From Jill Ezard and Nicola Budding…
Photo credit Geoff Thompson
Performances heat up for the Harriers this week
Racing started early in the week for the Harriers with 31 members taking part in the second race in the Harrogate District Summer Race League on Wednesday evening. This series of five races sees eligible clubs competing over five to six miles over varying terrain for both individual and team wins and cumulative individual points across the races. Matthew Thackwray continued his run of form taking the win at the course in Harrogate in 31.16. He was joined on the podium by Matt Newell who took third place and second in his age group in 33:33. With two races down Matthew and Matt are sitting in first and second place in the cumulative individual results for the men’s race. There were plenty of age group successes for the team: Jonathan Turner took first place in his category in 38:35 narrowly beating John Hayes into second in 38:51; Nick Kealey was also second in his group in 35:43; and taking third places in their groups were Steve Murray (40:07), Mike Williams (44:37) and Sally Malir (49:12). This is also a team result with every participant’s result contributing to the team success and the Harriers are well placed after two races in many of the team competitions: First places for the main team, Male Vets, Supervets, and Elites; Eighth for the Female team and sixth for the Female Vets. Well done to everyone that took part in this fantastic team event.
Elsewhere on Wednesday Kyle Bethell and Georgina Hamill chose to test their 5k speed at the fourth event in the Evensplits 5k series at the Brownlee Centre in Leeds. And the age group placings continued with Georgina taking first place (and fifth female overall) in 22:37 and Kyle taking second place in 18:42.
Over in Addingham Thursday saw the first of three BOFRA (British Open Fell Running Association) races of the week with 11 Harriers taking on the Beamsley Beacon Fell race. With a deceptively gentle start the race does exactly what it says on the tin and takes competitors straight up to Beamsley Beacon and back. And again there were fantastic results. Sam Bentham took the win in 32:32 with George Whittlestone the next Harrier over the line in 39:20 taking third place in his age group. Rachel Carter was the first female home of the Harriers taking fifth place overall and first in her age category in 47:11. There were other age group wins for Alison Weston (53:10) and Bob Hamilton (53:38) and a third place in her age category for Kelly Wilby in 50:50.
And the weekend was just as busy. On Friday, Jo Johnson travelled to Tromsø for the Midnight Sun running festival, a series of races through the night to celebrate the solstice where there sun remains for 24 hours. Jo took part in the 10k and completed the event in 1:13:43. And on Saturday it was all about the pikes. John Marsham was the only Harrier to take on the second BOFRA race of the weekend, the Buckden Pike Fell race, a tough and technical 6k route with a substantial 486 metres of elevation. John completed the race in 55:13 taking first place in his age group. The Juniors were out in force at the Clougha Pike Fell race with some fantastic results. The race, hosting round five of the FRA Junior Fell Racing Championships, started with a tough uphill followed by a rapid descent making for some exciting racing and our Juniors rose to the challenge with podium finishes: U12 Girls second for Isobel Moore (14:31); U14 Boys sixth for Michael Moore (15:56) and 21st for Olly Brooks (17:42); U18 first for Joseph Bentham (27:00). Two seniors took on the challenge with George Whittlestone taking fifth place in the U20 race (1:00:37) and Robert Green completing the seniors race in 50:40.
And Sunday was no less impressive with successes on road and fell. In the final BOFRA race of the weekend Gawain Moore took second place in 13:25 in the Hawkswick Dash, an innocuous sounding 2.25 km race with a challenging elevation of 170 meters reflecting the steep ascent and descent. George Whittlestone finished in 15:23 taking third place in his age group and Katie Poulter was third lady and first in her age group in 17:43. The Juniors were also out in force: U9 Girls 11th Georgia Poulter (09:58); U12 Girls first Isobel Moore (10:08); U12 Boys eighth Thomas Bailey (10:30), 12th Harris Poulter (11:18), 24th Oscar Spooner (14:01); and U14 Boys fourth Michael Moore (12:25). Continuing on the fells Adam Gerrish was the only Harrier in the Settle Hills 7m fell race completing the event in 1:20:10.
On the road, Jaysson Sawyer was in Burton Leonard taking on the East Yorkshire Half Marathon completing the race in an impressive 1:25:36 taking first place in his age category. And finally 14 Harriers took part in the ever popular Solstice Saunter five mile race through the beautiful grounds of Bolton Abbey. Joanne Williamson was the first Harrier home and fifth woman in 35:25.. Rebecca Brown and Daisy Lowe took second places in their age categories in 38:05 and 44:44 respectively. Will Worboys was the first male Harrier home in 45:10. All members completed the event in under one hour so great performance all round.
And finally, the Harriers 40 year anniversary celebrations continued with a takeover of the East Holmes Field parkrun. A fitting 40 Harriers took on the event which had a carnival feel with music and a cake stall raising money for the Moortime charity. Nick Kealy was the second finisher in the event. Thanks To Will Worboys for making the takeover happen. Across all events there were PBs for Dan Paterson, Luke Watkeys, Paul O’Looney, Junior Harris Poulter, Mark Gill, Ritchie Williamson, Georgia Poulter, and Michael Odell. Well done to everyone who took part.