Winning ways at Middlesex Junior Track and Field Championships, a new record and parkrun returns

This week’s race report covers winning performances at the Middlesex Junior Track and Field Championships 2021, a new record set at the BFFTA, great performances at the vets league, Asics 10K and vets 5000M, and of course, the welcome return of parkrun.

Middlesex Junior Track and Field Championships 2021

Simon Baker sent in the following report from the Middlesex Junior Track and Field Championships:

 “After last weeks team success this Saturday this was an opportunity for individual success and a taste of championship events.  Numbers were somewhat down on previous years due to the impact of school holidays and the impact of self-isolating.  The Championships were moved from May to avoid Covid restrictions and allow athletes to reach full fitness.

The Young Heathsiders certainly took the opportunity with both hands winning 25 medals and the Club can now boast 11 County Champions.  Champions now include Milton Cooper (U15B 300m, Hammer), Trey Corlis (80mH, High Jump), Koppany Szentes (U13B 800m), Max Wasserman (U13B Shot), Edward Metcalf (U13B Javelin), Suraya Frost (U13G 70mH and Long Jump), Ivy Paitoo (U13G Shot) and Elkie Baker (U13G Discus).

In the U15 Boys Milton Copper ran a superb bend to pull in front on the home straight and take the 300m as well as adding the Hammer title an event he only picked up this season.  Trey Corlis started his day with a win in the Hurdles with Thomas Wasserman just behind in third, he then won the High Jump by 10cm before securing a silver in the 100m behind Zico Jones of SBH who is ranked 4th in the UK.  Thomas also won silver in the Shot.

The U15 Girls saw two strong runs by the Watkins sisters in the 800m and 1500m both winning silver against strong opposition.  Imani Quamina finished 2nd behind the National Schools silver medalist Ava John (WSE&H). Ella Burridge ran a strong 300m to take silver and Magdelaine Paitoo won bronze in the long Jump and just missed out on a medal in the 200m.

All 3 U13 Boys won gold, Koppany Szentes ran a great PB in the 800m to convincingly win his race.  Edward Metcalf who was injured and unable to compete in the 1500m set a new PB winning the Javelin as dod Max Wasserman in the Shot.

The U13 Girls saw Suraya Frost produce another excellent hurdles performance in tricky conditions to take gold, she set a new club record in the 100m heats before just missing out on silver in the final by 0.02s.  She also had the energy to win the Long Jump with Milli Bridgeman-Athanasatos taking silver.  Elkie Baker won the full set of Gold in the Discus with a PB, Silver in the Shot which Ivy Paitoo won by 3cm, Elkie then won bronze in the Javelin.

The 25 medals won was the highest of any other club with Shaftesbury next winning 22.  Heathside finished 2nd on the medal table with Shaftesbury one gold medal higher.  This must be the best ever performance the Club has had in the Middlesex Championships in 2019 when last held the club won a total of 19 medals with only 4 in these age groups.

Medal Table 🏅

1st Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers (12 Gold, 5 Silver, 5 Bronze)

2nd London Heathside (11 Gold, 10 Silver, 4 Bronze)

3rd Hillingdon (5 Gold, Six Silver, 6 Bronze)

4th Highgate Harriers (3 Gold, 2 Silver, 1 Bronze)

5th WSE&H (3 Gold, 0 Silver, 0 Bronze)

Well done to all the Juniors who took part.  The Senior Championships will be held on Monday 3oth August for U17’s and above.”

Middlesex AA County T&F Championships 2021, Lee Valley, 24.7.21

U15M

100m

H2 2nd Trey Corlis 11.77

Final  2nd Trey Corlis 11.64 🏅

300m

1st Milton Cooper 39.22 PB by 0.21s🏅

800m

2nd David Baah-Okyere 2:12.1 🏅 

80mH

1st Trey Corlis 11.76🏅

3rd Thomas Wassermann 12.15 PB by 0.1s🏅

Hammer

1st Milton Cooper 24.14 🏅

High Jump

1st Trey Corlis 1.55m 🏅

Shot

2nd Thomas Wassermann 11.12m 🏅

U13M

800m

1st Koppany Szentes 2:25.61 PB by 3.85s🏅

75mH

2nd Max Wassermann 14.48 PB by 0.28s🏅

Shot

1st Max Wassermann 5.73m PB by 33cm🏅

Javelin

1st Edward Metcalf 28.43m PB by 1.88m🏅

U15W

100m

H1 4th Magdeline Paitoo 13.35

Final 6th Magdeline Paitoo 13.49

200m

H1 3rd Magdeline Paitoo 27.52

Final 4th Magdeline Paitoo 27.70

300m

2nd Ella Burridge 45.21 🏅

800m

H1 1st Issy Watkins 2:26.57

Final 2nd Issy Watkins 2:19.68🏅 

1500m

2nd Millie Watkins 5:03.55🏅

75mH

2nd Imani Quamina 11.98🏅

Long Jump

3rd Magdeline Paitoo 4.15m🏅

U13G

100m

H1 1st Suraya Frost 13.38 PB by 0.01s, New Club U13G Record 14th Ranked U13G in UK

Final 3rd Suraya Frost 13.45 🏅

70mH

1st Suraya Frost 12.00🏅

Long Jump

1st Suraya Frost 4.42m 🏅

2nd Milli Bridgeman-Athanasatos 4.02m  🏅

Shot

1st Ivy Paitoo 6.67m PB🏅

2nd Elkie Baker 6.64m 🏅

Discus 

1st Elkie Baker 20.24m PB by 1.16m🏅

Javelin

3rd Elkie Baker 15.76m 🏅

4th Ivy Paitoo 13.37m PB

BFTTA Open

Simon Baker reports from the BFFTA Open:  “Gabriel Edwards set a new U13B 150 record in the BFTTA Open in Mile End. This is also the 2nd fastest by an U13 Boy i.e. 2 years older than Gabriel this year. “

BFTTA Open 4#, Mile End 24.7.21

75m

H2 5th Grace Wood (U11) 12.33

H3 1st Gabriel Edwards (U11) 10.27

150m

H2 7th Grace Wood (U11) 25.11

1st Gabriel Edwards (U11) 19.55 PB New U13B Club Record and the 2nd fastest time by an U13 Boy this year

400m

H2 2nd Grace Wood 1:18.56

Vets League, Harrow, 26th July

Heathside’s vets had a successful evening at the vets league at Harrow last Monday.  Adrian Essex provides the following details:

“The usual suspects turned out for another Vets League on Monday at the Bannister Track in Harrow. It was noticeable that the inside lane surface, all around the first bend is little but a series of patches, a situation soon to be repeated in parts of the FP track, if Jerry's note is a good predictor. 

The cast of characters included:

Gavin Evans - club record 3000 metres  10:47.74 - UK ranking top 10

Adrian Essex - 800m club record (birthdate lottery - being the only 70-year-old taking part in track events, the time not worth reporting)

Angela Pollitzer - 200m club record - 49.97s a splendid effort reflecting a winter of hard work under coach Israel Nworgu

Adrian Day - 200m 28.46 his best time for 6 years for which Israel can also take some credit

Adrian (V60) also ran the first leg of the V35 400m relay race, and there was much cheering and optimistic shouting from the LH contingent as Stuart Amblin gained a lot on the Harrow man on the last leg.  (splits A Day 68.74, T Killilea 64.00, M Jefford 67.00, S Amblin 64.81  total 4:24.60)

Also on the declarations sheet were Steve Crowley, Matthew Beard, Madeleine Minson and Sue Eedle.”

Results

800m M35

6th Stuart Amblin 02:37:11

800m M40                                                         

6th Tony Killilea 2:26.37

800M M50 & M70

4th Steve Crowley 2:37.76

7th Adrian Essex 3:23.09

800m W50, W60, W70                                                  

4th Sue Eeddle 3:24.60

5th Angela Pollitzer 4:26.22

200M M35 (wind -1.4)                                                  

3rd Stuart Amblin 28.79

200m M50 (wind -1.2)                                                  

3rd Mark Jefford 28.48

200m M60 & M70 (wind -1.1)                                                   

1st Adrian Day 28.46

2nd Adrian Essex 30.44

6th Tom Jenson 38.43

200m W50 & W70 (wind -1.1)                                                   

3rd Helene Kehoe   35.65

6th Sue Eedle 40.07

7th Anglea Pollitzer 49.97

3000m M35, M50, M60                                                

7th Matthew Beard 10:42.81

8th Gavin Evans 10:47.74

14           Steve Crowley   11:48.57

4x400m Men                                                    

2nd London heathside A 4:24.60

HIGH JUMP  W35                                                            

2nd Madeline Minson 1.10m

HIGH JUMP W50                                                             

3rd Sue Eeedle 1.00m

DISCUS M50                                                      

7th Stuart Amblin 18.58m

JAVELIN W35                                                    

1st Madeline Minson 14:26m

JAVELIN W50                                                    

4th Sue Eedle 10.85m

LONG JUMP M35                                                            

3rd Mark Jefford 4.20m

LONG JUMP M70                                                            

1st Adrian Essex 4.10m

Veterans AC 5000m Champs, Wimbledon Pk, 21st July

Pete Crockford had a good run in the vets 5000M championships, from which he reports:  “Another sweltering evening, so  nearly didn’t go after disappointment in the Heathside 5000 on Fri. But glad I did, as I secured a season’s best by 3 secs. Not much, but a boost after seeming to have stalled so soon into comeback.”

Race 2 (of 4)   1st Pete Crockford  V60  19:46.41  (5th V60 overall)

Asics London 10K

Julia Kelk and several other Heathsiders ran in the Asics London 10K on Sunday.  Sadly the results aren’t searchable by club.  However, Julia sent in the following report:

“Some results from the weekend.  A few Heathsiders ran the ASICS London 10K.  I know one of them was Andy Barnes who ran 36:00 and was 53rd overall, 7th M35-39.  I think there were at least 2 other Heathsiders but am not sure....!

I ran 40:25 and was 268th overall, 18th woman overall, and 6th F40-44.  That's a PB for me so I was happy.

The event was supposed to have 25,000 runners, but only 7924 turned up on the day.  It still felt very much like a big city race and was really well organised from a Covid-safety perspective.  We went off in waves and each wave was staggered so we actually started one by one, which meant no mad crush at the beginning - much better!  The start times were also spread over a full 2 hours to ensure social distancing.”

Castle Coast Trathlon, 24th July

Sara Black had a great day at Dorney Lake from which she reports:

“On Saturday 24th July I embarked on the Castle to Coast triathlon consisting of a 1.9km swim at Dorney lake, a 67 mile ride through the Surrey Hills and South Downs to Hassocks then a 14 mile off road run to Brighton Seafront.  The event is advertised as a sportive rather than a race and I can understand why. 

The weather forecast for Saturday looked ropey to say the least - torrential rain, thunder, lightning.  I woke up early doors checking as many forecasts as possible, they all said the same thing.  I'd already made the decision that if the weather was bad, I'd pull out of the event, cycling and running in storms isn't something I enjoy much!

After lots of umming and aaahing, I decided to head down to Dorney.  Hubby and youngest son accompanied me.  To cut a long story short, it's incredible how wrong the forecast can be....the rain held off and ended up running in bright sunshine and hot temperatures!

The swim was glorious, the ride was challenging with 3,600ft of climbing, the pit stops along the way broke the ride up nicely.  The run was definitely memorable - steep hills I walked up, fields with cows and sheep and climbing over stiles.  I definitely took my time, ride time was 4 hours, run time (including stops was 2 hr 15) -  7 hrs 30 minutes in total including pit stops and 30 mins in 2 transitions!

It was definitely more of an adventure than a race and I thoroughly enjoyed it despite wanting to cry at times!  The event was extremely well organised and supported, I highly recommend this to others.”

Partkrun

Saturday finally saw the long-awaited return of parkrun since the start of the COVID pandemic.   In total 81 Heathsiders are reported to have taken part in different parts of the country, including Kent, Cornwall, Luton and of course, London.  Congratulations for first place finishes go to Lily Woolcock (Finsbury Park, 20:34), Seyfu Jamaal (Highbury Fields, 15:17), Olivia Desborough (Highbury Fields, 18:53).  Full details can be found here.

Compiled by Emilia with thanks to Pete Crockford, Simon Baker, Julia Kelk, Sara Black, Adrian Essex, Zac

Please send any comments to reports@londonheathside.org.uk

The photos include:  Watkins sisters silver medalists u15g 800m and 1500m , Elkie Baker _ U13G Discus gold, Shot Silver, Javelin Bronze, medals, and Sara Black at the finish of her triathlon with Edward