By Jeff Shotton

The mini marathon recently seems to be blessed with nice mornings, and this was not one to disappoint – with clear skies, a gentle breeze and weather almost breaking the teens (referring to the temperature in Celsius) . The ACTUAL breaking of the teens (i.e the juniors) happened at the 9am start.

This event first started in 1985, and was held the same day as the actual London Marathon, but since 2022 has been run on the Saturday a day before as a separate affair, and this year will see approximately 14000 children take part. There is an emphasis now on inclusion to allow younger runners to take part and hopefully encourage a new generation to partake in more physical activity. Organisation is excellent, with plenty of marshals to direct, security staff, amenities, and signage. There is a DJ/announcer to keep everyone informed and to schedule, and the music pumping while everyone is preparing.

Runners either enter through their school for the one mile ‘open’ event, or qualify for a championship spot. Each school is allowed up to 50 children and is open to all children aged 17 or under. The championship series is held over the final 2.6km of the London Marathon route, and is selective – each borough or region are allowed six children in each category. As you might imagine, this makes championship spots highly competitive. Each year Hillingdon AC will field several runners for the borough, and this year was no exception, with Rosie Bishop, Edey Kestell, Alastair Burton, Barnabe Lesenne-Ward, Lewis Wake, and Ryan Stoddart all securing the right and running for Hillingdon. Along with former club athletes Annabelle Shotton and Marcus Shotton. 

As per previous years, there were 3 age championship age groups for boys and girls, with the U13 consisting of Y7/Y8, U15 belonging to Y9/10 and U17 would come from Y11/12. While London boroughs are each allowed to field their own team of six per category, athletes travel from all over the UK. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland only have one team each – I can only imagine that competition for those places is incredibly fierce.

Next to the start line, the runners are corralled into holding pens for their championship group. Each of these is fizzing with energy as warm-ups are carried out and the athletes chatter excitedly amongst themselves. All runners within a single group wear the same colour shirt so it is very easy to identify where everyone needs to be. The groups are then called forwards in turn to the start line.

Then, for a moment in time, all is quiet. The only sounds coming from the occasional squeak of super-shoes as those wearing carbon plated racers (which appears to be most) adjust for balance and position. To have that many children gathered in one place, yet still be able to hear a pin drop (or shoe squeak), is a true testimony to the seriousness these future GB stars hold this event.

As the runners stand like statues, A lone photographer stands in the centre of the road, around 50m from the start and holding a camera with a lens more akin to a cannon than a Canon. Little does he seem to realise that a thunderous wave of children will reach him within ten seconds and trample him mercilessly underfoot.

Then comes the roar. Like a damn breaking, the flood charges forwards. The cameraman dives for cover. Anything remaining on the path would be swept aside by a torrent of determination as four hundred arms and legs whirl in a blur. As fast as it starts, it is all over again, with the last of the runners disappearing around the corner and into the distance.

As a spectator, unfortunately, this is the highlight. To reach the finish having witnessed the start, one would need to also be wearing a set of super-shoes and employ them vigorously towards the finish line. For most then, the next time their child is seen is walking nonchalantly from the tape up The Mall towards the district holding pens.

Ask how it went, and the tussle, struggles, gamesmanship, effort and sweat are all boiled down to one word. “Good”. Extracting more eloquence from this generation is a work in progress. Maybe I should have sent a whatsapp message instead. Instead, effort is judged by the pinkness of the cheeks and sweat on the brow. But let’s not fool ourselves – they all tried hard and did amazingly well.

Special mention must go to Barnabe Lessene-Ward, finishing 16^th in the borough challenge (63^rd overall) and in a time of 8 minutes 23 seconds. Congratulations!

U13 Boys- Alastair Burton 201^st ,11:31

U15 Boys- Lewis Wake 153^rd, 9:28; Marcus Shotton 178th, 9.48

U17 Boys- Ryan Stoddart 140^th, 9:17

U13 Girls- Rosie Bishop 133^rd, 11:26; Annabelle Shotton U13G, 196^th, 12:55

U15 Girls- Edey Kestell 121^st, 10:41

Full results available here : https://results.tcslondonmarathon.com/2024/minimarathon/?content=downloadable_files&action=download&id=28891

Report by Doreen Evans

At one of the first meets of the season last month Bradley Stone, one of our U13 athletes set a new club record in High Jump. The previous record had been in place since 2016 & Bradley took the new record to 1.49m. Great work Bradley & the season is still young! Congratulations.

The first training race of the summer produced a very good field of 49 finishers with perfect weather conditions for those participating. James Laing finished in first place with a time of 15:56 followed closely by Kallum Pritchard in 16:05. Fits woman finisher was Nikki Penty- Alvarez finishing 7th overal in a time of 20:05. Just under a minute behind Nikki was the returning Hannah Laing in 21:03. A fine curry had been prepared by Mukesh and team back at the clubhouse on a busy night for the clubhouse team. Pete Humm, Zoe Dobbs and Dave Smith were this months quiz masters. The next training race will be on Thursday May 9th. Full results can be found April 2024 5K Training Race Result

Congratulations to Nikki Penty Alvarez who finished first HAC runner at the Beaconsfield 5 in 30th place overall and 4th woman in a time of 36:17. Jeff Shotton was the first male HAC runner home in 41st place in a time of 37:08. Fifteen HAC runners participated including Simon Claridge, whose first outing in a HAC vest for some time was a welcome return. Updated points table can be found here Summer series after race one

Report by Doreen Evans.

On the 16^th & 17^th March Lee Valley hosted the Tri Counties  Indoor Championship; Kent, Hertfordshire & Middlesex.  Hillingdon Athletics club had a few athletes attending, not as many as could but indoors isn’t for everyone!   Our athletes obviously competed for the Middlesex titles.

U15G 60m

Isabella Philips Silver Medal

U15G 200m

Isabella Philips Silver Medal

U15G 800m

Edey Kestell finished fourth

U20W Long Jump

Chiamaka Nnaji Silver Medal

U15B Long Jump

Daniel Cater Lawrence Silver Medal

U15B 800m

Charlie Reed Gold Medal

U20M 800m

Ryan Stoddart finished fourth

Senior Men High Jump

Kane Lawrence Silver Medal

Traditionally the summer series is a selection of monthly races aimed at bringing club members together in a competitive arena and promoting our club. Usually the race is followed by a social at a local cafe or pub. With this in mind this year I’ve decided to go old school with the following races.

The summer series complements the track competitions that the club competes in. Therefore the races have been chosen to avoid a clash with these events and impacting on participation in these priority fixtures.

This years races are 

Monday 1st April- Beaconsfield 5 ( at the weekend there were 160 places but this race does sell out early).

Monday 6th May- Pednor 5

Saturday 10th June- Cliveden classic 10km

Sunday 21st July- Elmbridge 10km

Saturday 10th August- Burgundy race in Ruislip Woods

September ( date to be confirmed) Middlesex 10km

League tables for Men and Women will be updated after each race, scoring as follows-

-For all events you will score 5 points for taking part and finishing

-For all events the quickest male and female athletes across the line will each earn another 20 points, second 19 and so on

Your overall score for the summer series will be the total of your points scored for the events you compete in.

You are responsible for your own entry for each of these races

On a sunny but cold day in November 2023, Nikki Penty-Alvarez and Coach Vicky Brownlee made their way to the well-trodden paths of Northala Fields, to run a 10k race hosted by Nepal Run UK. Nikki was first lady across the finish-line, and with that achievement came the prize – or perhaps the ‘challenge’ – of entry into the 2024 Annapurna Marathon.

Nikki joined the club in late 2022, having only ever run solo and racing a couple of half marathons. As Coach Andy Torrance often likes to tell, she came to her first training session on a Thursday and was wearing a HAC vest for the opening race of the Met League two days later at Claybury! Taking the plunge to agree to run her first ever marathon so far from home is something more of a commitment though. The event will involve a six-day hike to reach the altitude of 4100m, before racing the 26.2 miles of technical trails around Annapurna base camp on June 3rd 2024, against the
back drop of the Nepalese mountain range that boasts the 10 th highest peak in the world.

Nikki will be fundraising for “the other HAC” in her life: Hillingdon Autistic Care and Support are a local charity that support families across the borough navigate the ups and down of life with Autism. They plug the gaps where other services are unable to meet the needs of people with Autism, supporting them and their families to “minimise disability and maximise ability”.

If you would like to sponsor Nikki on her run and see her progress with the journey at each stage, the justgiving link is: justgiving.com/page/nikki-runs-nepal

In an effort to crowdfund as much of her travel expenses as possible the clubhouse will help Nikki host a Fish & Chips Quiz and Raffle in the weeks leading up to the race – we hope to see as many of you there as possible!

Well done to all the athletes who took part over the season and a massive thanks you to all the coaches who have given their time over the past months to coach, encourage and help the athletes through the cross country season.

Report by Peter Lewis

This weekend saw the England Athletics U20/U17 & U15 Indoor Championship. This is an annual event which takes place at the England Institute of Sport in Sheffield. Whilst it’s an ‘open’ competition, every athlete needs to meet qualifying times before they can enter the competition. Three Hillingdon athletes chose to make the trip. It’s an exciting event with the best of the crop showcasing their skills over two full days of events, all of which are live streamed – so you can watch it on the telly! Parents who accompany their athletes have the joy of buying tickets to watch their children.

Charlie Reed U15B 800m
A great run on Saturday afternoon with a PB 2:05:55 to qualify for the final on Sunday. The final was a fast pace & Charlie came in fifth.

Isabella Phillips U15G 200m
The first race of the day on Sunday and a fast run, a new PB 26:00, which gave her a qualifying place in the semi finals. The semi’s were tough and Isabella did not go through to the final.

Dejean Jarrett U15B 200m
In the third heat and the boys fly round the track, unfortunately DeJean did not qualify for the semi finals.

A huge commitment shown by these athletes & their family to attend this event & they all did really well. Hillingdon AC was very well represented by these young athletes & there is definitely more to come from ALL our junior athletes as the main season commences in April.

Report by Doreen Evans

Want to start running but don’t know where to begin? Whether you are starting from scratch or coming back after a lay off after injury our couch to 5km course will help you gradually build up your fitness and stamina. Run by qualified England Athletics coaches the 8 week course, based in Ruislip starts on Wednesday 27th March 2024 and costs just £20. If you want to get fit, have fun and make new friends sign up by emailing davidalan.smith2@gmail.com

Bridget sadly passed away on 4 January at the age of 99. Her funeral will be held at Breakspear west chapel on Friday 9 February at 1.45 followed by afternoon tea at a venue to be announced. Family flowers only donations to St Luke’s Hospice. Dress code – black not essential as Bridget liked bright colours so wear whatever makes you happy,