HERNE HILL HARRIERS

25/10/08 - East Surrey League offers early season practice

On a bright but chilly October afternoon, 7 HHH men, 11 HHH women and a large number of younger athletes tackled the Lloyd Park course in the East Surrey XC League as practice for the forthcoming Surrey and South of Thames championships. All of the club's teams across the various age groups will return to the venue later in the winter with much greater intent, but the autumn outing served as a useful warm-up nonetheless.

The young athletes' races included a number of fine performances.Click here to read Billy Holmes' report of these races. (Photo of the start of the race (above) couresy of Billy Holmes).

Laura Nurse emerged from the mass start of the senior race over 2 laps to become the leading woman, a lead which she maintained for the remainder of the race, finishing 32nd overall in 35:46, underlining her recent form.

She was supported by Helen Sharp - 45th in 37:41, Rebecca Barrow - 58th in 39:09, Amelia Hickman - 62nd in 39:28, Virginia Grant, who showed great potential in her first race for the club - 63rd in 39:36, Suzanne Swaine - 64th in 40:07, Katie Le Ruez, who has been training at Tooting for only 2 weeks and bravely completed her first cross country race for many years - 68th in 40:37, Carolyn Grainger, who ran strongly throughout the race - 73rd in 42.18, Amanda Du Rand - 80th in 43:34, Penelope Fixter - 88th in 45:57 and another making her debut, Liz Milson - 89th in 46:45.
 
Further up the field, Deron Fagan finished 4th in 30:30, Jonathan Stead - 5th in 30:36, Andrew Aitken - 7th in 31:30 and Kieran Allen - 10th in 32:23 to claim second place in the team race. Paul Shiel - 29th in 35:38, John O'Sullivan  - 30th in 35:43 and Ed Barrow - 33rd in 35:57 - completed the men's line-up.

19/10/08 - Keegan clocks 110 miles in 24 hour track race at Tooting

Those privileged enough to attend any part of the Self Transcendence 24 hour race at Tooting Bec track witnessed a remarkable display of mental and physical stamina and endurance from ultra-distance runner Glen Keegan. Starting at noon on Saturday 18 October and finishing, yes, 24 hours later, stopping only for short breaks to take on fuel and change kit and braving a cold autumnal night, Glen completed over 440 laps in what was a truly compelling spectacle - even at 3.00am! By the time the klaxon sounded at 12 noon on Sunday he had covered 110 miles, 1676 yards or 178.56 kilometres - a new club record - placing 12th of the 40 competitors. Warm congratulations to Glen for his remarkable feat and feet!

 

 

 

19/10/08 - Ben Paviour claims  club 10 mile Road Race Championship....and a cabbage

Ben Paviour was the first Herne Hill Harrier to finish in the Cabbage Patch 10 in Twickenham, one of London's premier and most popular road races, crossing the line in 53:53 to claim 8th place, the club 10 mile road race title and the honour of being presented with one of the cabbages awarded to the first 10 finishers in the men's and women's races. In a closely fought club contest, Jeff Cunningham completed a busy weekend's work following his effort in the National 6 Stage relay the previous day by finishing just under a minute behind Ben, recording a time of 54:51 for 12th place. Simon Phillips produced another fine performance to set a new PB of 61:43 as he finished 78th overall. These efforts ensured the club closed a team in this race for the first time since 2002, placing second in the men's team race.

19/10/08 - Marathon de Reims brings new PB for Ben Hallifax

Another Ben, Ben Hallifax travelled to France to compete in the Marathon de Reims and came away with a new PB of 3:27.54. Justin Rabbett was another running in "rouge et noir" and he finished in 3:40.12. More news in Tales of the Tarmac.

18/10/08 - Men finish 45th in National 6 stage road relays

After qualifying for the event by the skin of its teeth, the men's team contested the National 6 road relays in Sutton Park, Birmingham, finishing in 45th place. Alan Barnes was our fastest man, recording 18:50 in the first leg, while Tim Elsey overtook no fewer than 9 runners on the last leg to ensure a top 50 placing in recording 18:58. The other team members - Simon Coombes - 19:43, Jonathan Stead - 19:39, Jeff Cunningham - 19:25 and Sam Knight - 20:28 - all produced solid performances to complete the team. Click here to view the full results (hyperlink to www.race-results.co.uk).

18/10/08 - Silver for Micky Harran and bronzes for John Garber and Brian Shave in Surrey Vets XC Champs

Often overshadowed by the achievements of the all-conquering M40 team, the more senior vets for once stole the limelight in the Surrey Vets XC Championships in Richmond Park on a cool autumnal afternoon. Micky Harran snaffled a silver medal in the M70 race, completing the course in 50:21. John Garber also secured a bronze medal in the M65 race with 48:44, an achievement matched by Brian Shave in the M70 race with a time of 54:52.Tony Harran was 4th in the M45 race in 37:12 while Andy Millbank was 9th in 40:01.

Steve Knight - 4th M55 in 41:10, John O’Sullivan - 10th M50 in 41:27 and Club President Waldy Pauzers  - 16th M50 in 44:27 narrowly missed out on team bronze in the M50 race. Andy Lea-Gerrard was 13th in the M55 category in 54:39.

Ann Osborne did herself proud in the W35 race, placing a creditable 12th with a time of 44:12. Rebecca Barrow placed 9th in the same category with 27:13 while Sarah Allen was 9th W45 in 28:30, both still feeling the effects of the previous week's race in Nork Park. Click here to view the full results (hyperlink to Surrey AA website)

12/10/08 - Brian Wilder finishes just outside 2:30 in Chicago Marathon

Brian Wilder finished 39th in the Chicago Marathon in a very respectable 2:31:24 despite the temperature topping 70 degrees.

11/10/08 - HHH men just 2 points behind Thames Hare & Hounds after Surrey League opener

The men's cross country team made a very encouraging start to their defence of the Surrey League title in Richmond Park. In another titanic battle with Thames Hare & Hounds over the same course at which the team clinched an improbable victory back in February, this time Thames emerged with the narrowest of advantages - just 2 points - as the "engine room" backed up an excellent second place by Ben Whitby. No fewer than 38 men in red and black contested the race - he highest Surrey League turnout for many years. Geoff Jerwood's full report will appear later. Click here to view the full results (hyperlink to Ranelagh Harriers website).

11/10/08 - Youths, Boys and Colts make encouraging start in Surrey League

It wasn't just the men who made a promising start to the season. The Youths and Boys team finished third in their race, aided by Henry Sutcliffe's 8th place in 16:55, while Lascelles Hussey was second in the Colts' race in 17:58. Click here to read Lascelles's full report.

11/10/08 - Women joint second in Surrey XC League

Thanks to Ron Gobey, the Surrey Ladies XC League was conceived 30 years ago and has since matured into a fine competition. At this season's opening race, Rob was presented with a memento of his 30 years at the helm. (Photo courtesy of Jeremy Hemming).

The women's team travelled to Nork Park, Banstead  in force but minus some of its leading runners for their opening race and finished a very encouraging joint second with Ranelagh Harriers after completing a testing course on a very warm afternoon. South London Harriers are the early pace-setters with a sizeable advantage already, but there are still 3 races to go.

Our scoring five consisted of Karen Ellison - 6th in 25:17, Helena Laczko - 19th in 26:29, Helen Carter - 30th in 27:20, Helen Hadjam - 43rd in 28:09 and Clare Pauzers - 47th in 28:15. They who were strongly backed up by Rebceea Barrow - 70th in 29:42, Ameila Hickman - 75th in 29:51, Carolyn Grainger - 84th in 30:30, Suzanne Swaine - 88th in 30:39, Alexandra Shamloll - 89th in 30:42, Sarah Allen - 103rd in 31:12, Anna Thornhill - 105th in 31:16, Fiona Pierce - 132nd in 33:17 and Penelope Fixter - 138th in 33:45. 

11/10/08 - Girls put on good show at Nork Park

As well as the women, there were also races for U13, U15 and U17 girls. Hannah Edwards finished 2nd in the U17 race in 29:09 and Julia Wedmore was 3rd in 29:19 to help the team to 2nd place overall. The U13 girls finished 4th in the team race and the U15 girls were 11th. Click here to read Aisha Naibe-Wey's full report.

05/10/08 - Lockett, Newton and Alsop selected for Masters Home International race

Congratulations to Iain Lockett, who despite missing the recent vets' triumphs through illness has been selected for the England M40 team for the Masters Home International Cross Country in Swansea on 15 November. Well done, too, to Keith Newton who has been selected for the England M45 team and Roger Alsop who will represent Scotland M40s.

05/10/08 - HHH women reign in Wimbledon rain

It seems a number of the road running contingent enjoy being a glutton for punishment as a dozen or so braved the heavy rain which provided soggy and slippery conditions underfoot for the Wimbledon 10 on 5 October. Given the race covered a 3 lap route around the tennis courts of the All-England Club, should one really be surprised the weather was so bad?

Star performance of the day came from Laura Nurse who finished 2nd overall in the women's race in 67:17. Rebecca Barrow - 77:56 and Sarah Allen - 78:16 enjoyed a close battle which lasted most of the race to ensure the women closed a winning team, beating local club Wimbledon Windmilers into 2nd place in the women's team standings.

Tim Elsey finished 6th overall in 55:56, Simon Phillips had a good run for 25th spot in 64:45 while James Ward enjoyed getting soaked as he trotted round in 66:26 to close the men's team which finished 4th overall.  Roland Woodbridge this time wore the right attire for the weather conditions and knocked 4 minutes off his 10 mile PB to set a new mark of 87:16. Other members of the HHH possee included Robin Sanderson - 67:12, Paul Shiel 71:26, Ed Barrow - 72:56, Rupert Mainwaring - 74:45, Phillip Henwood - 84:23, Amanda Du Rand - 88:52, Penelope Fixter - 89:08, Sonia Williams - 92:21.

While all that was going on, across town in Dulwich, James Jarvis finished 2nd in the Dulwich Runners Charity 10K in 33:53, a fine performance given the conditions. Alan Wray was 4th in 34:39 and Jonathan Cheshire 13th in 37:23. Clare Martin finished 2nd in the women's race in 38:41.

04/10/08 - M40 team are British Masters Cross Country Relay champions!

Our men's vets M40-49 team are the 2008 British Masters Cross Country Relay champions after winning by the huge margin of 1 minute 42 seconds over Sunderland at the end of 6 x 4K of an undulating and twisting circuit in Berry Hill Park, Mansfield. During the first 2 stages we gave some ground to teams who sent out their strongest runners first, but we had strength throughout our entire team. Indeed we covered the second half of the relay 40 seconds faster than our first 3 stages and once Keith Newton hit the front on leg 4 the result was never in doubt as we pulled away relentlessly.
 
Click here to read Geoff Jerwood's full report.

04/10/08 - Youngsters enjoy warm up to cross country season

Our youngsters warmed up for the cross country season with some very creditable performances at the Surrey County Young Athletes Cross country Relays at Stoke Park on 4 October, especially as several were having their first experience of representing the club in a cross country race. Overall, the club finished 7th overall in the final standings based upon aggregate points totals across the 6 race categories. The U15 girls team won bronze medals (see left: photo courtesy of Mike Fleet). Click here to read Steve Bosley's full report and view the full results.

 

 

 

04/10/08 - Hallifax batters 10K PB in Battersea Park

Ben Hallifax demonstrated the effect of his training for a forthcoming marathon in France by smashing his 10K PB in the Self Transcendence 10K in Battersea Park. Finishing 13th overall, Ben recorded a new mark of 39:18 to beat the 40-minute barrier for the first time.

Meanwhile, Brian Wilder used brain and brawn to win the early morning outing in 32:14, just 5 seconds slower than the course record. Despite tapering for the Chicago marathon next week, Brian confessed afterwards that had he known the record was there for the taking, he would have gone for it!

Elekwa Kanu Onwuchekwa also finished in 43:27.