From Jill Ezard…
REPORT – Podium success on fell, trail and road over Festive period
Shaking off the excesses of Christmas, Harriers were in action on road and trail on Tuesday 27th December. Four Harriers took part in the Jolly Holly Jog near Ripon, a scenic, multi-terrain course of approximately 10k, following an undulating route mainly on footpaths through parkland. It was a great set of results for the Harriers team with all four taking top-three places in their age categories. Paul Howard was the first over the line in 40:06 and third in his category, followed seconds later by Emily Gibbins in 40:12 and second in her category. Sally Malir was next in 50:22 taking second position in her category followed by Geoff Howard taking a commanding first position in his age category in 53:44.
On the road, 12 Harriers turned out for the Ribble Valley 10k race, a fast, traffic-free route which incorporated the North of England 10k championships. As a result there was tough competition with the first 100 of the 1100 runners all completing the course in under 35 minutes. Jeff Green was the first Harrier home in a chip time of 36:08 and there were some fantastic age category placings for four of the team: Alison Weston was fifth in her rankings in 49:21; Petra Bjisterveld was second in a 10k PB for her of 49:32; Hilda Coulsey was also second in 53:14 and; Bernie Gibbons was fourth in 58:53.
New Year’s Eve took Harriers off road again in the Daleside Auld Lang Syne Fell Race. Three Harriers took part in the rather wet and soggy race, starting in traditional style to the sound of the bagpipes. A 6.7-mile race with 1000ft of climb, the race sets off from the quarry in Penistone Hill Country Park and heads towards Top Withens, and the upper reaches of Ponden Clough and Stanbury Moor. Harriers dominated the podium this year: Jack Cummings took second place in 42:30; and Oli Murphy took third in 43:27. Adela Reperecki completed the challenging course in 1:17:31, taking fourth place in her age category.
Starting 2023 with some more podium finishes, the first day of the year saw success at opposite ends of the race distances. At the podium 5k event in Barrowford three Harriers took part in each of the three races available: In the A race, Ruaridh Mon-Williams finished sixth in a blistering 15:19; in the B race junior Harrier Archie Budding took first place in 16:00; and in the C race Dick Waddington finished second in his age category in 20:28. Meanwhile, in the 34-mile Punk Panther North Leeds Greenway event, Petra Bjisterveld came joint second female and first over 50. This is a little-known trail that unites the parks and public green spaces around Leeds. Despite taking runners close to the city centre, the race remains substantially off-road with much of the return route taking in the Meanwood Valley. Petra had a fantastic race completing the course in 7:13:22, finishing joint seventh overall.
Finally, parkrunners were out in force this weekend with events taking place on both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. On Saturday there were some great turnouts from the club with the Chevin Forest event attracting eight Harriers and the Roberts Park event attracting 12. Steve Gott was the first Harrier home at Chevin Forest finishing third in 19:49, followed by John Hayes in sixth position in 21:04 and Nicola Budding in eighth position in 27:37. At Roberts Park, Adam Bennett was the first Harrier home in 16th position in 19:48. Elsewhere Adam Gerrish was the third finisher at the Colwick event in 20:27 and Beth Massey was the first female finisher at Bradford in 20:49. Mike Abrams-Cohen was the first finisher at the Rothwell event in 18:15, Tom Lambe was the second finisher at the Horton event in 19:55 and Tom Worboys was the fourth finisher at the Cliffe Castle run in 21:06. On Sunday, the great results continued: It was a family affair at the Skipton event with Junior Harrier Robert Carter finishing ninth in 21:05, followed by Julian in 11th in 21:18 and Rachel in 21:38 and first female finisher; at Horton, Mike Abrams-Cohen was first finisher in 18:51; and there were some great top ten finishes elsewhere with Michael Odell fifth finisher at Holkham in 18:42, and at Chevin Forest Adam Gerrish fifth and Robin Nicholson ninth in 21:49 and 22:35 respectively.