Ickenham 5 15th September 2013
22 HAC athletes sped round the new ATW Ickenham 5 mile race on Sunday morning with at least 17 recording PB’s or SB’s which is very impressive. Mike Dooley V45 was first to finish in 11th place with a PB of 29:50 but he entered as the Army, this had a knock on effect to the team score, meaning North Herts Roadrunners walked away with the team prize. Eva Mack was our first woman across the line in a PB time of 33:04 as 5th woman and 32nd overall. The race was well supported by the local community with a pleasantly surprising total of around 112 out of 201 entrants being local. Results here. A gallery of photos on facebook are here. A big thanks to those of you from HAC that helped on the day or took part.
Report by Alistair Aitken of Highgate Harriers
MOHAMMED MOHAMMED, who ran 3:46.6 for Somalia in the heats of the Olympics, in London, ran the completely new course around Hillingdon, Ickenham and Swakeleys Park area, in the fast time of 24:44.
John Gilbert of Kent AC (25:00) was also inside the predicted time of ‘around 26 minutes’. The course was run in a ‘window’ of very good weather, after and before bad weather struck again. Half of those competing were not club runners and 41 of the affiliated athletes ran a personal best times for the 5 mile distance.
The inaugural race, started at 10 in the morning
Mohammed and John Gilbert disputed the lead till 4 miles, followed by veterans Phil Sanders and Anthony Jackson, running close behind them. Gilbert and Mohammed gradually pulled away and Gilbert put in several bursts but Mohammed stuck to him and would not let him go, taking the initiative himself to go clear in the last mile.
Mohammed explained afterwards “It was always hot in Somalia, so I found it cold in the UK after the Olympics but i’m now used to it and training well every day. I was pleased with my 15.34 course record in the training race I did at Hillingdon over 5k last week.“
John Gilbert (33 this week) said afterwards “The race went okay but he was just too strong for me in the last mile’
he added “I started running again in 2009 when I was 28/29 because, when I was young, I stopped because I was so frustrated with the injuries I got.’
‘To me now the most important race in the ‘National’ it is the clubs’ most important race, even though I did run 2:17.43 in the London and in fact, I would like to break into the first 10 in the ‘National’ next year. Today I was expecting the weather to be really bad but I really enjoyed it and would come and do it again.“
Sophie Delderfield, a 30 year old Dunstable teacher, was the first woman home but preferred running longer distances like the marathon, which she ran 2:59.39 for in the London this year.
“It was really tough for me because of running fast as opposed to doing the Berlin, London and Lochness marathons that are more up my street. However, it was an excellent course and I would come back again to do it.“
There were some interesting characters amongst the older runners. One was Tom Griffin of Tring AC, who at 66 years old, won the over 60 prize in 33:48.
“I took up running at 50. Drinking before that!‘ he said with a smile. He is a remarkable man who loves ‘Off Road running’ and run the London to Brighton road race some years ago and has run the LDWA. 100 miles race for six years!
Then there was the tanned runner, Tony Hamilton of Barnet and District, a big rival of mine over cross-country, when I ran for Highgate Harriers in the 1960’s and 70′ . He is 74 in April. He has run 24 London Marathons and intends doing the next one. He ran round in 95th place of 173 listed finishes in 41:44.
46 year old, Shaftesbury Barnet runner, Anthony Jackson, said he ‘I have been running 35 years now. I am not quite so fast now around the 27 minute mark, than I was when I was young and doing just outside 23 minutes for ‘5’ in the Hillingdon 5, back in the early 1990’s and, in my 20’s I got inside 30 minutes for 10k on the road!’
It was interesting to note that the Number ONE race number was awarded to Dexter Wright who raised over £400 for Charity and ran a creditable time of 34:58 for the course.
“Being my first ever race I was excited and finding out I was lucky enough to be awarded race number 1 only added to the excitement of the day. I tried hard to pace myself and was pleased with my time. After being sick after the finish line I knew I had nothing left in the tank and was proud of myself!“
The two organisers of the race were Martin Bateman, a good runner from Hillingdon AC and ATW Director James Shipley, who runs himself.
Martin had this to say “It has been well received and many unattached runners have taken part.
(Important London Official from Serpentine RC)- Malcolm French gave us a glowing report, with no errors, everything done correctly. Of course a lot of things we can learn. It has been popular It is really good with support from the Ickenham Festival.“
Martin Bateman (Hillingdon AC) being well up in local races would do well in the event “That is the only downside that I can’t run in my own race. I have made it a quick course, only a couple of metres height changes. Wish I could do it myself. Maybe another year.“
James Shipley ATW Director “It has been fantastic. Maybe 100 people from the Ickenham area are not attached to clubs. My fingers crossed, they might join a club like Hillingdon AC, being introduced to running in this way. I would like this to be an annual event. It was great to see local residents out on the course cheering the athletes on.“
