Royston and the roads
Good turnout at the Sunday league cross country in Royston this week. Other Heathsiders did road races from 5 miles in Vicky Park up to 20 miles in Bramley. It looks like we had Heathsiders too in the South of England Masters' Championships inc British Masters Pentathlon at Lee Valley, but results don't seem to be out for that yet - watch this space.
Sunday League XC Race #5, Therfield Heath, Royston, 15/2/15
(approx. 5.3 miles)
Report from Gavin P:
First off, a HUGE thank you to the 35 men and 19 women who ran one or more Sunday League fixtures this season, and a very special mention to Louise Cripps and Laura Boothman who ran all five! In a season that has not been without its ups and downs, it seems wholly appropriate that the last race of the season should be a course where runners were either running up or down hill but rarely on the flat – it felt like an introduction to fell running, in fact.
Picture the scene: a misty morning on the rolling heath, the starter’s horn sounds, and the runners are off… just as Dave Browne arrives in the crowded car park and begins the search for a parking space. So massive credit to Dave for finishing where he did, although I can’t but wonder where he might have finished if he’d started with the rest of us. Up in front once again was Richard Macaulay, finishing in 18th place, while Joanne Liddle was first Heathside woman, and 15th woman overall. It was touch and go on the build-up to the race, but full A teams were there on the day.
So perhaps you’re wondering where that leaves us at the season’s end? We might not have won any prizes (to clarify, we didn’t) but Women’s team captain Laura deserves a fanfare serenade for motivating Heathside’s women to consistently field a complete A team the whole season, with fantastic results:
A 10th place for the women at Royston was enough to help them retain 7th place in the league overall, which is the highest that a Heathside women’s team have placed in the Sunday League in at least 12 years!
The women’s Masters team were 7th at Royston and finish the season 11th overall, having last placed this high 7 years ago.
Amazing stuff. Now on to the men:
The men were 7th at Royston, and although I hoped it might be enough to see us climb from 10th overall, that is where we stayed. However, I believe looking back over previous years’ results that this was our strongest men’s performance since 2008/09 (last season is a bit of an anomaly due to the Watford results being declared void). Similarly…
The men’s Masters were 8th at Royston and 10th for the season, which also compares favourably with recent years.
After five races in which runners needed to complete a minimum of four to qualify for a shot at the individual race trophies, six Heathsiders made the cut (five others came close with three races apiece) and although no trophies were brought home, well done Jonathan, Alun, Sue, Louise, Laura, and myself. Exact end of season competition places are not known at time of going to press.
To round off, I know the Sunday League is not as prestigious as the Met League and some of the fixtures aren’t so easy to get to, but it’s been a fun journey this season and we’ve shown that even if we sometimes struggle to get full teams together, we can still occupy the top half (or third, in the women’s case!) of the table. Here’s to aiming even higher next season…!
Results:
(gender position in brackets)
18. Richard Macaulay 35m 49s (18th)
40. Jonathan Litchfield 37m 50s (40th); X in SM competition
48. Lee Connor 38m 16s (47th)
51. Phil Hogg 38m 20s (50th)
101. Gavin Parish 42m 45s (90th); X in SM competition
111. Dave Browne 43m 27s (98th)
120. Joanne Liddle 44m 10s (15th)
143. Alun Nash 45m 29s (122nd); X in M50 competition
154. Nick Skipper 46m 15s (127th)
221. Sue Eedle 51m 21s (61st); Y in W55 competition
229. Laura Boothman 52m 53s (65th); Y in W35 competition
247. Helen Kehoe 54m 15s (77th)
253. Louise Cripps 55m 10s (81st); Y in W55 competition
266. Carolina Graterol 58m 57s (88th)
290 finishers (185 men, 105 women)
Bramley 10/20 miler
Gavin Evans reports: “Four Heathsiders ran in Bramley on Sunday – three of us doing the 20-miler as a kind of big mile starter pack for marathon season and one opting for the 10-miler.
Running in cool, cloudy near-perfect conditions on the undulating course, Rob Shulman came 36th out of 644 finishers in the ten mile event in a promising time of 1:02.28.
The trio of 20 mile Heathsiders each opted for different strategies, none of us willing (or ready) to go all-out the whole way (at least, in my case, after testing the waters following the first few miles)
I ran with Rob for the first four or five, until he informed me that we were doing close to 6:10 pace, so for the next ten miles I took it slowly and then put in a burst for the final five – which turned out to be a fun and not too taxing way of running the 20. Time: 2:09.29.
Cathy Jeremiah followed Jacob’s plan of starting slow, the next five a little faster, the next five faster still and then going all out for the final five to finish in an extremely comfortable 2:28.49. She finished looking sprightly and optimistic.
Edward Coughlan also decided against going all-out, treating the event more like a long, fast training run. He came in just ahead of Cathy in 2:28.12.”
Results:
Bramley 10-mile, Sunday February 16 (644 finishers)
36th Rob Shulman – 1:02.28
Bramley 20-mile, Sunday February 16 (743 finishers)
49th Gavin Evans – 2:09.29 (3rd V50)
202nd Edward Coughlan – 2:28.12
206th Cathy Jeremiah – 2:28.49
Stamford Striders Valentine's 30k
Rachel Newstead did the hilly and hard 30k and came in 7th lady in 2.08.40.
Chingford league, Victoria Park - 5 miles
8 Chris Norris 26:18
11 Andrew Brooker 26:41
77 Andrew Dunderdale 29:26
83 Gareth Marshall 29:36
87 Dan McKeown 29:48
92 Jonathan Litchfield 30:15
93Joe McKeown 30:24
117 Alan Smith 31:43
This week’s parkrun results:
http://www.parkrun.com/results/consolidatedclub/?clubNum=2017&eventdate=2015-02-14