SUMMER LEAGUE– CLOSER THAN EVER!! UPDATED 😲
We continued to shine at Regents Park last weekend! We were less than 1 percent in front of Queens Park (17 points) going into it, and knew they would bring their finest to battle it out at Regents Park!
Queens Park are 4 points ahead!! Eagles 18,718 : Queens Park 18,722 Every point matters as we go into the Grand Finale at Battersea 11th August!
Senior Results
Laurence Elliot is in sensational form, crossing the line in a fantastic 7th position in 36m3s. Right now, he is in 3rd position in the seniors competition – an incredible achievement given the exceptional standard of the men this year! We were delighted to see Will Adolphy return to the league, home next in 36:53, followed by Sam Royle in an incredible 37:12. Both men have only done 2 races this year, so a strong run in Battersea could see them make the Top 5 in the seniors competition. Big kudos to Jose who is currently in 5th position overall, after clocking a solid 22nd position last week in 37:49! He is just 1 point ahead of Oliver (6th senior male overall), after Oliver took Regents Park more gently in sub 40 (slightly easier than his previous ‘Top 15’ form)! I forgave him after a stellar run in the men’s relays – but we all have high expectations for Oliver at Battersea, especially after today’s PB!! It’s going to be close, rapid Raf was only 10 seconds behind Jose with an epic 37:59, and is currently in 7th position overall (just one point behind Oliver!). Congratulations to Andrew Green, who was home a few seconds later, with a fantastic 38:02 for his first Summer League fixture of 2019.
I was home next in 38:07 with a PB (beating QP by 22 seconds – and she was wearing the fancy green nike shoes!). It will be a close competition with just 1 point separating us as we go into the final fixture. To beat Jen (QP), I need to win Battersea – and I need another speedy lady between us. Have I left my run too late? I suspect so!! But I only really care about our overall result – so will be fighting for that point!!
Nils was home just 9 seconds later in 38:16, with another solid performance after a string of great summer races. We were delighted that Alex Smith made it to one more before moving, clocking a speedy 38:32. Next eagle in was our heroic Harry Claxton, once again triumphant in the V45 category! Looks like it’s in the bag this year – well done Harry!
Shortly after was Neil Johnson and Oliver, tying in 39:49! Special mention to Joshua Brain who has had a great first summer league season, clocking consistently great times at each fixture. He just scraped a sub 40 with 39:57, pipping Ralph Dadswell at the post by 1 second! Ouch Ralph – there goes a club champs point! Not to worry though, Ralph is sitting very comfortably in 2nd position in the V50 category, having been first home this week (but like my case, probably too late to cause an upset!). Dominic Wallace is 4th overall by 1 point. Hope you can make Battersea Dom!
Well done to Kieran Santry who clocked a quick 40:22. He is currently in 3rd position overall in the M40 category! Would be brilliant to see our summer league regular to go home with the bronze! Shout out to Henry Dadswell who clocked a very decent 42:22 for 1st M20, just 10 secs ahead of our awesome speedster Ben Cale!
In the ladies race, we had very similar scores to Queens Park. It was fabulous to see fast Fiona Plain home in 41:20 for 4th female (with Queens Park sneaking 2 in between us). Fiona has had a great SL debut, currently leading the Senior category. Results can shift in the final races, as more people qualify with 3 races or improve on previous scores. One such threat is our speedy Hayley Kandt, who could push from 2nd to gold with a top 21 finish at Battersea! Can she do it?! Or will it be their relay buddy Kat Revill who would need to come 16th? Or Emily Cook with an 11th? Lets see how it plays out – but it’s amazing to have welcomed so many talented ladies in this category this year!
Claire Morris is back running strong, winning the V40 race at Regents Park. She was one of our top scorers with a great 44:25, and could disrupt the rankings if she performs well at Battersea in her 3rd fixture next fortnight!! Next home was our amazing Yvonne Linney, just beating Queens Park and being 2nd overall in the V45 competition. Awesome to see Louise Winstanley currently in 4th position overall in the category! Next across the line for us was the awesome Gosia who is consistently right up there! Gosia was 4th V40 on the day (currently in 4th position overall but very close to 3rd!), beating Claire Ellison by around 30 seconds (5th V40). We are all in suspense - Claire Ellison has had a fantastic first season (currently in 2nd position overall). Between the Claires and Gosia – it’s going to be a fantastic race to the finish line!!
Ian Wimsett was his usual fantastic self, making top 5 M60 (at Regents Park and overall), just pipping Simon James who was in 7 seconds later! Shouldn’t have done that long run before Simon!! Well done to Robert Kipling 7th overall for his category. There was a great battle between Nora Mixova (our fabulous club champion in 2011 and 2012 who has just returned to Ealing!) and John Kenny who was home 1 second later in 47:29.
Sophie Santry has had a particularly strong Summer League season, with Regents Park no exception. This week she clocked 48:24, which may be her fastest 10k in 4.5 years! With Battersea that little bit flatter and Sophie stronger by the day, she could edge closer to her PB in the final race of the season!
Stuart Mitchell is also performing well, finishing in a speedy 48:29 for 7th M55 (4th overall). Michelle Tanner is clearly benefiting from her Ride London cross-training, home in 48:42 - beating our awesome V55s Marek Waszcuk (by 2 secs) and Sue Park (by 3)! Oooh very close!! Kudos to Nick Davies who celebrates a sub 49 min! And our amazing Lorraine Hill ran a strong 49:16 (4th V50). She is currently in 4th position, but could sneak into bronze with a storming run at Battersea.
Shout out to our sprint finisher Vicky Chan, who is currently in a top 5 position in the V35 competition (49:20 clocked on Sunday), just 4 seconds ahead of Nicola Phelan (5th F45 on the day) and Pinja Haikka who ran a rapid 49:44. Dave Powlson was our quickest Dave of the day, just beating Mr Bone by 1 second – both having strong sub 50 min runs!
Speedy Suha is currently in 4th position overall in the F35 category (50:19). It was a tight club champs race, with Suha proving dominant over her sister Magdalene (well into her Chester Marathon training!) and our epic Charlotte Wade (who went on to show her strength in the women’s relays – helping our team to almost get the win!). Home a few seconds later was Zak Dadswell, who is dominating the M17 category, having sped up dramatically over the past year (not quite enough to catch these speedy ladies, but he did show his Dad up in the mixed relays!).
We were delighted to have our Bald Eagle Godfrey Rust join us, still in great form with a 54:44! Dick Overton continues to impress, with a fast 55:06 in the M70 category for 2nd, just 48 secs off the winner. Next in was Janet Wimsett (55:20) who is doing so well in the F60 competition (70% age grading and 2nd place!) Rachel Hearson also ran an impressive 55:37 in the F55 category, whilst Dineke shone in the F65 competition with a fantastic 58:22. Celia Roberts was a joy to cheer home, having run a fantastic 1:04 for a 70% age grading in the F70 competition, and smiling ear to ear! She had clearly had a lovely race, being part of a great flock with Stuart and Helen Pugh, Elizabeth Adams, Laura Cann and Tanja Williams. Love these mini-flocks!
Our women’s relay team almost won this week, it was closer than ever! The 280m was way too short for me, my heavy legs just couldn’t get going after the 10k. I did however collide with the 2nd Queens Park runner in handover, giving our already fantastically fast Fiona a flying start!! It was brilliant to see Charlotte Wade storm round, she is a force on the short stuff and has an epic sprint finish. And of course, Natasha Bennett was brilliant as ever, almost catching Queens Park with a breath-taking run! So proud!
The men did great, with Nils, Oliver, Ben and Ricardo smashing out some brilliant legs to get 3rd place in a super competitive mens race. It is always incredible to watch – in awe!! I believe we can also expect the awesome Jordan Jowett and Colin Clifford to be racing at Battersea again too!! Worth coming just to witness those 4 breath-taking minutes of athleticism!!
HUGE thank you to everyone who came to battle it out! With the points so very close, we need everyone to come and RACE hard at Battersea!! Every SINGLE point will matter.
Big kudos also to the newer runners to the club who are determined to qualify for club champs and who have embraced the fun of summer league! Who PBed? Will you be back for more? These are just my highlights – do let us know what yours were!!
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Junior Results
The juniors continue to inspire! Many also starred in our mixed relays, and showed such determination against their adult competitors!! Some were doing SL followed by Middlesex Relays!!! It was fantastic that they could make it, a huge thank you to the parents who made it happen.
Super proud of Henry Jones, who is the most determined 10 year old I’ve ever met! He had already raced the mile Friday night (well under sub 5:50), and then in a desperate attempt to break all the records before he turned 11 (this Monday!), he raced parkrun (finishing in just over 20 mins, almost a PB!). Then on Sunday he did the double, racing at Junior Parkrun and equalling his PB (he is just 7 seconds off the record!), before a mad rush to make it to Summer League to race over the mile and the relays! Henry then stormed around in 5:50 for first M10. He was 3rd overall, with the M13 and M14 beating him by just 12-15 secs despite being a foot taller. My hero! And thank you to Jen and Evan for making it possible!
Natasha Bennett was 2nd F10 and 3rd female overall. She shows a resilience and maturity beyond her years, being a core part of our women’s relay team this season too!! She’s had a fantastic season, and is currently leading the F10 category, having shone at both SL and at her track events. It could be very close in the end!! Fingers crossed!!
Nathan Powlson was next in for 2nd M10, and also had a fantastic relay run, giving a Serpie man a real run for his money!! Minna Williams was first F9! If she can make the final race at Battersea, she should make top 3 in her age category – perhaps even win it! Well done to Joe Burges who blitzed the M8 category in 6:42! He is currently in 2nd position overall for the series!
The mighty Jack Jones was our next eagle in in 7:05! He was first M6, and had also done the double, running Junior Parkrun earlier (8 secs off a PB). Jack has consistently won his age category and will definitely be a force in the coming years! It was a close race for the youngster, with him having 2 M7s on his tail! James Green was in next for first M7 (7:11), just pipping Conrad Acorn by 1 sec (2nd M7)! Conrad will be impossible to catch this late in the season, but it will be interesting to see who gets 2nd and 3rd with Ryan Johnson, Aiden Quinn and James Green all being top contenders!
2 seconds later was our fabulous Noah Liborg! Noah was just 9 seconds off first M6, and is in a comfortable 2nd place for the season! He did well to hold off Daniel Burges, in 8 seconds later! Daniel has had a great first season, and should hopefully walk away with a bronze medal in a very strong category!
Next in was our speedy Sofia Bennett, who ran a super fast 7:24 for first F7!! She’s guaranteed of the gold trophy this year!! Well done to Lauren Green who was in 4 seconds later for 2nd F9, a great result just beating her Chaser F9 competitor by 2 seconds!
Now we are all used to this Machnik / Liborg competitiveness. The Dads race constantly, and early on in the season we saw young Emily Machnik F6 try to take on Sarah Liborg F9! Well the battle continues, with a sprint finish between Sarah Liborg and Jeremi Machnik! Machnik won this battle, with Jeremi 2nd M8 in 7:57! Huge kudos to Sarah, 2nd F9 in one second later! A great result for the little athlete, who then went on to compete at the Middlesex Athletics meet! With both runners now away for the summer, our fingers are crossed that Jeremi can hold on to his bronze position overall. Sarah should also walk away with another medal – colour to be determined!!
Beth Powlson was our next eagle in, in an amazing 8:28 – more than 90 seconds faster than the year prior! Fantastic to see such a huge improvement, with Beth really racing towards the finish line! She is currently in the silver position in the F6 category!
9 seconds later, we saw an exciting tie!! Keana Acorn flew in as 4th F10 (with one more race needed to get her back in the top 3 overall!). Keji Lagu was next for 2nd F12, currently in the bronze position for her category! It was great to have Leo Johnson in 20 seconds later, for 6th M6 in his first real SL race! Well done Leo!!
Next in was Emily Machnik who has had an amazing season! She came 3rd F6 for the Regents Park race, despite suffering a stitch. With Emily unable to make the final race, she finishes the season in 4th position by 1 point. It’s been an incredibly competitive F6 category, and with that Machnik spirit, I have no doubt that she will hit the podium in 2020! Inspiring debut Emily! Love having you in our team!
We then had Thomas Powlson in, as 2nd M11. He is winning the M11 category!! With Finn Elliot in 2nd place and Cohen Murphy in 4th, it would be great to get these boys to Battersea to fight for a place on the podium!!
Huge kudos to Zereda Lagu who was 7th F9, and is currently 6th overall. Zereda regularly runs in our mixed relays too, and has shown great improvement over the season!
We also had lots of lovely pint-sized runners in the fun run! Special mention to Kaitlyn Mitchell and Alva, who are getting quicker by the day! Great to have you all with us!!
Remember – Every point matters!! Let’s bring our shield home!! 11th August at Battersea Park!! Fight to the end!!
