It was a rather damp affair for this year’s Perivale 5, but spirits were high as we made our way to Perivale Park Athletics Track for what is, for many of us, one of the highlights of the running year.
Many months of preparation go into making the Perivale 5 happen, managed by a small-but-perfectly-formed team of Shona Cowper, Malcolm Woolsey, Catherine Günnewicht, Bev Packwood, Nick Vanson and Sally Murnaghan. If you would like to get involved, we already have a couple of additional roles we’d like to fill. Every year we learn something new about the event and think of a few additional little tasks or processes we can implement that would make the race just a bit smoother than it already is. It sometimes feels like it’s to the wire in the last few weeks but this is really the time when everything has to come together and lots of final details are put in place to make sure the day goes to plan. Thank you to the people who, every year, we call on for specific roles and tasks. You’re always so generous with your time, ask very few questions of what we need of you, and just roll up your sleeves and get stuck in. We appreciate you so much!
On the morning of the event itself, a small army is ‘onsite’ from 0730 putting out signage, cones, checking the track setup and, hopefully for this year only, pushing the timing team’s van out of the mud as they’d got it stuck driving into the track area. We do love a bit of drama to start the day! And then Catherine discovered the registration setup she’d gone out of her way to do in the gym building on Saturday afternoon had somehow been packed away by the track team…! Of course she pulled it out the bag to make sure registration opened as swiftly as possible.
Before we go into the race itself, a few words about Malcolm, the Assistant Race Director, who always goes out of his way to make sure the route is as safe as possible for the runners. So much so, that he was out in Perivale Park on the Thursday night before the event cutting back tree branches in the dark. He has cycled or run the course multiple times over the few weeks before the event and knows the route like the back of his hand. Thanks, Malcolm, for all your support and spotting things that usually pass me by (or that I choose to ignore…!).
Back to the race. As the runners stood on the start line the rain started to pelt down but also the timing team’s machine shut down so there was a slight panic while they tried to get that back up and running. It was one of those situations where you have no control over things and so there’s no point in panicking. Thankfully, the machine decided to work again and, with only a few minutes’ delay, we were ready to start. Pete Flewitt very wisely did a short and sweet pre race briefing before the race countdown and shooting the starting gun.
Malcolm had taken on the role of Lead Bike, and we were thankful for his cycling background when we realised that the lead runner was going at a pace not seen for many years. As the lead runner, Joshua Grace (Aldershot, Farnham & District) made his way through Perivale Park towards the track for his finishing lap, shouts of “get out the way!” by Malcolm made a lot of people jump into the side and leap for cover.
It was clear that we were onto a course record breaker and the spectators were making this known. It was very exciting to witness a 22-year record be broken, and so emphatically, with a time of 24.02 (versus 24.36 in 2002 by Kebede Dereje of Ethiopia). Second place finisher Matthew Merrick of Belgrave Harriers matched our previous record (as of less than a minute before!) with his impressive time. This was followed by ESM’s Finlay Barritt-Cross who held onto third place, fuelled by some enthusiastic cross-field screaming by clubmates, taking him over the line in 26.53.
In the women’s race, Tara Ferguson of Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow took first place in a time of 29.25 (24th overall). Tara is a U20 runner and crossed the line looking cool and composed.
Leonie Biemolt of Herne Hill Harriers took 2nd place in a time of 30.43, followed 30 seconds later by ESM’s Julie Triou in 31.13. Kudos to Julie for today’s race as she also ran Met League yesterday and finished in 21st place overall there. Hope she managed to put her feet up and get some rest at some point on the Sunday. In total, 282 runners completed the run – here are some stats for you stats lovers!
- 115 women took part, making up 41% of all race participants
- 5 males under 20 took part (one, Mika Stripp of ESM, dipping under the 30 minute mark!)
- No senior women placed in the top 3 – the winner was an U20, second place F35 and third place F45. In comparison, all three of the top places in the men’s category were taken by seniors.
- The top age grading of the race was taken by Simon Shaw of ESM (M50) with a ridiculously impressive 90.61%; this was followed by Pamela Wilson of Ware Joggers (F55+) who had an also ridiculously impressive grading of 89.47%.
As always, the importance of the marshals becomes evident during the race when many runners will miss arrows or not hear what’s being told to them and will need the wisdom of the marshals to head in the right direction. Thanks to all of you who stood out there in the rain and made sure everyone got around the route safely.
There was a stellar cake spread as always. It never fails to impress how much effort people put into contributing to the bake sale and it really adds to the atmosphere of the event knowing that there’s a vast array of sweet treats on offer. Thanks to the kitchen team who work like a well-oiled machine to keep the hungry masses fed and watered.
Of our own club runners, a few shout outs to those who left it all out there. Lynette Miller took a PB for the race, completing in 1.04. And congratulations to Lynn Wilson who, after many years of being out there in all weathers putting out signage and setting up the course, actually ran the event! Lynn ran back in the Perivale 5’s original iteration when it was the Flyaround 5 (’99 and ’00) and then ran again in ’02, ’03 and ’04 when the Perivale 5 route went in the opposite direction to nowadays. This has us wondering if we need to throw something different into the mix for next year….who knew that there was so many adaptations of the event?!
Full results from the event can be found here: https://mytime.kronosports.uk/results.aspx?CId=20177&RId=485
Have a great Christmas and New Year, and we’ll see you in 2025!