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    A record field of 355 senior men ran in the Metropolitan League race on November the 7th, over a dry but very undulating course at Claybury, Woodford. (Race first run in October 1966).
    I talked to the first three exclusively for Running in London

The London Colleges league took place at Richmond park today. Light drizzle at the end greeted the athletes but these students are a hardy bunch. A good 100 were present with Andy Vernon (St Mary's) taking the win.

After Emily Adams (14.39) was 8th on the first leg out of 73 complete teams. Stephanie Twell, a class cross-country and track runner, took Aldershot into the lead on leg 2 (14.00) and on leg 3 came Louise Small (14.37) and Charlotte Purdue (13.53) anchored, in the fastest lap time of the day. Aldershot's time of 57.09, ahead of Chester Le Street (58.17) and City of Norwich (58.53) was a course record.
Alastair Aitken briefly interviewed Charlotte Purdue and then talked to Steph Twell afterwards specially for Running In London

NEWHAM & ESSEX BEAGLES, who were third in the Southern Six Stage at Aldershot were never out of the hunt in the Senior Men's National Six Stage race at Sutton Coldfield on the 17th of October and in fact after Dave Mitchinson , came 13th of the 95 starters in 13th place on leg One, they were never out of first place when Scotsman, Chris Mackay, took them into the lead in the latter part of stage 2. Mo Farah put the icing on the cake on stage 5 with the fastest lap of the day. However Belgrave repeated their Southern second place when their captain Neil Speaight took them from 5th to 2nd on the anchor leg and Southern Champions Aldershot & Farnham were up from 6th to 3rd, thanks to a sterling anchor leg by Ben Moreau (recent Wimbledon 10km winner)
    Alastair Aitken talked to all the Newham & Essex Beagles team after they finished their legs for  Running in London.
  

Herne Hill Harriers took their seventh Southern Veterans Four Stage road relay title at Rushmoor Arena on Sunday the 27th of October reports Alastair Aitken (1HHH 1:19:33, 2 Thames H&H 1:19:47; 3 South London H 1:20:39)

Belgrave Harriers have been a successful club for the last ten years and out of the wining National 12 stage team were six who came second to Aldershot Farnham & District in the Southern Six Stage.
     Here Alastair Aitken talked to them exclusively for Running in London after each of their legs in Rushmoor Arena, not just about the race but their athletics this year.

MARTYN ROOONEY ENDED HIS 2009 SEASON IN THE LAST MAJOR UK MEETINGS IN THE GRAND PRIX AT GATESHEAD ON THE 31st OF AUGUST IN FINE STYLE.
THE RESULT OF THE 400M  REGARDING THE FIRST SIX OF EIGHT WERE  1st  OLYMPIC CHAMPION LE SHAWN MERRIT 45.10; 2 MARTYN ROONEY 45.47; 3 DOUBLE OLYMPIC 400 HURDLES CHAMPION ANGELO  TAYLOR 45.50; 4 MICHAEL BINGHAM 45.54 AND  5 ROB TOBIN 45.61, 6 WORLD 400 HURDLES CHAMPION KERRON CLEMENT 45.77.
    

The Veterans Athletics club is the oldest established veterans athletics club in the World (Started 1931) and in short call themselves the Vets AC and for
those interested in Running in London and reading this exclusive report, may like to know that their prolific road racer, Dennis Williams of Hercules & Wimbledon AC, is the current President of the club. The club had their annual Track and Field Championships on the 30th of August at Kingsmeadow writes Alastair Aitken

On the 24th of July 2009 at Crystal Palace she won the 200 in 23.11 and the following Friday in Stockholm was second in 22.3 behind Allyson Felix who ran 21.88 but ahead of Kerron Stewart who ran 22.23. Then she went to Berlin for the World Championships and was fifth in the 100 and third in the 200
(Allyson Felix 22.02, Veronica Campbell-Brown 22.35, Debbie Ferrguson-McKenzie 22.41, 4 Muna Lee (USA) 22.48). Debbie Ferguson also obtained a silver medal in the 4x100 relay (Jamaica 42.06, 2 Bahamas 42.29, Germany 42.87 and GB were sixth in 43.16) Not stopping at that Debbie went on to Zurich for the IAAF Golden League Grand Prix on the 28th of August and was third in the 100m in 11.04. 

KERRON CLEMENT is a massively talented athlete, having run 47.2 for 400 hurdles in 2005 and, wiping Michael Johnson's 44.65 Indoor 400m World record off the books with 44.57 in Arkansas. In the World Championships in Berlin he came away with two gold medals. He won the 400hurdles in 47.91 from Javier Culson (48.09) and Bershawn Jackson (48.23) David Greene of GB did well to get to the final and ran 48.68 for seventh spot. Clement also ran on the USA team that got the gold in the 4x400 relay (2:57.86).
Yet when Alastair Aitken spoke to him in London, on the 24th of July, before he won his race in the Crystal Palace Grand Prix in 48.85 from Bershawn Jackson (48.99) he declared "I am just 23 so I had been running against really good runners who were older and more experienced than I was"

We bring you the second part of this exclusive insight into top UK domestic track and field from the hot field of Natnes in France over a Latte and French keyboard........

SIMEON WILLIAMSON EXCLUSIVE - EXCLUSIVE - EXCLUSIVE - EXCLUSIVE............

The 400m Olympic gold medallist of 2004. Another Special for Running in London
Dayron Robles was born on the 19th of November 1986 at Guantanamo , Cuba.........

That may interest those who tune in to Runninginlondon.com. Firstly Doctor Steven Peters, who won the M55 100/200/400  at Alexander Stadium. He holds the British record for M50 100/200/400 and has been a World Masters Champion a lot of times. He has been helping with the psychological aspects and motivation of the British Cycling Olympic team which includes the build up  to the  2012 Olympics.
The other one is 68 1/2 year old John Batchelor, who has been a 'class racer' in his day as a sub-50 minute 10 miler and a good county athlete but illustrates the problems of age related running injuries. writes  Alastair Aitken
 

I met Andy Baddeley by chance on the 3rd of July 2009. He reminded me a bit of Dave Moorcroft, not just because he covered the same distances in racing but also, that he appeared to have a kind and helpful nature, which was something Dave Moorcroft certainly had in my experience of interviewing him many times writes Alastair Aitken.

I KNOW ROY FOWLER WAS NOT A SOUTHENER OR A LONDON MAN BUT HE WAS SO INSPIRATIONAL FOR ANY ATHLETE WHO WOULD LIKE TO HAVE SOMEONE TO LOOK UP TO AS A DISTANCE RUNNER, WITH HIS FANTASTIC COURAGE SO, I FELT MY OBIT ON HIM SHOULD BE SEEN BY THE PEOPLE WHO LOOK AT RUNNING IN LONDON. I AM SURE THE ATHLETICS WEBSITE 'KING' RICHARD XERRI WOULD AGREE,  AS WOULD HIS RIVALS, SUCH GREAT RUNNERS FROM THE SOUTH WHO COMPETED AGAINST ROY, LIKE TIM JOHNSTON, who won the Inter-counties, Southern and British Universities in 1963 in the snow, plus  outstanding cross country man GERRY NORTH .

It is a great relief and social event for the City workers, who cast aside their suits, to compete either with shorts and tea shirts/ singlet's or shorts and bare chested, as the temperature was rising into the 80's.

JOHN SALISBURY (Born 26.1.34) was easily one of the best 4x400 relay runners in the World, fifty one years ago, and gained a silver medal in the individual 400m in the European Games in Stockholm in 1958 (46.5 on cinders). Also in' 58 he was a European relay gold medallist and a silver one in the Commonwealth Games, as well as gaining a bronze medal in the Olympic of 1956.

THE INSURANCE TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS at the Millennium Stadium, Battersea, on the eve of the 10th of June resurrected the interest in insurance athletics that had been dying a death in the last year writes Alastair Aitken for Running in London.

It is not often you recognise someone from pictures in old scrapbooks, from 45 years ago but, that happened to me at Ewell Court on the 23rd of May. The name was JOHN SNOWDEN (who did 4:03.6 for the mile), who ran in GORDON PIRIE'S epic last international as an amateur at the White City Stadium IN 1961. said Alastair Aitken

TERRY BISSETT (born 17.3.43) of Epsom & Ewell AC was the 'Star' performer on the track in the Surrey Veterans Track & Field Championships at Ewell Court on the 3rd of May reports Alastair Aitken

It is very noticeable that the County Track & Field County Championships are not used as a  stepping stone to future success by many senior athletes these days.
    I talked to three well informed people about this at the Middlesex Track & Fields Championships on May the 9th for Running in London writes Alastair Aitken.

On May the 9th was the Middlesex Championships at Hendon in good intermitent sunny weather
    In recent years the Middlesex County Championships has had a dearth of performers in the middle and long distance events especially in the Men's events writes Alastair Aitken

JOHN HALL is remarkable in that at 60 years of age he is able to combine race walking at a high level with much administration work in the sport writes Alastair Aitken. He is the current President of Belgrave Harriers, that he has been a member of for 38 years and a past President of Middlesex County athletics Association, as well as doing several Admin jobs with the Civil Service Athletics.

NICK GOOLAB OF BELGRAVE HARRIERS WAS THE REVELATION OF THE UK WINTER CROSS COUNTRY SEASON
writes Alastair Aitken. I first spoke to him after last year's Middlesex Junior cross country Championships when, he fought out a close battle with Highgate's, North of Thames cross country Champion Saningo Martyn, son of Highgate marathon runner Nicky Martyn

.Nicky Martyn (Highgate Harriers) - the winner of the Over 45 title in the London Marathon 2009 - Picture by Jeremy Hemming

MARA YAMAUCHI WAS THE OUTSTANDING BRITISH PERFORMER IN THE LONDON MARATHON 2009.
She talked to Alastair Aitken for RUNNING IN LONDON and R.R.C at the London Marathon Exhibition. Mara improved her best time of 2:25:03, when winning in Osaka, to a British Over 35 best of 2:23:12 in London.

Mick McGEOCH will have run the LONDON MARATHON 28 times this year in 2009 and, his point of view which I gained at the National road relay at Sutton Coldfield, definitely, seemed something worth relating to Running IN London says Alastair Aitken. McGeoch who has had a very good marathon record, was once the British Masters 5000m Over 40 Champion and is organiser of the Barry 40 Mile race.

JOYCE SMITH M.B.E. (born 26th of October 1937) and her husband BRYAN SMITH of Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers, are constantly needed to officiate at countless events in and around London. When Joyce Smith bustles round at meetings, helping out, very few indeed, mostly amongst the younger generation, would recognise or realise that she was one of the All-Time Greats of British Distance running.
    She broke the British record for the marathon six times and the sixth was 2:29:43 in the London of 1982, when New Zealand's Lorraine Moller was second in 2:36:15 Smith also won the first London in 1981 in 2:29:57.

In the National 12 stage road relay Championships, at Sutton Coldfield on the 18th of April London club, Belgrave Harriers, had a clear cut victory by several minutes. In the race in brilliant Spring sunshine, at Sutton Park,  Mark Miles, took them into the lead as early as leg 3 and they maintained that to the finish. Another London club, Newham & Essex Beagles, were a good second but Mike Buntin, of the historic relay club Tipton, only managed to slip past Paul Sorrie of Shettleston in the last 15 metres up the final hill for third. Phil Wicks of Belgrave ran the fastest long leg of 25.13 and talked to Alastair Aitken for Running in London straight after the event: