Seyfu 6th in Nationals & Essex wins pentathlon gold

This has been a busy week for Heathside’s athletes with several club records falling in track events, and impressive performances in cross-country and off-road. The big one was the National Cross Country Championships in muddy Nottingham, which saw Seyfu Jamaal coming 6th in the country in the U20 event. Meanwhile Adrian Essex won the V65 pentathlon gold medal in the British Master’s championships, and our U13 star Martha Jolly leapt 4.44 meters in the long jump, putting her in 11th place in the UK this year.

National Cross Country Championships, Nottingham, Saturday February 22

A smaller than usual cohort of Heathsiders headed for Nottingham to run, paddle and slosh out way through the National Cross-Country Championships. The rain had stopped before we arrived but the course was all mud, calf-deep water on the flat bits, which made the hills a relief as they were largely mud-free. By 3pm, when the men’s race started, it was also magnificently churned up. Joe Clemoes was one of several who found himself falling face-first into a glorious mudbath.

The standout performance of the day came once again from Seyfu Jamaal who topped off an outstanding cross-country season by coming sixth in the country among the under-20 men (195 finishers). This time he paced himself well over the 10k course, worked his way to sixth place and held it to the end with a strong finish, just 52 seconds behind the winner. Also impressive was Jem O’Flaherty’s 21st place in this race. Among the U17’s Thomas Archer delivered another hugely promising run, coming 13th out of 274 over the 5k route.

The first of our U13 girls (3k) was Hattie Munday who came 77th out of 357. Our leading U13 boy was Tynan Parker who came 153rd out of 384 runners. Fabienne Weston was out only U15 girl, coming 386th over the 4k distance. Our first U15 boy was Spike Blake with a strong 65th place out of 396 runners. Rose Garret came 119th out of 257 runners in the U17 5k race.
Among the U17 boys, the second Heathsider after Thomas Archer was Jake Evans who came 65th.

Our depleted seniors did not do quite so well this time. Our first of just five women, running about 9km, was Genevieve Weston who came 233rd out of 911 runners, while our first of 12 senior men over the 13k distance was Charles Hardy, in 154th place out of 1,710 runners.

Results:

U13 Girls (3km, 357 Runners)
1st Z Gilbody (Chiltern Harriers) 15:00
77th Hattie Munday 17:16
255th Amara Odeogberin 19:42
Ruby Walls finished but lost her chip

U13 Boys (3km, 384 Runners)
1st A Collier (Chiltern Harriers) 14:21
153rd Tynan Parker 16:57
168th Eric Beale 17:09
194th Benjy Bediako 17:19
251st Ben Ryan 17:55
285th Kamran Bakhshi 18:34

1st Chiltern Harriers 100 pts, 26th London Heathside 766 pts

U15 Girls (4Km, 390 Runners)
1st K Dee (Highworth) 18:35
386th Fabienne Weston 30:20

U15 Boys (4Km, 396 Runners)
1st L Sullivan (St Edmund Pacers) 16:30
65th Spike Blake 18:19
137th Michael Smith 19:18
237th Bedo Draskoczy 20:31
280th Fred Beale 21:18
285th Rafi Brodkin 21:25

1st South London Harriers 62 pts, 24th London Heathside 719 pts

U17 Women (5km, 257 Runners)
1st M Todd McIntyre (Rushcliffe) 21:49
119th Rose Garrett 25:47

U17 Men (5km 274 Runners)
1st W Barnicoat (Windsor) 22:42
13th Thomas Archer 23:51
63rd Jake Evans 25:05
155th Ruairi McGonagle 26:52
205th Sidney Diamond 28:05

1st Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow 86 pts, 10th London Heathside 436 pts

Junior Men (10km, 195 Runners)
1st Z Mohamed (Southampton) 36:27
6th Seyfu Jamaal 37:19
21st Jem O’Flaherty 38:47
169th Antanas Weston 47:59

Senior Women (9Km, 911 Runners)
1st A Moller (Aldershot) 32:59
233rd Genevieve Weston 42:35
422nd Jessica Vinluan 47:24
425th Kimberli Butler 47:27
516th Ruth Miller 49:13
717th Fiona Holland 55:25

1st Aldershot 48 pts, 46th London Heathside 1596 pts

Senior Men (13Km, 1710 Runners)

1st C Johnson (Gateshead) 43:36
154th Charles Hardy 49:07
260th Peter Northall 51:08
294th Francesco Melloni 51:45
300th Ewan Gault 51:49
477th Simon Dunderdale 54:23
550th Peter Gould 55:28
645th Matt Collins 57:02
710th Jake Spencer 58:04
786th Joseph Clemoes 59:16
815th Paul Mercer 59:45
957th Nick Haward 1:01:43
1194th Gavin Evans 1:05:54
1479th Ben Montilla 1:13:15

1st Tonbridge 246 pts, 28th London Heathside 2,035 pts

British Masters Pentathlon Championships (including South of England Championship), Lee Valley, Sunday February 23

Adrian Essex won a national gold medal in the British Master’s, coming first among the V65s in the pentathlon with 3,077 points over five events (1000m, 60m hurdles, high jump, long jump and shot put). Also impressive was Scarlett Parkers 58.75 over 400 meters – a M45 group club record, and Tony Killilea’s 62.5 over the same distance – a new M55 club record.

Results

400m
X35.5 Tony Killilea (V55) 62.50 New Club Record
X35.8 Scarlett Parker (V45) 58.75 New Club Record

800m
X35.6 Scarlett Parker (V45) 2:15.75

1000m
M55 Adrian Essex (V65) 4:15.83

60mH
M60 Adrian Essex (V65) 11:67

High Jump
M55 Adrian Essex (V65) 1.29m

Long Jump
M55 Adrian Essex (V65) 4:13m

Shot Put (5Kg)
M55 Adrian Essex 8.68m

Pentathlon
V65 1st Adrian Essex 3,077 pts

Lee Valley U13/U15 Indoor Open, Lee Valley, Saturday February 22

There were four club records from our U13s and U15 girls on Saturday. The outstanding performance came from U13 Martha Jolly whose 4.44 long jump leap put her in 11th place in the UK this year. Martha also got the club record in the U13 200m in a time of 30.12 while fellow U13 Suraya Frost who ran 10.50 in the 60m hurdles. Suraya also jumped an impressive 3.91 in the long jump. Among the U15s Larissa Wilson ran a new club record of 46.40 in the 300m.

Results

60m
Montana Dennis (U15) 8.90/8.97

200m
Martha Jolly (U13) 30.12 PB New Club Record

300m
Larissa Wilson (U15) 46.40 PB New Club Record

60mH
Suraya Frost (U13) 10.68/10.50 PB New Club Record

Long Jump
Martha Jolly (U13) 4.44m PB New Club Record (11th best in UK this year)
Suraya Frost (U13) 3.91m

English Athletics U15/U17/U20 Indoor Championships, Sheffield, Saturday February 22

Heathside’s U20 400 meter ace Deji Agdede impressed once again by running an excellent 51.12 at the England Indoor Championships in Sheffield. Deji is ranked 26th nationally this season.

Results

400m (U20)
H4 3rd Deji Agdebe (U20) 51.12
S2 3rd Deji Agdebe (U20) 51.72

Lee Valley Indoor Middle Distance Open & BMC Open, Lee Valley, Thursday February 20

Eight of our athletes competed in this open event in Lee Valley on Thursday. The best of the performances included a new boys’ U13 800m club record for Benjy Bediako, with a time of 2:29.08. There was also a new girls U15 club record in the 800 for Amara Odeogberin, who ran a time of 2:42.15. Among the senior s the best performance of the night belonged to Lily Woolcock, who ran 4:56.50 in the 1500 on her indoor debut. Tony Killilea ran 2:30.40 in the 800, which was a V55 club record.

800m
SX1 7th William Ross 2:06.74
SX7 3rrd David Baah-Okyere (U15) 2:15.16 PB
SX9 4th Tony Killilea (V55) 2:30.40 New Club Record
SX10 6th Benjy Bediako (U13) 2:29.08 PB New Club Record (By >5s)
SX12 6th Fabio Espírito Santo 2:35.30
SX15 4th Amara Odeogberin (U15) 2:42.15 PB New Club Record (By>5 sec)

1500m
SX4 9th Lily Woolcock 4:56.50
SX4 12th Jennifer Wing 5:13.27
SX5 7th Tony Killilea (V55) 5:10.57
SX6 8th Fabio Espírito Santo 5:26.58

Seville Marathon, Sunday February 23

Both Patrick Curry and Andrew Law broke the three-hour barrier in hot Seville on Sunday. Here is Emilia Vynnycky’s report:

‘Six Heathsiders took part in the Seville marathon, one of the flattest in Europe.  Conditions were great for lazing in the sun, but with the temperature already in the 20s by 10.30am, not ideal for marathon-running.  

‘Patrick Curry and Andy Law, apparently unaffected by the heat, finished in under 3 hours (2:56:57 and 2:58:13 respectively).  They were followed by Leigh James, who finished in 3:24 and 21st in her age category.  

‘Former Heathsider, Claire Morrissey ran off the back of ultramarathon training, and finished in 4:07.  Emilia came next in 4:18, having started optimistically for the conditions, while Nuno Ortero finished in 5:22, having to walk during the second half after sustaining knee problems.  

‘Huge thanks are due to the Heathsiders who provided much-needed support along the course, including Joseph Mckeown, Sue Rust and Louisa Pointon.’

Coastal Trail Series (28-mile & half marathon), Banbrugh, Northumberland, Sunday February 23

Off-road ultra specialist Lenny Martin came an impressive second out of 169 finishers in the extremely tough 28-mile event, finishing in 3:44. He said: ‘The conditions were less than friendly with a lot of mud, and some unpleasant headwind/hailstorm combinations. I didn't quite have the run I wanted as a result, but was happy to come away with 2nd place.’

Rob Sambrooks came 6th out of 343 to finish the half-marathon event and Alice Hosking came 11th.

Results

28-mile (169 finishers)

2nd Lenny Martin – 3:44

Half-marathon

67th Rob Sambrooks – 2:06

111th Alice Hosking – 2:16

Parkruns

A total of 66 of our runners took part in 28 Parkruns on Saturday, February 22. There were first places for Olivia Desborough in Highbury Fields (an excellent 18:56), Rosa Serafini in Harrow (19:46) and Tatyana Potiyenko in Porthcawl (20.03). Full Heathside results here: https://www.parkrun.com/results/consolidatedclub/?clubNum=2017&eventdate=2020-02-22

Report by Gavin Evans with thanks to Simon Baker, Tony Killilea, Emelia Vynnycky and Lenny Martin