Road Race Relays, indoor athletics, PBs and new Club records
It was a busy week-end. Highlights include the South of England Road Relays, an update on the Road Race championship, great achievements at the indoor athletics in Lea Valley, numerous half marathons and two new club records.
South of England Road Relay Championships [by Sam Thompson]
On Sunday, 36 happy Heathsiders made their way to Gravesend Cyclopark to compete in the Southern 12 & 6 Stage Road Relay Championships. The event was shifted from its usual home in Milton Keynes (a crucial piece of information one Heathsider, who will remain unnamed, only realised at 9pm the evening before!) and the feedback on the course & location was mainly positive. The course comprised of 2/3 laps of the undulating, smooth-surfaced cycling track and the layout was conducive for spectating at various points, with the very vocal Heathside contingent setting up base camp next to the café (naturally).
Out on the racetrack, there were fine performances all round. In the Women's 6 stage race (2x 6.6k, 4x 4.4k legs) our A team finished a very impressive 8th out of 33 complete teams and the B team came in 21st - the first 'B' team across the line. Fastest leg shout outs go to Rebecca Piggott for the long leg and Ella Waldman for the short leg. The difference in times between A & B team runners was very close, demonstrating the strength in depth in our Ladies' ranks. The National Road Relay Championships take place on 16 April in Birmingham and if our Ladies can put in a similarly speedy showing they have the potential to place very highly at this prestigious level.
The Men (12 stages: 6x 6.6k, 6x 4.4k) also performed admirably, the A team finishing 22nd out of 34 complete teams and the B team were 33rd. Note also that there were 9 incomplete/disqualified team - Heathside were one of the few clubs able to fill two full teams, an achievement in itself. A special mention for Andrew Owen who had cycled to Gravesend not expecting to run but, due to an unanticipated no-show, found himself donned in blue, red and gold and ready to race at very short notice. I was also impressed by the grimace on Ben Wolfe's face as he dug in deep to just about hold off the fast-finishing TVH athlete. Finally, and almost finally on the road, a big thank you to Richard Peachment who was late in the day to sign up and found himself anchoring the Men's B team on a rather lonely circuit. Despite some corner-cutting reminiscent of the Stevenage Met League, Richard made sure the team were not the last finishers, despite suffering from dodgy knees.
In all a great team event and a rare occasion to compete as a team on a smooth surface. It was a pleasure to be involved and thank you to all who took part!
Rob Jackson Road Racing Championships Update {by Sam Thompson)
Following the second instalment of the 2016 RJRRC at the Finchley 20 and the bonus points available for taking part in the SEAA Road Relay Championships the current standings are now live:
http://www.londonheathside.org.uk/club_championships.htm
Celine has jumped to the top of the Women’s standings after her bonus-point performance at the Finchley 20, despite deciding that Gravesend wasn’t her favoured location to spend her Sunday this past weekend. Satu is showing consistency across all events and distances in second place and Rachel is poised in third, one of 12 Ladies to pick up the 25 bonus points for racing in the relays.
Andy seems to have his eye on a second consecutive RJRRC trophy after coming in first for the second race running, again picking up 10 age-grading bonus points. Despite not running at Finchley, Kimon remains in the top three but is replaced in second place by George after another strong showing. A fine run by Gavin Evans at Finchley saw him pick up 10 bonus points, and a number of fellow veterans picked up 5 bonus age-grading points.
Can anyone challenge Celine or agitate Andy’s advantage? Next up is the Crouch End 10k on Sunday 15 May. Entries are now open and available at:
http://www.ymcanorthlondon.org.uk/fun-run-events-2016/
Middlesex Indoor Championships - Lee Valley Indoor Athletics Centre 19/20 March 2016
Heathside athletes participated in almost every event in the Indoor athletics at Lea Valley over the week-end - long jump, high jump, pole vault, shot putt, 60 m hurdles, 60 m, 200 m, 400 m, 800 m. By all accounts, it was a great start to the season, with plenty of medals and PBs, with prospects looking great for the Southern Athletics League in less than a month.
From the men, particularly noteworthy performances include Richard Macaulay’s second place in the 400m (2:02.60) and Gabriel Wilmhurst’s 1st and 2nd place in the U15B long jump (4.56m) and high jump (1.55m) respectively. Among the women, almost all of the performances led to podium finishes, with Noelle O’Regan coming 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in the 400m (66:22), shot (9:07m) and 200m (29:2) respectively and Claudia Bloh coming 2nd and 3rd in the 60m (8:58) and shot (6.45m).
Half marathons
Phil Hogg, Simon Hazel and Kathryn Creaney ran in the Fleet half marathon, reputedly one of the flattest half marathons in England. Phil managed to achieve a PB (1:25:10), whilst Paul (1:35:49) and Kathryn (1:44:36) demonstrated that they are ready for the Paris marathon in two weeks time.
However, to be sure of a half marathon PB this week-end, you needed to go to Brentwood, where all 5 participating Heathsiders achieved a PB. Tom Stephenson (1:13:06) led them home in spectacular form, finishing 3rd overall, followed by Allan Whatmough (1:17:44), Jonathan Hopkin (1:18:21), Marco Luna (1:29:59) and Robert Bowler (1:35:51).
Meanwhile, seven Heathsiders ran in the North London half marathon. Perhaps to speed runners along and give them something to look forward to, the organisers reversed the route this year, a ploy which not missed by our discerning runners. Bas reports “I suppose the main attraction of the race is the fact that it finishes in Wembley stadium…. The route itself isn't all that spectacular ..a back-and-forth run from Wembley to Allianz Park and back, passing through some not particularly interesting parts of suburbia and business parks in Brent and Barnet.” The organisers’ ploy was successful. Despite the undulations and mean hills, Paul Jarman came 2nd M50 (1:29:03), Paul Mcwilliams had a good run (1:35:09) even with a 55 delay in reaching the start, Ciara Owens finished 6th F35 (1:35:34), whilst Bas knocked off 8 minutes from his previous PB (1:49:06). Emma Ford had a very promising first half marathon, coming in in just over 93 minutes, 32nd woman in a field of over 2500.
Henry Hamilton used his local knowledge to run a perfectly-timed race at the first ever Heyford Park Airbase Half Marathon in Oxfordshire. He reports: “I grew up just a couple of miles down the road so I knew it's description of "pancake flat" was no lie as the course weaved it way around the old airfield. This couldn't be more of a PB course but having not run more than 5k in the last 4 weeks I set myself a more realistic target time of 1:31 which I was happy to hit spot on!”
Coniston 14 - “Welshman not quite the Old Man of Coniston*”
Dan and Joe McKeown and Andy Welshman escaped to the country this week-to celebrate Andy’s birthday(?) by running in the Coniston 14, an annual road race round Coniston Water. Almost everyone was delighted. Dan reported: “Joe and I have run it before and both took a fair chunk out of our previous course times, with a huge 'well done' to Joe for pinging his pre-race target of 90 minutes. Andy also ran well finishing 2nd V50, although Dan remained unconvinced:: “.. he was a controversial second-place V50 in the results. I say 'controversial' because he turned 50 over the weekend but, this being a leap year, his birthday was bumped back to the Sunday….(Happy birthday, Andy!)”
* Dan: “The Old Man is the largest hill in the neighbourhood - Joe & I dragged ourselves up it on Sunday”
Last Friday of the Month, 5K, Hyde Park
It was an eventful day at Hyde Park last Friday, when 6 Heathsiders ran in the 5K race in the last Friday of the month series. Stars of the day were Gabi Johnson who who set a PB and the club V45 record in 22:13, and Caroline White who added another club record for the V55 category to her collection, finishing in 22:51, also setting a PB. Caroline now just needs to run in a 2 mile race to get a clean sweep of the V55 club records. The remaining 4 runners also ran well, led by Gareth Marshall (17:54), followed shortly by Mark George(19:52), Leo Pemberton (20:47) and Cathy Jeremiah (20:52). Well done Caroline and we look forward to seeing your next record!
Multisport
Congratulations are due to John Driscoll who had good news about his duathlon career, following his performance in Clumber Park in Nottingham: “I qualified for the British Team AG for this June's World Duathlon Championships in Spain and the 2017 European Championships.”
This occurred despite a few hardships and hard-hitting words from his physio: “After a rusty 'Dambuster' two weeks ago, I tried to eliminate shoe, glove and 'losing bike in transition' faff but still managed to knock my chain off during T1! … Special thanks goes to the physio who heard me moan about my achilles on Xmas Eve. He realised his previous instructions to "rest" hadn't been taken onboard so ordered "for the next month don't do anything stupid like running a kilometre!" That sunk in and from then on it was a steady recovery.”
Several Heathsiders took part in the Spring London Fields Aquathlon on Sunday. Fresh from his trip to Nottingham, John Driscoll reported from the scene:
“The juniors outnumbered the adults at the aquathlon this weekend. A fun (ish) event which combines a swim in the heated lido followed by upto 5 1km laps of London Fields. Luka Melon, covered the 400m swim in a very quick 5 and half mins (fastest swim of the day) and then completed the 5km run in 21.33 to come 5th overall. Zorika Adams was 2nd female Vet after registering the second fastest female swim and holding it together for the run. For the juniors, 3 of our U13 female cross country team reunited with Lorna Dumbleton coming in first the U12 100m swim / 1km run. Her sister Evelyn was 3rd in the 12-17s with Kate Driscoll a few seconds behind in 4th. All 3 girls ran their 1km in between 4 and 4.20 mins and bodes well for their upcoming track season. “Luka demonstrated that practice does pay off, as it was the fourth time that he did this particular aquathlon, completing it in a PB of 27:47.
Results:
Road Race Relays, Gravesend Velopark, 20th March
Women: 2x 6.6k, 4x 4.4k legs; Men: 6x 6.6k, 6x 4.4k
Women’s A (8th of 33 complete teams)
1 Leigh James (14) 16:17
2 Rebecca Piggott (10) 23:20
3 Sue Rust (7) 16:11
4 Anna O'Hare (9) 24:59
5 Rachel Seckl (8) 16:34
6 Ella Waldman (8) 15:58
Women’s B (21st of 33 complete teams and 1st ‘B’ team)
1 Colette Monahan (18) 16:37
2 Rachel Newstead (19) 25:14
3 Ula Cartwright-Finch (19) 16:45
4 Satu Hietanen (21) 27:15
5 Jennifer Wing (21) 17:34
6 Elidh Wagstaff (21) 17:38
Men’s A (22nd of 34 complete teams)
1 James Wooldridge (27) 21:58
2 John Flahive (27) 15:18
3 Andy Barnes (26) 21:26
4 Pete Bakewell (23) 14:51
5 Chris Hartley (25) 22:26
6 Adam Kirk-Smith (22) 13:40
7 Kimon Doulis (23) 22:37
8 Jacob Phillips (24) 15:17
9 Ryan McCrickerd (23) 22:04
10 Pete Northall (23) 15:28
11 Olivier Le Polain (23) 20:59
12 Ben Wolfe (22) 14:47
Men’s B (33rd of 34 complete teams)
1 Jake Spencer (40) 24:53
2 Jacob Howe (38) 15:19
3 Gareth Marshall (35) 23:30
4 Gavin Parish (37) 17:11
5 Gavin Evans (36) 24:49
6 Kris Milovsorov (36) 16:36
7 Jonathan Litchfield (36) 24:08
8 Andrew Owen (36) 16:36
9 John McKnight (34) 26:56
10 Alex Macaulay (34) 17:59
11 Tony Killilea (34) 24:28
12 Richard Peachment (34) 17:20
Middlesex Indoor Championships - Lee Valley Indoor Athletics Centre 19/20 March 2016
(a) Saturday, (b) Sunday
SM 60m (b)
Heat 1
No. Athlete Perf
5 601 David Ayre 8.00
Heat 2
No. Athlete Perf
4 613 Emmanuel Nwaobodo 7.35
5 622 Rob Thomson 7.99
Heat 3
No. Athlete Perf
1 605 Jordan Glaze 7.10
S/F 1
No. Athlete Perf
4 605 Jordan Glaze 7.05
5 613 Emmanuel Nwaobodo 7.33
SM 400m (b)
Heat 1
No. Athlete Perf
4 754 Richard Macaulay 55.93
SM 800m (a)
Final
No. Athlete Perf
2 754 Richard Macaulay 2:02.60
SM Pole Vault (b)
Final
No. Athlete Ht
2 824 Duncan Hicklin 3.40
SM Long Jump (a)
Final
No. Athlete Dist
1 613 Emmanuel Nwaobodo 6.70
Heat 2
No. Athlete Perf
3 644 Darnell Plummer 24.4 q
Final
No. Athlete Perf
5 644 Darnell Plummer 24.37
U17M 60m (b)
Heat 2
No. Athlete Perf
3 661 Afolabi Soboyede 7.76
U17M 200m (a)
Final
No. Athlete Perf
5 661 Afolabi Soboyede 26.3
U17M Long Jump (a)
Final
No. Athlete Dist
3 835 Caspar Schulze 4.73
U15B High Jump (b)
Final
No. Athlete Ht
2 819 Gabriel Wilmshurst 1.55
U15B Long Jump (a)
Final
No. Athlete Dist
1 819 Gabriel Wilmshurst 4.56
SW 60m (b)
Final
2 671 Claudia Bioh 8.58
673 Lauren Hendry DNS
SW 200m (a)
Final
No. Athlete Perf
3 737 Noelle O'Regan 29.2
4 673 Lauren Hendry 30.7
SW 400m (b)
Final
No. Athlete Perf
1 737 Noelle O'Regan 65.22
SW 60m Hurdles (b)
Final
No. Athlete Perf
3 673 Lauren Hendry 11.28
SW Long Jump (b)
Final
No. Athlete Dist
2 838 Gokce Baydar 4.17
3 673 Lauren Hendry 3.29
SW Shot (b)
Final
No. Athlete Dist
2 737 Noelle O'Regan 9.07
3 671 Claudia Bioh 6.45
U17W High Jump (a)
Final
No. Athlete Ht
2 822 Anna McAllister 1.50
Brooks last Friday of the Month 5k, Hyde Park,18th March 2016
19th Gareth Marshall 17:54 PB
73rd Mark George 18:52
94th Leo Pemberton 20:47
99th Cathy Jeremiah 20:52
131st Gabi Johnson 22:13 PB
144th Caroline White 22:51 PB
Fleet half marathon, 20th March 2016
Posn Name Chip time
145 Philp Hogg 01:25:10
478 Simon Hazel 01:35:49
993 Kathryn Creaney 01:44:36
Brentwood half marathon, 20th March 2016
Posn Name Chip time
3 Tom Stephenson 01:13:06
15 Allan Whatmough 01:17:14
21 Jonathan Hopkin 01:18:21
150 Marco Luna 01:29:14
297 Robert Bowler 01:35:51
North London half marathon, Sunday 20th March 2016-03-22
Overall posn Name Chip time
89 Paul Jarman 01:23:03 (2nd M50)
1180 Paul Mcwilliams 01:35:09
487 Emma Ford 01:33:54
601 Ciara Owens 01:35:34 (6th F35)
1679 Steven Betts 01:48:10
1718 Bas Vlaming 01:49:06
2663 Liz Rawlings 01:52:33
3038 Eleanor Jones 01:53:00
3081 Mark George 01:59:32 (pacer)
6235 Katie Herbert 02:30:34
Heyford Park Airbase Half Marathon, 20th March 2016
24 Henry Hamilton 1:31:04
Coniston 14, 19th March 2016
13 Dan McKeown 01:24:46
32 Andy Welshman 01:28:44
40 Joe Mckeown 01:29:51
Bradgate Park XC, 20TH March 2016
4 Matthew Cockerill 1:11:02
Gade Valley 20M training run
Elliot Reed 2:50:00 (self-timed), PB
London Fields Aquathlon:
Adults - 400m swim / 5km run
Luka Melon (5th Male) - 5.35 / 0.40 / 21.33 27.47
Zorika Adams (2nd Vet) - 7.09 / 0.50 / 27.08 35.07
U12s 100m swim / 1 km run
Lorna Dumbleton 1st - 1.47 / 1.00 / 4.20 7.07
12-17s 100m swim / 1km run
Evelyn Dumbleton 3rd - 1.38 / 0.58 / 4.09 6.44
Kate Driscoll 4th - 1.50 / 0.47 / 4.13 6.49
Clumber Park Duathlon:
John Driscoll: Overall 54th, 8th AG 45-49. 10km run 37.32 / 40km bike 1.06.40 / 5km run 18.52 2.06.01
Parkruns:
http://www.parkrun.com/results/consolidatedclub/?clubNum=2017&eventdate=2016-03-19