Mo Aadan 2nd and TVH Men 4th in Middlesex 10k Championships
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The annual Middlesex 10k Road Championships took place at Victoria Park on Saturday and in a close race Valley’s Mo Aadan finished 3rd in the men’s race and 2nd in the Middlesex Champs, while the TVH men’s team finished just outside the Middlesex team medals in 4th place.
Mo Aadan proudly displays Middlesex 10k Champs silver medal. Toby Clyde has an impressive debut in Middlesex 10k. TVH men ready to go in Middlesex 10k.
A good turnout of 9 Valley men in a field of 200 runners were competing on the day. To view the full results, click here: Middlesex 10k Results 2014
The Valley women took a well earned rest, with the exception of Tracy Barlow. Tracy was racing in Sunday’s Berlin marathon and a great performance saw her finish as the first British woman home and in 18th place in the women’s race in a time of 2h:51m:29s. Not only was this a new pb by over 2 and a half minutes, but she also improved her own club record by the same margin – congratulations Tracy, you definitely deserve a rest now!
The weather back in London provided some good racing conditions for the 10k, with mild sunshine and just a slight breeze helping to keep the temperature in the high teens and the park roads dry.
The course was flat and fast and consisted of 3 laps of the footpaths around the southern half of Victoria Park, with an extra 800m added directly from the start line to make up the 10k distance.
As the race got underway it soon became clear that last year’s winner, Mo Aadan, was keen to defend his title and win individual Middlesex gold again for the Valley.
After 2 laps he had opened up a good 50 metres lead over Serpentine’s Nick Torry in 2nd place and he looked good for the win.
However Mo was suffering from a cold and as a result couldn’t maintain his lead on the final lap, but despite this he still did well to come home in 3rd place in a good time of 30:42, just 20 seconds behind the winner and it also earned him a silver medal for 2nd place in the Middlesex Champs.
Next home for TVH was Valley junior athlete Toby Clyde, who impressed on his debut over the distance to be the first U20 athlete home in a time of 36:07.
This placed Toby in 40th place overall and 23rd place in the Middlesex Champs, a very good performance from the young Valley man, who aged just 17 shows great promise for the future.
Christian Nielsen enjoyed a good head-to-head battle with Toby and was determined to stay ahead during the race and managed to do so until the final lap, finishing not far behind in 48th place and close to his own pb in 36:40.
4th home for the Valley was Fahad Abdi, who showed great improvement to take off over 6 minutes from his time in last year’s race to finish in 65th place overall and 32nd place in the Middlesex Champs in a new pb time of 37:53.
Fahad also completed the 3 man team for TVH in the Middlesex Champs and they were unlucky to miss out on a team medal when the results placed them as 4th Middlesex team in the race.
The first veteran home for the Valley was Richard Hooley, who rolled back the years to record a time of 39:10.
It was Richard’s best 10k time for over 5 years and it put him in 83rd place in the race and was the 7th fastest V50 time on the day.
Not wanting to be outdone by Richard, another Valley veteran, Guy Bowles, also displayed good form to just go under 40 minutes in a time of 39:56.
It placed Guy in the top half of the field and inside the top 100 in 92nd place, with the 8th fastest V50 time of the race.
Another race within a race saw Paul Woodgate and Jason Sewards fight it out over the 10k distance, with Paul the eventual winner finishing in 119th place overall, just 20 seconds ahead of Jason in 123rd place.
Both Paul and Jason were rewarded with pb times and 52nd and 53rd place in the Middlesex Champs respectively, with Paul improving his pb by over 40 seconds to 43:24 and Jason improving his pb by over a minute to 43:44.
The 9th and final man home for the Valley was Scott Brewer, who was making his debut over the distance in only his 2nd race for TVH and he did well to maintain a good pace throughout that brought him home in 139th place in a time of 45:03.
With a silver medal for Mo, 3 pb’s and 2 debuts over the 10k distance it was another good day on the road for the Valley men.
Well done to all the 9 man team and keep up the good work in training!
Middlesex 10k Road Race Results, 27-09-14.
Mohamud Aadan, 30:42 – 2nd in Middlesex Champs.
40. Toby Clyde, 36:07 – 1st U20 and 23rd in Middlesex Champs.
48. Christian Nielsen, 36:40 – not entered in Middlesex Champs.
65. Fahad Abdi, 37:53 – 32nd in Middlesex Champs.
83. Richard Hooley, 39:10 – 7th V50, not entered in Middlesex Champs.
92. Guy Bowles, 39:56 – 8th V50, not entered in Middlesex Champs.
119. Paul Woodgate, 43:24 – 52nd in Middlesex Champs.
123. Jason Sewards, 43:44 – 53rd in Middlesex Champs.
139. Scott Brewer, 45:03 – not entered in Middlesex Champs.
200 finishing athletes.
Middlesex 10k Road Championships – Men’s Team Results.
