Last week's ‘Leader Board’ (week starting Monday 18 May) was headed by Alex Holley with 155.4kms/12:47.40 of running time/2,951m elevation. Alex ran in the Crouch End, Highgate and Tufnell Park areas, as well as in the City and Kensington. One of Highgate's A' road team Sean Renfer did 148kms for second place and Luke McManus, who did 138.5km was third.  Highgate's Strava virtual ‘racing’ group now has 213 members.

LOCKDOWN DOES NOT CURB THE RUNNING APPETITE 
210 are now members of the Strava virtual racing set up with Highgate Harriers and last week's ‘Leader Board’ (week starting Monday 11 May) showed a regular runner top of the virtual ‘racing’: Alex Holley ran 153.1km in the week, in 12:37.34, with Sean Renfer and Roger Poolman on 148km & 137.3km respectively. Poolman ran one of the fastest middle distance times ever over 3k and 5k for Highgate Harriers the year before last, so it is good to see him doing well.

LEADERS ON THE BOARD FOR STRAVA VIRTUAL ‘RACING’ 
Last week's leaders on the Board (week starting Monday 27 April) were: 1 Alex Holley, 2 Sean Renfer and 3 Tufnell Park’s Kipchoge. This week's Leader (week starting Monday 4^th May) was Sean Renfer 105.4kms with 21.1k being his longest run, doing an average time per km of 4.25. His elevation was 690m. Second was Alex Holley and third was Tufnell Park's Kipchoge. It was good to see Roger Poolman, Charlie Haywood, and Sean Dixon well up the Leader Board, as was Luke McManus and of course Le Pretre. For the women ex-Highgate 'Star' Harrier Svenja Abel runs very well still, and Rebeca Johnson is often the first woman. The runners are keeping fit to race when the coronavirus has died down.

STILL RUNNING ALONE AS A RACE WITH HIGHGATE HARRIERS PLUS OTHERS 
Virtual ‘racing’ is here to stay for some time yet as the ‘lockdown’ continues. On another weekly, virtual racing Leader Board, the top three, were: 1 Alex Holley, who ran 105.1k's over 5 runs (furthest run, 21.8k; average time 4.51 per km and an elevation gain of 92m; 2nd Aurel Sinko-Uribe, 96.4/ 8 runs/ longest 20.8km/ 4.37 /574m elevation; 3rd Sean Renfer, 90.1/9 runs/16.km/4.26/782m.

TOP OF THE LEADER BOARD LAST WEEK
In Strava Virtual Challenge last week (week starting Monday 20 April) and out of the 209 members, familiar names filled the first three in Highgate's Challenge.  First on the Leader Board was Alex Holley who ran 156kms in the week in 13:04:06; second was Sean Renfer, who did 130kms in 9:58.23 and third was Robert Wilson 131.6 kms in 9:50.7. Rebecca Johnson was the first woman again on the Leader Board.

TERRY COMES UP TRUMPS
Terry Fawden, 21 years old, of Highgate Harriers was the fastest in the Virtual 5k 'Strava' Race with a time of 15:31 in the weekend (25/26 April). The ‘Mob Match’ was against Thames Hare and Hounds club who won the match but Fawden was fastest overall.

LEPRETRE STILL IN FORM DESPITE NO ACTUAL RACING WITH OTHERS 
In the Strava virtual running Leader Board, Alex Lepretre is still out in front (week starting Monday 20 April) with 90km of running done over 5 runs with a longest one of 25.9k; at an average speed of 4.44 per km, elevation1 ,333m. Of the 100 that took part in the challenge the first woman was Rebecca Johnson, 8th overall on the Leader Board. Her marks: 64.2km/ 4 runs/ longest 15.4km/ speed 4.42 per km, elevation 224m.  

ALEX LEPRETRE TAKES OVER
Virtual ‘racing’ by single individuals on the road and country to keep their interest and fitness going, was really under full swing, starting with the virtual National road relay, when the virus lockdown began.  
Alex Holley headed the Highgate leader board for 'Strava' last week (week starting Monday 6 April). Strava put Alex Lepretre ahead this week (week starting Monday 13 April) with 10 runs. His longest run was 23.2k and his overall average pace was 4:24 km.  

JOHN BRYANT 
With much sadness, we hear that John Bryant, a former second claim member of Highgate Harriers, died recently. A very kindly and friendly man, John had been editor of national papers, author of athletics books, and had won the London 5,000m Championships at one time. He also ran a quick marathon (of 2:21) in the London before he had a serous leg injury.

AN INTERESTING CHALLENGE
Highgate Harrier, Ben Noad, who ran for England in the World Cross Country Championships of 2007 and who has been a force in all Highgate's winning Metropolitan League teams, has had a challenge thrown down to him by his great friend, Ben Pochee and that is, in 2021, to try and break Ben’s Highgate Harriers club 10,000m 'over 45' record of 31:55. Pochee thinks he can do it. It is interesting to note that on the Strava Virtual running site Ben Noad has been running a lot recently. By 18^th May he had already run 119.9 miles in the month in a total moving time of 14:48:57. Ben has routes he does as the morning, afternoon and evening runs. Ben who coaches three athletes, two being Highgate Harriers, has sometimes been seen running his Strava runs around Ladywell, Crofton Park and Brockley.

Highgate’s Gareth Creagh was the fastest runner of 96 that entered 'the second Sunday in the Month’ Virtual 5-mile road race, organised by Thames Hare & Hounds running club and held between 10 and 13 April. Athletes individually choose their 5-mile running routes. Gareth, a M40 athlete, ran 27:45 for his course with no other Highgate runners competing; but, ex-Highgate Harrier Andrew Aitken (42) ran 30:46 and was the 8th fastest finisher.

Gareth Creagh ran in the Highgate team that came 12th in the Virtual National road relay with a time of 16:13 for his 5k stretch. The fastest Highgate runner in this event was Alex Lepretre who ran a swift 14:34 and was the 34th fastest out of the 2,457 that ran in the Men’s 12-stage event.

Highgate Harriers' men were 12th in the 12-Stage and the women 8th in the Six-Stage in the Virtual National Road Relay Championships, held around the time the actual National Road Relays would have happened had they not been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The hope was to raise £5,000 for the National Health Service and by the 11th of April £8,210 had been raised.
The main objective of the virtual competition was to give the distance runners of the UK something to aim for despite the lockdown. Each runner would run alone over a local 5 km course while adhering to social distancing guidelines with a target of doing the fastest time they could muster. Individual efforts were then fed into a computer to give a full club team result.
The overall response was fantastic all round. For the Women's 6-stage relay Highgate were placed 8th in 1:49.56, and the winners Herne Hill Harriers did 1:43.20. Regarding the men, they were 13th of 130 teams that completed. Highgate's time was 3:06.37 and the winning team was from Leeds City AC finished in 2:57.08.
Highgate's women’s team, in order of the fastest, comprised: Rebecca Johnson; Hannah Viner; Yasmin Goater; Emma MacAlister Hall; Emma Butcher; and Kari Hinshelwood. The men’s team, in order of fastest times, comprised: Alex Lepretre; Alex Crossland; Roger Poolman; Charlie Haywood; Shaun Dixon; Rob Wilson; Niki Faulkner; Alex Brampton; James Ross; Ash Chambers; Gareth Creagh; and Andre Chau.

Roger Low, Highgate's amazing marathon man, will have to wait until October 4th to run the famous event again. 
                                   
The date of the marathon has changed from the 26th of April to the 4th of October, due to the virus rampaging round the world. That fact is not relished by Roger, who now has to go on running regularly at 77, all through the summer. 

He still intends being on the start line in October. Roger ran 2:47:53 when he was 37 in the first London in 1981 and has run the race every year since. Only one of ten runners who have done every single London, ran faster in 2019, when Roger Low did 4:53.58 and that runner was the exceptional, 61-year old, Chris Finill, the Middlesex Over 60 Cross Country Champion from Harrow AC, with a time of 2:59.4.  Finill is quite famous for running right across America from coast to coast.

In the huge field in the Vitality Big Half Marathon in London on Sunday 1 March, the first Highgate Harrier was Matt Mintrom who finished 117th in 1:12.28.  The 2nd home for the club was William De Cothi in 155^th (73:49) with Barnaby Walker next home in 182^nd place in 1:14.43. Then came Luke McManus (244) in 1:16.36 and Tim Verheyden (261) in 1:16:53. Oliver Kean finished 277^th in 1:17.26. Nick Gold, a V45 runner, was 369th in 1:19.07 and Jess Anderson finished 1,282^nd in 1:29:37.

ROSS DUNSMORE GOOD IN THE PARK

Ross Dunsmore, was 9th of 235 finishers in 16:46 in the ‘Last Friday in the Month’ Serpentine 5k on 28 February. Dunsmore of Highgate Harriers won the Alexandra Park Run on 18th of January. In the Serpentine 5k other Highgate runners were David Shepherd who finished 14^th in 17:03, David Gilbert who finished 27^th in 17:42 and Emily Young who finished 101^st in 20:31.