Weekly Roundup
Herne Hill Harriers’ senior men’s squad finished a creditable 24th at the English National Road Relays on Saturday, but were immediately challenged to seek a top-15 finish in 2015.
Harriers were as highly placed as 21st after Lewis Lloyd ran the club’s fastest short leg at Birmingham’s Sutton Park, but the 12-man team would eventually slip back through the field to finish 24th out of 55 clubs.
Despite the solid performance, Geoff Jerwood, men’s road race captain, challenged Herne Hill athletes to attain greater heights over the next year.
“With all of our best men and all in top shape we could aspire to a finishing position at least 10 places above Saturday. That should be one of our main challenges for the next 12 months.”
Herne Hill’s two fastest runners were placed on the first two legs, with Lloyd’s superb second leg following Chris Busaileh running the club’s quickest individual long leg. Mark Dooley also ran well on leg four, taking Harriers into 22nd place. The club’s overall placing fell to 28th before last leg runner John Tayleur clawed Herne Hill into 24th.
Elsewhere, a clutch of junior and senior female Herne Hill athletes were competing at Lee Valley in the Alpha Beta Trophy meeting. Prominent performances included: U15 Eloise O’Shaughnessy clocking 4.55 over 1500m, U17 Daisy Setyabule jumping 4.29m in the long jump, senior Michelle Watson posting a time of 13.02 in finishing second in the 100m, U15 Alice Setyabule leaping to 4.51m in the long jump, and U15 Felisa Awosa another second-place finisher with 20.58m in the discus.
Junior middle distances athletes were also competing at the Hercules Wimbledon Young Athletes meeting. Notably, Alex Brown was second in the U15G 1500m, with her time of 4.43 representing an eight-second personal best and proving an ESAA qualifying time. Turkay Korkmaz (4.31) and Mohammed Ali (4.52) picked up silver medals in the U15B and U13B 1500m races respectively.
Meanwhile, Alan Barnes was fifth at the Kingston Half Marathon, clocking 80.24, and Waldy Pauzers finished as first V60 in 97.50 on his 60th birthday. Louis Waterman-Evans was eighth at the South Downs Way 50 ultramarathon, running for a shade over seven hours in his debut at the distance. Herne Hill athletes also featured prominently in London parkruns. A week ahead of the London Marathon, Robin Jones finished fourth at Dulwich in 16.35, shortly ahead of sixth-placed Mike Boyle in 16.47. Gary Ironmonger was a winner at the Brockwell parkrun in 17.23, while Tom Conlon was third at Wimbledon Common in 17.43.