The only way is ELVIS!
High Fives all round for this East London race series
ELVIS lives!
Well, the East London fiVe Interclub Series (ELVIS) is certainly alive and well between the invited clubs – Barking Road Runners; East End Road Runners; East London Runners; Eton Manor AC; Dagenham 88 Runners; Harold Wood Running Club; Havering 90 Joggers; Ilford AC and Orion Harriers, whose club member Phil Hernon sponsors the whole series.
All eight races are held over 5 miles or 5K – the reasons for the Roman numeral V in the series title – and there are four of each distance to count. Although races are open to allcomers, the ELVIS Grand Prix is held between the clubs listed above, with the top six men and women to count.
The latest race was the Harold Wood Running Club 5K in Harold Wood Country Park in the London Borough of Havering last Wednesday evening (20 July) with just over 200 finishers in 46:18. Harold Wood is so named because King Harold hunted deer in the forest that covered this area in the 9th Century. Some of the original roads are named after the earliest recorded kings of England.
This was race five (or 'V') of the ELVIS Grand Prix and when the numbers were crunched it was the men of Eton Manor AC and Ilford AC's women (pictured) who had the best scores.
The top three individuals on another very warm evening were non-ELVIS competitor Robert Warner (Havering AC, 16:54), Joshua Rees Davies (East London Runners, 16:59) and Simon Cottle (Eton Manor AC, 17:09). The leading ladies were Neringa Masilioniene (Ilford AC, 18:58), Jennifer Heymann (Eton Manor AC, 19:42) and Jordan Hinds (Ilford AC, 20:03).
The first 25 finishers beat 20 minutes on this fast course in the 48-acre park that was a former golf course and now hosts a variety of sports, with open amenity grassland and a latticework of footpaths that makes an ideal venue for a swift 5K.
The ELVIS Grand Prix continues with Orion Harriers 5 miles on Saturday 6 August; Barking Road Runners Phipps 5K on Bank Holiday Monday 29 August and East London Runners Valentines Park 5K on Sunday 25 September.
ELVIS Running Clubs Grand Prix details are at the official website here
Results of the Harold Wood Running Club 5K via the runABC South race listing here
Image courtesy Billy Green for ELVIS Running Clubs website
