With the BMAF National Veterans cross-country being held this year in Banbury the club fielded teams in the women’s race and the over 50 men’s race.
The women’s race came first with Fiona Kennedy, Lynn Wilson and Gill Morgan all starting cautiously. Fiona moved through the field steadily but didn’t get within striking distance of the leading two women in the over 50 category until the last half mile. She caught one of the runners but couldn’t quite catch the other and had to settle for silver finishing 18th overall.
Lynn stayed on strongly to finish fourth over 50 (39th overall) with Gill a minute further back in 50th overall. These three picked up the over 45 team silver with the fourth Ealing runner Julia Gristwood missing out.
The men’s over 50 race saw the club’s top three over 55 runners engaging in their usual close contest. Steve Plested came out on top finishing 33rd. Phil Manly got away from Rob Howells at the end of the race as the pair finished 40th and 46th. They were fifth team. John Falvey was 109th.
The weather had turned by the time the over 40 men’s race started. Bill Gristwood and Phil York had to deal with driving rain. Bill had an excellent run to finish 44th, Phil was 96th.
Richard Charles and Karnvir Hayer made the long trip north for the Schools International cross-country in Perth last Friday. The two of our runners had qualified to represent England after their fine runs at the English Schools championships three weeks ago.
This time Richard came out on top taking the bronze medal in the junior boys race. Karnvir just missed out on fourth. Both boys also received Gold medals as they scored for the victorious English team.
Two of the club's top veteran runners were in action at the South of England 10K Championships at Eastleigh on Sunday. Fiona Kennedy regained her over 45 title with a 38:51 clocking. Phil Manly took third in the men’s over 50 category in a time of 37:25.
Last Saturday saw the last big race of the cross-country season with the combined Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships and World Trials at Woolaton Park, Nottingham. Our runners featured strongly for Middlesex including providing two of the silver medal winning under 15 boys team. Martha Reynolds also brought home some silverware finishing second in UK:Athletics cross-challenge.
Karnvir Hayer and Richard Charles capped a hectic four weeks by finishing 12th and 17th in the under 15 boys race and helping Middlesex to silver. Both boys turned the tables on last week’s English Schools junior silver medallist. Christopher Charles finished 202nd.
The club also had three runners in the under 13 race. Dalton McGuigan in 82nd place scored for the team. Half a minute further back Anthony Haynes just beat Duncan Pinder as the pair finished 172nd and 181st.
Luke Nicholas was the only club representative in the under 17 race. He was fourth finisher for the county in 218th.
Georgia Bell and Martha Reynolds were the only girls representing Middlesex. Georgia was Middlesex’s first scorer, finishing 22nd in the under 15 race. For Martha Reynolds it was her first race in two months after a knee injury. Her 92nd in the under 17 race was well below her best, but enough to secure her second in UK:Athletics cross-challenge race series.
Athletes of all ages were in action in the Middlesex County indoor championships at the Lee Valley Athletics Centre on Sunday and won a large number of medals.
In the senior men’s events, Sean Buckeridge showed his expertise on the tight indoor bends to establish an early lead in the 200 metres and was able to take the gold medal easing down in 22.93 seconds. He also reached the semi final of the 60 metres with 7.14. At the other end of the distance spectrum, Hussain Jama enjoyed a comfortable win in the 1500 metres in 4:05.46. In the senior women’s 400 metres, Cyrena Cyrus took the silver medal.
Ealing athletes dominated the under 20 women’s sprints. Claudenia Williams led home a clean sweep in the 60 metres, taking the gold in 7.82 with Marsha Charles taking the silver (8.10) and Gladis Bitulu the bronze (8.30). Claudenia led all the way in the 200 metres to complete a sprint double in 26.06 with Gladis taking the silver in 26.55. In the 400 metres, Gabrielle Coveney stormed into an early lead and still managed to finish strongly, shattering her personal best for a comfortable victory in 59.45. Dan Bramble began the under 20 men’s long jump with a very long no jump but never quite repeated the distance in the remaining rounds, taking the silver medal with 6.50 metres. Iuri Baptista de Lima took bronze in the 800 metres.
In the under 17s Matthew Clampin ran a fine tactical race in the 400 metres, sitting behind the leader until the last possible moment before storming off the final bend to take the gold on the line in a personal best of 54.09. In the 60 metres, Gbenga Adelana ran 7.35 to reach the semi final and was only centimetres away from a place in the final. Kema Egbunike set new personal bests for both 200 metres (24.57) and 60 metres (7.77). The Club was well represented in the long jump with Jovan Watty fourth (5.28 ), Tarric Lewis sixth and Matthew Smith eighth. Tarric went on to take the bronze medal in the triple jump with a personal best of 10.75. Paige Cummings was sixth in the under 17 women’s 200 metres.
In the under 15s, Andre Wizard had a very successful day which began with a win in the shot (10.08). He then turned to sprinting, reaching the finals of both the 200 metres and 60 metres, setting personal bests in both events and taking the silver medal with a strong finish from the final bend in the 200 metres (25.72). In the girls’ events, Nadia Mills took silver in both 60 metres (8.11) and 200 metres (27.36).
Last Saturday saw runners from the club don the vests of Middlesex, London, and Berkshire Schools to compete in the English Schools championships. The races were held on a fast, flat course in Sefton Park in Liverpool.
The best club performances came in the junior boys race where there was a close battle between Karnvir Hayer and Richard Charles. Both runners were with the leading pack of six runners for much of the race. The top four pulled away in the closing stages with Karnvir just getting the better of Richard to claim bronze medal for Berkshire. Richard finished two seconds back in fourth. Mark Cameron was 205th and also scored for the Middlesex team.
In the junior girls race Georgia Bell was running in the all black strip of London Schools. Early in the race she was just outside the top ten. She dropped back to 15th but fought back in the final 400 metres to finish 13th.
The club had no runners in the intermediate boys though Charlie Crane of Drayton Manor finished 272nd.
The intermediate girls was run at a furious pace, especially in the early stages. Emma Davies was in the top half for the whole race and finishing strongly to lead the Middlesex team home in 153rd. Daniela Raffel was third scorer for London, just ten seconds further back in 176th. Helena French maintained a fast pace for the first half of the race but the course was too short and flat to suit her and she dropped back to 333rd at the end.
Best of the senior boys was Patrick Hannah in 196th for London. Luke Nicholas (241st) and Sam Ashcroft (275th) both scored for Middlesex.
Hannah Pollak ran strongly throughout to finish 208th in the senior girls race and score for the Middlesex team.