From Jill Ezard…
Storm Bert tried its best to upset the November racing calendar but hardy Harriers were still out over the weekend – ice, snow, ankle deep mud and high winds weren’t going to stop them! First to battle the elements was Jim Ryder who took on the Kendal Mountain Festival 10k trail run. Starting and finishing the centre, the route took participants steeply up out of town to Cunswick Scar via Cunswick Hall, with some steep descents back to the centre. With over 250m of climbing in 10k, and adding in the somewhat treacherous combination of ice underfoot and torrential rain, it was a tough route! Jim battled through the race coming over the line well under the hour in 56:42 and taking second place in his age category. A fantastic result!
Meanwhile, over on the west coast, three young Harriers were taking part in the British Athletics Cross Challenge. All competing in races later in the day, the conditions on the course had deteriorated and were particularly challenging with participants battling two or three laps in horrific mud. Competing in a tough field from across the UK, Archie Budding and Christos Tzelis were out first in the U20 race, with Archie coming over the line in 45th position in 14:41 and Christos in 113th in 15:47. Ed Hobbs was the sole representative in the slightly longer and even muddier U23 race, coming 34th in 18:45. Well done to the team for braving the elements!
Sunday’s warmer temperatures provided three Harriers with better conditions at the Northern Masters Ken Mayor 5k Championships. This is the annual championship for members of the Northern Masters Athletic Club (with an open race for anyone over 35). The race, held at The Brownlee Centre in Leeds saw competitors race over three laps of the circuit, and saw the Harriers’ contingent securing fantastic age category placings: Shaunna Burke had a fantastic run taking first place in her age category in a time of 22:21; Helen Waddington took second place in her age category in 22:57; and Dick Waddington was third in his age category in 21:14. A fantastic one, two, three!
And not content with representing the club on Saturday, Christos Tzelis was in action again on Sunday at the Doncaster City 10k race. Heading out from Doncaster Racecourse, the race sees participants complete a tour of Doncaster before a potentially fast, flat finish back to the racecourse. The challenges of the previous day didn’t seem to adversely impact Christos who put in a great performance to finish in eighth place overall and second in his age category in 32:48. Christos was joined in the race by Dave Foyston who finished in the top ten for his age category in 37:33. Well done to both!
Our juniors were impacted by the cancellation of most of the parkruns. In fact only one brave Harrier took part in one of the weekly parkrun events, and that’s only because he wasn’t in the UK! Dan Hayes took part in the Kralingse Bos event in Rotterdam, completing the course in 29:32. Well done to Dan!