Twelve Highgate juniors ventured south of the river for fast times and Nando’s last month in the final group race before Christmas.
Supported and paced by their teammates and coaches, the RunThrough Chase the Moon 5k offered a decent if spenny opportunity to post a 5k best before the end of the year.
Conditions were ideal. Josephine Luis, Leoni Delvendahl and Joseph Drinkell duly took full advantage to clock their fastest ever times while Felix Kent blew away the field to win the race outright.
Breaking barriers
Josephine, paced by Coach Hannah, ran 20:06, more than 40 seconds faster than she managed on the same course at the Battersea parkrun two months ago. The sub-20 minute barrier lies tantalisingly close in 2026.
“It was alright,” enthused Josephine.
Shooting off the line at a good lick, Joe settled into a more manageable rhythm midway through the first lap.
Harris Austin, Woody Nicole and Coach Chris created an arrow-like, Breaking-2 formation to help Joe carve his way through the field and en route to a 30-second personal best.
“I was really hurting during that fourth kilometre,” said Joe, who ran 16:34 to go inside 17 minutes for the first time. “But I didn’t want to let it slip after coming so far.”
Taking top honours
Crossing the line exactly one minute later, Leoni took another huge chunk off her previous best in another sign of the progress she’s making this winter. The Southern Inter-Counties silver medallist also took the honours in the women’s race.
“I’m really happy with my race and grateful for my pacers, Dan [Groves] and Alex [Mulvihill],” said Leoni.
With support from the sidelines from teammates Nick Taylor, Thomas Chadwick, Lauren Russell and Joseph Hayes, Felix broke away from the front pack around the mid-point of the race.
During the long back stretch on the second lap, the Durham University undergrad managed to increase the tempo to sub-3:00/k pace despite running into the back of lapped runners.
“I didn’t think I was in that sort of shape,” said Felix, who crossed the line in 15:15, just 3 seconds shy of his road 5k PB.
With race wins and PBs in the bag, the group Christmas social took place afterwards at Nando’s at Battersea Power Station. Butterfly chicken proved the most popular order on the menu. Spice level? Lemon and herb.
