Bunting apparently doing two parkruns in the same morning.
However, the highlight of the week was undoubtedly the Middlesex Cross country championship, in which sixty one Heathsiders took part, racing in what were extremely bleak, difficult and wet conditions in Alexandra Palace. Everyone did well to complete, led home by Sue Rust (5th) and Adam Kirk-Smith (21st). Gavin Evans, Caroline White and Laura Boothman deserve a special mention, as they had also raced a few days earlier in Hyde Park. Chris has provided an unbeatably evocative description of the day, reproduced in full below.
The remainder of this report comprises Chris’ and Gavin’s race reports, followed by the results from the road races, indoor athletics, cross country and parkruns.
Serpentine New Year’s Day 10K (by Gavin Evans)
1st January 2015
Twelve hardy Heathsiders shook off their hangovers to start 2015 with a spring in their step, skipping off to a chilly, damp, blustery Hyde Park for the annual New Year’s Day races.
Tony Kililea definitely deserves first mention for winning the 3k event. Three details make this even more impressive: 1. His winning time of 10:50 was one minute and 24 seconds quicker than the second placed runner; 2. He beat 73 runners; 3. He is a V50. Well done Tony.
Eleven of us ran in the 10k event – a full-house in terms of entrants (which is rather unusual for New Year’s day). Leigh James was the fourth woman home, just missing out on third place by two seconds with a time of 38:09. Caroline White was the second V55 and I was the second V50. It was particularly good to see Heathside veteran Tony Chin back in the races – and doing so in fine style as the second male V55 (although in this race the second female V55 beat the second male V55 by 36 seconds).
Middlesex Cross-Country Championships, Saturday January 3rd 2015, Alexandra Palace (by Chris Hartley)
Day never quite broke over brooding Ally Pally on Saturday. It was more of an endless, eerily apocalyptic, permanent half-dusk of low cloud and ceaseless rain. Looking out of the window at 10am I figured we were in for a testing day. By midday, when I arrived at the course and was greeted by the sight of a small and bedraggled huddle of Juniors, shivering under a valiant Heathside gazebo that formed the centrepiece of what was fast becoming a small lake, I felt like turning tail and heading back to the comforts of home. Of course I couldn’t do that. I’m the flippin’ team captain! Nonetheless, as I weighed the heft of a buff envelope stuffed with running numbers for Heathsiders who signed-up for this race during that pre-Xmas period when the New Year feels like a lifetime away, I began to wonder if anyone else would bother showing up on this grimmest of days. Home felt like the right place to be.
Next time I have Heathside doubts, I’ll splash my face with the freezing muddy water of the nearest cross-country course for sure. Revived by a cup of tea (courtesy of Gavin Evans) I wandered back to the Heathside gazebo (nothing like as flash as the H*ghgate gazebo, which has sides - FFS - and a sound system), to discover a growing band of women and men in remarkably high spirits, game for some proper cross-country. As race time approached more women arrived, then more men, and I realized again what an amazing, never-say-no-to-cross-country group we have at Heathside. Although I will pick out a few stand-out runs from amongst our number, Saturday was really about the hardiness and damn fine sportsmanship of everyone associated with the club - marshals, supporters, and particularly those lovely, lovely runners. I wanted to hug every last one of you for just turning up. Be thankful for your near miss with the damp scratchy beard of your team captain Rebecca Bunting, Gabi Johnson, Jo Irwin, Victoria Pound, Caroline White, Jane Higgins, Noelle O’Regan, Ann Woulfe, Sue Rust, Elizabeth Beard, Laura Boothman, Rebecca Piggott, Sandra Buckton, Costi Stavrianakis, Lee Connor, Mario Cadete, Norman Mitchell, Gavin Evans, Carl Heap, Dan McKeown, Rob Shulman, Adam Ibrahim, Stuart Meiklejohn, Steve Armstrong, Howard Gold, Ed Samuel, Alun Nash, Alan Latham, Adam Kirk-Smith, Hassan Nahal, Kris Milovsorov, Matt Collins, Mark Anderson, Emerson Paul, Joe McKeown, Ryan McCrickerd, Jonathan Litchfield, Elliott Reed, Dan Madams, Sam Thompson, William Wagstaff, Richard Macaulay, Phil Hogg, Simon Bailey and Gareth Marshall. Consider yourselves symbolically hugged and revered by your team captain all the same! Simply taking part in this race, which was, in my opinion, the nastiest the club has been involved in since the 2013 National Champs in the slush of Sunderland, earns you full Heathside bragging rights. Years from now, when your grandchildren ask you, ‘Grandma/Grandad, what did you do in the Great War (against H*ghgate)?’ you’ll be able send them to sleep with tales of derring do in the great mud battle of Ally Pally, in early ’15. So impressed am I that even Dan Madams, Mark Anderson and Howard Gold can consider their ‘Flaky Lurcher’ moniker provisionally revoked (so long as you all turn up to race the next Met League, gents - I’m not that much of a soft touch).
Amongst the small but valiant group of Juniors who braved the wet and cold, and ran the hill of Ally Pally, the most impressive performances came from Meg Naylor, 18th in the Under-15 Girls race, Phoebe Crockford (20th, also in the Under-15 category), Jacob Phillips, who finished 12th in the Under-17 Men’s race, and James Wooldridge, who finished 5th in the Under-20 Men’s race. Team medals were won by the Under-17 Men, who came third (congrats to Jacob Phillips, William Griffiths, and Jake Reynolds), and the Under-20 Men (James Wooldridge, Conor O’Shea, and Daniel Szjana). I’m pretty sure I’d have been immovable from my teenage bed at their age, so I can only admire the Juniors’ determination and commitment to the club and cross-country running. Thanks also to Ruth, who brought the gazebo, planted it in the lake, and then froze her little legs off in the rain whilst organising and motivating the Juniors.
In the Senior Women’s race, 70 athletes completed the 8km course that took them up Ally Pally hill twice, of which 13 wore the legendary Heathside vest. Sue Rust (5th), Rebecca Piggott (7th), Rebecca Bunting (18th), and Jane Higgins (31st), made up the four-to-score A Team for the club, finishing second in the Team competition, behind champions Thames Valley Harriers. Beyond the A-team there were impressive runs from Victoria Pound (32nd, showing Ollie how it’s done), and Elizabeth Beard (35th, showing Elliott how it’s done), both of whom had strong finishes. Sandra Buckton brought up the rear of the Heathside contingent with a determined run that made light of the heaviest of courses, finishing 69th. So far as I’m concerned though, everyone was a winner.
The Senior Men’s race was a grueling 12km, taking us up the hill no less than FOUR times, in the muddiest possible conditions. The challenge seemed to bring the hero out of some of us (but not me). Largely according with captain’s orders (no gloves, no t-shirts!), Heathside’s squad of 33 men were easily the largest contingent amongst the 154 finishers. Adam Kirk-Smith led the A-team home with a 21st place finish, supported by a superb run from Matt Collins (30th - that’s proper cross-country right there, Matt), Ryan McCrickerd (quietly setting about becoming one of the club’s best X/C runners), Ed Samuel, Dan Madams, and Howard Gold. The Men finished fourth in the team event, behind Champions Hillingdon, H*ghgate (ahem), and Victoria Park.
Mark Anderson, Steve Armstrong and I had a 12km battle over bragging rights which Mark (50th) stole in the last stretch, with Steve (52nd) leaving me trailing in the mud (57th). Adam Ibrahim (61st) and Norman Mitchell (63rd) had strong runs. Dan McKeown continued his comeback with an impressive 66th place. A word for Jonathan Litchfield, too, (74th) another of this season’s rapid improvers. Towards the back of the field, Hasan Nahal, Carl Heap, Emerson Paul, Alun Nash, and Simon Bailey showed what the real ethos of cross-country is about: team spirit, determination, individual battles with the conditions, and a healthy dose of masochism.
Once again, many thanks and congratulations to everyone who took on, and triumphed over, what was a tough event. And thanks to the marshals and supporters who kept us all motivated on the way round, especially Pete Holland, who stood at the top of the hill so that he could remind us how many times we still had to do it again when we reached the top!
Results
Road races
Serpentine New Year’s Day 10K
1st January 2015
3k Result (74 finishers)
1st Tony Kililea – 10:50 (also first V50)
10k Results (466 finishers)
28th. Gavin Evans – 37.44 (2nd V50)
35th Leigh James – 38:09 (4th woman)
40th Allan Whatmough – 38:56
90th Gavin Parish – 43:42
161st Caroline White – 48:23 (2nd FV55)
170th Tony Chin – 48:59 (2nd V55)
262nd Clare Taylor – 53:12
264th Eliot Sweeney – 53:13
272th James Taggart – 53:43
278th Alice Devereaux Parish – 54:12
354th Laura Boothman – 59:49.
Mornington Chasers' Regents Park 10K Winter Series
4th January 2015
16 Andrew Dunderdale 39:54
57 Bridgit Napleton 44:39
112 Catherine Day 50:02
Indoor athletics
Lee Valley New Year Open
Lee Valley
01-Jan-15
60 SX 1.6
4 SEN W Alishia Abodunde 8.86
60 SX 1.7
4 V50 M Cono Ariti 8.69
60 SX 1.11
5 V40 M Michael Bense 8.14
60 SX 1.14
5 SEN M Jeffrey Rice 7.64
60 SX 2.10
5 V40 M Michael Bense 8.14
60 SX 2.14
2 SEN M Jeffrey Rice 7.57
200 SX 7
4 V40 M Michael Bense 27.18
200 SX 8
1 SEN M Jeffrey Rice 24.68
800 SX 8
5 SEN M Richard Macaulay 02:09.0
Middlesex Cross-Country Championships, Saturday January 3rd 2015, Alexandra Palace
Under-13 Girls (3km, 32 finishers)
31. Kate Wooton 19.45
Under-15 Boys (4km, 35 finishers)
21. Liam Garrett 14.59
23. Antanas Weston 15.22
30. James Barrow 15.49
Under-15 Girls (4km, 41 finishers)
18. Meg Naylor 16.35
20. Phoebe Crockford 16.52
36. Sidney Tucker 19.25
39. Rachel Finke 20.10
Under-17 Men (6km, 22 finishers)
12. Jacob Phillips 23.19
16. William Griffiths 24.03
18. Jake Reynolds 25.29
Under-17 Women (5km, 11 finishers)
10. Genevieve Weston 23.48
Under-20 Men (8km, 17 finishers)
5. James Wooldridge 28.09
13. Conor O’Shea 31.30
16. Daniel Szjana 32.39
Senior Women (8km, 70 finishers)
5. Sue Rust 31.37
7. Rebecca Piggott 31.43
18. Rebecca Bunting 33.56
31. Jane Higgins 36.37
32. Victoria Pound 37.31
35. Elizabeth Beard 38.01
37. Jo Irwin 38.19
44. Caroline White 40.22
45. Noelle O’Regan 40.36
55. Gabi Johnson 42.18
62. Ann Woulfe 44.42
67. Laura Boothman 47.34
69. Sandra Buckton 49:20
Senior Men (12km, 154 finishers)
21. Adam Kirk-Smith 43.51
30. Matt Collins 45.15
32. Ryan McCrickerd 45.22
33. Ed Samuel 45.22
44. Dan Madams 46.41
48. Howard Gold 46.58
50. Mark Anderson 47.02
52. Steve Armstrong 47.04
57. Chris Hartley 47.28
59. Rich Macaulay 47.33
61. Adam Ibrahim 47.53
63. Norman Mitchell 48.00
66. Dan McKeown 48.03
73. Sam Thompson 48.37
74. Jonathan Litchfield 48.39
83. Costi Stavrianakis 49.25
85. Stuart Meiklejohn 49.38
89. Gavin Evans 49.55
90. Lee Connor 50.00
97. Mario Cadete 50.56
98. Phil Hogg 50.58
99. Gareth Marshall 51.02
101. Joe McKeown 51.04
106. Kris Milovsorov 51.25
107. Rob Shulman 51.28
112. William Wagstaff 52.16
113. Alan Latham 52.22
122. Elliott Reed 54.47
126. Hasan Nahal 55.16
129. Carl Heap 55.45
143. Emerson Paul 58.38
149. Alun Nash 60.32
151. Simon Bailey 62.55
Parkruns:
1st January 2015:
http://www.parkrun.com/results/consolidatedclub/?clubNum=2017&eventdate=2015-01-01
3rd January 2015:
http://www.parkrun.com/results/consolidatedclub/?clubNum=2017&eventdate=2015-01-03