Right at the top of this week's report is the second running of the Hackney Half Marathon. No one contributed much of an account of this so it's down to me, although I'm definitely not going to go for the usual lazy stereotype of "Hackney = hipsters, blah, blah, blah".
Read MoreSparser pickings than usual this time, with the major thrust of the marathon season nearly over (still Edinburgh to come). Three of us competed in the Milton Keynes Marathon, one in the MK Half Marathon, one in the 10k Gaddesden Gallop, and 31 Heathsiders took part in parkruns on Saturday. Late addition: Six of our athletes took part in the Regent's Park 10k on Sunday, with a second place for Adam Kirk-Smith. And another late addition: 20 of our junior athletes took part in the YDLL Southern NE in Eltham, with first places for Liam Garrett, Ruairi McGonogle and Fabienne Weston.
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Heathside's U15 track and field team achieved a fine turn out for the first match of the season, with more than 20 taking part. For details of performances see this fuller report. The U15s train at the Finsbury Park Track on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. See youtube videos of U13 and U15 boys 1500m races
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MADNESS! plus Lily Allen, The Kinks, Ralph McTell, Gerry Rafferty - just some of the artistes, to name but a few, who have had hit songs about London, but none of whom (as far as I am aware???) have ever run it - unlike the 48 Heathsiders (at the last count) who started the 35th Virgin Money London Marathon on a fairly cool and drizzly Sunday morning.
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As the marathon season is entering the final stretch, triathletes are already planning for triathlon season, dusting down the bikes, shaking out the wetsuits and ramping up the cross discipline training, as this weekend’s racing shows. Races ranged from the Manchester, Llanelli and Boston marathons (and Llanelli half marathon), the Thames Towpath 10, the LICC track events, cyling in Hertfordshire, a 10k relay and vast distances covered in a weekend of swimathons.
Read MoreIt was a great week for Heathsiders. There were exceptional performances by Phoebe Crockford and Adam Kirk-Smith, who set PBs in 1500m and 3000m, promising marathon debuts in Paris and fantastic performances under warm conditions in the Brighton marathon. In the latter, Henry Hamilton-Gould shattered his PB, despite minimal training. James Lynch also set a new PB, finishing the Rotterdam marathon in under 3 hours. We even have results from the epic Marathon des Sables, where Claire Morrissey put in a super-human performance in the Sahara desert.
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A varied weekend of running from Heathsiders with another clutch of half-marathons including Andy Barnes’ 2nd place at Hampton Court, more glory for the women as Rachel Newstead had a fantastic run and finished as first lady at the Orion 15, both men and women fielded full teams at the Southern Road Relays in the grey (metaphorical and literal) of Milton Keynes, some solid 5k times at Hyde Park and the usual parkrunning. Also special mention to the youngsters who took part in the final Northwest London Young Athletes’ League meeting at Wormwood Scrubs, where William Griffiths was 4th home in the u17s race and Jacob Phillips also ran strongly. Liam Garrett also came in 4th in the u15s event, while the all conquering Ruairi McGonagle took 1st place once again in the u11s. Thanks to Jacob Phillips for the team photo above.
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Although longer races are still filling up a good part of the race calendar, they don’t totally dominate, as we see from this weekend's mix. Races ranged from the ever popular Finchley 20, a useful gauge of how spring marathon training is progressing, to the indoor track and field at Lee Valley - with plenty in between, including the Milton Keynes Festival of Running (with a 20 and 10 miler and 10K to pick from) the National Intercounties xc Champs in Birmingham, a 10 miler in Sidcup and a 10K in the Olympic Park.
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