Those of you fortunate enough to be females under 35 or males under 40 can ignore this mail, but any of you who have reached that age and would like to run in the Southern/Middlesex Vets Cross Country Champs at Trent Park on Sunday (yes Sunday, that isn't a typo) 14th March, please read on. The timetable on the day is as follows:

1PM - Men 50-69 (10k)
2PM - Women over 35 + men over 70 (6k)
2.45PM - Men 40-49 (10k)

For the Southern Champs, individual medals will be in 5 year age groups & team medals in 10 year age groups with 3 to score. For the Middlesex Champs I don't know how the medals will be awarded, but hopefully someone official on the day will do!

If you would like to enter please let me know by midday on Friday 19th February. I will only enter people who specifically ask to be entered, so please don't just assume I will enter you anyway. It is also the Herts County Champs, so if any of you (Robin T?) consider yourself to be Herts rather than Middlesex qualified (you can't be both) then please say so and I will enter you accordingly. We've won loads of medals in these events in the past, so let's try and do so again!

This Saturday the Cross Country season brings us back to Parliament Hill for the South of England Championships. There are 10 races in all covering all age groups for both men and women and we have made at least 1 entry for each race, so all being well there will be Heathside vests in action almost throughout the 5 hours. The timetable and distances are as follows:

11.00 Under 15 Boys (4.5k)
11.20 Under 13 Girls (3k)
11.35 Under 13 Boys (3k)
11.50 Under 15 Girls (4k)
12.10 Under 17 Men (6k)
12.40 Under 20 Women (6k)
13.05 Under 17 Women (5k)
13.30 Under 20 Men (8k)
14.05 Senior Women (8k)
14.50 Senior Men (15k)

We have 16 women and 27 men entered, made up mainly of those who have been racing regularly so far this winter along with a couple who had specifically asked to be entered for this race. Hopefully that will be enough to cover everyone who wants to run, but in case it isn't then that's an even better reason than normal for arriving in good time, at least 30 minutes before the start of your race. All being well I will have the numbers and I imagine we will be based not far from the bandstand. The Heathside flag should be flying to guide you to us anyway. All runners will be given timing chips as well as numbers, so make sure you don't lose them before the start!

I'm sure I don't need to tell any of you that Parliament Hill is a very hilly course and, unless the weather gets even colder than expected and causes the ground to freeze, it will also be ridiculously muddy in parts. Long spikes will almost certainly be the best choice of footwear, with studs as the other reasonable alternative. Some socks and shoes to change into post-race may also make sense, especially if you plan to pop in to the Bull & Last for a quick bit of refuelling before going home. I think that is all I need to tell you, any questions please ask, so I hope to see plenty of you there on Saturday to either run or to cheer us on.

In case this is convenient for anyone else, a group will be meeting at Highgate tube this Sunday at 9 for a run of 16-18 miles.

Dear All please join me for Birthday drinks on Saturday 23rd January at the Faltering Fullback from 8.30pm onwards.

After 2 weeks where Cross Country was to the fore, this weekend, for the seniors at least, it was a road race that took precedence with the first event of this year’s club championships, the Watford Half Marathon. A good number of Heathsiders turned out on a cold, breezy and dull Sunday morning to take part and it was unsurprisingly Mehretab who led them home with an excellent debut over the distance gaining him 3rd place. Ken and Gavin also had good runs to make the top 50 overall while Robin also had a good result within his age group. As for the women it was Jules who took the Heathside honours, with Emma and Ursula close behind, though Susie had led all of them for the first half of the race. Despite the hilliness of the course there were several PBs achieved, apologies if anyone else did one that I didn’t know about. Unfortunately the organizers managed to make an even worse mess of the team results than last year (when they didn’t give our women a team prize because they thought Jaimie was a man). This time they just didn’t bother to list the club name at all for most of the runners, which almost certainly cost our men either 2nd or 3rd place. The other effect of it was that I may well have missed several Heathsiders in the below results, as in most cases I just had to try and recognize names. Thanks to everyone who helped me by emailing to say they had run and apologies to anyone who I have still missed out.

The previous day the young athletes had rather better weather for their Cross Country race at Copthall. We had at least 2 runners in 6 of the 8 races and there were some very good performances, although none of the teams quite managed to make the top 3 on the day. There was very little to choose between the performances of several of the runners, but I think this time I’d award the run of the day prize to Miron narrowly from Genevieve and Jessica. Results of these and other events as follows:

Finsbury Park 5k Parkrun, Finsbury Park, 6/2/10:
10th Steve Williams 21m 06s

North West London Young Athletes Cross Country League, race 4 of 5, Barnet Copthall, 6/2/10:
Under 11 Girls (1960m):
9th Jessica Godden 9m 51s
18th Phoebe Crockford 11m 08s
19th Nicole Bowen 11m 32s

Under 13 Girls (2360m):
7th Genevieve Weston 11m 58s
15th Harriet Mackinney 12m 43s
20th Ellen Bolger 13m 10s

Under 15 Girls (3050m):
5th Kathleen Jackson 16m 41s
9th Ellen Jackson 17m 44s

Under 11 Boys (2360m):
14th Cameron Mackinney 11m 59s
18th Jan Hellebo 13m 01s
21st Tom O’Shea 13m 42s

Under 13 Boys (3050m):
12th Jasper Crockford 15m 13s
20th Luc Hohmann 16m 35s

Under 15 Boys (3750m)
7th Miron Woldemichael 17m 04s
10th Jordan Tompkins 17m 28s
20th Callum Jackson 20m 05s

Watford Half Marathon, Watford, 7/2/10:
3rd Mehretab Solomon 68m 15s (PB, club U20 record)
25th Ken Heney 78m 01s
40th Gavin Evans 81m 27s (7th V40)
103rd Dominic Jackson 85m 47s (PB)
118th Trevor Wilson 87m 07s
125th Robin Tremaine 87m 42s (6th V50)
161st Graham Bell 89m 05s
198th Mark George 90m 35s
243rd Matt Fassnidge 92m 42s
260th Jules Weall 93m 22s
284th Carl Heap 94m 25s
346th Emma Grayson 96m 02s
371st Ursula Wilson 96m 41s
378th Rick Hewett 96m 55s
407th Ray Yau 96m 33s
465th Susie Brighton 99m 07s
624th Joanne Irwin 1h 42m 45s (PB)
681st Alexandra Czerniewska 1h 44m 04s
784th Simon Clarkson 1h 45m 58s (PB)
995th Gabi Johnson 1h 50m 43s (PB)
1295th Justine Turner 1h 57m 21s
1735th Resi Dzialdow 2h 17m 23s

1846 finishers in all

Mornington Chaser’s winter 10k Series, Regent’s Park, 7/2/10:
43rd Stuart Carcary 41m 28s
110th Martin Hill 45m 53s

The Southern Champs were held in bright but cold conditions at Parliament Hill on Saturday. In the morning the ground was still hardened by frost and the younger runners were therefore able to run on unusually firm ground for much of the course, but by the time the later races took place the vast majority of the course had turned into the usual quagmire! Usual in most ways anyway, but unusual in that, for the senior men anyway, it was even longer and hillier than usual!

As mentioned before, the youngsters were first to run and the Under 13 Boys were clearly our best performers in the early races with 6 competitors and Max + Conor having a race to the line for the honour of being first home. If we can keep this group together as they move up through the age groups they could be a formidable force by the time they become seniors. The Under 15 Boys also finished a team and the Under 13 Girls weren’t far from doing so, though in both cases they tended to be a bit further down the field anyway.

After his excellent victory in the County Champs last week, all Heathside eyes were on Mehretab when the Under 20 Men’s race got under way. By the time he came past our ‘camp’ half way up the first hill he was in 2nd place and when he came back into view at the end of the first lap he had moved into a clear lead. As we listened to the commentary from out on the course however it became clear that he was being caught, but he held on for a magnificent 3rd place and Heathside’s first individual medal in the Southerns for a very long time. This was all the more impressive as he had complained of not feeling great before the race began, which perhaps explains why his second lap wasn’t as good as his first. Hopefully he will be fully recovered in time for the Watford Half Marathon on Sunday where he will be looking for victory.

In the women’s race it was Sue who led the Heathside contingent right from the start with Claire making a relatively steady start about 20-30 places behind. In the latter stages however Claire’s strength from her Marathon training showed and she overtook Sue in the latter stages to come home 8 seconds ahead. Behind them Mhairi’s swift improvement continued and gained her a place in the top 100 while Louise took the final place in the scoring team ahead of an ailing Jackie. It wasn’t only Jackie who felt ill however, with Susie having to stop to throw up mid-race then storming past 7 or 8 athletes in the final straight before promptly collapsing on the line and needing help from the St John’s guys. Don’t worry, she’s fine. The team performance in finishing 8th was excellent, particularly given the absence of Sarah, Jaimie and Tess for various reasons, all of whom could have made it even stronger.

It wasn’t such a great day for the men with too many of us still too far from full fitness after recent injuries etc. Martin had no such problems and had another excellent run to come close to the top 100, but a gap of nearly 3 minutes after him before Ed came in led to a slightly below par team result of 19th, despite John, Sergio, Norman and an injured Richard coming in close together to complete the 6. We fared rather better in the 12 to score event with the next 6 of us all close together during the middle lap, but Marcus reacted immediately to me briefly overtaking him at the half way stage to storm well clear, while Nick and David both overtook me close to the end in order to give me a perfect view of their private battle for 369th spot up the finishing straight! Thanks to everyone who was out supporting us, I hope you didn’t freeze. Results of this and of Nick and Claire’s warm up race the previous day as follows:

Last Friday of the Month 5k Road Race, Hyde Park, 29/01/10:
13th Nick Jellema 18m 09s
24th Claire Gibson 18m 46s (3rd woman)

South of England Cross Country Championships, Parliament Hill, 30/01/10:
Under 13 Girls (3k):
153rd Genevieve Weston 15m 33s
210th Harriet Mackinney 18m 21s
213th Ellen Bolger 18m 38s

219 finishers in all

Under 13 Boys (3k):
96th Max Robertson 13m 18s
97th Conor O’Shea 13m 18s
123rd Max Heap 13m 34s
129th Johnny Naylor 13m 48s
150th Jasper Crockford 14m 10s
206th Tom Gage 16m 30s

212 finishers in all. Team (4 to score) finished 22nd out of 34.

Under 15 Boys (4.5k):
153rd Miron Woldemichael 18m 45s
183rd Jordan Tompkins 19m 28s
196th Joe Silva 19m 42s
225th Renat Hammet-Millay 24m 34s

228 finishers in all. Team (4 to score) finished 28th out of 28.

Under 17 Men (6k):
188th Jamie Armstrong 29m 43s

189 finishers in all

Under 20 Men (8k):
3rd Mehretab Solomon 27m 26s

99 finishers in all

Senior Women (8k):
31st Claire Gibson 34m 20s
36th Sue Rust 34m 28s
86th Mhairi Mackenzie 36m 59s
105th Louise Waldman 37m 42s
145th Jackie Wastell 38m 46s
195th Ruth Miller 40m 56s
200th Jules Weall 41m 03s
232nd Ursula Wilson 42m 41s
261st Susie Brighton 44m 03s

357 finishers in all. Team (4 to score) finished 8th out of 38.

Senior Men (15k):
115th Martin Potter 59m 13s
202nd Ed Samuel 62m 09s
242nd John Flahive 63m 15s
244th Sergio Di Noto 63m 20s
249th Norman Mitchell 63m 38s
264th Richard Browne 64m 02s
319th Marcus Tillotson 65m 32s
369th David Bird 66m 49s
370th Nick Jellema 66m 51s
375th Paul Lemmon 67m 10s
386th Danny Jacobson 67m 39s
391st Gavin Evans 68m 08s
454th Pete Crockford 70m 18s
470th Robin Tremaine 70m 53s
47nth? Paul McCrossin 71m approx (arrived at last minute so ran round with no chip, therefore no official result)
570th Hassan Nahal 74m 46s
598th Carl Heap 76m 05s
604th Phil Hogg 76m 42s
704th Nik Skipper 83m 07s

806 finishers in all. Team (6 to score) finished 19th out of 54, 12 to score finished 10th out of 17.

At last! The snow has gone (though I guess it may yet come back) and races took place as planned, so for the first time this year I have a decent sized set of results to report on.

The main event of course was the delayed Middlesex Cross Country Champs at Ruislip on Saturday. Heathside had runners in 7 of the 9 races and made a pretty good start with full teams finishing in both Under 13 events. The Girls finished well down the strongest field of the day outside the senior events, though Genevieve only narrowly missed out on the top 12 placing which would have given her a chance of running in the Inter Counties. The Boys were more successful however with both Connor and Max R making it into the hallowed 12, though they will still presumably need a couple of others to drop out for them to get a run on the day. Sadly however, in a ridiculously close 4 way team battle, they ended up 4th and thus missed out on medals despite being only 6 points behind the winners. If it was 4 to score like it always used to be they would have been an even closer 2nd.

Unexpectedly we didn’t have a full team of Under 15 Boys, but Joe and Miron at least had a good race with each other in the middle of the field. As expected however, our best individual performance of the day came in the Under 20 Men’s race which Mehretab won by nearly a minute. He should have a much tougher race in the Southern Champs next week, but will certainly be hoping for a very high finish there too on current form.

The Senior Women were next to race and, while it was disappointing that we only had 5 competitors given the large numbers we’ve had at most races this season, disappointing was the last word that could be used to describe the performances of those who were there. Sue had another excellent run to finish 4th, albeit well adrift of the top 3, and should now get selected for the Inter Counties event. Andrea may well join her there after a top 10 finish while both Jackie and Karen had their best races of the season so far. Ruth too ran well and would have ensured the team of silver medals even if any of the others had failed to finish. Given the absentees, it was an excellent performance to push Highgate so close for gold, though if Anna still ran first claim for us rather than West 4 we would have beaten them by the perfect margin of 1 point!

Finally it was the men’s turn and here we had a much better turnout which led to a better than expected result too, with a closer 2nd place even than the women. George and Martin had terrific runs to make the top 10 and possible inter-counties selection, while Ed’s form continues to improve apace. John performed solidly as normal and Richard ran particularly well given the hamstring problems which have affected his training over the last few weeks. Sergio completed the scoring 6, holding off Norman comfortably in the end. If any of Andy, Dan or myself had been less affected by our recent illnesses/injuries and thus been running at our best, we may even have managed to edge ahead of Highgate. However the result was probably fair as, for reasons unknown, Highgate’s highest finisher didn’t count for their team and they would have been much further ahead of us if he had. Results of this and other events as follows:

Middlesex County Cross Country Championships, Ruislip, 23/01/10:
Under 13 Boys (3k approx):
11th Connor O’Shea 12m 19s
12th Max Robertson 12m 26s
15th Max Heap 12m 36s
18th Johnny Naylor 13m 00s
26th Jasper Crockford 13m 13s

Team results (3 to score);
1st Harrow 32
2nd Thames Valley 33
3rd St Mary’s Richmond 35
4th London Heathside 38

Under 13 Girls (3k approx):
13th Genevieve Weston 14m 05s
30th Harriet Mackinney 15m 48s
36th Lily Beckford 16m 54s
37th Ellen Bolger 16m 54s

Team results (3 to score):
1st St Mary’s Richmond 12
2nd Enfield & Haringey 15
3rd Ealing 26
7th London Heathside 79

Under 15 Boys (4k approx):
19th Joe Silva 15m 58s
20th Miron Woldemichael 16m 01s

Under 17 Men (6k approx):
27th Alex Beattie-Child 27m 05s

Under 20 men (8k approx):
1st Mehretab Solomon 28m 03s
18th Jay Beattie-Child 40m 33s

Senior Women (8k approx):
4th Sue Rust 34m 43s
10th Andrea Devine 35m 48s
13th Jackie Wastell 37m 33s
17th Karen Levene 38m 22s
29th Ruth Miller 40m 55s

Team results (4 to score):
1st Highgate 37
2nd London Heathside 44
3rd Serpentine 82

Senior Men (12k approx):
5th George Stewart 43m 45s
8th Martin Potter 44m 00s
18th Ed Samuel 45m 58s
25th John Flahive 46m 53s
27th Richard Browne 47m 13s
31st Sergio Di Noto 47m 34s
36th Norman Mitchell 48m 13s
42nd Andy Owen 49m 01s
50th Paul Lemmon 50m 27s
53rd Dan Miller 50m 38s
55th Pete Crockford 51m 06s
81st Carl Heap 56m 05s
88th Alan Dickson 57m 20s
99th Nik Skipper 60m 44s

Team results (6 to score):
1st Highgate 111
2nd London Heathside 114
3rd Harrow 126

Brighton 5k Parkrun, Brighton, 23/01/10:
18th Mark Derry 19m 28s

British Masters Indoor Pentathlon Championships, Lee Valley, 24/01/10:
Men 55-59:
3rd Adrian Essex
60M Hurdles 12.42s
Long Jump 4.12m
Shot Put 7.87m
High Jump 1.33m
800 Metres 3m 51.89s

Total 2578 points

Vets A.C. Indoor Track & Field Championships, Lee Valley, 24/01/10:
60 Metres Bill Birmingham 9.48s
800 Metres Bill Birmingham 2m 41.38s

Unlike last weekend there were a couple of intrepid Heathsiders racing this time. Here are the results. Let's hope the weather allows for a rather longer post next week!

Finsbury Park 5k Parkrun, 16/01/10:

38th Maxine Kelly 24m 33s
55th Monika Thaler 27m 25s

Brighton & Hove 5k Parkrun, 16/01/10:

7th Mark Derry 20m 14s