Wanted - new Gate Editor
You may be disappointed to receive this not very professional looking newsletter instead of a high-gloss Gate magazine, but you will probably agree that this is better than not getting any information about what is going on in the club. We were not able to find an editor who would be able to publish The Gate twice every year, so this newsletter is the best we can do at the moment. If you are interested in becoming the new Gate editor or if you have any suggestions for future editions of this newsletter, please let me know.
Thanks to all of those who have provided material for this newsletter!
Astrid Wingler (a.wingler@ucl.ac.uk)

Winter highlights
Simeon Williamson finished second in the AAA Indoor Championships - congratulations! He has also been selected to represent England in the Commonwealth Games.

Highgate women third in the National
Another brilliant cross country season for the women, by Astrid Wingler

Bronze!
Finally - a medal for Highgate Harriers women in the National Cross Country Championships! I always thought it would be possible for us to finish in the top three, especially on Parliament Hill. However, after we had ‘only’ finished 7th in this year’s South of England Championships, I was less confident that the team would be strong enough. Fortunately, Svenja Abel (12th) and Kate Jenrick (28th) both ran excellent races, setting off sensibly and moving through the field in the second half. Lindsay Kehoe also ran a solid race, finishing 54th. The surprise of the day was Jo Carritt: Although she did not have spikes and therefore kept slipping in the typical Parliament Hill mud, she clearly ran her best race of the season to finish 62nd, thereby securing the team medal.
Victory in the Met League
Another success of our team was winning the Metropolitan Cross Country League for the fourth consecutive year. This year, Woodford Green with Essex Ladies were a serious threat. We were a bit concerned when they turned up with some of their star runners at the final race. However, what counts in the Met League is not just star performances, but consistently having at least six good runners in every race. I would therefore like to thank all of those who ran in the Met League this year, especially the newcomers, including Alex Goodwin, Antra Balcuna, Louise Burnie and Louise Faherty.
Other highlights
Other highlights of the cross country season include Sula Young’s victory in the Middlesex Championships, Svenja (and the team) winning the London Championships and a Highgate 1-2-3 (Kate, Sula and Lindsay) in the North London Championships.
Another Highgate baby
Natasha Cendrowicz has given birth to her first baby, Rhys, just before Christmas. She started training (and racing) shortly afterwards and I hope she will be in good shape for the 2006/7 season.





Thank you to our coaches, Jack Bayliss and Terry Driscoll, for all of their help!

A successful winter season for the men’s team
Alastair Aitken reports on how a great team spirit resulted in improved performance

Highgate Harriers men may not have started the season in late September as they did last year, with such an impressive result as second in the Southern Six Stage Road Relay, but they came 7th to easily qualify for the National at Sutton Coldfield and produced the second fastest time of the day by Keith Cullen.
It was Cullen who joined Ben Noad at the end of the season in the National cross country at Parliament Hill Fields, for a historic and monumental result for Highgate Harriers. They came 6th and 5th respectively and that was the first time since 1906 that Highgate Harriers had two runners in the first six in the annual event.
Noad came into the event after breaking the Regent’s Park 10 km road course record and Cullen, training for a marathon, had been second to the 'National' Champion Peter Riley in the AAA's 10 km at Chichester. It was good to see Shane Snow out running in the National. He had been placed in the first 100 eleven times before and he was not far behind that being 140th out of the 1300 odd runners.
There was no doubt Highgate had a better overall season than they did in the last three years. A lot of that, to my mind, was due to the enthusiasm of the Captain Henry Dodwell (66th in the National) and veteran Chris Bailey. The Highgate men had never previously used the Metropolitan League as a fixture to take too seriously and yet, this year, they were 4th ahead of local rivals London Heathside, a much better result than in their three previous years when they were 14th (2005), 13th (2004) and 9th (2003). One who impressed running with the seniors was Saningo Martyn, who finished in the top ten several times in the Met League and also was 18th and 45th at his first attempts in the Southern and National Juniors respectively, showing great promise for the future.
Two seniors who ran well over the country for the first time with Highgate were Adam Mills and Peter Downie. It was Mills’ first year at the discipline and it was good to see Chris Beecham back to good form after being injured or away from the sport.
Team victories came with wins for the 'A' and 'B' team in the London Champs. Henry led them to victory in the North London and again in the Middlesex (Henry Dodwell, David Bruce, Dale Bickham, Chris Evans, Phil Coulson and Chris Bailey).
Of course one should not forget that Simeon Williamson, in his first year as a senior, came second in the AAA's 60 m indoors, which was the same event Dwain Bromfield came second at in the Middlesex Championships.

Young athletes compete in club championship
More young athletes enjoyed cross country running, by Kate Jenrick

Young athletes have been taking part in the North West London cross country league. In addition to notable individual performances, such as 1st place by Atak Diing at Trent Park, the boys’ U11 team finished in the top 3 at each outing. With such interest and talent, a club championship was set up running in conjunction with the 3rd League fixture in December.

Results of the club championship:

U11 Girls: 1st Alida Haworth
U13 Girls: 1st Sissy Bridge, 2nd Amy Cotter, 3rd Eucalypta Bradley
U15 Girls: 1st Julia Merkenschlager, 2nd Hannah Ashman
U11 Boys: 1st Stanley Harrison, 2nd Leo Turnell-Ritson, 3rd Josh Hockney
U13 Boys: 1st Roland Turnell-Ritson
U17 Boys: 1st Atak Diing, 2nd Max Onslow, 3rd Liam Donolly

The youngsters also represented Highgate in the Middlesex Championships: Sissy Bridge and Amy Cotter finished 20th and 26th respectively in the U13 girls. In the U13 boys, George Laing finished 21st and Roland Turnell Ritson 26th; in the U15 William Laing came 14th and Matt Kavanagh-Talbot 30th; in the U17 Atak Diing was 4th, Max Onslow 7th and Laurence Matthewman 18th.

Bill is coaching a large number of athletes (11+) on Tuesdays at the track. After Easter, my Thursdays U11 group returns from Talacre sports centre to the track.

The summer means track and field, and I hope that all those who have enjoyed the cross country are getting ready for the middle distance events on the track and also try out new field events. And parents - please note the dates for the Young Athletes League in your diary (available in this newsletter and on the website www.highgateharriers.org.uk/). The team needs support from athletes turning up to all and parents helping with officiating (you don’t need prior experience!).

Highgate youngsters in national rankings

Report on major achievements by our young athletes, by Shanne Bradley

National rankings

Our top ranking young athletes were:
Under 13 Boy - Oscar Faina - UKA Grade 1 in both 100 m and 200 m sprint; nationally ranked 10th and 9th respectively.

Under 13 Girl - Eucalypta Bradley - UKA Grade 1 in both 70 m hurdles and shot putt; nationally ranked 16th ; London Schools winner in both; events; competed for winning Middlesex County U13 team.


Gold medal for Shanne Bradley.

Shanne Bradley has been awarded a gold medal by the Middlesex County Athletics Committee in recognition of her work with the Middlesex County Under 13 Girls team; in both putting it together and their achieving Middlesex County's first ever team win in the annual Junior South of England Intercounties competition at Kingston.


Four HH athletes competed for Middlesex County:

Eucalypta Bradley - 70 m hurdles, shot putt,relay.

Rochelle Miller - 100 m, 200 m sprint, relay.

Oscar Faina - 100 m, 200 m sprint, relay.

Dion Recica had his first ever go at the reserves 800 m. He ran faster than both Middlesex A and B race athletes!

Middlesex County AA Indoor Track and Field Championships
At 11th December at Thames Valley AC, Eton, Highgate Harriers young athletes took away a haul of 12 medals - 5 gold, 5 silver, 2 bronze.
Congratulations to all who made that early start and journey to Eton.

Under 15 Girls:
Eucalypta Bradley - gold shot putt, 7.43 m; silver 60 m hurdles, 11.12.
Rochelle Miller - gold 60 m sprint, 8.22 (NQS)
Hannah Rose-Silver - silver long jump, 3.96 m; bronze 60 m hurdles, 11.20.
Jordane Regis - silver shot putt, 6.98 m.

U17 Girls:
Hannah Ashman - silver 60 m Hurdles, 11.16.

U15 Boys:
Anthony Norris - gold shot putt, 8.48m; bronze 60 m sprint, 7.81 (NQS).

U17 Boys:
Hakeem Aderibigbe - gold 60 m hurdles, 11.38; gold shot putt, 10.78 m; silver 60 m sprint, 7.80 (just outside NQS).
Eric Guei - 60 m sprint heat, 7.78 (NQS); 4th in final 7.82.
Kiel Nettleford - 60m sprint heat, 8.05.

Road relay success

Highgate Harriers Under 15 Boys team won bronze in the Middlesex Young Athletes Road Relays at Minet Centre, Hayes.

Under 15 boys (3 x 3000 m):
Leg 1 Patrick Foley 10:56
Leg 2 Max Coventry 11:49
Leg 3 William Laing 11:11

Team positions:
1st Ealing, Southall & Middlesex 32:12
2nd Hillingdon AC 32:47
3rd Highgate Harriers 33:56

Highgate Men's Summer Report
Highgate Harriers track and field athletes have a lot to celebrate in 2005, reports Alastair Aitken

The season was started with two good road results. Nicky Martyn being the second over 40 veteran in the London Marathon in 2:28:14 and also, on the road, Keith Cullen set new Highgate figures with 29:14 for 10 km. Dale Bickham and Phil Coulson were winning on the road over 10 and 5 km respectively.
Now for the track & field, the important area of competition for the summer months. Undoubtedly the most extraordinary club 'double performance' was by two sprinters with a huge age differential. They both brought fame to the name "Highgate Harriers". 'King' of the youngsters was 19-year-old Simeon Williamson, who had a fantastic year winning nearly everything in the United Kingdom in the under 20 age group. He was the AAA's indoor and outdoor Champion and only lost out in one important short sprint in that category. That was by a mere 100/th of a second in the European Juniors. He ended the season in the Norwich Union Grand Prix in Sheffield with a personal best of 10.22, which augurs well for the future for him. At the other end of the scale was Sylvester Stein sprinting to victory in the over 80's 100 m in the British Masters Championship and then, as an 84 year old, having his first ever play 'Killing Mr Drum' put on at the end of August at the established Riverside Studios!
It should always be realised how hard the 'Officials' work at the meetings. They include such names as Terry Driscoll, Martin Howard, Martin & Brian Holland, Tony Maitland, Bob Slowe, Juliet Kavanagh and Richard Priestley. Then there are coaches John Wild and Jacky Bayliss who are a help behind the scenes. In particular, it is worth mentioning Shanne Bradley who, along with Bill Mutler in the winter, works hard to improve the status of the club and the future of athletics amongst the younger athletes in the club.
'Teamwise', obviously the interest has been in the Southern League Division One. Highgate Harriers fought well finishing 7th of the 25 clubs but just missing out on qualifying for the playoff for the British League. They did better than in 2003, but not quite as well as last year where they made the qualifier. Their match positions in 2005 have been, in order, 3; 2; 3; 3; 1; 3.
As the hard working team manager Richard Priestley has pointed out, we cannot afford to be so thin on the ground in all the jumping departments, including the pole vault, if we want to reach the qualifier again. There is specialist Dennis Ntoluke in the triple jump but that is all.
Two Americans, if they do sufficient training before coming out next year, could help. Sean Majestic, an ex high school decathlete, was very ring rusty but could be very useful along with Matthew- Dore Weeks, who is starting to pick up some valuable points.

There is also 16-year-old Tashan Bradshaw-Brown who should be a useful addition, as a long jumper in future Southern Leagues.
I suppose what strikes one was how resilient the 'Highgate Spirit' is and was. If you cast your mind back to the second meeting at Ashford and the 3000 m steeplechase, Dale Bickham had a nasty fall, somersaulting off a hurdle and got up to win. Even more amazing was 'Great Highgate Stalwart' Eric Southam, pulling a leg muscle quite severely and then, somehow, he climbed over the barriers for the last few laps in the event, including the water jump of course, to give Highgate two 'B' points. Junior Rory Campbell out-kicked a Serpentine runner at Harrow in a close 800 m 'B' to add to Dominic's win.
The 4x400 relay squad are always good and we were never out of the first two. Ben Caird, and regulars Greg Smith, Dominic Hall and Pat Davis can always be relied upon. We had some fantastic sprint results at Bracknell, at the penultimate meet, through Simeon Williamson and Dwain Bromfield plus, a sprint relay victory in 43.04 (Dwain Bromfield, Amin Ahmadnia, Simon Duncan, Simeon Williamson). However, we were missing at least seven of our top nine sprinters in the final match on the 20th of August at Copthall, Hendon, which of course would have included such runners as Kristian Clarke. So, that is one major reason we were not in a good enough position to have a strong chance of making the playoff. However, all in all we did well and I know Richard Priestley would like to say a special 'thank you' to all those that did compete in the season. Our throwing trio of John Tartarau, John Biggs and Mike Reiss can always be relied on for good points - of that there is little doubt.
That ‘Man for All Seasons' , Henry Dodwell, has had a good summer, running well under 15 minutes over 5000 m on at least two occasions, winning many of the league races he ran, plus being Middlesex Champion. Two who have backed him up well and should feature in the future, besides Dale, are two Scotsmen, Alan MacPherson and Peter Downie.
Perhaps the two who stand out for me on the track were Pat Davis and Simon Child. Davis brought his time for 800 m down to 1:51.79 and was placed in the Middlesex, Southern and Inter-Counties finals. A stylish runner, he looked supremely confident when winning an 'A’ 400/800 double in the final league meet at Copthall.
Simon Child has been backed up by that fighter Ollie Barnet in the two hurdles disciplines. The thing about Simon Child was he had been only competing and training for a year. He won a 400/400 hurdles and ran in both relays at the final meeting of the year, so there is someone else with a good future ahead of him.

Profiles of the sprint group

Our male sprinters introduce themselves

Joseph Bara-Bara
I’ve been sprinting competitively at club level since I was 11 years old. I was encouraged to go down to Haringey Athletics Club at first as an infant by a play centre sports leader who was the father/coach of two international athletes, Gary and Judy Oaks, when he spotted that I had talent. My best events are the 100 m, 200 m and 400 m. My running successes include getting in the U13 and U15 UK top ten 200 m rankings, being Middlesex U15 200 m champion and U17 400 m champion. I have been selected to run for Middlesex three times and London once. I ran for Manchester University at the inter-university indoor championships, and also was awarded the southern counties silver in the U15 200 m. I was also the independent schools U17 200 m champion. I have represented Haringey AC and later on Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers in numerous league matches and championships including the AAA’s indoor champs. These early successes encouraged me to start running again after a break out of the sport to concentrate on study. Other sports that I have been involved in are Judo, which I have studied for about five years in total.

Ben Caird
Ben’s sporting life started at primary school, playing football with a tennis ball at break time with dozens of children running around like headless chickens. At school, many sports were introduced to give the children a chance of using different skills. Ben embraced any sporting activity he was involved in. Having never really been interested in ‘athletics’ as a sport on its own, Ben ran his first 800 m race at his secondary school sports day. He started, as any child does naïve about the distance or the fitness required, running as hard as he possibly could. He slowed significantly but won the race by a large margin, at the same time winning the praise of the parent/coach of another child, already a member of Highgate Harriers. From there, at the age of 12, Ben discovered the track at Parliament Hill and knew that running was something he would always want to do. Ben was Camden Schools Champion over 400 m several times in a row, taking part in the London Schools Championships in this event as well as the English Schools Championships in the Pentathlon. As an U15, Ben came second in the Middlesex Championships over the 400 m. With a few years lost due to growing injuries in his knees and a commitment as captain to his School first XI football team, Ben has now completed his first few years as senior for the Highgate Harriers A-team over 400 m. With a Personal Best of 50.8 Ben very much wants to break the elusive 50 second barrier in the coming season. Over the next few years Ben also hopes to incorporate hurdling into his repertoire, with one eye on the Harriers’ club record of 54 seconds.

Simon Child
Event: 400m hurdles
PB: 56.2, Ashfield, Kent
Simon brought a promising footballing talent to an abrupt end in 2003 when he was headbutted by an opposing player during a match on Hackney Marshes. The headbut was totally unprovoked and a period of great disillusionment set in. Bizarrely, he then turned to athletics, joining Highgate Harriers in 2004 as a 400 m hurdler. Dubbed "the man with no knee lift" when he started, Simon has worked hard on technique but still has no knee lift. Fortunately, a solid endurance base helps him get by. Although a keen participant in track sessions, he often mysteriously disappears before circuit work. He is also the only member of the 400 m group who re- hydrates on Robinsons squash.

Ross Curran
I, Ross Curran, am part of the Highgate Harriers sprint team and specialize in the 400 m. At the age of 27, I stand in the middle of an age gap that spans around 15 years amongst the group. As a result, I am given a constant reminder of my athletic mortality, with my team mates representing both what has gone by and what is to come. For me sprinting is a bit like an extreme sport which combines immediate exertion with a resultant adrenaline rush which always keeps you coming back for more. The training sessions at this time of year are always daunting and I never fail to be surprised when I get through them in one piece. I enjoy the competitive spirit within our group as well as the constant support and guidance of our coach Keith Wilson. Work often interrupts my training so much so I did not compete at all last year and I fear it may have a similar effect on this coming season. My personal best times stand at 51.8 and 23.7 for the 400 and 200 m respectively and I feel that, especially for the 400, I am yet to run my best race. So far this year I am training well and am starting to get into good shape. So come the summer if I do find myself lining up, in my Highgate vest, I plan to put all thoughts of missed training sessions, bad nights sleep etc. to one side and really hit it and then maybe I could run 51 dead. I'd be happy with that.

Matthew Dore-Weeks
I started running with Highgate Harriers when I was 12. I had a little success at school so I decided to join my local club. I was decent but never an exceptional club cross country runner. After a few seasons of that I began competing on the track. I enjoyed it a lot more and gave up cross country. I began as a high jumper, and I started doing multiple events. I took a long break from athletics and came back in 2001 when I was a member of the Highgate 'B' team that got promoted. I began the season as a high jumper and long jumper, but I ended up as a 400 m and 110 m hurdler. After that season I took another break in athletics until 2005 where I began competing again, wherever the team needed me. I have also played basketball for a team, whether it be school, university, or club, since I was 11. I still play organiser basketball today.

Greg Smith
During my teenage years I dabbled in a number of sports including, football, heavy weight boxing and bowling. In my late teens I settled on athletics and chose the 400 m on the basis I was not fast enough for the sprints or strong enough for the distance races. It soon became apparent that I also had insufficient speed and stamina for the 400 m. Nevertheless, I have stuck at it and can be relied upon to run 50.5 every year and have scored some notable victories including the B Race at last season's Woodford Green Open. I am also a regular for Highgate Harriers in the Southern League largely on account that I own a car.

Keith Wilson, Senior Sprint Advisor
London-born Keith was running mad from an early age and, like most inner city boys, football was his game during these early years. By the age of 12 Keith found himself playing for the school rugby and basketball teams, both of which he played for three seasons. At age 15 Keith had the opportunity to learn horse riding as part of the school’s programme and supplemented this with Sunday excursions to Arkley riding school near Barnet. Before his 16th birthday Keith had joined John Sutcliffe's racing stables near Epsom, Surrey, as an apprentice jockey and rode out twice daily on the famous Epsom downs. Two years later, Keith had grown from a 7½ stone 15-year-old to a 10 stone Martial Arts fan.
Too big to become a jockey Keith moved back to London to work as a trainee chef and enrol for karate lessons. He went on to reach Black Belt status at the reputable tough inner city dojo at Kings Cross under the watchful eye of Meiji Suzuki. In 1977 Keith moved to Montana in the U.S.A to live and work enrolling in the local boxing club and over a three-year period participated in 21 amateur contests winning the Montana and Wyoming State Championships at middle-weight.

Keith Wilson continued ....
On returning to London in 1980, Keith was redundant as a sportsman for three years before finding himself running back to fitness around Regents Park and later supplementing these runs with some resistance training. By 1985 Keith had returned to his old club in Kings Cross where the emphasis was now on kickboxing, as well as making routine visits to the St Pancras Boxing club to spar.
Keith represented Great Britain in two European Championships in Greece and Yugoslavia winning gold on both occasions in the 81 kg division. Although Keith was refused his boxing licence on medical grounds, he continued to compete as a kick- boxer up to 1993.
Keith has been a personal trainer since 1986 specialising in boxing and kickboxing programmes. In 1999 Keith joined Highgate Harriers after discovering veteran athletics and has on several occasions made the national 400 m final in his age group. Keith is the senior sprint group advisor at Highgate Harriers and is currently pursuing his level 3-coaching award.



Summer Fixtures