Fraternity and Sorority XC Winners AND Running Club of the Year!

Yes it's official – we are the Running Club of the Year – it says so in Athletics Weekly. ALSO, we won the mens and womens Cups this weekend at the Fraternity/Sorority XC event at Trent Park on Saturday, not to mention Tom Aldred coming first over all, and Brent Atkins 4th and Steve Monaghan winning the vet category. We also had a large presence on Sunday at the Trent Park Sunday League XC where Tom managed to come 2nd after having run to the start, along with Brent Atkins who came in 5th, and Cathy Jeremiah was 3rd lady!  Full xc reports from Cap'n Chris (Saturday xc) and Gavin P (Sunday League xc) below.

Slim pickings as regards other racing over the weekend, compared to some weeks  – seems most people were doing xc Saturday or Sunday, but some excellent quality. Rebecca Bunting headed over to Surrey and ran in the Hogs Back race -  an 11.7km course (taking in the best climbs in Surrey apparently), and coming 4th lady in 47.26, this after coming 4th in the Ally Pally Park Run the previous day and Dan McKeown coming first at Ally Pally! Three Heathsiders ran in the Bedford Half and the trio were led home by John Driscoll in a brilliant time of 1.24.09 (his first half marathon).

Chris's report - Fraternity/Sorority Cups Cross-Country, Saturday 7th December, Trent Park 8.4 K approx

Aldred delivers an early Xmas present as Heathside Ding-Dong Merrily on High(gate)

Another perfect day for cross-country saw a good contingent of 29 Heathsiders gather at Trent Park for this traditional race, organised since 1931 by Barnet & District AC. Women and Men ran together over a largely mud-free and relatively flat course of around 8km. It was good to see long-serving cross-country stalwarts running alongside some of the newer members, and this combination proved to be the key to our success as Heathside romped home to win both Senior Men's and Senior Women's competitions for the first time in the club's history, with individual honours too. Happy days.

Tom Aldred's season is going from strength to strength. Within the first few hundred meters it was apparent that he was the strongest runner in the field, and Tom duly eased away from his rivals to a comfortable overall victory in a time of 25m 38s, more than a minute ahead of second place. Tom was followed by a terrific run from Brent Atkins, whose recent return from injury made his 4th place finish even more impressive. Steve Monaghan is also having a stellar season this year, storming to 5th place and winning the Vet category comfortably (again, by over a minute). With 6 to score, Heathside's Glory Boys were completed by John Flahive (11th, and 3rd Vet), Chris Hartley (20th) and Anthony Hall (21st, with the mother and father of all hangovers. Impressive).

In the absence of Sarah Swinhoe and Sue Rust, Heathside's women made it clear that they have exactly what it takes to win competitions anyway. Claire Morrissey showed the way home with a strong run to finish 4th. With four to score in the Women's competition, Claire found great support from Elspeth Storrar (5th), Caroline White (7th), and Jane Higgins (9th). Caroline White showed just how important she remains to the club with her second scoring finish in two weeks. Respect, and many congratulations to the Women, who impressed everyone with their determination on the day.

As if winning both competitions wasn't enough, both Heathside's Men and Women's B-teams finished fourth overall - a great confirmation of the club's strength and depth, if you'll pardon the football cliche.

As we basked in the glow of Heathside's double victory plus Tom and Steve's triumphs at the award ceremony after the race, I couldn't help but notice an absence. Could it be that a certain club went home with its tail between its legs for once? Who cares? Let's enjoy our victory and hope that it can be a springboard for many more. A proud day to wear the Heathside vest. Thank you to all who came along and raced. (Full results at the end of this report).
Gavin P's report - Sunday League Race #3, Trent Park, 08/12/13
What a team! What a club! Having missed the fantastic turnout just two weeks ago at Grovelands, it was a privilege to take part in another Sunday League fixture where Heathside once again shone. It was not just strong performances that stood out – the support was amazing too, with our energetic, ceaselessly cheerful younger members somehow managing to be everywhere on the course at the same time. True stars in the making.

As for the course itself, there was little information available beforehand and it had been changed from previous years: the first mile was a loop mostly on grass before commencing two laps on woodland trail. Spikes were therefore not so much of an advantage apart from at the start and on the hill scramble to the finish. The course was probably more challenging than the previous two this season but tempered by the good weather.

The women’s team again came in 2nd, while the men had to settle for 4th on this occasion. What makes both of these outcomes very impressive is that many of our top-scorers had raced the day before and, not content with that, had banded to form the Finsbury Park posse, partaking in a 7 mile warm-up to get them nice and ready (a very early start might be required for anyone planning on jogging to Royston next month, the day after the Met League!) I’d also like to say well done to Bob Gould for coming first in his age category by almost 5 minutes.

The men and women’s A teams are now both 6th in the league overall, which is a brilliant turnaround since the first race of the season. Royston on January 12th could be a game changer, though it does of course come the day after the Met League at Horsenden Hill where I know the club will be giving its all – inspired by the Finsbury Park posse’s gallant efforts, I hope to run both, but might settle for wheeled transport to and from each of the events… (full results at the end of this report).

Late update on NW London, Young Athletes XC

Here is the report from the North West London Young Athletes event in Trent park on Saturday - kindly sent by Russell Weston (a little late, so didn't make the first appearance in the race results):

NW London Young Athletes XC, Trent Park, 07/12/13 (Russell Weston)

Trent Park was unusually dry, but not any flatter, especially as everyone except the under 11 girls had to run down and therefore up the main hill. A bit of a shock especially for several of the under 11 boys making their debuts for the club (Zac, Luca and Etienne). An encouraging number of debut runs in the Under 11 Girls as well with Abby, Hannah, Frankie, Hattie and Maya all running well on their first appearance for the club. Not only did they all run well, but they appeared to enjoy(!!) it as well.  Once again some outstanding individual performances and strong team  placing with both under 15 boys and under 17 Men winning their respective leagues. (Full results at the end of the report).

Other late results just in#

Also some late results from near and far -  Dave Hellard and Clare Miller sounded as if they enjoyed the tough conditions in the off road, 17K Mudman, full of "crazy steep hills" . Dave finished 9th and Clare 14th (4th lady). And just in, from Phil Wright and Steve Armstrong who ran one of the races in the Endurance Life Coastal Trail Series in Dorset -  "It was a 16.3 mile course up some equally crazy steep hills (3559ft of total ascent). Steve finished in 13th place in 2:37:39 and Phil was just behind in 15th place in 2:39:48." Further afield Philip Hogg had a good run in the Lanzarote marathon, apparently a nice course, and, not surprisingly, hot. He had a fast first half and came apart a little in the second, finishing in a very respectable 3.33.52.

Ivor Wiggett - Volunteeering Award

Huge congratulations to Ivor Wiggett who has had his many years of generous volunteering recognised and was awarded the Services to Volunteering Award of the year from England Athletics London region.  Richly deserved!

Dates for your diaries

The Heathside Christmas Party is the next event on the horizon this Saturday 14th December  – followed by the Met League on Saturday 21st  December on our home turf of Ally Pally - and if you aren’t running you might like to rabble loudly from the sidelines.

Full Weekend Results Roundup

Fraternity Cup Individual Results 07/12/13

1st    Tom Aldred        25m 38s
4th    Brent Atkins        27m 55s
5th    Steve Monaghan    28m 09s
11th    John Flahive        29m 29s
20th    Chris Hartley        30m 06s
21st    Anthony Hall        30m 28s
22nd    Phil Duggan        30m 35s
26th    Paul Mercer        31m 10s
29th    Stuart Meiklejohn 31m 15s
31st    Gavin Evans        31m 23s
36th    Paul Lemmon        31m 46s
37th    Dom Jackson        31m 47s
43rd    Mark George        33m 12s
46th    Simon Hazel        33m 17s
49th    Nick de Sausmarez 33m 35s
52nd    Brian Boyle        34m 13s
53rd    Carl Heap            34m 16s
54th    Leo Pemberton    34m 29s
65th    Ray Yao                37m 06s
68th    Tim Sander            37m 34s
75th    Ken Townson        39m 58s

Sorority Cup Individual Results 07/12/13

4th    Claire Morrissey        33m 35s
5th    Elspeth Storrar            34m 29s
7th    Caroline White            37m 13s
9th    Jane Higgins                37m 43s
10th    Caroline Boyle           37m 39s
12th    Jo Irwin                    38m 29s
18th    Edyta Szot                40m 55s
19th    Gabi Johnson            41m 53s

Fraternity Cup Team Result

1. London Heathside            62
2. Barnet & District AC         99
3. H*ghgate                           152

Sorority Cup Team Result

1. London Heathside            25
2. Barnet & District AC        30
3. Ealing Southall and Middx    49

NW London Young Athletes XC Trent Park, 07/12/13
Under 11 Girls (1,400m) - Teams placed 7th and 13th

8th           Rose Garrett             6.29
28th         Abby Holmes               7.31
31st         Hannah Finke              7.49
32nd        Frankie Ewens              7.49
33rd        Hattie Munday              7.51
34th         Fabienne Weston           7.58
35th         Maya Kleanthous           8.03

Under 13 Girls (2,450m) - Team placed 4th

12th         Pheobe Crockford          11.55
13th         Meg Naylor            11.55
18th         Rachel Finke              12.21
25th         Louise  Gilbert           12.58
30th         Ella Conlon               13.39

Under 15 Girls (3,000m) - Team placed 6th

12th        Ottavia Laidler         14.38
13th        Jessica Matthews        14.46
23rd        Naomi Conlon            17.04

Under 17 women (4,200m) - Team placed 4th

5th       Genevieve Weston         19.05

Under 11 boys (2,450m) - Team placed 5th

8th           Ruaire McGonagle    11.18
15th         Sammy Munk           11.41
27th         Kaiyuki Crisp        12.35
29th         Zac Brooks-Kaufman   13.08
33rd        Luca Maslen           13.19
38th         Etienne Munday              15.06

Under 13 boys (3,000m) - Team placed 3rd

3rd         Liam Garrett          12.29
13th        Tom Carter            13.43
19th        Ollie Selby           14.04
21st        Marco Flower-Reece    14.21
33rd        Alex Matthew          15.38
34th        Tom Swinton           15.52

Under 15 boys (4,200m) - Team placed 1st

4th           David Keto                 16.06
7th           Tom Clower                 16.41
11th         William Griffith            16.58
18th         Luke Gray                   18.31
19th         Antanas Weston              19.04 
               
Under 17 men (5,600m) - Team placed 1st

2nd          James Wooldridge     22.39
7th           David Clower         25.09
10th         Jacob Philips         26.03

Sunday League XC 08/12/13

Men:

2 Tom Aldred SM 27:08
5 Brent Atkins SM 28:25
27 Mark Anderson SM 31:05
42 Rob Shulman M40 31:59
45 Stuart Meiklejohn SM 32:06
46 Gavin Evans M50 32:06
50 Chris Hartley M40 32:12
79 Tony Killilea M40 33:57
122 Robert Bowles M50 37:02
132 Charles Redfearn M50 37:24
135 Gavin Parish SM 37:33
139 Brian Boyle SM 37:46
159 Jesper Lycke M40 39:42
178 Bob Gould M70 41:52
180 Paul Silverman M40 42:05
185 Marco Maserati M50 42:35

Women:

3 Cathy Jeremiah SW 33:40
6 Gina Heiss SW 34:05
19 Karen Levene W35 36:06
26 Claire Morrissey SW 37:08
59 Agi Palanki W35 41:05
65 Claire Sliwerski SW 42:23
74 Laura Boothman W35 43:19
76 Margherita Maserati W45 43:34
84 Louise Cripps W55 44:43

356 finishers (223 men, 133 women)

Hogs Back Road Race, Surrey 8/12/13

42nd Rebecca Bunting 47.26 (4th woman)

Bedford Half Marathon 8/12/13

50th John Driscoll 1.24.09
94th Patrick Waldron  1.27.49
251st James Felstead  1.36.27

Mudman (Human Race Series),15K,Camberley, Surrey 07/12/13

9th Dave Hellard 1.08.24
14th Clare Miller 1.11.19 (first lady)

Endurance Life Coastal Trail Series, 16.3 miles, Dorset 07/12/13

13th Steve Armstrong - 2:37:39
15th Phil Wright 2:39

Lanzarote Marathon 08.12.13

52nd Philip Hogg 3.33.52

Parkruns

Ally Pally parkrun, 07/12/2013

1 Daniel MCKEOWN 00:18:20
3 Liam PROUDLOCK 00:19:10
5 Rebecca BUNTING 00:20:31 (1st lady)
40 Alice PARISH 00:28:09

Coventry parkrun, 07/12/2013.

18 Joseph MCKEOWN 00:20:34

Finsbury parkrun, 07/12/2013

39 Jesper LYCKE 00:22:47
59 James PARKER 00:24:01

Gunnersbury parkrun, 07/12/2013

6 Asa CUSACK 00:18:50

Hampstead Heath parkrun, 07/12/2013

75 Rebecca SWEET 00:26:03

Highbury Fields parkrun, 07/12/201

330 Ben CLARKE-JANSSEN 00:22:56
33 Agi PALANKI 00:23:21

Preston Park parkrun,07/12/2013

4 Mark DERRY 00:19:00

Torrens parkrun, 07/12/2013

44 Mary GATEHOUSE 00:23:14

Wanstead Flats parkrun, 07/12/2013

67 Luka MELON 00:31:05

Whitstable parkrun, 07/12/2013

39 Julie KHAN 00:24:12