The Bank Holiday led to it being a quiet weekend for Heathside’s adults, with the most notable feature being the number of different simultaneous 5k races our members managed to take part in on Saturday morning without any 2 of them being at the same venue! Alex was the most successful with a win at his local parkrun, while Philip’s performance showed how variable the quality of the parkruns can be as he ran faster than last week but finished 5 places lower. Meanwhile I was running twice the distance on the track in probably the most competitive 10000 Metres I’ve ever run in. Sadly the officials didn’t match the standard of the runners however, as at least 2 people were told they had finished when they still had a lap to go. The timing was hopeless too as the electronic timing didn’t work and the hand-timings seemed to be little better than quesswork. I certainly ran at least 1.5 seconds quicker than the time they gave me and everyone else I spoke too felt they had been similarly hard done by. Earlier in the week 4 of us had travelled up to Watford in horrible conditions on Wednesday evening. Mark and Alan bore the brunt of the bad weather for their race, while John and I ran 30-40 minutes later when it had stopped raining. Only John took advantage however with an excellent run.

10 of our youngsters competed in the end of season Young Athletes meeting at Newham on Sunday and most of them came home with at least 1 medal after some excellent performances. Yohannes was perhaps the most successful with 2 PBs, one of which got him a club age group record in the Javelin. Colin also had a good all round day and wasn’t far off the club Discus record. Amongst the Girls Deborah sprinted well and Xelia ran an excellent 800 though she wasn’t at her best in the Javelin, while Selam almost matched her brother with a club record, narrowly missing out in the Discus. Results as follows:

Watford Track & Field Open Meeting, Watford, 25/08/10:
1500 Metres:
John Flahive 4m 26.16s
Paul Lemmon 4m 37.33s
Mark George 5m 22.11s
Alan Dickson 5m 30.18s

Grovelands 5k parkrun, Grovelands Park (Southgate), 28/08/10:
1st Alex Macaulay 17m 05s

Hackney Marshes 5k parkrun, Hackney Marshes, 28/08/10:
6th Philip Bentley 18m 15s

Brighton & Hove 5k parkrun, Hove Park, 28/08/10:
36th Mark Derry 20m 24s

Finsbury Park 5k parkrun, Finsbury Park, 28/08/10:
53rd Regina Pereira 29m 56s

Lancaster 5k Road Race, Lancaster, 28/08/10:
33rd Mark George 19m 46s

Herne Hill Harriers Open Track & Field Meeting, Tooting, 28/08/10:
10000 Metres:
8th Paul Lemmon 35m 09.1s

Newham & Essex Beagles Young Athletes Track & Field Meeting, Plaistow, 29/08/10:
Under 13 Boys:
800 Metres:
3rd Yohannes Asefa 2m 49.20s (PB)
Discus:
2nd Yohannes Asefa 17.13m
Javelin:
2nd Yohannes Asefa 26.26m (PB, club U13 record)

Under 13 Girls:
100 Metres:
5th in ht Kaya Birch-Skerritt 16.86s
Long Jump:
6th Kaya Birch-Skerritt 3.50m

Under 15 Boys:
100 Metres:
2nd in ht Colin Kpodonu 13.13s
200 Metres:
5th Colin Kpodonu 26.53s
Discus:
3rd Colin Kpodonu 26.40m

Under 15 Girls:
100 Metres:
3rd Deborah Famodun 14.03s
5th Rebecca Shaw 15.64s
200 Metres:
3rd Deborah Famodun 28.80s
7th Selam Asefa 35.70s
800 Metres:
1st Xelia Mendes-Jones 2m 37.80s
Discus:
3rd Selam Asefa 17.31m
Javelin:
2nd Xelia Mendes-Jones 19.60m
4th Sommer Birch-Skerritt 17.35m
6th Selam Asefa 14.39m

Under 17 Men:
100 Metres:
4th in ht Jordan Tompkins 12.12s
5th in ht Daumantas Dulius 13.08s
200 Metres:
3rd Jordan Tompkins 26.17s
4th Daumantas Dulius 26.25s

Under 20 Men:
Javelin:
1st Ashley Baynes 31.50m

Due to the lack of track & field events it was a relatively quiet week for Heathside with only about 20 people racing, but it was still a successful time for us as Heathsiders won not just 1 but 2 of the local parkruns, while we also had 4 finishers in the top 50 of the Burnham Beeches Half Marathon. Pride of place goes to Liam as he was 15 seconds quicker (and rather more than 15 years older!) than our other parkrun winner Philip, while Ricardo also had an excellent run to lead home the team in the Half. As I wasn’t actually present for any of the races there isn’t any more I can add, so for once I’ll get straight on to the results. Here they are:

Finsbury Park 5k parkrun, Finsbury Park, 21/08/10:
1st Liam Proudlock 18m 03s
4th Gavin Evans 19m 07s
9th Mark George 20m 56s
20th Joanne Irwin 22m 38s
26th Caroline White 23m 09s
51st Adrian Essex 26m 56s

Hackney Marshes 5k parkrun, Hackney Marshes, 21/08/10:
1st Philip Bentley 18m 18s

South Manchester 5k parkrun, Fallowfield (Manchester), 21/08/10:
55th Ben Clarke-Janssen 23m 53s

Burnham Beeches Half Marathon, Farnham Common (Bucks), 22/08/10:
19th Ricardo Suarez-Lee 77m 53s
31st George Stewart 80m 42s
39th Ken Heney 81m 55s
48th Gavin Evans 83m 26s
105th Jo Green 89m 47s
164th Paddy O’Brien 94m 49s
249th Carl Heap 99m 57s
483rd Sandra Buckton 1h 53m 20s
583rd Claire Sliwerski 1h 57m 39s
672nd Resi Dzialdow 2h 04m 48s

Runners Quest Ufdance Half Marathon, hackney Marshes, 22/08/10:
?th Simon Clarkson 1h 43m 24s (PB)

There were 2 major meetings with several Heathsiders competing over the weekend, but before I move on to them I’ll just do a quick roundup of some previously unreported earlier events. Last weekend Martin and Jackie both won their age category and weren’t far off overall victories in a hilly 5 mile race through Epping Forest, while on Wednesday Tony not only won his age category but also beat all the youngsters in the Civil Service Champs Steeplechase. Then on Saturday morning Leigh continued her excellent season with another PB in the 10k over at Victoria Park.

The first main event however was the final LICC match of the summer at Parliament Hill. The weather was cool and still, so good for the middle distance runners but less so for the sprinters, so it was no surprise that 2 of the best Heathside performances came from Joe and John in the 800 Metres, with Joe running an even paced race to smash his PB while John hung on behind him for his best run of the year. There were also good performances from Bill, Mohamed, Jordan, James and Miron amongst others, though the star has to be Xelia who smashed her own club record by 5 metres in the Javelin. In the BMC 1500 Metres race which also took place at Parliament Hill that afternoon, Mehretab had his best race of the season to run what I think was a PB and only narrowly miss the club record.

Then on Sunday 6 Heathsiders went down to Kent to compete for Middlesex in the Southern Inter Counties match. Conditions now were totally different, dry and bright but very breezy, and as the wind was behind the sprinters it was they who were the happy ones this time. Nicky slaughtered her PBs with terrific runs in both sprint events, though as the wind was over the legal limit for both (only narrowly in the case of the 200) they won’t officially count towards rankings etc. Both were just outside the Heathside club records, but as she doesn’t turn 17 until later this week there is still plenty of time for her to achieve those. Sue also managed a PB despite the wind and had an excellent run to finish 2nd overall, beating the A strings of all the other counties and only losing to her own Middlesex teammate. Both Nicky and Sue also ran strong relay legs and helped Middlesex to a close 2nd place behind the hosts Kent in the women’s match. Both for Middlesex and for the Heathsiders the men’s match was rather more mixed. Israel and I were happy to both set season’s bests but Nathan was less successful in both of his events. Several other events were lacking Middlesex competitors so Kabir, who was only intending to be there to watch and support, ended up making his County debut in the Walk! Despite such heroics however Middlesex only managed 6th place in the men’s match and this led to 4th place in the combined competition. Results of the above and some other events as follows:

Orion Forest 5 Mile multi-terrain race, Epping Forest, 07/08/10:
2nd Martin Potter 28m 06s (1st V40)
53rd Jackie Wastell 35m 28s (5th woman, 1st V45)

Self-Transcendence 5k Road Race, Battersea Park, 09/08/10:
19th Steve Monaghan 17m 22s (2nd V40)

Civil Service Track & Field Championships, Eton, 11/08/10:
3000M Steeplechase:
1st Tony Killilea 11m 25.8s

Rosenheim League Final + Open Track Meeting, Tooting, 11/08/10:
Men:
1500 Metres:
3rd Paul Lemmon 4m 34.08s
Women:
1500 Metres:
1st Sue Rust 4m 55.93s
3000 Metres:
1st Sue Rust 10m 48.72s

Finsbury Park 5k parkrun, Finsbury Park, 14/08/10:
17th Emilia Vynnycky 22m 33s (2nd woman, 1st V40)

Brighton 5k parkrun, Hove Park, 14/08/10:
17th Mark Derry 19m 19s

Pride Run 10k Road Race, Victoria Park, 14/08/10:
44th Leigh James 39m 31s (PB, 2nd woman)

British Milers Club Regional Meeting, Parliament Hill, 14/08/10:
1500 Metres:
2nd Mehretab Solomon 3m 56.63s

London Inter-Club Challenge, match 4 (of 4), Parliament Hill, 14/08/10:
Men/Boys:
100 Metres:
Bill Awere 11.76s
Jean-Paul Hazeley 11.88s
Jordan Tompkins 12.28s
Colin Kpodonu 12.93s
Ben Clarke-Janssen 15.51s
200 Metres:
Bill Awere 23.6s
Mohamed Mohamed 24.7s
Jean-Paul Hazeley 26.3s
400 Metres:
Mohamed Mohamed 54.41s
Mike Abrahams 66.00s
800 Metres:
Joe Silva 2m 05.22s (PB)
John Flahive 2m 09.15s
James Wooldridge 2m 25.6s
Johnny Naylor 2m 43.51s
Ben Clarke-Janssen 2m 56.60s
3000 Metres:
Miron Woldemichael 10m 38.50s
Alex Beattie-Child 11m 06.27s
Javelin:
Nathan Cyrus 37.14m
Hammer:
Ben Clarke-Janssen 11.83m
Girls:
800 Metres:
Xelia Mendes-Jones 2m 41.85s
Javelin:
Xelia Mendes-Jones 24.85m (club U15 record)

Southern Inter-Counties Track & Field Championships, Ashford (Kent), 15/08/10:
Men:
110M Hurdles A:
4th Israel Nworgu 15.87s
3000M Chase B:
4th Paul Lemmon 10m 53.11s
3000M Walk B:
3rd Kabir Kemp 24m 24.02s
Triple Jump A:
6th Nathan Cyrus 11.34m
Javelin A:
7th Nathan Cyrus 36.66m
Women:
100 Metres B:
1st Nicky Famodun 12.65s (PB)
200 Metres B:
2nd Nicky Famodun 25.95s (PB)
800 Metres B:
1st Sue Rust 2m 18.17s (PB)
4x100 Relay:
4th Middlesex (incl. Nicky) 50.79s
4x400 Relay:
1st Middlesex (incl. Sue) 4m 01.03s

A terrific team performance by Heathside’s women on Saturday led to them winning their 4th Southern League fixture by the narrowest possible margin of half a point, with the added bonus that they are now 1 place and 1 point above Highgate in the league! A turnout of 14 athletes, easily their best since rejoining the league a couple of years ago, made covering all the events (apart from the Pole Vault anyway) relatively easy, but in a hard fought fixture with 4 evenly matched teams more than just taking part was required. There were a couple of setbacks, usually due to people doing events for the first time and not quite understanding the rules, and because of that Heathside were in 2nd place, just behind Woking, for much of the match. With just the relays to go however the gap was down to 1.5 points, so as long as Heathside beat Woking in both of them the result would be victory. After the dominance of Nicky and Lennicia in the individual sprint events the 4 x 100 was really only a case of getting the baton round, which thankfully they did. The 4 x 400 was a very different matter however, but thanks to a brave 1st leg from Natalie, who had earlier had to drop out of the individual event with an injury, a stunning 2nd leg at way over her normal distance from Nicky and an excellent 3rd leg at way under her usual distance from Jaimie, Sue was given the baton with a decent lead. She was up against the individual 400m winner from Woking however and by the final bend the gap was just a couple of metres. We needn’t have worried though as she sprinted off the bend to hold on by nearly a second to confirm the victory. With so many excellent performances it is difficult to single a few out for special praise, but I will anyway! Sue ran a PB in the 800 and her 2nd fastest time ever in the 1500 to dominate the middle distances, while Jaimie’s victory was never in doubt in the 3000. Rani showed huge promise in the Discus and Long Jump and also got valuable points for the team in the 400 Hurdles, while Jennifer and Joanna, both on their Heathside debut, performed excellently in a variety of Field Events, highlighted by their double first in the Shot. MVP however must be Nicky with 3 individual wins and 2 great relay legs to finish things off. The next step for the team is to get equally good turnouts and performances when the match isn’t at Parliament Hill. The final match this season is at Peterborough on September 4th and a good performance there would suggest that promotion next season would be a reasonable target.

Apart from that it was a relatively quiet weekend for the club. 3 of our youngsters gained Middlesex vests at the Southern Inter Counties match and, although they found the competition a big step up from league events, they will have gained a lot from the experience. Elsewhere Liam came a close 2nd in the local parkrun while, in a late result from last weekend, Ken unbelievably managed to complete a hilly 13 Mile race in a perfectly decent time only a week after his Ironman! On the subject of Triathlons I know there were a couple of Heathsiders doing the London one yesterday, but as the results page on the event website isn’t working I’m afraid I have no idea how they got on. The results I do have are as follows:

Milland Valley 13 Mile Trail Race, Liss (Hampshire), 01/08/10:
8th Ken Heney 91m 12s

Finsbury Park 5k parkrun, Finsbury Park, 07/08/10:
2nd Liam Proudlock 17m 42s
21st Barbara Tomaszczyk 24m 14s
35th Steve Woolf 27m 06s

Brighton 5k parkrun, Hove Park, 07/08/10:
18th Mark Derry 19m 44s

Regents Park 10k Road Race, Regents Park, 07/08/10:
21st Andrew Budgen 38m 58s
59th Neil Kimberley 43m 15s

Women’s Southern League Senior Division 3, match 4 (of 5), Parliament Hill, 07/08/10:
100 Metres A 1st Nicky Famodun 13.0s
B 1st Lennicia Tuitt 13.5s
200 Metres A 1st Nicky Famodun 26.6s
B 2nd Lennicia Tuitt 29.1s
400 Metres A 4th Almudena Garcia 74.2s
B DNF Natalie McQueen
800 Metres A 1st Sue Rust 2m 19.8s
B 4th Almudena Garcia 2m 47.9s
1500 Metres A 1st Sue Rust 4m 52.0s
B 2nd Susie Brighton 5m 59.1s
3000 Metres A 1st Jaimie Hunter 10m 52.5s
B 2nd Felicity Smith 11m 44.1s
100 Hurdles A DQ Nicky Famodun
B 2nd Joanna Banham 22.6s
400 Hurdles A 3rd Natalie McQueen 77.0s
B 2nd Rani Lewinson 94.2s
4x100 Relay 1st Rani, Natalie, Lennicia, Nicky 53.7s
4x400 Relay 1st Natalie, Nicky, Jaimie, Sue 4m 25.7s
Long Jump A 2nd Rani Lewinson 4.18m
B 2nd Joanna Banham 3.45m
High Jump A 1st Nicky Famodun 1.35m
B 2nd Joanna Banham 1.20m
Triple Jump A 4th Joanna Banham 7.43m
B 3rd Almudena Garcia 6.05m
Shot Put A 1st Jennifer Iwueke 8.22m
B 1st Joanna Banham 7.26m
Discus A 2nd Rani Lewinson 19.85m
B 3rd Nadia Martin 13.95m
Javelin A 3rd Meaza Neguse 12.23m
B 3rd Tiya Bekele 10.13m
Hammer A 3rd Sue Rust 14.25m
B NM Jennifer Iwueke

Overall Match Result:
1st London Heathside 86
2nd Woking 85.5
3rd Highgate/Barnet 73
4th Andover 60.5

Current League Table (top 5 + selected others of 19):
1st Exeter 398 14
2nd Thurrock 363 15
3rd Woking 339 12
4th Watford 296 9
5th Vale of Aylesbury 287 11
14th London Heathside 227 8
15th Highgate/Barnet 226 7

Under 17 Southern Inter Counties Championships, Stevenage, 08/08/10:
800 Metres A 8th Joe Silva 2m 08.9s
1500 Metres B 5th Jordan Tompkins 4m 59.6s
3000 Metres B 6th Miron Woldemichael 10m 55.1s
Shot Put B 6th Jordan Tompkins 8.07m

Both Heathside’s men’s teams had our last league matches of the season on Saturday and although we had differing fortunes on the day, the overall result is likely to be the same for both. The A team had our best performance and best result of the season, though our bad luck continued right to the end, in fact it reached its highest point this time with us only losing out to Kent for 2nd place by half a point. Every team we have beaten all season has finished well over 20 points behind us, while we have finished less than 10 points behind 6! Everyone performed well on the day, but special mention has to go to Bill for volunteering to do the 110 Hurdles at the last minute and then winning the B string, even if it did severely affect his 400 Metres run a few minutes later. It was good to have Mehretab back to strengthen the middle distances while father and son Stasaitis led us to some very good results in the jumps. The long distances and the throws were very strong however so we suffered there and that just cost us too much in the end. We don’t know the final league table yet, but we will be either 21st or 22nd out of 25 so should be relegated, though there is always the possibility of dropouts saving us, especially if we are 21st. Man of the season is shared between the 2 ever-presents, Mohamed and Nathan, the former for his constant enthusiasm and willingness to try any event if we needed him too and the latter for not only doing most events and scoring most points for us, but also for coaching a few of the other team members so successfully too.

As for the B team, despite having one of their highest turnouts of the season with 8 competitors, they found themselves in a viciously tough match and had no chance of avoiding last place. Newcomers Will and Steve put in some particularly good performances but results elsewhere leave the team 15th out of 16 and therefore, like the A team, relying on dropouts to save them from relegation. Elsewhere we had Heathsiders in various parkruns around the country, though surprisingly none this week in the local one at Finsbury Park, while Steve, Jaimie, Leigh and, on her return from injury, Angela also had successful runs over between 3k and 10k. Also Marcus had a very good Ironman debut in Bolton. While on the subject of Ironman, for those who haven’t already done so, please set aside a couple of minutes to read Ken Heney’s excellent write-up of his amazing half blind Ironman performance on the club website. And now the results:

Hackney 5k parkrun, Hackney Marshes, 24/07/10:
6th Alex Macaulay 20m 16s
39th Regina Pereira 28m 00s
44th Tathiana Santana 28m 37s

Watford Track & Field Open Meeting, Watford, 28/07/10:
400 Metres:
Mohamed Mohamed 54.44s
1500 Metres:
Jacob Howe 4m 28.19s
Daniel Szajna 5m 06.18s
Miron Woldemichael 5m 07.72s
3000 Metres:
Leigh James 10m 47.25s

Last Friday of the Month 5k Road Race, Hyde Park, 30/07/10:
12th Steve Monaghan 17m 26s (1st V40)

Brighton 5k parkrun, Hove Park, 31/07/10:
18th Mark Derry 19m 26s

Cambridge 5k parkrun, Milton Country Park, 31/07/10:
8th James Pickett 18m 29s

Sheffield Hallam 5k parkrun, Endcliffe Park, 31/07/10:
32nd Jayne Sales 25m 55s

Southern Men’s League Division 2, match 6 (of 6), Battersea Park, 31/07/10:
100 Metres A 3rd Uzzy Onuba 11.7s
B 2nd Jean-Paul Hazeley 11.9s
200 Metres A 2nd Uzzy Onuba 24.0s
B 4th Kwame Dankworth 24.5s
400 Metres A 5th Bill Awere 56.7s
B 1st Ashley Baynes 53.2s
800 Metres A 2nd Mehretab Solomon 1m 58.6s
B 4th Mohamed Mohamed 2m 08.6s
1500 Metres A 1st Mehretab Solomon 4m 10.6s
B 1st Alex Macaulay 4m 30.3s
5000 Metres A 4th Paul Lemmon 17m 09.5s
B 4th Jacob Howe 18m 22.5s
110 Hurdles A 2nd Israel Nworgu 16.8s
B 1st Bill Awere 18.7s
400 Hurdles A 3rd Israel Nworgu 59.6s
B 2nd Daniel Aka 61.5s
3000M Chase A 3rd John Flahive 11m 04.3s
B 3rd Paul Lemmon 11m 22.8s
4x100 Relay 3rd Kwame, Jean-Paul, Bill, Uzzy 46.3s
4x400 Relay 4th Israel, Daniel, Mohamed, Ashley 3m 37.0s
Long Jump A 2nd Emmanuel Stasaitis 6.19m
B 2nd Nathan Cyrus 5.91m
High Jump A 2nd Reg Stasaitis 1.70m
B 2nd Mohamed Mohamed 1.50m
Triple Jump A 2nd Reg Stasaitis 12.94m
B 2nd Jacob Wilson 12.26m
Pole Vault A 2nd Nathan Cyrus 2.40m
B 2nd= Jacob Howe 1.20m
Shot Put A 4th Nathan Cyrus 9.58m
B 5th Ashley Baynes 8.27m
Discus A 5th Nathan Cyrus 26.22m
B 5th Ashley Baynes 16.87m
Javelin A 2nd Nathan Cyrus 43.25m
B 3rd Ashley Baynes 33.73m
Hammer A 5th Ashley Baynes 18.29m
B 5th Jacob Wilson 16.07m

Final Match Result:
1st Herts Phoenix 133
2nd Kent 112
3rd London Heathside 111.5
4th Swindon 87
5th Serpentine 78.5

Southern Men’s League Division 3 North, match 5 (of 5), Hemel Hempstead, 31/07/10:
100 Metres A 4th Emmanuel Adesina 14.9s
B 4th Adrian Essex 16.9s
200 Metres A 4th Will Whitaker 34.4s
B 4th Tony Chin 42.2s
400 Metres A 4th Will Whitaker 59.3s
B 4th Adrian Essex 87.8s
800 Metres A 4th Will Whitaker 2m 16.0s
B 4th Norman Mitchell 2m 32.6s
1500 Metres A 4th Norman Mitchell 5m 08.4s
B 4th Will Whitaker 5m 18.8s
5000 Metres A 4th Tony Chin 20m 39.0s
B 4th Adrian Essex 27m 28.2s
400 Hurdles A 4th Norman Mitchell 75.2s
B 3rd Adrian Essex 95.2s
3000M Chase A 3rd Will Whitaker 12m 49.4s
B 3rd Adrian Essex 18m 26.6s
Long Jump A 4th Mark George 4.64m
B 4th Adrian Essex 4.52m
High Jump A 4th Will Whitaker 1.20m
B 4th Adrian Essex 1.00m
Triple Jump A 4th Mark George 10.18m
B 4th Emmanuel Adesina 9.09m
Pole Vault A 4th Adrian Essex 1.00m
B 2nd Norman Mitchell 1.00m
Shot Put A 3rd Bill Washburn 8.20m
B 3rd Steve Bywater 6.68m
Discus A 3rd Bill Washburn 21.63m
B 3rd Steve Bywater 19.55m
Javelin A 4th Steve Bywater 26.74m
B 3rd Bill Washburn 22.09m
Hammer A 4th Bill Washburn 17.68m
B 4th Adrian Essex 13.83m

Final Match Result:
1st Dacorum & Tring 126
2nd Havering Mayesbrook 100
3rd Milton Keynes 79
4th London Heathside 42

UK Ironman Triathlon Championships, Bolton, 01/08/10:
?th Marcus Tillotson
2.4 mile swim 69m 50s
112 mile bike 7h 07m 28s
Marathon run 3h 49m 21s

Total time 12h 20m 46s

Old Deer Park 10k Road Race, Richmond, 01/08/10:
26th Hugh Wade-Jones 38m 37s
41st Jaimie Hunter 40m 15s (5th woman)
42nd Rick Hewett 40m 27s
110th Matt Rowley 45m 21s

Newham 10k Road Race, Newham, 01/08/10:
7th Jacob Howe 38m 49s
?th Angela Howe 40m 15s (1st woman)

Ironman Zurich 2010

Laura and I arrived in Zurich on the Friday morning having driven down with a stop over in Strasbourg. With the 'mandatory' race brief on the Friday afternoon, a quick lunch by lake Zurich, was all we managed before walking round to Landiwiese to register, pick up the obligatory merchandise and cram ourselves into a packed marquee for the brief. The rain that had greeted us on arrival into Switzerland continued to tip down and combined without the unrestricted access to the briefing, the result was an uncomfortable hour, half in and half out of the marquee entrance, surrounded by buggies, umbrellas and supporters. The brief was however, well worth attending, providing a good insight to what lay ahead and at one point, a wave of panic was sent through the crowd when a non-wetsuit swim seemed a real possibility with the present water temperature at 24.4 degrees. The brief also succeeded in stressing me out about my weakest discipline, the bike. The draughting, blocking and many other rules all punishable by time penalties and disqualification, all added to my concern over getting through this discipline.

Bike racking was the next on the agenda, the following day, Saturday. Fortunately, I thought, my time slot was first at 15:30. On arrival in the continuing rain, it was impossible to get the car anywhere near due to there being a series of olympic and sprint distance events going on, and when we did eventually get there the information on where to queue and management of slot allocation was very poor; in fact I suspect that very few people paid any attention to their racking time, and the mass of bikes and athletes just seem to surge from every angle. The weather had started to clear and I was determined just to relax and not let this chaotic swarm irritate and frustrate me.

Eventually, my bike was racked, complete with complimentary bike cover, my route in and out was rehearsed and we were back on the number 2 tram to our hotel. We turned up at a local Italian near our hotel, expecting it to be packed out, for an early evening pasta meal, to find we were the only there. It was only six pm, but with a 03:15 start the next day, an early diner and early to bed was always in the plan. The food was nothing to write home about, but provided the fuel and ticked another box in the preparation build up.

It's incredible how easy it is to get up at 3 in the morning when you've got so much to look forward to that day. How Laura does it though, is another question; she as ever was there throughout the weekend supporting better that anyone. Breakfast was laid on with pasta and rice available for those who wished, but I stuck to my oats and dried fruit all the way from London. We boarded a transfer coach to the start, with everything I could possibly need to effectively re-build my bike (just in case!) and several kilos of energy gels, bars and dried fruit. After checking the bike, adjusting the tyre pressure and attaching all my nutrition needs to the frame, a series of toilet visits and re-checking of the bike followed until I could do no more.

At 06:00 a wetsuit swim was confirmed and the 2200 lycra clad competitors morphed into thousands of identical neoprene vacuum packed potential Ironmen.

Having spoken with Martin Potter about the event, I took his advice and tried to get over to the boundary of the ladies only start, and get a bit of clear water. However, no sooner had I swam out to the start line, the gun went and so it's swim for your life or be swam over.

Now on my way I tried to relax into a rhythm and did find some clear water, but soon realized this was because I was already heading off course. A realignment of my direction, took me back into the mass field and I accepted that, as in many events I've done before, I'd be battered about but I'd give as good as I got and so headed for the turning buoys as direct as possible. Unfortunately, my initial misdirection meant I had the very outside line on the first turning point and as I cut in I took a couple of sharp blows in the back and one in the head dislodging my goggles. I managed to get my goggles back on with most of the water cleared other than a little left sloshing around in my left eye, which I did nothing further about. The turning points continued to be mayhem and the exit from the water at half way, run over an island to get back in proved to be something new and just as manic, but with some periods of relaxed melodic swimming seeing the sun rising on every breath, and the views surpassing those of the Virgin Active 20m pool, my swim was completed in just over 69 mins.

As I had gone into the event with no aspiration for time related satisfaction, but to enjoy as much as I could, I got out of the swim very relaxed and jogged into transition. My wetsuit seamed to slip off with little resistance and my socks, shoes, helmet, glasses and race belt all were donned with no mishaps. I even had a wee tidy of my transition area, tucking my wetsuit neatly under my racking space with my hat and goggles out of the way. I trotted out of the transition with no urgency to pass people, content to get over the mount line in my own time and then my shoes just slipped sweetly into the cleats. This was all going rather well. T1 00:02:27.

As I settled into a fast paced first section of the bike, I was finding it very difficult to avoid draughting with large groups of cyclists all around me that I was catching and being caught by. I kept thinking that it's all about 'intent' and that if I settled into my own pace and avoided where I could sitting on someone’s rear wheel, my intent is not to draught. As the route turned off the side of the lake it became more undulating before several long climbs and fast descents and a further fast flat section took us back to Landiwiese before a small loop including climbing 'Heartbreak Hill' completed the lap.

By the second lap I'd become uncomfortably desperate to empty my bladder and very aware of an increasing problem with my left eye. I had been aware from early stages in the bike that I needed the loo, but was keen to avoid loss of time by stopping, and therefore on the second lap I learned a new skill let's say, which resolved this issue. My eye however, was an issue that was not so easy to resolve. It had become more and more irritated and it was becoming very difficult to keep open and see. I began to have to slow the downhill sections right down, as it really was dangerous cycling with impaired vision at 45mph and above in some sections, and I found myself looking forward to flat sections and uphills.

My second lap as a result, was slower but I had managed to keep up a good pace. During all 112 miles I had also kept to a strict nutrition plan, eating a little frequently, of dried apricot, power bar pieces, power shots and gels all washed down with water or some isotonic cocktail. When I got off the bike I was fuelled to the max and delighted to be running; at least running with one eye is a lot easier than cycling.

Again, I seemed unnaturally relaxed through transition. I found my racking slot, slipped on the runners and cruised out without incident for a T2 time of 00:01:26.

As I started running, I clocked my watch properly and couldn't quite register the time, later to be verified as 05:28:54 for the bike. I had planed for a 6h20 so was getting a bit excited in km 1 of the run as possible finish times started to register in my mind. I made a toilet stop then settled into a comfortable pace wandering if I could keep to sub 5min kms, disbelievingly amazing myself each km as I kept getting further and further ahead of this pace. As cramping of my adductors started at 7km I thought it would be the start of my demise, but I forced myself to run through the pain of this with success. I focused on clean rhythmic running, with no sharp changes of direction and as few kerb drops as possible, getting to the end of the first 10.5km lap in just under 47mins.

Water and sponges at every feed station, with gel at every 2nd station was a strategy I used to get me through my previous Ironman marathon, and one I stuck to again here. I ran through cramping of adductors on both legs, both quads and my left hamstring but each time gritted my teeth and forced the pace to continue. I did slow down as the time marched on and distance increased, and I still was struggling with sight in my left eye, but I knew I was on for a good time if I just kept up the fuelling strategy and worked at this pace. With more and more people joining the run course, there were more and more people to focus on passing and I was seriously enjoying the ability to manage this pain and push harder and further.

With a few kms to go I still deliberately held myself back, as one sharp change in pace could result in catastrophic cramping and a very slow last mile, but by the time I'd reached 41.5km I couldn't help but stride out and take in the applause and atmosphere. Into the finish chute, I felt so strong I could have been at the end of a short training run, threw my arms into the air a lived that moment. Elated in disbelief I then stopped, and that is not easy as my legs went and my balance faltered momentarily, as the Swiss finish line support held me up for just one second. 3h22:15.

In the finish area, there is an amazing array of food, which is bewildering in some cases; chicken stroganoff didn't appeal at that very moment in fact nothing did. I tried a little muesli but could stomach it, so just had some hot tea and water. I showered and then decided I could ignore the fact that I was still partially blind, and visited the medical tent. They immediately diagnosed conjunctivitis from lake swimming, flushed out my eyes and sent me on my way with a bottle of eye drops, and I suspect an invoice will soon arrive, but I had to drive back to London so eye sight was important!

Back at the hotel, I managed a burger and chips in the bar, struggling to keep my one eye open as I fought the desire to sleep until at least I'd managed to eat. Into the hotel room following my last chip and the lights go out.

Delighted with a finish time of 10:04:07, 286th out of the field, I really caught the Ironman bug this time, and I can't wait till the next one. With a bit of work on my swim technique and some more time on the bike, and perhaps both eyes next time, there's still a better time in me yet. I’m loving a sport that’s not all about running, but a good marathon at the end of the day certainly helps.

Kenneth Heney, Ironman!

It was a relatively quiet weekend for Heathside, but as I now have the results of the final Young Athletes match of the season from the previous weekend I will start with them. As expected we finished 3rd on the day and 3rd in the final league table but there were some excellent performances, most notably from new member Xelia who broke the club U15 record in the Javelin and wasn’t far off doing so in the 800 Metres too. In fact the U15 Girls were our best age group with Selam also picking up 2 victories and getting close to the club record in the Discus. We picked up good points in the U15 Boys as well, especially in the throws where Colin had 2 victories on his comeback from a very long time off after last year’s broken leg. Amongst the U17s, Daniel and Miron had good wins in very hot conditions, though admittedly there were very few other competitors in either event, while the U13 Boys and Girls also performed well and picked up plenty of points.

As the week progressed Tony had a few more races out in Hungary and, although not picking up any more medals, will be very satisfied with his week’s work. Then moving on to the weekend there were several PBs, despite the warm conditions, at the Harlow 10 where Ricardo was our leading man. Finally last night Miron, Daniel and Alex got together again at Battersea to get a very good result against senior opposition in the 3 x 1 Mile relay. Results of these and other events as follows:

National Young Athletes League Southern Div 2 Thames, match 4 (of 4), Mile End, 18/07/10:
Under 17 Men:
100 Metres A 4th Tufor Kinik 13.6s
1500 Metres A 1st Daniel Szajna 5m 08.1s
3000 Metres A 1st Miron Woldemichael 11m 19.9s
B 1st Alex Beattie-Child 11m 49.0s
Long Jump A 3rd Tufor Kinik 4.03m
Javelin A 2nd Tufor Kinik 21.23m
Under 15 Boys:
100 Metres A 4th Mark Harris 13.0s
B 5th John Harris 15.5s
200 Metres A 3rd Aidan Ishack 26.8s
B 2nd Tukumbah Fakeye 27.3s
400 Metres A 3rd Colin Kpodonu 59.4s
800 Metres A 3rd James Wooldridge 2m 25.7s
B 2nd Jasper Crockford 2m 42.3s
1500 Metres A 3rd Max Heap 5m 21.0s
4x100 Relay 2nd Colin, John, Aidan, Tukumbah 50.6s
Long Jump A 2nd Aidan Ishack 4.85m
B 2nd Mark Harris 4.12m
High Jump A 2nd Max Heap 1.25m
Shot A 1st Colin Kpodonu 9.35m
B 1st Mark Harris 7.69m
Discus A 1st Colin Kpodonu 17.87m
B 1st John Harris 12.05m
Javelin A 2nd Aidan Ishack 28.46m
B 4th Jasper Crockford 12.97m
Under 13 Boys:
100 Metres A 4th Spencer Mulcahy 15.3s
B 3rd Harry Johnson 14.7s
200 Metres A 5th Yohannes Asefa 33.3s
B 3rd Ryan Napleton 32.8s
800 Metres A 3rd Johnny Naylor 2m 38.7s
B 1st Harry Johnson 2m 46.2s
1500 Metres A 3rd Filmon Woldemichael 6m 09.7s
B 3rd Spencer Mulcahy 6m 32.1s
4x100 Relay 3rd Spencer, Harry, Yohannes, Ryan 61.7s
Long Jump A 5th Yohannes Asefa 3.40m
Shot A 2nd Yohannes Asefa 6.51m
B 1st Ryan Napleton 5.63m
Under 15 Girls:
100 Metres A 3rd Xelia Mendes-Jones 14.2s
B 3rd Selam Asefa 16.3s
800 Metres A 1st Xelia Mendes-Jones 2m 34.1s
B 1st Lily Beckford 2m 56.0s
Discus A 1st Selam Asefa 17.00m
Javelin A 1st Xelia Mendes-Jones 19.89m (club U15 record)
B 1st Selam Asefa 16.76m
Under 13 Girls:
75 Metres A 4th Jessica Godden 12.7s
150 Metres A 4th Morwenna Taylor 24.5s
B 4th Ottavia Laidler 25.7s
800 Metres A 3rd Jessica Godden 2m 59.5s
1200 Metres A 2nd Ottavia Laidler 4m 46.3s
70M Hurdles A 3rd Morwenna Taylor 15.8s
B 3rd Ottavia Laidler 15.9s
Long Jump A 3rd Jessica Godden 3.36m
B 3rd Morwenna Taylor 3.21m

Overall Match Result:
1st Victoria Park & TH 378
2nd Highgate 375
3rd London Heathside 256
4th Medway Park Phoenix 212
5th Ilford 135
6th Queens Park 108

European Veterans Track & Field Championships (continued), Nyiegyhaza (Hungary), 19-23/07/10:
V45 Men:
400 Metres 19th Tony Killilea 57.72s
1500 Metres 10th Tony Killilea 4m 45.26s
5000 Metres 9th Tony Killilea 17m 30.04s

Self Transcendence 5K Road Race, Battersea Park, 19/07/10:
12th Steve Monaghan 17m 54s

Brighton 5k parkrun, Brighton, 24/07/10:
15th Mark Derry 19m 29s

Elmbridge 10k Road Race, Walton-on-Thames, 25/07/10:
27th Ed Samuel 35m 22s

Harlow 10 Mile Road Race, Harlow, 25/07/10:
10th Ricardo Suarez-Lee 58m 11s
133rd Jas Bolla 75m 28s (PB)
155th Simon Clarkson 78m 19s (PB)
156th Maxine Kelly 78m 28s (PB)
224th Gabi Johnson 85m 05s (PB)
275th Resi Dzialdow 90m 57s

Self Transcendence 3x1 Mile Road Relay, Battersea Park, 26/07/10:
10th Miron Woldemichael 5m 37s
Daniel Szajna 5m 36s
Alex Beattie-Child 5m 45s
Total 16m 58s (1st U17 team)

The main event of the weekend was the final match of the season for our Young Athletes team. Although they couldn’t match their excellent win in the previous match they performed well again to finish a solid 3rd and confirm themselves as 3rd in the league. The full results aren’t available yet however so they will have to wait until next week. Pride of place this time therefore goes to Tony Killilea, who travelled to somewhere totally unpronounceable and picked up a bronze medal in the Steeplechase in the European Veterans Champs with what I believe was a huge PB. Wonderful stuff!

Closer to home, there were also some good performances at the LICC match at Lee Valley. Sue and Leigh both ran PBs in their main event while Mike also managed at least 1 season’s best. It’s good to see Jean-Paul getting his speed back too after going to the other end of the running scale by doing the Brighton Marathon in April. Results that I do have are as follows:

Watford Track & Field Open Meeting, Watford, 14/07/10:
100 Metres:
Mohamed Mohamed 12.11s
Nicky Famodun 12.90s
200 Metres:
Bill Awere 24.13s
Daniel Aka 24.50s
Mohamed Mohamed 24.65s
Nicky Famodun 26.77s
3000 Metres:
Paul Lemmon 9m 54.45s
Leigh James 10m 51.53s

Finsbury Park 5k parkrun, Finsbury Park, 17/07/10:
27th Dan Williams 25m 19s

London Inter Club Challenge, match 3 (of 4), Lee Valley, 17/07/10:
100 Metres:
Bill Awere 12.16s
Jean-Paul Hazeley 12.25s
200 Metres:
Mike Abrahams 31.07s
400 Metres:
Mohamed Mohamed 53.63s
Sue Rust 63.05s
Mike Abrahams 67.01s
Leigh James 70.87s
800 Metres:
Sue Rust 2m 20.59s (PB)
5000 Metres:
Leigh James 18m 58.22s (PB)
110 Hurdles:
Israel Nworgu 16.31s
400 Hurdles:
Israel Nworgu 59.49s

European Veterans Track & Field Championships, Nyiegyhaza (Hungary), 18/07/10:
V45 3000M Steeplechase:
3rd Tony Killilea 11m 00.70s (PB)

Heathside’s men’s track & field teams had their penultimate league matches of the season on Saturday afternoon. The A team put in a strong performance with the star being Ed with a big PB in the 5000 Metres despite the extremely hot conditions. Julian backed him up ably to get us our 2nd best result of the day, beaten only by the excellent double 1st in the Triple Jump from Nathan & Reg. A couple of slip ups + my absence at a wedding leaving us with only 1 Steeplechaser led to us being narrowly beaten into 4th however. We still gain a place to 22nd in the league, but with 20th our best possible finishing position now it looks certain that we will be relegated unless some sort of reorganization saves us. The B team found themselves in a very tough match but competed well all round and did enough to stay 3rd from bottom in their division so, if only 2 go down (as we hope) then they have a good chance of survival. Results from these matches and of other races as follows:

Southern League Division 2, match 5 (of 6), Parliament Hill, 10/07/10:
100 Metres A 3rd Luke McNally 11.9s
B 3rd Ky Chambers 11.9s
200 Metres A 2nd Ky Chambers 23.7s
B 2nd Ashley Baynes 24.9s
400 Metres A 3rd Luke McNally 53.5s
B 2nd Israel Nworgu 54.0s
800 Metres A 5th John Flahive 2m 17.9s
B 3rd Mohamed Mohamed 2m 12.6s
1500 Metres A 4th John Flahive 4m 37.5s
B 2nd Ken Heney 4m 41.2s
5000 Metres A 2nd Ed Samuel 16m 25.6s
B 1st Julian Ferraro 17m 01.1s
110 Hurdles A 2nd Israel Nworgu 15.9s
400 Hurdles A 3rd Mohamed Mohamed 62.1s
3000M Chase A 2nd John Flahive 11m 34.8s
4x100 Relay 3rd Ky, Bill Awere, Jean-Paul Hazeley, Luke 46.2s
4x400 Relay 3rd Bill, Ashley, Daniel Aka, Israel time unknown
Long Jump A 2nd Nathan Cyrus 6.16m
B 3rd Ashley Baynes 5.14m
High Jump A 2nd Luke McNally 1.70m
Triple Jump A 1st Nathan Cyrus 12.64m
B 1st Reg Stasaitis 12.51m
Pole Vault A 3rd Nathan Cyrus 2.80m
B 2nd Dave Walton 2.20m
Shot Put A 4th Nathan Cyrus 9.91m
B 4th Ashley Baynes 7.79m
Discus A 4th Nathan Cyrus 27.69m
B 4th Ashley Baynes 18.16m
Javelin A 3rd Nathan Cyrus 39.01m
B 3rd Eden Confino 32.80m
Hammer A 4th Dave Walton 18.91m
B 4th Ashley Baynes 16.94m

Overall Match Result:
1st Colchester & Tendring 122
2nd Windsor 118
3rd Vale of Aylesbury 105
4th London Heathside 103
5th Oxford 39

Southern League Division 3 North, match 4 (of 5), Havering, 10/07/10:
100 Metres A 4th Max Gamrat 13.2s
B 4th Ibrahim Ozen 13.5s
200 Metres A 4th Jacob Wilson 27.9s
B 4th Max Gamrat 31.1s
400 Metres A 4th Max Gamrat 63.8s
B 4th Ibrahim Ozen 71.9s
800 Metres A 3rd Norman Mitchell 2m 25.2s
B 3rd Alan Dickson 2m 47.5s
1500 Metres A 4th Tony Killilea 5m 15.7s
B 4th Alan Dickson 5m 38.9s
5000 Metres A 3rd Norman Mitchell 18m 54.4s
B 3rd Alan Dickson 21m 39.9s
400 Hurdles A 4th Norman Mitchell 77.2s
3000M Chase A 3rd Norman Mitchell 12m 21.2s
B 2nd Tony Killilea 12m 43.5s
Long Jump A 3rd Jacob Wilson 5.61m
B 3rd Ibrahim Ozen 4.61m
High Jump A 3rd Jacob Wilson 1.40m
B 3rd Peter Snell 1.00m
Triple Jump A 4th Jacob Wilson 9.80m
Shot Put A 4th Bill Washburn 8.27m
Discus A 3rd Bill Washburn 16.51m
B 4th Peter Snell 12.90m
Javelin A 3rd Jacob Wilson 31.72m
B 2nd Bill Washburn 21.64m
Hammer A 3rd Bill Washburn 21.23m
B 4th Max Gamrat 11.97m

Overall Match Result:
1st Bedford & County 121
2nd Barnet & District 85
3rd Peterborough 82
4th London Heathside 43

Finsbury Park 5k parkrun, Finsbury Park, 10/07/10:
6th Chris Thomas 19m 26s
32nd Dan Williams 24m 37s
33rd Barbara Tomaszczyk 24m 45s

Brighton 5k parkrun, Brighton, 10/07/10:
17th Mark Derry 19m 53s

Run The River Tottenham Marshes 5 Mile Race, Tottenham, 11/07/10:
5th Gavin Evans 30m 14s (1st V50)
6th Jo Green 30m 16s (1st V40)
22nd Nik Skipper 35m 07s
42nd Caroline White 38m 31s (1st FV45)
50th Jim Taggart 40m 54s

British 10k Road Race, Central London, 11/07/10:
?th Jayne Sales 53m 40s

I had thought that not a lot was going on this weekend so there wouldn’t be much to report on, but Heathsiders are a resourceful lot and plenty of you managed to find a race to do somewhere or another after all. As I didn’t witness any of the races I can’t write much about them, but there were certainly plenty of good performances notably Sue’s run for a winning Middlesex team at Copthall, Tony’s PB at Watford, Ursula’s 3rd place at Lee Valley, Liam and James’s 1-2 at Finsbury Park and several of our youngsters, especially Conor, Jessica & Miron, finishing high up the field in Islington. Anyway, here are the results:

SEAX Trophy (Middlesex v Civil Service v RAF), Copthall (Barnet), 30/06/10:
1500 Metres:
3rd Sue Rust 4m 52.8s

Watford Track & Field Open Meeting, Watford, 30/06/10:
100 Metres;
Uzzy Onuba 11.83s
200 Metres:
Uzzy Onuba 23.75s
1500 Metres:
Tony Killilea 4m 36.56s (PB)

Salomon Forest 10k Trail Race, Epping Forest, 01/07/10:
56th Maxine Kelly 49m 57s (7th woman)
108th Jayne Sales 55m 31s (25th woman)

Finsbury Park 5k parkrun, Finsbury Park, 03/07/10:
1st Liam Proudlock 17m 38s
2nd James Pickett 18m 36s
36th Dan Williams 25m 19s

Brighton 5k parkrun, Brighton, 03/07/10:
21st Mark Derry 19m 54s

Regents Park 10k Road Race, Regents Park, 03/07/10:
16th Chris Thomas 39m 38s
47th Neil Kimberley 43m 59s

Bushey Quarter Marathon, Bushey (Herts), 04/07/10:
9th Robin Tremaine 40m 55s (1st V50)

Lee Valley 10k Road Race, Waltham Abbey, 04/07/10:
7th Jo Green 37m 57s
13th Trevor Wilson 40m 01s
14th Costi Stavrianakis 40m 02s
20th Henry Andrews 41m 01s
21st Rick Hewett 41m 18s
35th Ursula Wilson 42m 57s (3rd woman)
53rd Nik Skipper 44m 27s
73rd Emilia Vynnycky 45m 48s
276th Paula Waldron 59m 56s

Go Islington 3k Road Race, Islington, 04/07/10:
4th Miron Woldemichael 10m 54s
8th Daniel Szajna 11m 15s
9th Alex Beattie-Child 11m 35s
10th Max Heap 11m 36s
12th Jasper Crockford 11m 54s
17th Yohanes Asefa 13m 02s
22nd Jay Beattie-Child 13m 22s
36th Jack Forey 15m 38s
41st Selam Asefa 17m 39s
44th Meaza Neguse 18m 40s
47th Emily Forey 22m 08s

Go Islington 1k Road Race, Islington, 04/07/10 (positions only, no times):
1st Conor O’Shea
3rd Jessica Godden
6th Phoebe Crockford
10th Willow Newman
11th Dave Newman
19th Isabella Hohmann
20th Jack O’Shea