reports

Several Heathsiders won medals at the weekend. 39-year-old Tom Aldred led a field of nearly 1,000 to win the hilly Basingstoke Half with plenty to spare, while in Oxford 17-year-old Seyfu Jamaal was second in a field of nearly 12,000 in the Oxford Half – both well inside the 70-minute mark. 

Heathside had a splendid week on track and field. Among several impressive PBs and club records, the standout performance belonged to our U15 star Thomas Archer who won the bronze medal in the 1500 at the England U15 championships in Bedford in a time of 4:10 – the third best in the UK this year.

Relatively slim pickings this week by our usual standards, but the highlights include a first place for Annabel Litchfield in the hot and hilly Orion Forest 5 (33:04); another club V60 record for Pete Crockford in the Sri Chinmoy 5k at Battersea Park (in 18:41); another gruelling ultra for Lenny Martin (this one a 101 km mountainous course in Switzerland) and a sprightly PB for Sion Lewis in the Standard Chartered Great City Race  (16:34).

Lots of prizes for Heathsiders at the weekend: Adrian Essex (V65) and Ivan Ross (V40) both won silver medals in the British Masters’ Championships; Amy Cook was the first woman in the Regent’s Park 10k, while Pete Crockford, Sara Black and Sue Eeedle won age group prizes; Rebecca Bunting came second in the Worthing 10k, beating her PB by more than a minute, and Kelly Thorneycroft came second in her 3,000m UK Women’s League race.

We paid a price for a magnificent few days of snow running: most of the best-laid plans for weekend races were scotched by cancellations. But to the huge credit of numerous Heathside volunteers the Mini Marathon trials went ahead on Sunday at our Finsbury Park track and saw first places for Spike Blake (u-13), Thomas Archer (u-15) and Jem O’Flaherty (u-17) and a second place for Lily McKay (u-17). 

About 80 of our intrepid runners braved Arctic weather conditions to race this weekend. Sunday saw Captain Kelly Thorneycroft home as the first woman in the Victoria Park 10, and Captain Jake Spencer’s third overall in a PB time, while at the Fred Hughes 10 miler Andy Barnes showed a return to form with a solid 15th place out 758. 

Saturday saw 30-plus Heathsiders traipsing off to Oxford to compete in the South of England Masters’ and Inter-County championships. The performance of the day belonged to 16-year-old Jem O’Flaherty who was the first Middlesex runner home in the under 17 event, and came ninth overall. 

Slim pickings this week, with the main event being the South of England Cross Country Relays. Best run of the day belonged to Rebecca Piggott, who has returned in splendid form from her from long-lasting injury troubles.