From Jill Ezard…
Harriers celebrate successes of 2025
It was podium places of a different sort for the Harriers this week as the weekend got off to a flying start with the annual awards ceremony on Friday night. An opportunity to nominate fellow runners for a range of awards, it’s a night to celebrate not just running achievements but also the contributions of the many volunteers that keep the club alive. This year’s winners for Contribution to the Club were Neil Chapman and Helen Waddington, with both dedicating time to running training sessions throughout the year. There was special recognition for the Learning Disabilities group Run Leaders and thanks to and recognition for the many people who lead the club runs every week.
Running was definitely celebrated though. The award for Male and Female Runners of the Year went to Jack Cummings and Kate Archer, with the Most Improved Runner prizes being scooped by Oli Murphy and Emma Sheppard. At opposite ends of the experience spectrum our Emerging Talent winners were Alexander Wolfenden and Helena Coy, with Ritchie Williamson and Jane McCarthy taking the Over 50s Runner of the Year prizes. Going the distance for the Endurance Runner top spots were Petra Bijsterveld and Ritchie Williamson. Other winners were Forrest Hamilton and Alison Weston (Captains’ Awards), Hattie O’Looney, Jane Bryant and Sue Verspyk (One-Off Contribution to the Club) and Nathan Edmondson and Ben Rothery.
Despite the more social start to the weekend there were some great performances on the road. An impressive 18 Harriers travelled to Dewsbury to take on the annual 10k. A fast and flat out and back course on the ring road, it’s an opportunity to start the year with a Personal Best time or tackle your first run at this distance. Christos Tzelis had an outstanding run and was the first Harrier over the line taking third place in 30:32, closely followed by Jack Cummings in fifth place in 30:35. Several Harriers came in under 40 minutes with Iain Young returning to racing after injury in an impressive 37:58 and Mark Hall taking first place in his age category in 38:20. Marie Watson was the first lady Harrier to finish in 45:39. Well done to everyone that took part.
And finally, the cancellation of the East Holmes Field event didn’t deter our regular parkrunners, with over 30 turning out on Saturday at home and abroad. There were several top ten finishers: Forrest Hamilton clocking up a Personal Best (PB) at Chevin Forest; Hattie O’Looney at Oldham; Jane McCarthy at Roberts Park; Sam Angus and Maddie Morris at Scarborough; and Steve and Gaenor Coy not resting on their laurels on holiday at the Zuiderpark event in The Netherlands. Other notable achievements included Junior Archie Hallworth achieving a PB at Cliffe Castle, Geoff Howard hitting an age grading of 83.74% and Nicola Budding and Steve Coy both running their 100th event. Well done to everyone who took part in an event.