HERNE HILL HARRIERS

This page is dedicated to the exploits of club members in open road and trail races across the world! It offers a snapshot of the performances of all Herne Hill Harriers, wherever they have run and regardless of how fast or slow.

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MAY 2009

Brian Wilder ran the BUPA London 10000 on 25 May and reports, "I tied with Kojo for 13th place in running 31:36 which is a new PB by 38 seconds! I started in the second wave as they wouldn't let us tag onto the back of the elite starters. As a result I had to try to catch the trailing elite runners, otherwise I would be running on my own throughout the race. Managed to do this within a couple of ks and then worked on picking off a couple every k. Felt fairly strong up to about 7.5K despite their being a slight headwind. After 7.5K I struggled a bit but still managed to keep up the pace, passing a few more, including Paul Maletti, before crossing the finish line. Kevin Quinn was 16th in 31:57 and Paul Maletti was 17th in 31:59."

Herne Hill Harriers’ Masters (M40-49) confirmed their status as one of the club’s most successful teams in its 120 year history by winning the the most coveted veterans championship, the British Masters road relay championship at Sutton Park, the home of British road relay running on 16 May. Keith Newton reports:

"Starting cautiously on leg one, Kofi Agyei timed his run to perfection as he worked through the field during the second half of the three mile leg to finish 6th M40.  Just like his performance at Aldershot on the opening leg in the Southerns, Kofi ran a superbly judged race to put the club right in the mix.  Such was the quality of his run, he was within 10 seconds of distance legend Carl Thackery who has been showing excellent form recently.  Like Kofi, Francis Marsh is not short of track speed, and, having closed a number of the teams in the first mile, duly took off on the flat and downhill stretches of the course to equal Kofi’s time.  Both had recorded PBs on the course, and after two legs the Hill were 2 minutes up on defending champions and course record holders, Bristol and West AC, and leading the M40 race.     

On leg three, another long standing Herne Hill member and stalwart of many teams, Vic Maughn, demonstrated once again his ability to deliver on the big occasion.  Running around 30 seconds faster than at the National 12 stage on the equivalent short leg, Vic used his speed, strength and experience, just losing out to Horwich who, momentarily led the M40 race.  Vic’s time was an excellent 15:59.  Roger Alsop has produced many outstanding relay legs during his senior and masters running career, and this was to be no exception.  Recent training and racing pointed towards a fast leg and, not slowed down by a heavy head cold, Roger truly delivered.  Equaling Kofi and Francis’ time of 15:29, Roger stormed back into the lead.  The engine room was really purring. 

Roger finished just behind the Salford M35 team who at this point completed their 4 leg race, leaving Keith Newton to head off in first overall.  Having been an ever present in  the Southern and National winning teams, Keith knew that leg five was loaded with Brian Rushworth (14:54), Ben Reynolds (15:03) and Gordon Lee (14:48).  The latter was running for Leicester Coritanian AC who by this stage were emerging as the main threat to Herne Hill’s charge for gold.  All were seen on the out and back section beyond jamboree stones, giving extra impetus during the latter stages, and fortunately Keith was able to produce another PB of 15:22.  Whilst a number of clubs had sent out their big guns on five, Herne Hill’s was on leg six.  Iain Lockett, for many years the Club’s top senior as well as top vet, produced an excellent solo 15 minute leg and was flying as he passed ‘Keepers’, having stretched the lead to over 2 minutes at the change over.  There have been very few if any times when Iain has failed to deliver over the last 5 years, and his consistency at the very highest level is a benchmark for all. 

Following a withdrawal during the week by Mike Boyle due to injury, Dave Adam stepped up at short notice and undertook an epic round trip from north of Inverness.  Without him the team was incomplete, but Dave was running with a dodgy hamstring and had the unenviable job of defending a substantial lead.  On at least two occasions the stride faltered as his hamstring tightened, yet Dave ran a heroic 17:04 leg to bring the team home 44 seconds ahead of Leicester on the penultimate stage.  This was a very strong Leicester team who, once aware that defending champions Bristol were below par, had strong aspirations to win.  Several former top seniors have joined them over the last year or two, and it is a measure of our own performance that we were able to withstand their strong efforts. 

As with previous victories, Dave Robinson had the job of finishing off the performance, and he did not disappoint.  Despite running with a heavy chest infection, Dave produced a controlled piece of running, and was moving very strongly during the latter stages; so much so that the two fastest HHH guys on the day were unable to get near him in the sprint from Keepers.  Dave’s run of 15:46 brought the Club home 18 seconds ahead of Leicester, with Bristol closing strongly to finish third.  Credit to Leicester for producing what would have in many years been a winning performance, and to Bristol for their outstanding record of four consecutive wins, including the course record, followed by this third place.  Well done also to our rivals Thames Hare and Hounds for their 5th place with a tea that featured two Herne Hill ‘track members’.  For the record, Herne Hill were 36 seconds quicker than their previous fastest time from 2007 and therefore recorded a new club record."

Dave Adam raced a long trip back up to Dundee, commenting:

"Eventually got home at 11.45am Sunday after leaving at 10.30pm on Saturday night on the bus journey from hell. There were altercations, people throwing up, people with diarrhoea and the driver couldn't find Carlisle bus station. People missed their stops and we waited for a taxi of passengers but the taxi never appeared. Our driver then left when the taxi had driven to meet us at a Keele services from Birmingham."

In the early morning Ranelagh Half marathon on 10 May, Brian Wilder crusied round the course to finish an excellent 3rd in 1:11:05 and claim the Surrey and club championships. Helping the men's team to 8th place overall were Kieren Allen who was 72nd in 1:25:49 and Ben Hallifax who was 95th in 1:28:40. Next home was Toby Clarke in 1:32:27 for 161st place followed closely behind by Helen Carter in 170th place in 1:33:20. Glen Keegan recorded 1:40:01 for 292nd place and Phillip Henwood made light of having completed the London Marathon 2 weeks' earlier by finishing in 1:49:20 for 476th place on a warm day.

Ben Hallifax comments:

"After a crowded start, the field stretched out over the first mile through the still sleeping streets of Richmond. By mile 4, the sun was getting higher in the sky and the temperature rising, but thankfully some cloud cover broke up the heat by mile 6 and for the rest of the race.The long towpath stretch of the race on gravel paths was a bit of a struggle as my legs felt the pace and I was over taken by Keiran after mile 8.The rest of the race went ok and I finished in 1:28.40. Not a PB, but was pleased with my time running in much warmer conditions."

At the Beckenham road relay on 6 May, a hardy group of runners combined to finish 12th. Ben Hallifax oversaw operations:

"Hugh shame that we couldn't close a second team, but hope everyone had a good race. Unfortunately, team 32 is logged at position 38 due to me missing handing in the names slips. Otherwise they would not have counted, as did a couple of other teams.

Results: A - Toby Clarke 16:14, B - Ben Hallifax 15:47 C - Tim Ridley 16:37; A - Glen Keegan 17:56; B - Joshua Nava 17:24

Thanks to the guys for turning up and racing and to Josh for doing his first race for HHH."

A contingent of the club's road runners attended the Sutton 10K in Beddington on 3 May. Coping with the occasional strong gust of wind admirably, Vic Maughn lead the red and black crusaders round to finish as 2nd vet in 6th place overall in 34:49, followed a few minutes later by Ben Hallifax whose determined late charge saw him slice a second from his PB in placing 50th in 39:19. James Wills, enjoying one of his first outings for the club was 68th in 40:36 and evergreen Tim Ridley closed the scoring team in 74th place in 40:57. The efforts of this quartet were sufficient to claim 7th place in the final team standings.

The women's team finished third overall. Helen Carter was first to finish in 40:44 for 71st place overall and 5th in the women's race followed by Helen Sharp in 92nd overall and 9th woman with 41:41. Sarah Allen was the team's final counter, placing 167th in 45:49.

Ed Barrow was not at his sharpest, but strong in the final stages and recorded 41:40 for 91st place while Adam Gaabi completed his first 10K race in 42:10, a time he will quickly improve as his fitness level rises. Domenika Goliat was 177th in 46:26, Rebecca Barrow was 6 seconds behind in 46:32 for 179th spot, Amelia Hickman continued her comeback after injury with 47:04 for 186th place and Glenn Burnip was another enjoying his first 10K, which he completed in 48:12 for 206th place. Roland Woodbridge ran a very solid race to finish in 50:10 for 235th place and Sonia Williams was 285th in 52:42.

APRIL 2009

On a day which was much hotter than anticipated, with temperatures climbing steadily throughout the morning, the conditions for the competitors in the London Marathon on 26 April were perhaps far from ideal, but that didn't stop Ben Paviour from recording 2:29:17. This represents a fine reward for months of hard training over a winter in which he has competed for the senior men's road and cross country teams more times than anybody else, so it was fitting that he should become the first man in a red and black vest to cross the finish line.

Next to finish was Dave Peters, despite having vowed never to run another marathon back in 2006. Despite being much more of a miler than a marathon man, Dave produced 26 steady miles and a sprint finish to finish in 2:48:40 to considerably improve on his 2006 effort.

Also impressing on a scorching day was Rosalind Kieran whose splendid effort of 2:53:30 was one of the faster times recorded by a club member on the day and quick enough to claim 13th place in the women's race and, of course, the club championship.

James Ward, by his own admission "overcooked" the first 10 miles, but still had signifcant determination and will-power to ensure he beat the 3-hour barrier for the first time, clocking 2:55:57 to beat his previous best by almost 13 minutes. He did, though, endure the ignomy of being beaten by an extremely nimble-footed Santa Claus in a sprint finish!

Raj Singh narrowly missed finishing inside 3 hours after suffering in the heat in the latter part of the race, but his time of 3:01:40 was still a fine effort and one which he will surely improve considerably. After him came Gaby Carnwath in a very credible 3:06.59, the second woman from the club to beat the women's qualifying standard of 3:15:00.

Paul Shiel's time of 3:14:29 was not as fast as he had hoped, but he learnt much from his marathon debut and will surely lower his standard in future. Behind him were Richard Davis, who clocked 3:15:44, Debbie Jackson who just beat the 3:30 barrier, clocking 3:29:40, while Carolyn Grainger was not far behind her in 3:31.05.

John O'Sullivan has been a club member for many years and he used all of his experience and know-how to run an evenly-paced race which saw him finish in 3:36:12 as an M50. Louisa Harrold and Virginia Grant also produced fine demonstrations of steady, even-paced running to reach the Mall in 3:38:11 and 3:41:25 respectively.

Rupert Mainwaring also achieved the target he set himself back in December of finishing inside 3:45 by clocking 3:42:34, although he was a little disappointed not to have run a little quicker on the day having raised his standard over the course of the winter. Suzanne Swaine finished in 3:58:20 before Spencer Mason, in what he claims to be his final marathon recorded 4:03:22 for a fine PB. Phillip Henwood improved his 2008 time to finish in 4:13:22. Rob Jacobs finished in 5:35:19.

A number of second-claim members also donned their racing shoes, most notably Tooting-based Ben Whitby whose effort of 2:18:14 saw him finish as the second Briton in the race and was sufficient to claim the club championship from John McFarlane who was a couple of minutes behind in 2:20:44. Andy Weir also finished in the top 100 with 2:29:13 as did Mike Boucher with 2:31:13, Alan Wray achieved his target time with 2:42:12 while Mike Ashby was thrilled to lower his PB to 2:53:46.

After being named the most-improved team at the South of England 12-stage relays in Milton Keynes, the challenge for our senior men was to replicate the growing enthusiasm, ambition and confidence in being a competitive running force at regional and national level at the ERRA National 12-stage relays in Sutton Park on 18 April. This they did with aplomb, securing our highest ever placing of 17th in this competition in this format (the club did finish second in the National London to Brighton relay in 1956), albeit our cumulative time has in the past been quicker.

Times were as follows: Ben Paviour - 28:43; Iain Yates - 15:19; Iain Lockett - 27:59; Chris Busaileh - 15:21; Brian Wilder - 28:08; Vic Maughn - 16:32; Keith Newton - 28:50; Jonathan Stead -16:06; David Mulvee - 28:08; Simon Coombes -16:02; Jeff Cunningham - 28:47; Tim Elsey - 15:17

The East Surrey League concluded with a 4 mile road race starting at finishing at Ewell Court on 13 April. Going into this final fixture, the senior team enjoyed a healthy 4-point advantage over our nearest challengers, hosts Epsom & Ewell Harriers, and needed to finish only 4th or better in the team race on the night to win this competition for the first time.

The seniors completed their task with consumate ease. Chris Busaileh continued the fine form he showed at Milton Keynes two days earlier to win the race in 22:06, the course being suspiciously longer than the advertised 4 miles. Tim Elsey finished 3rd in 22:13 and Vic Maughn secured 7th spot in 23:37 to surely put the outcome of the league beyond doubt, any drama being confined only to the battle to be the team's 4th scorer. Sam Knight had arrived only 10 minutes before the start of the race and perhaps paid for an over-eager start which saw him battle the pain barrier in the closing stages, eventually finishing 10th in 24:28. James Ward, by contrast, started at far too leisurely a pace and then found overtaking difficult along the narrow footpaths in the early part of the first lap race. At the end of a much faster second lap, he had gained significant ground on Sam, but didn't quite have enough left for a sprint finish half-a-mile from home which might have proved the difference, finishing 12th in 24:34. Phillip Henwood was our 6th man home in 32:21.

Jeff Cunningham had a good Friday on Good Friday on 9 April, placing 4th in the Maidenhead Easter Ten in 54:17

The senior men's road running team placed an excellent 6th in the South of England 12-stage road relays at Milton Keynes on 5 April, one of our highest ever positions in this race in our history. Moving through the field as the race unfolded we were 10th after 4 stages and worked through steadily in the second half of the race for a superb all round effort by all team members - no stars, just 12 good quality men who were a model of consistency. Welcome in particular to Chris Busaileh and Jonny Henderson in their first race as HHH team members and welcome back Dave Peters, who ran our A team's fastest short stage and then went on to run the fastest short stage of an incomplete B team which ran out of runners after 10 legs when in 38th position.

The improved performance from previous years was recognised by the fact that the team scooped the award for the most improved men's team over the previous two years. Well done to all. HHH times: A team - Chris Busaileh - 26:00; Jonny Henderson - 17:55; Alan Barnes - 26:08; Dave Peters - 17:31; Keith Newton - 26:12; Jonathan Stead - 18:10; Jeff Cunningham - 26:19; Kofi Agyei - 18:41; Brian Wilder - 25:58; Simon Coombes - 18:12; Tim Elsey - 26:07; Iain Yates - 17:41. B team: Bob Harrison - 30:20; Waldy Pauzers - 22:30; Tony Harran - 30:05; James Ward - 19:28; Tim Ridley - 32:53; Deron Fagan - 18:32; Sam Knight - 27:49; Dave Peters - 18:18; Mike Cummings - 27:31; Justin Rabett - 22:52.

The senior women failed to send a complete team to the 6-stage relays as Karen Ellison was left to fly the flag for the club. Karen placed 9th on the first leg in 20:21 but had nobody to hand over to continue the challenge.

Meanwhile, long before the road relays had even started, Ben Paviour enjoyed an early morning 16-mile outing in the Kingston Breakfast run where in placed an impressive second in 1:30:13, demonstrating the strength he has built up in training for the London Marathon by comfortably recording negative splits. Raj Singh, another preparing for the London Marathon, also impressed, finishing a fine 9th in 1:36:42 after running at an even pace through the race.

Further down the field, a number of others in red and black vests were also more than happy with their performances. Ben Hallifax recorded a new PB over the course of 1:50:11 (chip time), Rupert Mainwaring finished in 1:55:13 (chip time) while Paul Shiel hot-footed in the second half of the race to finish in 1:57:13 (chip time). Richard Davis recorded 1:57:01 (chip time) and Helen Carter 1:57:10 (chip time).

In the 8-mile race, Rob Karn enjoyed a comeback run to place 5th in 48:04, while Roland Woodbridge finished in 67:27 (chip time) and Paul Winks in 69:48 (chip time).

Rosland Kieran warmed up for the London Marathon by recording 1:23:12 (chip time) in the Paddock Wood Half Marathon on the same day.