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HAC are the Walk of the town

by Martin Bateman

Race walking continues to develop at Hillingdon AC.

Throughout the year, the walkers participated in many races, gaining club points in the Vets League and club visibility at other races in Surrey, Sussex, plus various locations in London. However, as in previous years, our main focus was the Enfield League. This is a 12 race series comprising various distances and venues with glory coming to those who are most consistent. 

In addition to the walkers, HAC now also supplies the official league timekeeper – yes, Phil Welch turns up at every race and fulfils one of the vital support roles without which our races would not start. Thanks Phil! Thanks also to Gerry Archer for additional timekeeping skills at one of the championship events.

In 2013, our Enfield League results were fantastic! Details are as follows:

  • We had 3 ladies regularly participating with Jo Miles achieving 5th place supported by newcomers Jenny Middleton and Anna Vroobel
  • Up to 6 men participated. Ken Bobbett had the distinction of coming 2nd overall with Fabian Deuter (4th) and Andy Cox (5th) ensuring that the club also took 3rd place in the team competition. Great support came from Russell, Richard and Ramesh
  • A great result for HAC

We continue to use Hillingdon Cycle Track in Hayes as a venue for race walking; in 2013, we hosted 3 races. 2 of these were national championships. This is a great honour for the club! 2014 will see the club hosting 3 events at the Cycle Track including two national championships again. One of these will be the 50km race which should attract the stars from home and maybe from Europe. In addition, we will be contesting the Enfield League and many other competitions.

We continue to train with Gavin whenever possible so BIG thanks to him for accommodating us. On some evenings, you could have seen up to 8 of us attempting to improve our technique and fitness. Thanks again to Gavin for being such a great help to us!

Looking further ahead, we are already training for the World Vets Championships which will take place in Lyon France in August 2015. Anyone over 35 can take part in this event and it is not limited to race walking. If you can run, jump or throw – have a go!!

Lastly, we would like to invite all of you to come along to any of our training sessions – we are welcoming bunch! More details from Andy Cox.

The attached photo was taken at the Feb 2014 Enfield League race. Left to right – Ken, Jo. Jenny, Anna, Andy, Richard and Fabian. Thanks to the injured Russell for taking the snap!!