Heathside women retain Middlesex cross-country crown
There were several tasty highlights this week with Heathside’s women retaining their Middlesex Cross-Country title, as did the U20 men, U17 women and U15 boys. Thomas Archer won the men’s event and Fred Beale won the U20s. In the Malaga Marathon Tom Aldred was once again in magnificent form as the first V45 runner in a time of 2:31:25 while Andy Barnes came 9th in the half marathon in 1:09:30. Seyfu Jamaal ran an impressive time of 23:57 in a top-class international field in the European Cross-Country Championships.
Middlesex XC Championships, Hillingdon, 13.12.25
Simon Baker reports:
The county opted to hold this season's Championships on the December Date, which will be the allocated date for county cross country championships from next season. This meant a 2nd County Championships in 2025.
The day was graced with perfect cross-country weather with rain in the week softening the course and sunshine all day. Hosts Hillingdon opted not to use the river crossing. However, the ski slope certainly provided a stiff challenge.
A great day for the club saw the Senior Women retain their title, and wins for the U20 Men, U17 Women and U15 Boys. Individual titles go to Thomas Archer and Fred Beale with George Saint (U20M) 2nd and Felip Kounoupas Prastalo (U15B) 3rd.
The men's race saw three runners break free of the pack early on however over the three laps Thomas Archer back from University of Birmingham manged to create a winning lead 15s ahead of the 2nd place runner. Anchored by Thomas's run the team matched January's 2nd place.
The Senior Women's race was dominated by Nicola Douglas (The Stragglers) who quickly pulled away from the rest of the field to finish with a 30s lead we had to wait until Lucy Browne finished in 9th place for their first scorer however with Lily Woolcock 10th and Rebecca Walker 11th we moved ahead in the scoring which was completed with 46 points when Ciera Kennedy finished in 16th piping Harrow (50 pts) and Thames Valley Harriers on 52 pts.
The Women's U20 & U17 races were run together with Amy Kirk 4th in the U17W race with Rose Schofield in 5th and Lettice Gundry 7th they were well ahead of 2nd place Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers on 42 points and Belgrave Harriers on 51 pts.
The U20 Men saw Fred Beale take the title ahead of George Saint and with Artie Feeny Willings 9th the Club reclaimed the Junior Mens' title. The U15 Boys were anchored by Felip Kounoupas Prastalo's 3rd place with Alex Kirk and James McGuire completing the title winning team.
Results
🏃 U/11 Girls (2,000m 34 finishers)
1 A Wilkes-Turpie (SBH) 08:12
13 Lizzie Paitoo 09:07
14 Eva Deakin 09:08
23 Robin Hinson 09:31
25 Olivia Zali 09:58
27 Esther Schofield 10:03
🏃 U/11 Boys (2,000m, 43 finishers)
1 F Prytherch Strobl (QPH) 07:28
7 Nat Buchan 08:04
🏃 U/13 Girls (3,000m 42 finishers)
1 S Davies (Brentwood) 11:52
10 Edith Deakin 13:10
20 Anna Bah 13:48
23 Kitty Warburton 13:57
28 Liv McClure 14:14
🏃 U/13 Boys (3,000m, 45 finishers)
1 L Da Silva (TVH) 10:54
13 Michael Schofield 12:18
26 Bruno Fansa 12:55
32 Dylan Lewis 13:28
🏃 U/15 Girls (4,000m 50 finishers)
1 J Falkowska (Trent Park) 15:51
27 Sky Parke-Antonis 17:42
34 Loren Irwin 18:08
35 Rebecca Hare 18:17
43 Sara Andersson-King 18:52
50 Amba Coleman 23:12
🏃 U/15 Boys (4,000m 46 finishers)
1 M Lamy (VPH&TH) 13:14
3 Felip Kounoupas Prastalo 13:37
5 Alex Kirk 13:47
9 James McGuire 14:28
34 Noah Landau 15:59
🏃 U/17 Women (6,000m, 28 finishers)
1 S Allen (Highgate) 22:43
4 Amy Kirk 25:27:00
5 Rose Schofield 25:53:00
7 Lettice Gundry 26:27:00
8 Lila Blustin 26:41:00
10 Margot Hunt 26:50:00
12 Amelie Randall 27:29:00
14 Ivy Gray 27:43:00
18 Mina Schofield 28:41:00
19 Rosa Cormacain 28:50:00
🏃 U/17 Men (6,000m, 41 finishers)
1 A Pflug (Highgate) 20:09
10 Dylan Mills 21:32
18 Ennio Kaloukian 22:36
23 Louis Scarfo 23:07
33 Felix Bense 24:43:00
39 Seb Rodgers 26:06:00
🏃 U/20 Women (6,000m 10 finishers)
1 L Delvendahl (Highgate) 23:34
8 Lucy Corkin 27:16:00
9 Amaya Shankardass 27:31:00
🏃 U/20 Men (6,000m) 10 finishers
1 Fred Beale 20:50
2 George Saint 20:50
9 Artie Feeny Willings 24:07
🏃 Senior Women (8,000m 70 finishers)
1 N Douglas (Stragglers) 31:13:00
9 Lucy Browne 32:27:00
10 Lily Woolcock 32:50:00
11 Rebecca Walker 32:52:00
16 Ciera Kennedy 34:16:00
23 Flavia Dent 35:15:00
35 Serena Baker 38:04:00
36 Jasmine La Grice 38:14:00
41 Lucy Daly 39:28:00
46 Hester Hill 41:39:00
47 Molly Harrison 41:39:00
50 Jackie Wastell 42:05:00
51 Rebecca Marshall 42:39:00
52 Caroline White 43:05:00
🏃 Senior Men (12,000m, 112 finishers)
1 Thomas Archer 39:52:00
9 James Haynes 41:37:00
12 Peter Gould 41:59:00
28 Oliver Negus 45:29:00
31 Etienne Daries 46:08:00
32 Laurens Price-Nowak 46:11:00
39 Francisco Sanchez 47:35:00
48 Jake Evans 48:49:00
52 Martin Potter 49:22:00
57 Matt Beard 50:37:00
70 Philip Hogg 52:53:00
81 Glen Taylor 55:38:00
82 Lee Connor 55:40:00
86 Leo Pemberton 57:22:00
Malaga Marathon and Half Marathon, Malaga, Spain, Sunday December 14
The evergreen Tom Aldred led the Heathsiders home in the Malaga Marathon, finishing in 2:31:24, making him the first V45. Meanwhile, Andy Barnes (1:09.30) and Jess Prior (1:22:09) led the group of five Heathsiders in the half marathon. Here is Isaac Edwards’ (1:15:28) report:
“On Saturday night, as most Heathsiders were recovering from the Middlesex XC Championships and getting ready for the Christmas party, a small group from the club were carb-loading on paella, ready to run among the palm trees of Malaga.
“On Sunday morning, the weather was sticky but not too warm. The course was flat, winding around the town a little before setting out and back along the Mediterranean coast. The half marathon finishers peeled off back in town, with the marathon continuing on down the coast before a final kilometre down the marbled streets of the city centre.
“The headline half marathon result was Andy Barnes finishing 9th in the half, with a staggering time of 1:09:30. Jess Prior finished 12th in the women's race in 1:22:09, closely followed by Francesca Stocco (21st) in 1:23:22, and a flu-ridden Anna Rawsthorne (32nd) in 1:24:49. Isaac Edwards came in in 1:15:28.
“In the marathon, Tom Aldred led the way in 2:31:24, followed by Sammy Keenan in 2:46:01. Rob Shulman, who turns 60 soon, finished his 29th marathon in an extremely efficient 2:59:57, Sotiris Yiakoumi came in in 3:16:25, and Paul Mercer finished in 3:18:34.
“There were PBs for Andy, Francesca, Anna, Isaac, Sammy, and Sotiris.”
Results
Marathon (7,497 finishers)
37th Tom Aldred – 2:31.24 (1st V45)
162nd Sammy Keenan – 2:46:01 (PB)
645th Rob Shulman – 2:59:57 (5th V55)
1659th Sotiris Yiakoumi – 3:16:25 (PB)
1624th Paul Mercer – 3:18:24
Half-marathon (8,907 finishers)
9th Andy Barnes – 1:09:30 (2nd V40)
73rd Isaac Edwards – 1:15:28
235th Jess Prior 1:22:22 (12th woman)
275th Francesca Stocco – 1:23.22 (21st woman, PB)
349th Anna Rawsthorne - 1:24:49 (32nd woman, PB0
European Cross-Country Championships, Lagoa, Portugal, Sunday December 14
Seyfu Jamaal travelled to Portugal to run in the European Cross-Country Championships, finishing in 57th position in 23:57 in a top-class international field (the Spanish winner, Thierry Ndikumwenayo, finished in 22:05).
Result (96 starters)
57th Seyfu Jamaal – 23:57
Parkruns, Saturday December 13
Ninety-five Heathsiders took part in 43 Parkruns on Saturday. There were wins for Katie Brown in Woodhouse Moor (17:55), Tom Fancett in Highbury Fields (16:48) and Johnny Forsyth in Finsbury Park (17:35). Full Heathside results are here
Report by Gavin Evans with thanks to Simon Baker and Isaac Edwards.