Met League 3, Uxbridge
Met League 3: Uxbridge
The Juniors
U11 girls Hattie Munday had another fantastic run, finishing in 6th place, and that was after a double race weekend last week, where she competed in the Haringey Schools on the Friday, followed by the NWL at Trent park– amazing effort.
Stan Hassan in 8th, followed by Lucas Mahar in 10th in the boys U13 race.
In the junior men’s race (U15/17) Jem O’Flaherty had another great run, finishing in an excellent 4th place. Well done, Jem.
There was lots to celebrate in the junior women’s race (U15/17) and the team is currently in 2nd place after 3 fixtures. The U15 is a brilliantly strong and committed team. Rose Garrett led the team home in 4th place, putting in another consistent run. She was followed home by Mimi Blake in 8th place, who is having a fantastic season and proving to be a very talented runner indeed. Nell Swinhoe had a very good run, working her way through the field in the second half of the race, and came 9th, followed by Matilda Heath and new member Mia Manttan. This was a great team effort on the day. Lily McKay and Phoebe Crockford completed the U17 women team and deserve to be congratulated for their consistent effort for Heathside.
The Seniors
The women’s team are doing an amazing job this year and are currently leading the league after 3 races. Can you believe it? We are 31 points ahead of our rivals (who will not be mentioned) and although this is absolutely truly amazing, we are not far enough ahead to relax in the slightest. In fact, we need to raise our game, increase our efforts and make sure that the last 2 races are in the diaries now. This league is going to be fought to the end and the winning team will be the one that consistently gets their best runners (and the rest of us) out for every fixture. Your club needs you more than ever. The champagne is in the fridge.
So, despite there being fewer Heathside women out on Saturday, we still managed to do a great job, although a neighbouring team were the winners on the day but only by 12 points. The Perivale 5 fixture, Christmas festivities or the horror of the A40 may have affected our numbers but you will see in the results table that every runner really does make a difference.
Rebecca Piggott, true to form led the women home in 6th place – well done and thank you, Bex. You are a legend. I have to give a massive shout-out to Kelly Thorneycroft who had an epic race and flew back to her previous form, as well as flying over the massive terrifying river (trickling stream) that bothered us all. Kelly went from strength to strength in the race and carved her way through the field, finishing in 15th place and 2nd for the A team. Bethany Scott, running in her first Met league this year, made the course look effortless and came home in 17th place. I hope you have the next fixture in your diary. Jerry will write a sick-note for you.
Rebecca Bunting put in an excellent run too and is clearly way past post-injury running and is getting back to her best. I saw her leaping and skipping over the stream to the horror and dismay of those runners around her. Sue Rust, aka, Rusty, has to be applauded for her comeback run of the reason – this was an amazing effort – and I know that Sue will be delighted to have put this marker down in the sand. She is going to be chasing after the scalps of some of the A team youngsters now, so best watch out. Olivia Desborough also put in another excellent performance to finish in 30th.
Jackie Wastall put in another determined and consistent run again and is a great example of true cross country running. Her comments about post-race drinking of champagne on the start line were gratefully received by the more civilised runners. There were other great runs further down the field and everyone’s run makes a difference so thank you all. LHS teams are currently leading Division 1, Division 2 and the Vets League, although we are being closely pursued by Barnet.
The men’s race ……. Knowing that the carrot is usually more effective than the stick (arguable) I will begin with celebrating some of the excellent performances on the day, rather than bang-on about what needs to be done better.
Again, the men were out in huge numbers with 49 LHS in the race. Kimon Doulis was 1st home for LHS, although he felt he was around 20 seconds slower than usual. He was followed home by a much-welcomed return of Olivier le Polain, who put in a great running on his return from injury. We hope to see more strong performances from you, Olivier. Pete Northall was 71st and 3rd Heathsider, with another excellent run. We do really benefit from Pete’s efforts.
Zac has produced two brilliant runners who have now graduated to the men’s races in the U20 section. David Keto finished 101st but 7th in the U20 and William Griffiths was 127th and 9th in the U20. These were two fantastic performances.
From the young to the (relatively) older and Dan Johns put in another great shift, finishing in 107th and a very respectable 5th in the V45 race. Martin Potter is getting better and better as the season progresses, defying any age /decline in performance talk, and finished in 145th and 2nd in the men’s V50. Ex- XC Captain Chris Hartley was absolutely delighted with his performance on the day, seeing off the advances of his competitors, and could not help but crow that his performance was ‘not bad for an old codger’ He had spent the previous day preparing for the race by (and, rather worrying I quote) ‘shaving off all of my hair, smearing myself in goose fat and sitting in the lotus position outside in a loin cloth’ It certainly worked. Steve Armstrong ran well and did not look like a man who came straight from the office party to the start line as he finished in 150th.
Peter Crockford was 6th in the V 55 race, 301st overall and Carl Heap was also 6th but in the V60 race, both putting in solid stoic performances which bolstered the team. There were other interesting battles of note. Matt Collins, Jonathan Litchfield and Michel Cockings were involved in a 3-way tussle, with Matt triumphing on the day. I’m sure that there will be a score to be settled come January. An old rivalry between Ed Samuels and Steve Monaghan was renewed, with Ed finishing in 178th just ahead of Steve‘s 179th. Ash Abrha has been doing a lot of ‘trash-talking’ in the week about how he was going to get Stu Mecjklejohn this time, even declining offers of training runs in order to rest, but the race results show that the calmer of the two men won on the day. That’s Karma, Ash.
While not wishing to cast a shadow on some brilliant runs by our men this weekend it is unfortunately time we take stock of our performance across the season thus far. Our men’s team scores have seen a steady decline since the start of the season, leaving our A team in 7th place. Based on the current performance trends of Ealing, Southall & Middlesex (29 points behind in 8th) and Highgate’s B team (in 9th) we are in serious danger of relegation. Ealing, Southall & Middlesex have seen a steady improvement over the season and Highgate have seen rapid improvement. If both clubs continue the trend our club’s honour is at stake! So let this be your club’s war cry!
If you have not already got your calendar cleared for the Met League on the 13th of January and 10th of February then it is time to do so! If you think you don’t count you would be VERY wrong, every Heathsider is needed! If our A team faces relegation we need to make sure our B team gets promoted. We can not and will not have a Met League season where Heathside are not in division one, it would be a travesty! Heathside gives us all so much and now it is time to give something back! It is time to protect your club’s honour and reputation!
FULL RESULTS
Under 11 Boys Race
14 (5) Benji Bediako 7:22
Under 11 Girls Race
6 Hattie Munday 7:14
29 Elkie Baker 8:15
31 (10) Amara Odeogberin 8:25
Under 13 Boys Results
7 Stan Hasson 11:11
17 Lucas Maher 11:37
37 Arthur Reed 12:10
39 Max Deasy 12:12
Under 13 Girls Results
26 Ella O'Flaherty 13:13
Junior Men Results
4 Jem O'Flaherty 12:24
23 (10) Jake Evans 13:47
Junior Womens Results
6 (4) Rose Garrett 14:51
14 (8) Mimi Blake 15:30
15 (9) Nell Swinhoe 15:38
20 (14) Matilda Heath 15:57
21 (15) Mia Manttan 15:58
29 Lily McKay 16:30
52 Phoebe Crockford 18:43
Senior Women
6 21:02 Rebecca Piggott
15 21.36 Kelly Thorneycroft
17 21:46 Bethany Scott
24 22:14 Rebecca Bunting
27 1 22:16 Sarah Swinhoe
29 1 22:18 Sue Rust
30 4 22:18 Olivia Desborough
48 4 23:20 Emily Reichert
59 23:40 Jennifer Wing
60 6 23:42 Monika Newton
66 4 23:58 Satu Hietanen
79 9 24:31 Jessica Vinluan
80 24:33 Tara Shrestha-Carney
82 5 24:35 Emilia Vynnycky
92 25:06 Louisa Pointon
111 2 25.48 Jackie Wastell
131 3 26:45 Ruth Miller
140 17 27:03 Cathy Jeremiah
158 28:16 Kimberli Butler
162 7 28:50 Rebecca Marshall
175 21 29:48 Samantha Chapman
182 30:18 Samantha Taylor
187 14 31:06 Laura Boothman
Senior Men
58 26:11 Kimon Doulis
60 26:28 Olivier Le Polain
71 26:45 Peter Northall
75 26:52 Peter Gould*
86 27:08 Sion Lewis
99 27:28 Richard Macaulay
101 7 27:30 David Keto
107 5 27:35 Daniel Johns
127 9 28:01 William Griffiths
133 28:09 Joe Garrood
140 28:21 Andy Barnes
145 2 28:27 Martin Potter
150 7 28:36 Steve Armstrong
152 3 28:39 Chris Hartley
170 14 29:05 Matt Collins
171 15 29:06 Jonathan Litchfield
172 29:06 Michael Cockings
178 29:13 Edward Samuel
179 11 29:15 Steve Monaghan
184 12 29:18 David Kirk
186 13 29:21 John Driscoll
190 17 29:25 Paul Mercer
198 29:35 Stuart Meiklejohn
207 29.46 Ash Abrha
212 8 29:50 Dominic Jackson
230 30:09 Jake Spencer
232 9 30:11 John Flahive
242 24 30:29 Matthew Cockerill
245 30:32 Adam Mitchell
250 30:41 Christopher Vincent
256 27 30:49 Philip Hogg
271 28 31:08 Jacob Howe
276 5 31:20 Gavin Evans
290 31:49 David Fallon
295 29 31:55 Marcus Tillotson
301 6 32:00 Pete Crockford
305 32:02 Tom Haworth
317 17 32:21 Rob Shulman
320 32:25 Jack Pinnick-Gray
340 24 33:15 Roger Wagland L
346 33:30 Thomas Griffiths
382 34:41 Filipe Cardoso
400 42 35:04 Steve Jones
414 6 35:48 Carl Heap
424 36:14 Thomas Godes
425 37 36:14 Tim Sander
438 23 37:02 Russell Weston