Heathside women take Middlesex Gold
Heathside’s women’s cross-country team added to their gold medal collection on Saturday – with the Middlesex winner’s trophy taking its place alongside their North London and London gongs.
It was particularly inspiring seeing Sue Rust, who suffered severe Achilles and calf injuries last season, back to form, running a gutsy and superbly tactical race to come home first among Heathside’s women and seventh overall. It was also rather wonderful to learn (from way back) that our Tom Aldred was once again leading the Heathside men home – an excellent fifth place - which is remarkable considering that like Sue, he has long been injured. And it was also good to see Captain Cathy Jeremiah working her way back after her prolonged plantar fasciitis absence – the fifth Heathsider home in 21st place.
Captain Chris Hartley’s report appears below, and he modestly leaves himself out – the 14th Heathside man home in 61st place – not bad for a 51-year-old. Other men who showed marked improvement, and worked hard over the 12km muddy course, included Dave Hellard (the 4th Heathsider home in 28th place), Kimon Doulis, Stuart Meiklejohn, Jonathan Litchfield, Dominic Jackson and Mark George.
London’s winter weather was its usual mild, but the previous weeks of incessant rain meant it was suitably muddy – as Kris Milobsorov and I discovered to our dismay, having gambled on running in trail shoes.
Heathside’s juniors put in some highly promising performances, as Ruth Miller, one of our stalwart junior coaches, stressed in her report:
‘Great turn-out and team results from our juniors: U15 boys 2nd, u17 men 3rd, u13 girls 4th (and these girls were all in their first year of cross-country racing), with teams finishing in all age groups bar U17 women. And some outstanding individual performances by Ruairi McGonagle (3rd u13 boys), Rachel Seckl (3rd u20 women), James Wooldridge (3rd u20 men) and David Keto (5th u17 men).
And here is Captain Chris’s report:
2016 has begun as 2015 ended - with London Heathside’s women winning another champions trophy to add to their heaving silverware cabinet. Ably supported by some great runs among our Junior squads, and an encouraging third place finish for Heathside’s senior men, the women made off from Wormwood Scrubs with a tidy haul of winners medals in their swag bag, and a trophy that was last in the club’s grasp in 2007.
There can be little argument that Heathside’s women’s squad is a ‘Golden Generation’ - from front to back. Strength in depth means that - even with injuries and absences - our Women are always in with a chance of honours. On Saturday, Sue Rust, one of the runners who has inspired the current success of women’s cross-country at the club, took her place at the front of the Heathside contingent for the first time since her return from injury, timing her run to perfection for a 7th place finish over 8 muddy kilometers. Celine Murray, Leigh James, and Cas Wright - all of whom are having seasons to remember - made up the four-to-score team that took the title from TVH and Serpentine in second and third respectively. Behind them, strong running from Colette Monahan, Captain Cathy Jeremiah, Ula Cartwright-Finch, and Alice Hosking demonstrated the crucial role played by non-scorers in shutting out the competition. Make no mistake, this victory was built on deep foundations. Thanks to all the women who wore the club vest with such pride on Saturday, including debutant Kerstin Kinkelin, who not only runs well but has a name that rolls off the tongue and the keyboard nicely. See you at the Met League, I hope, Kerstin Kinkelin.
Amongst the juniors, the standout performances were from the Under-17 Men, who grabbed third place in the team competition, led by David Keto, who finished 7th from 30 finishers. Meanwhile, the Under-15 Boys went one better with a second team place, with Jem O’Flaherty finishing 6th, and Liam Garrett 8th from 34 finishers. In the Under 13 Boys race, Ruairi McGonagle again showed his class with a third place finish from 60 finishers. Ruairi is getting stronger with every race and has a real competitor’s temperament to boot. A star is born.
Talking of stars, in the Under-20 races, emerging Met League Senior stalwarts James Wooldridge and Rachel Seckl both won bronze medals in competitive races.
There are some terrific photos of the Junior races, taken by John Driscoll, on the Heathside Facebook page. Check them out. On that note, John’s daughter, Kate Driscoll, dug in among a field of older runners in the Under-13 Girls event, with a race that epitomizes the never-say-die attitude of London Heathside. Nice one, Kate!
A 42-strong squad of Heathside Senior Men took on the 12km course at the Scrubs for the last race of the day, and it was an honour to be among them, as our front six finishers took third prize in the team competition, just a point behind Hillingdon in second. Tom Aldred looks to have completed his return to form after a long injury, as he ran to a 5th place finish, over a minute ahead of a pacy Adam Kirk-Smith in 14th place. Andrew Brooker continued his season of quiet improvement, finishing less than 10 seconds behind Adam, in 15th.
Further back down the field, there were masses of fantastic runs, considering the proximity of the race to the festive season. Charles Hardy again showed his potential with a 27th place finish, with Dave Hellard - preparing for the Marathon Des Sables later this year - just behind him in 28th. Standout performances for me, however, were from Kimon Doulis, who packed-in with Ryan McCrickerd and Dan McKeown to finish 34th, and Stuart Meiklejohn, who tracked the evergreen George Stewart (43rd), with a breakthrough run, to finish 49th. Edward Adams made his cross-country debut with an excellent 67th place, and there was some great packing amongst others, which led to some exciting sprint finishes further down the field. Take a bow Dom Jackson (73rd), Nick Haward (74th), Jake Spencer (75th), and Mario Cadete (76th). Congratulations to all the Heathsiders who completed the sticky course and made their club proud in the process. Things are looking promising for Heathside Men in 2016.
Many thanks to all the coaches, supporters and photographers who supported Heathside at the Scrubs, especially Our Dear Leader, Jerry Odlin, Pete Holland, Ruth Miller, Russell Weston, Kabir Kemp, and Zac (not Goldsmith). Our runners kept everyone entertained with some terrific racing.
Elsewhere
Not everyone was tearing up the Scrubs. We had two in action at the latest instalment of the Velopark Duathlon ("The Mince Pie's Revenge", for those of us who can still remember Christmas) and an unexpected (but still no doubt welcome) PB for Gabi at the Regent's Park 10k.
Results
Under-11 Girls, 1.5km, 26 finishers
Lorna Dumbleton 8.38
Juliet Jeffries 8.43
Hattie Munday 8.55
Alice Metcalf 9.05
Under-13 Boys, 3km, 60 finishers
Ruairi McGonagle 13.03
Jake Evans 14.19
Olivier O’Connor 15.28
Under-13 Girls, 3km, 48 finishers
Rose Garrett 15.08
Evelyn Dumbleton 15.12
Mathilda Heath 15.43
Annie Walker 16.23
Kate Driscoll 16.59
Under-15 Boys, 4km, 34 finishers
Jem O’Flaherty 14.16
Liam Garrett 14.30
Adam Bessardi 15.20
Under-15 Girls, 4km, 37 finishers
Meg Naylor 17.07
Lily McKay 18.38
Phoebe Adugna 23.06
Under-17 Men, 6km, 30 finishers
David Keto 25.00
William Griffiths 25.42
Isaac Costley 27.32
Luke Gray 28.10
Antanas Weston 28.51
Under-20 Men, 8km, 23 finishers
James Wooldridge 27.58
Jacob Phillips 31.26
Louis ? 37.01
Under-20 Women, 5km, 12 finishers
Rachel Seckl 20.41
Genevieve Weston 23.41
Senior Women, 8km, 75 finishers
Sue Rust 33.18
Celine Murray 33.26
Leigh James 33.56
Cas Wright 34.00
Colette Monahan 34.33
Cathy Jeremiah 34.50
Ula Cartwright-Finch 35.04
Alice Hosking 36.33
Satu Hietanen 36.50
Jennifer Wing 38.29
Louisa Pointon 38.49
Noelle O’Regan 42.25
Kim Butler 42.42
Kerstin Kinkelin 43.11
Senior Men, 12km, 179 finishers
Tom Aldred 40.16
Adam Kirk-Smith 41.42
Andrew Brooker 41.51
Charles Hardy 43.40
Dave Hellard 43.56
Tom Fancett 44.39
Ryan McCrickerd 44.56
Kimon Doulis 44.59
Dan McKeown 45.49
George Stewart 45.54
Will Ross 46.17
Tom Livermore 46.22
Stuart Meiklejohn 46.38
Chris Hartley 47.34
Adam Mitchell 48.13
Edward Adams 48.29
John Flahive 48.34
Jonathan Litchfield 48.37
Dom Jackson 49.16
Nick Haward 49.16
Jake Spencer 49.18
Mario Cadete 49.19
Rob Shulman 50.03
Norman Mitchell 50.58
Adam Ibrahim 51.11
Tony Killilea 51.21
Mark George 51.25
Oliver Hopkins 51.28
Gavin Evans 52.02
Lee Connor 52.07
Benjamin Jenks 52.24
Marco Luna 52.34
Joe McKeown 52.53
Kris Milovsorov 53.15
Phil Hogg 53.36
Gavin Parish 54.33
Henry Hamilton 55.15
Mario Maserati 55.34
Justin Costley 56.34
Alan Latham 56.54
Ben Montilla 60.04
Tim Sander 61.31
Mince Pie's revenge Duathlon at VeloparkDistance: 2miles / 10miles / 1miles16 Jespe Lycke - 49:2931 James Dark - 53:09
Regents Park 10k118 Gabi Johnson 48:28 (1st V45) (PB)
A total of 33 Heathsiders ran in Parkruns on Saturday, with, once again, Rebecca Bunting the first woman home (and second overall) – this time in Aldenham, in a time of 19:58. Paul Beale was second over the hard and hilly Ally Pally course, in a time of 20:00.
Here are the full Heathside Parkrun results: http://www.parkrun.com/results/consolidatedclub/?clubNum=2017&eventdate=2016-1-9