This issue of the Gate is full of great performances. The silver medals won by Highgate’s women and men in the Southern six-stage road relays are just two of the highlights.
And special mention must be given to Simeon Williamson the under-20 AAA’s indoor 100m champion ran, who ran the sixth fastest 100m in the UK last season in his age group.
The club is on a roll, and thanks to a facelift, Parliament Hill track is looking ten years younger.
But there are days when only guilt gets you out of the armchair and into training kit, however much you love athletics.
The same is true when you edit a magazine that is so woefully late that the season is ancient history.
So my apologies to everyone who waited for last autumn’s issue that never was.
Hopefully, this issue is worth the long wait. And many thanks to all the contributors. Javier Pes

Bulletin Board

Gala re-opening

Bob Slowe writes: Monday 25 April saw a return to the club’s tradition of promoting meetings for the wider community when it joined with the Corporation of London in putting on a gala event to celebrate the opening of the resurfaced track.
Lord Carter of Coles, the chairman of UK Sport, performed the opening ceremony. This was followed by an exciting meeting featuring 4 x 100m relays, first for primary school children and then for a wonderful variety of clubs and organizations. And there were invitation and open 100m, 1500m and 3000m races. In these there were spectacular victories by Simeon Williamson and Keith Cullen.

Highgate online’s name change

Dave Burroughs writes: as we go to press is in the process of getting our online name back. But it involves sending forms between the Domain Name Registry in England, the current registrant in Germany (the blighter - ed.) and me in New Zealand.
Hopefully, we’ll have our old website name back before too long but if in the meantime, due to problems beyond the club’s control, the website can now be found at www.highgateharriers.org.uk.
Normal service should be resumed within by June at www.highgateharriers.co.uk

Welcome to our new members

Young Highgate

It was a summer of track and field personal bests, says Bill Mutler

Parliament Hill Fields, 9th May

THERE WAS AN EXCELLENT turnout of 28 athletes for the first match of the season in the Young Athletes League, division two NW, some for the first time for the club.
Eucalypta Bradley ran 11.4 for the 75m, 14s for the 70mH and long-jumped 3.61m with third, second and fourth places respectively. Matilda Bridge placed third in her 800m and the U13 girls 4 x 100m of Becky Tyrwhit Drake, Grace Campbell, Matilda and Eucalypta (Eucy) were third.
Marika McKennell gained valuable points with a 3.19 800m and a shot put of 4.42m. Ettie Lach, in her first outing, ran in the 75m and the 70mH for fifth and third respectively. Gloria Cronin and Flynn Esther did three events each and Jasmin Thomas in her first Highgate events did the shot and javelin. Antra Balcuna opted for three field events with two in third place.
It was good to see Anthony Norris back after being out for months with a serious leg problem. He won the 100m, 200m and shot put. William Laing and George Laing also gained valuable points and Santi was second in the 800m. Tashan Bradshaw Brown won the long jump with 5.65m, was second in the shot put (9.27m) and the ‘B’ 100m (12.4).
Shahzan Uddin threw the discus for second place with 20.32 and was second in the 200m with 27.9s.
With Kristian Clarke winning the 100 in 12.0s and Sergeo Frazado third in the 200m we had a good 4x100 quartet who recorded their fastest time of the season - 50.3 in second place.

Rory Campbell (400m) and Saningo Martyn (800m) ran under distance to improve their speed and both finished second. Saningo also ran in the 1500m S/C which he won in 5.01.Daniel Dowek got second place in the long jump with 5.57m. And the award to the athlete of the match went to Tashan for his fine long jumping.

St Albans, 6th June

Just 14 athletes (although I had booked two mini buses after the first match!).
Eucalypta did her usual three events with a best of 13.6 in the 70mhH for third place.
Marika was injured after the 75m but put the shot for third place. Gloria and Flynn performed very well with PBs in the 100m - 14.2 (Gloria) and 14.8 (Flynn); Alan Aberdeen sprinted the 100 and 200m in 14.9 and 31.9 and Santi ran a 2.37.4 800m for third.
Our strength is in the U15 boys. Kristian ran a 12.1s 100m for 2nd and, with no training, a surprise shot put for 2nd with 8.54m Shahzan won the discus in 25.76m, Tashan did a PB in the long jump of 5.83m for first and then ran a 12.5 for second in the 100m B string.
The relay team of Shahzan, Tashan, David Flatley and Kristian finished a close second but they were disqualified as Tashan ran out of lane in the straight! David Flatley longjumped 4.53m and threw the javelin in 19.72m.
Liam Donnelly ran a 5m31.9s 1500m S/C for first place ‘B’ and Saningo Martyn going for a PB ran a solo 5.04.2 for first in the A string. Rory traveled up for a speed session and won the 400m in 53.1.

Banbury, 27th June

Only ten athletes went to Banbury but our team spirit was high. However so was the wind, affecting most events, especially the sprints. In her first match for us, Adelaide Cowton won the 75mH’B’ race in 14.6 and was second in the high jump with 1.45.
Gloria - either second or third - in 75mHA in 13.6 and Flynn ran 15.0 and 30.1 for the 100 and 200m.
William and George Laing competed well in the 100m, 200m and long jump (both middle distance athletes) and Santi in his last race for us before going to live in Kenya finished third in the 1500m. Shahzan was second in the discus (23.71) and in the javelin (31.27). David Flatley did three events with second places in the ‘B’ javelin (22.15m) and discus. David Laing ran the 400m and long jumped 3.80m for second place. Matilda ran the 75m and the 800m in which she recorded 2.59.4.
A big thanks to Adelaide’s father who helped with team management.

Abingdon, 1st August

Schools holiday, so only seven athletes plus five officials turned up!
William did three events and ran a strong 1500m for third in 5.09 and long-jumped 4.14m for second. Kristian won the athlete of the match with a 11.9s 100m. Tashan won the long jump in 5.48m. Eucalypta once again did three events, second in 70mH (13.6), second in 150 (22.9) and third in long jump (3.68m). Adelaide’s three events - 75mH 14.5; high jump 1.40m and long jump 3.86m. Tashan also won the B 100m in 12.4 and a surprise winner of the high jump in 1.65m. Shahzan won the discus and was 4th in the ‘B’ long jump. We finished sixth for the first time this season but on a high with the 4x100 of Shahzan, Tashan, David Laing and Kristian Clarke winning convincingly in 50.9.

Team support

Winter post script

HIGHGATE SCORED a notable first and second when Rory Campbell won the 2003-4 London Schools’ Cross Country Championships with Saningo Martyn second.
Saningo later finished equal third in the North West London Young Athletes Cross Country Championships with his brother Santi Martyn becoming champion of the Under 11 group (winning four out of five races). Santi won the Finsbury Park road race, with William Laing second and Henri Gomez third. Finally, Henry Gomez was 5th in the London Schools’ Cross Country Champs (year seven).

Silver Service

Team consistency meant the men rocketed up the league, says Alastair Aitken

THE MEN’S TRACK AND FIELD team improved upon their tenth position in the Southern League Division One for 2003 to second in 2004. The only club to finish ahead of them were Southend AC who had a brilliant year and qualified for the British League. However, the one thing Highgate Harriers’ track and field team have in common with Southend is team spirit, of that there is little doubt.
The team manager Richard Priestley said: "It will be the continuity that will do it again this year and qualifying for the British League is something Highgate are capable of," adding, "Last year the captains Dominic Hall and Pat Davis did stirling work, leading by example."

"Although the hurdlers found it difficult to get to the start with the vagaries of British Rail, we won"

I remember talking to one of Highgate’s top athletes who felt that we would continue to enjoy the competition in division one of the Southern League, even if they did not make the British League.
He thought it might be a bit more intense in the British League and require even more training which, would take some of the fun out of competing. But there are others who really would be keener to be promoted.
It certainly has proved a good balanced competition in division one, where the lads can try their skills in some of the events that are not their speciality.

A flying start

Highgate started their year on a winning note at Parliament Hill Fields on the 1st of May, giving the opposition no chance and winning well.
The ‘B’ team were second in their division four match. One young runner who progressed from that division and improved from being an over-two-minute- 800-man at the start of the season to being a 1:57 man in the year was Rory Campbell.
On the downside that charming flying doctor Andy Evens, who was most prolific on the track and field, has gone back to Australia.
On the 22nd of May Highgate were runners up to Southend, the division winners, on their home track, which was not unexpected.

Frantic calls

On the 13th of June our combined men’s and women’s team, which was not at it’s strongest, did well to come third in the Jubilee Cup first round and reach the semifinals.
Our third Southern League meet was at Winchester on the 26th of June at Portsmouth. It was not a help that we only found out on the day that the venue had been changed from Salisbury and, despite the journey and Richard frantically phoning round, we came third behind the ‘more’ local club Winchester and Yeovil.
The 10th of July saw Highgate off to Woking for their fourth Southern League match and although the hurdlers found it difficult to get to the start with the vagaries of British Rail we won with the home club only coming third.

Match point

On the 31st of July, in the penultimate meet at New River, Highgate won by two points from Luton United who had been a British League club and had to bring in international cross-country runner Luke Beevor to win the 5000m.
The final meet was a cliff-hanger for the club, despite the fact that Willliamson (100/200), Johnson, Cullen and Henry Dodwell won maximum points; all was to play for in the last event the 4x400m relay.
Ross Curren, Dan Lavipour, Dominic Hall and Pat Davis were relied on to bring the baton home first and they did, which meant the end result was Highgate 121 and Tonbridge second with 120.

Strong finish

On the 18th of September Highgate went into the qualifier for the British League at Abingdon.
Except for Dennis Johnson’s unavailability, we sported a strong team that included Keith Cullen, who had run a Southern League 5000m record already in the season.
The end result was that Swindon, who had been in the British League before won with 389points, from Southend 373 and those two qualified.
Next came Leeds 293 and then Highgate 287.5, which was a very good effort, with still only Southend ahead of them from the Southern League.
Next came Bolton 283; Winchester, who had beaten them earlier in the year 224 and Deeside 116.

Young talent

After a resounding performance by Simeon Williamson winning the indoor AAA’s U20 60m final already in 2005 and field events men like John Tartaru, Mike Reese and Dennis Ntoluke out again it should be another good year.
There are others young athletes such as Ben Caird, Greg Lewis and the hurdler Ollie Barnet who should not be forgotten for their important contribution to the Highgate team in the Southern League as well this season, to mention a few.

"The final meeting was a cliff-hanger. Despite winning maximum points, there was all to play for in the last event: the 4x400m relay"

A league of their own

The women’s team reigned supreme in the Met League, reports Astrid Wingler

THE WINTER SEASON began with a shocker: our men won a silver medal in the South of England Road Relay Championships in Aldershot. Being used to performing better than our men’s team, we knew that we had to win a medal in the women’s race to get any kind of recognition.
Our team looked very strong and, after an excellent victory against tough opposition in the St Albans Relays on the previous weekend, we were quietly optimistic. After good runs by Sally Hannah and Svenja Abel on the first two legs, Sula Young stormed around the course to hand over in second position, just behind Bedford, a team we had beaten in St Albans. However, I did not have a very good race on the last leg and lost one place. Still, we won our first important medal of the season.
Another highlight of the season was our unexpected second place behind an incredibly strong Winchester team in the South of England Cross Country Championships on Parliament Hill. In her best race of the season, Kate Jenrick ran particularly well on the steep hills and finished in an excellent 13th position. The team packed well, with myself in 14th, Lindsay Kehoe in 18th and Esther Evans in 23rd.

Unfortunately, by the time of the National Cross Country Championships in Birmingham, our team was severely weakened by injuries. Our 9th place was a bit disappointing, having been very close to the medal positions in recent years.
Nevertheless, modern pentathlete Caroline Bullard ran very well in her first race for us in the season and finished first Highgate women in an excellent 48th position.

Repeat victory

In the two previous years we had dominated the Metropolitan Cross Country League. Not only had we won every single match, but we had also provided the individual winner in every race. This year, however, the opposition was much stronger.
Fortunately, we managed to win the first two matches and then hung on to the overall victory. Although none of us came first as individual this year, we could still mange a few second and third places (Svenja Abel second in Ruislip, Kate third in Woodford, Sula third in St Albans and I second in St Albans and third in Perivale).

"We had dominated the league. But this year the opposition was much stronger"

With the standard of the Met League constantly improving, the races are certainly getting more interesting. It would be great to see more of our men compete in the Met League.
Fortunately, some of them have already shown some enthusiasm - Duncan even brought champagne to celebrate the last match (and Andy Evan’s departure to Australia).
If the men keep brining the bubbly, we are more than happy to share our chocolate cake with them!

New members

We would never have won the Met League without the new members of our team.
Middle distance runner Lindsay Kehoe, who joined us from Woodford Green with Essex Ladies, not only supported us in the Met League but also won the North London Championships quite convincingly.
Another new member of our cross country team is Josefa Souza, a top marathon runner from Brazil. Josefa competed for us in nearly every cross country race this season and adapted well to the cold and muddy conditions.
Jo Carritt, who only started running recently, had a few excellent races, beating some of our more experienced runners.

The stalwarts

The basis of our consistently good performance over the last years is a small number of highly dedicated team members who are keen to support the team whenever possible and make my life as team manager much easier.
Special thanks go to Sarah Chapman, Jenny Turner, Esther, Kate and, of course, to Natasha Cendrowicz, who has not missed a single Met League race in the last three years and regularly supplies us with cakes. Unfortunately, two of our strongest runners, Svenja and Anna McCutcheon, were injured for most of the season.
After an excellent second place in the first Met League race, Svenja has suffered from a series of injuries but is now slowly getting back into running.
Anna, who had injured her knee in a motor bike accident, did run strongly in a few races, but had to stop after the condition of her knee did not improve.
Sula, accident prone as ever, missed the National after falling off her bike.
Hopefully, they will all recover soon, so that our team will be even stronger for the 2005/06 winter season.

Autumn glory

OUR CROSS COUNTRY AND ROAD teams started their winter campaign with one of their best results for years but the forward momentum of the club was blocked, unfortunately, as the season progressed by the amount of injuries obtained amongst the top flight.
However, Highgate Harriers ‘1879’ are far from dispirited. Dave Burrows is still very much involved with the club, albeit from many thousands of miles away, and Ben Pochee has lost none of his optimism for the boys with black and white hooped vests.
That spirit was never more in evidence than it was in the heavy weather at Aldershot Arena on the 25th of September when Highgate mounted their first serious winter challenge.

Silver lining

The men made a great start but injuries took their toll, reports Alastair Aitken

So, looking at all those names, plus McPherson, yet to don the Highgate colours, we have the makings of a National winning team of the future!
Remember that day, besides having the fastest leg by any club done by Keith Cullen, we had good runs by Javier Pes and Duncan Burbidge in the ‘B’ doing times only just outside our top six!
Another thing worth noting was the great enthusiasm by Ben Noad for the club who, despite being injured, took us from eighth to third on the third leg.
Then in the National road relays at Sutton Coldfiield Highgate did reasonably well with fifteenth place with Cullen gaining the third fastest time in the deplorable conditions. Ben Pochee ran notably well for a competitive third place on the first leg.
Chris Beecham made a welcome return from injury to come second in the Liddiard cross country in October then came the London Championships, a high point again for Highgate as they won the Championships with a team of Cullen, Snow, Beecham and Burbidge. Cullen who won the individual race also gained a UK vest coming third in the European Trials, held in conjunction.

"We have the makings of a National winning team of the future"

Young guns

Rory Campbell, who had won the Under 17 race in the Metropolitan League on November the 27th, also won the Middlesex title on the 15th of January at Wormwood Scrubs with Saningo Martyn third. The Team of Campbell, Martyn and Jack Matthewman were third. Martyn won or did well in a lot of local races all through the season, particularly the North West London league final race when ex-athlete Bill Mutler was team manager and Campbell did well in other championship races.
Other than the great runs on the boards by Simeon Williamson, there was a much younger runner improving fast. His name is Bill Laing, one of Ted Fosbrook’s three athletic grandsons. Bill won a Middlesex Under 13 cross country vest when he came fifth in his age group race. Ted, who was once a leading coach and runner for Highgate said: "Getting a county vest was something I never did!"
In the senior race two Highgate runners excelled and gained county vests: Dale Bickham finished 8th and Duncan Burbidge 10th.

Team effort

On the 5th of February Alex Davidson won the Middlesex veteran’s title for the second time,in Mass Bess Woods but had a terrific battle with a couple of local London Heathside runners. In the Southern Dodwell was first home for the Gate in 24th place and the team was sixth. Dodwell had been first in the Metropolitan League race Ruislip back in October.
Someone who often ran that event was veteran Chris Bailey, who always finished well in the first quarter of the field or better. But Highgate as a club, unlike the successful women’s team, do not take the event as a serious team effort with so many other events to aim for in the season.

Missing in action

The last event of the cross-country season was the National cross country Championships at Crofton Park, Birmingham and Highgate were missing at least a dozen of our star runners and so Henry Dodwell had to run very well to compensate, and he did coming 65th.
The National showed that it is strength and depth which is the most important thing. So it is worth giving credit where it’s due: to those that turning out so often.
For a start, Jeremy Rogers has run well all season and being quite close to the best, then there are runners like Claudio Romero, Joseph Lowe, Steve Scruton, Nick Stockman and Jose Barretta who have been showing Highgate’s colours in many of this winter’s races.
Well done those men!

  Heath notes:

    sprained ankle

Bob Slowe shows how a bit of self help means you can bounce back from a common injury

ANY ATHLETE WHO doesn’t get injured at some time is either incredibly lucky, or hasn’t been trying very hard. Whatever our discipline, from time to time we either cross that narrow line that separates hard training from just that bit too much, or else we suffer some minor accident that leaves us in that dreaded state...injured.
The best way to deal with any injury is to get to a professional therapist, osteopath, physiotherapist, chiropracter or masseur, as soon as possible. Get early treatment and advice and the time off training and competition will be reduced to a minimum.
But for practical reasons it is not always possible to do this and many athletes merely stop training and competing until the injury seems to have gone away. This is a bad idea as the cure will probably not be complete, with the result that the injury will recur and eventually become chronic and very hard to shift.
Nevertheless, there is some treatment you can do yourself which will see you well on the way to recovery and help speed up the journey back to your full fitness and then competition.

Twist and shout

In this article I deal with one of the most common, the "turned ankle" where an athlete steps awkwardly and goes over on the outside of the ankle.
Anyone unlucky enough to do this will know how painful it can be. As it always seems to happen miles from home the unfortunate runner often has to hobble a long way before being able to rest, while the ankle swells up like a balloon and begins to go lots of interesting colours.

Immediate treatment

The immediate treatment is covered by the acronym RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation):
Rest - this is obvious and generally one has no choice. Just keep the weight off the injured ankle for 24 - 48 hours.
Ice - use a packet of frozen peas (or, better, always keep a gel pad in the freezer) and apply it to the injured part for five to ten minutes every hour if you can at first. Don’t put it directly onto the skin as it can cause skin damage. As time goes on apply the ice once or twice a day and after using the ankle.

Compression - wrap a crepe bandage tightly around the ankle (when you are not applying the ice treatment) but not so tightly that it causes great pain or stops the blood flow. In any event loosen the bandage from time to time and at night to let the blood circulate. This should be done for around seven days at least.
Elevation - this is most important in the very early stages. The leg should be rested so that it is above horizontal for as long as possible and as often as possible.

Making moves

After a few days the swelling should start to subside and the pain lessen. At this point RICE changes to MICE (rest is replaced by mobilisation).
The mobilisation consists of starting to move the ankle gently through its range of movement both actively, by sitting and moving the foot in a circular motion, and passively, by sitting with the legs crossed, holding the toes and pulling the foot through the same motion but maybe taking it a little further. Never move it further than the pain barrier, which is a foolproof guide to the degree of healing. This should be continued until the range of movement is similar to the unaffected ankle.

Week two

Continue with the rest of the ICE treatments using common sense as to the degree to be applied.After a week to ten days things should be returning to normal, except that the swelling and bruising may take much longer to disappear. If you are able to walk normally and without pain and your range of movement is as good as the other ankle you can experiment with gentle jogging on a flat surface, at first keeping the bandage in place to give you more confidence.

Balancing act

At this point a most important part of the treatment takes place. The nerve endings which tell your brain how to stop the ankle going over again will have been damaged and must be repaired if you are to avoid doing the same injury next time you compete or train.
You can do this in a gym using a wobble board (a board mounted on a hemispherical piece of wood) or more easily at home by standing on the injured leg and balancing for ten to 20 seconds. Do this with your eyes open and then progress to doing it with your eyes shut. Always stand so that you have something ready to grab if you start to fall. When you can easily balance for 20 seconds with your eyes shut you should be ready to resume training.

Prevention better than cure

If you are to be running on uneven ground it is a good idea to strap the ankle on the outside with non-stretch adhesive bandage. Take the bandage in strips from under the foot, round the outside of the ankle and anchor it on the upper part of the inside of the ankle. If you apply the bandage with your ankle in an upright position it will prevent the ankle turning over. Try it to check you have got it right. As soon as you are confident in your training you should dispense with the bandage.

If in doubt

It is very important to seek skilled advice if the injury does not respond quickly to the above treatment as sometimes turning your ankle can result in a fracture or ligament tear and this will require much more prolonged and specialist treatment. If you are in any doubt, seek proper advice. However, the above treatment should deal with the majority of turned ankle injuries.

Obituary: George Coleman

Highgate Harrier and double Olympian

Our late father, George Coleman was born 21st November 1916 in Luton, the fifth of seven children whose father was a hat manufacturer.
George met his wife Vera at the Alma ballroom in Luton and they married in 1939.
They were both aged 22 years. He joined the Beds and Herts infantry on April 4th,1940 the same day that his wife gave birth to their first child, a daughter called Susan.
George was a semi-professional musician playing piano in the local dance bands.
Whilst entertaining on a troop ship to Burma he was co opted into ENSA and disembarked in Africa where he spent the majority of his army service. Discharged in 1946 he joined Vauxhall Motors as a pattern maker. He then became interested in race walking and joined there recreation club which was to be the start of a very successful sporting life.

Sporting achievements

1954 Midland Counties Champion 2 miles & 7 miles
AAA Champion 2miles & 7 miles
Inter-Counties Champion 2 miles
European Champs representative 10km 8th
Representative London v Moscow 10km
1955 AAA Champion 2 miles
Midland Counties Champion 2 miles
RWA 20 miles Champion 2h40:08.
Awarded Edgar Horton Trophy for above.
Representive London v Paris 25kms in Paris
1956 Inter counties champion 7 miles
AAA champion 7 miles. 50min 19sec.
Walked 8miles 168yds.in1 hour
British All comers and national record 10 miles. 74min 06sec.
United Kingdom records 9,10,11,12,13 miles
Olympic Games Melbourne, 20km 7th 1h34m1.8s.
Representative British Empire v USA in Sydney
1957 London v Paris 10km in London
1959 London to Brighton walk 53 miles in 9hrs 50mins.

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