November club run Lightwater Valley. 10k.

Some of the 28  YKH members were expecting to have a ride around the valley and finish in break neck speed screeming whopeeeeeeeeeee but decided when they got there that as the fairground  was closed for winter thank goodness.  Although it was like a ghost town for the rides and the weather was wintery some of us were worried that we would get lost if not able to see the person in front because of the wintry misty morning.  However in true YKH grit 28 YKH members ran and it was a mixed terrain and at one point a lovely scene when turning the corner to run round the water.

For the men we had some great results

Well done to everyone who ran we now look forward to Jolly Holly as the last club run for 2011

Margaret
Leeds Abbey Dash - 20th November 2011
by Daniel Sturgeon

Let's start with an honest observation, the Leeds Abbey Dash is not a pretty course. If you're looking for a run to rival Burton Leonard or the other Dales based 10k's then this is unlikely to fit the bill. The 10k out and back route runs in a straight line through a dilapidated industrial corridor of car dealerships, bus depots, deserted factories and urban retail parks. Once upon a time the course took a loop through the ruins of Kirkstall Abbey, but this was deemed too attractive so the route was altered to take in more of the A65,... thank goodness for Sunday's heavy fog!

So what is it about this event that sees record numbers turn out every year?

What the race (greatly) lacks in aesthetic quality is more than made up for by the sheer scale of the event (6,500 runners took part) and the fact that it attracts a top class field, including team GB athletes and UK champions, while still welcoming so many first timers. The standard of the field really hits home when you look at the results - 7 runners finishing in under 30 minutes and a further 110 athletes inside 35 minutes (speeds at which I assume the scenery just becomes a blur). Some cracking organisation from Abbey Runners makes the event an even greater pleasure to take part in and then there's the sheer speed of the course. To call the Abbey Dash super-quick is an understatement. 82 of the top 100 finishers posted PBs or SBs making this surely one of the best races in the country for those of a fleet-footed disposition.

Nine Harriers (Helen Beilby, Louise Brennan, Chris Clark, Nick Griffin, Vivianne Fraser, Anna Hollingworth, Emma Rowbotham, Daniel Sturgeon and Mark Sullivan) ran the race with quite a few PBs reported and some very solid performances. We nearly had a class win from Chris Clarke but the "completing the race after 8 pints of Guinness and a kebab" category was withdrawn shortly before he staggered to the start line, so it was left to Louise Brennan who finished 14th in the F45 class (in an excellent time of 46:56) to pick up the best performance on the day from a Harrier.

All in all a thoroughly enjoyable race and another good days work for team Knavesmire.

Autumn round up.

Pickering 10k Simon Collins had a strong run 38min 43sec, Martin Smith 43.56, Neil Holdsworth 44.16, Dave Bygrave 49.05, Garry Moss 58.29 & Linda Moss 1hr 6min.

Richmond 10k Richard Lowson 4^th overall in 35min 05sec

Sutton Park 10k Richard Lowson 3^rd overall 33.38, Pete Downes 3^rd in (male 45), Neil Strange 3^rd (m50), John Bullock 2^nd (m55), Neil Holdsworth 3^rd(m55), In the ladies race Fiona Strange 3^rd overall (1^st L40), Sarah Douglas 4^th overall, Joy Allan 1^st (L50), Margret Brown 3^rd (L50),

Worksop Half Marthon Kate Nelson2^ND in age group (L45) 88.29

Berlin Half Marathon Neil Kingham clocked 2hr 59min.

Yorkshire Coast 10k & Harrogate parkrun (updated)
by Daniel Sturgeon

For the 20 Harriers who made the trip up the A64 there was the reward of a fine autumn day in Scarborough for what has become one of my favourite races, the Yorkshire Coast 10k.

The course is flat and can be fast (when the wind behaves) and runs from the Spa complex at the bottom of the South bay, past the harbour, around the headland and up to the top of the North bay before runners retrace their steps back to the start. All of this takes place on closed seafront roads and the promenade.

The event itself was a great success, with some speedy performances on the day. Male winner Andrew Wiles of New Marske finished in 30:57 and the ladies race was won by Kate Avery of Shildon in 35:39, highlighting how fast this course can be. More importantly Knavesmire Harriers also tasted success with our ladies taking third place in the team competition. Emma Yates lead the team home in glorious style as the first Harrier (finishing 78th overall and 2nd F40)  while great performances from Vicky Whitelock (2nd F35) and Louisa Sedgewick ensured the team took a well deserved podium place.

The race results on runbritainrankings.com show that Karen Wright, Linda Moss, Paul Leaf, Madeleine Elliott and Nicola Turner all earned new personal bests at the race.

A little closer to home is the launch of a new parkrun in Harrogate, in a fortnight's time. Starting on Saturday 12th November at 9:00 I'm sure it will become a weekly fixture for anyone who fancies testing themselves over 5k. parkrun's are free to enter and are also timed, but to get your times recorded you'll need to register for a barcode on the parkrun website (something that eight Harrier's have already done).

For more details see http://www.parkrun.com/events/uk

If you like the sound of a free to enter, timed 5k and can't wait until the 12th then there are also weekly parkruns taking place in Hyde Park, Roundhay Park and Pontefract racecourse this coming Saturday (and every other Saturday for that matter).

Ladies October update
by Sarah Douglas

As promised here is the first of my monthly updates on our high performing ladies. A big thank you to everyone who has contacted me.

Fitness first gym recently set a challenge to its members to complete the distance of a coast to coast from Morecombe to Bridlington, that’s 273kms, on a bike, cross trainer or treadmill within 10 days. Rachel Sullivan completed the challenge in just 10 hours with an epic two 5 hour stints on a bike. Apparently fitness first had to change the challenge as they feared no-one else would be able to come anywhere close to Rachel’s amazing performance.

Vanessa Barrett was not only the only lady but the only Knavesmire Harrier full stop to run the Harewood 10 mile trail race. A tough mainly off road hilly course but highly recommended by Vanessa who finished in a time of 1hr39. I’m sure the bottle of beer given to all runners after is an incentive indeed to get signed up for next year. Well done Vanessa for representing the club.

Carol Diggle competed in the Loch Ness marathon and finished in 4hr16, a full 2 minutes faster than last year. It was a pretty challenging race by all accounts so an excellent time indeed for Carol.

And from rainy Scotland to sunny Oz, Liz Matthews ran the Melbourne half marathon in a pb time of 1hr56. I know Liz is thrilled with that and so she should be!

Tracy Richardson joined our club in the Summer only after having ran her first ever mile in April and so the fact that she ran in the Cardiff half marathon deserves a special mention. Tracy completed the course in 2hrs19 and would like to thank Jane Carter and Adrian Turner who helped her prepare for the race. Tracy now says she has the running bug and is keen to enter more races so we all look forward to hearing about her future successes.

So if after reading this you’re desperate for some fame yourself then make sure you get racing and let me know about it. There’s a club run, Shipley Cross Country and not forgetting the Guy Fawkes 10 mile all coming up in November so plenty of running opportunities.

Bridlington Half-marathon October Club Run
Report by Sarah Douglas

It’s my third year of running the Bridlington Half Marathon and it’s the third year we’ve had blue sky and sunshine. The 2 just seem to go hand in hand. The start is always a bit congested as the prom isn’t really designed for 773 runners setting off en masse. Maybe I’ll consider protective clothing for next year after coming into contact with someone else’s elbow! The course does have some other challenges. Some will describe it as undulating but the pain in my legs for 3 days after suggests to me that undulating is maybe a slight understatement and at 10 miles when you see the sign for Bridlington it’s easy to be lulled into thinking you’re nearly at the finish line but alas there is still 3 more gruelling miles to go!

A good turn out by our men and some excellent performances. Jim Mayo finished in 48^th place in a time of 1:26:42 and only 6 seconds behind was Nick Langan. Pete Downes managed an impressive 1:27:23. Two of our men who really need to be given credit for their performances are Chris Roberts and Tony Kendrick. Chris ran the Loch Ness Marathon race only 2 weeks ago in a spectacular time of 3hr 08 and despite still feeling some aches and pains completed the Brid course in 1:32:59.  As for Tony, with his Chicago marathon only the weekend before (see website for details) he still managed to blast around in 1:36:29. Special mention also to Stephen Green who has been training relentlessly for the last few months and that all paid off with him getting a half marathon pb of 1:38:38. Well done to Stephen and also to Neil Holdsworth, Simon Collins and Alistair Macleod for their great times.

The number of our ladies who entered was a bit limited but congratulations to Gill Barker for her time of 1:57:56, Joy Allen who completed the course in 2:00:15 and Margaret Brown who finished in 2:04:05 and thank you to all our other ladies who entered as it was nice to see all your smiling faces.

On the same day as the Bridlington half was the Amsterdam marathon and half marathon. Congratulations to Neil Kingham for achieving an amazing time of 2:59:36 for the marathon and to Olu Jatto for his 4 hr 29. Alistair McQueen got a pb time of 1 hr 48 in the half so a big well done to him.

Foston & Thornton-le-Clay 10k
report by Daniel Sturgeon

Race conditions for this years Foston and Thornton-le-Clay 10k were perfect for the 14 Harriers who found their way to this small village on the edge of the Howardian Hills last Sunday. Although our overall numbers were down on the 33 runners who took part last year (when this event was part of our club champs), it was still good to see a strong turn out for what remains a well organised and very friendly local event.

The course is the usual North Yorkshire affair, complete with pretty villages, gently rolling fields and quiet country lanes. The figure of 8 circuit starts in Thornton-le-Clay, takes in an initial 6km loop toward Flaxton, before heading back through Thornton-le-Clay and off again for a second 4km loop, across farmland on the outskirts of Foston.

The fact that both Colin Lea and Dave Darton (3rd M50) were able to run this at all, given that they ran the Berlin Marathon the previous week, go down as the performances of the day for me, but there were plenty of other star turns from our "square wasps".  

Chris Richardson finished as first Harrier home in 38:57 (7th overall and 3rd M45), followed by Neil Kingham in 8th (2nd M40) and Pete Downes in 9th. All three comfortably beat the 40 minute barrier. Arguably even more impressive was Janet Cordingley's placing as both first Knavesmire lady and first F50. Harold Dobson completed the list of Knavesmire podium finishers, coming 2nd in the M60 category.

All in all a good days work by team Knavesmire!!

Sutton Park 10km September Club Run
Report by Sarah Douglas

I did run in the Sutton Park 10km on Sunday but I’m ashamed to say I wasn’t in the best of states (I think the expression is I was there in body but not in mind!) so my evaluation of the course is going to be a bit limited I’m afraid. There was some slightly sketchy terrain in places-certainly not good for the ankles but overall I’d give the route a thumbs up. In 3 words: ‘challenging but enjoyable’.

So, on to the results instead which I have looked at when in a good state and so can add a bit more insight.  37 of us Harriers made up the total field of 241 runners. We were missing some of our super star runners like Emma Yates but instead Fiona Strange flew the flag high and finished as 3^rd woman overall in a time of 44.57. A great time for that course. I was the 2^nd our ladies to cross the line and Joy Allen was the 3rd in 51.28.

Our first man to finish was Richard Lawson in an absolutely amazing time of 33.38 which gained him 3^rd place overall. Chris Roberts came in next in a pb time of 37.21. Chris has been putting in some great race performances over the last few months and has been training extremely hard for his first marathon, the Loch Ness marathon which is on October 2^nd so best of luck to him for that and hope he gets the time he’s hoping for. Great runs also for Simon Collins and Darren Hendley who both ran a sub 40. A special mention to Tony Kendrick too who celebrated his birthday on Monday. I won’t mention his age but will just say that I’m sure he’ll be outperforming all those in his new age category come January!

I’m sure you’re all thinking that this is a very short piece compared to my usual ramblings but I’ll defend myself and say that I’m saving myself for an epic Brid write up. Looking forward to seeing you all on the 16^th.

DALES DIARY
report by Maureen Medlar

At last this series has reached its conclusion and we can all take a well earned rest!

The penultimate 10k run was at Burton Leonard on the 17^th July and for those that can remember it was another rather non descript 2011 summer day! Not for the faint-hearted, this mainly off road course with a water feature to negotiate twice is the most challenging of the series. Running on his birthday and in spite of the celebrations Pete Downes was the first Harrier home in 16^th place.

Last and probably least was the 10k race at Wetherby. Warm and windy describe the conditions but whilst these prevented PB performances, the race was spoilt by the change in the start and the debacle with the results. Not too may positives with this event except to report that once again Emma Yates finished in the top three ladies and Pete Downes was first YKH home with a time only 3 secs off his PB.

The final age related prize winning successes for the series are as follows;-

Alaistair Macleod MO50 3^rd Dick Hunter MO65 3^rd.

Pete Downes was best placed male YKH overall in 16^th place.

Jean Wright FO60 1^st Maureen Medlar FO55 2^nd Jean Snelling FO65 3^rd

Maureen Medlar was the only Harrier to complete all the races in this years series.

Well done team YKH. Look forward to seeing you next year!

Don’t forget there is a race series presentation (and optional meal) on the 9^th October.

Details can be found on www.yorshiredalesraceseries

Robin Hood Marathon - Nottingham

Tholthorpe 10km September Club Run
Report by Margaret Brown

42 YKH ran the 1^st of the September club runs.  Everyone did brilliantly and seemed to enjoy the run.  We start them young in Knavesmire as daddy Sturgeon ran with his little girl in the fun run and one day catching her daddy up!!!

YKH men had great success with Chris Roberts finishing 38.30 in 13^th position followed by Peter Downes 39.19 15^th position, and Neil Kingham 40.05 in 17^th position.  YKH ladies also did well, and all ran at their best.  A nice scenic run with the much wanted Tholthorpe duck mug for finishing.  On a personal note when I came through the finish line I was welcomed by team mates Martin Parvin and John Middleton who looked so amazed that I had finished the race in what their words “you’ve had a good run – are you OK “ what a cheek!!!! What they don’t know is that on training nights I am holding back so that I don’t beat them : ) – I like to make them look good.   This report may not be as readable and enjoyable as Sarah’s but then you can’t have everything.  Look forward to seeing as many of you at the next club run for September the Sutton Park 10k on the 24^th  - the route has been changed from 7 miles to 10k and runs through part of the grounds of Sutton Park Lord and Lady Sheffield.  We did invite David Cameron but he is too busy so you will just have to do with me

Hyde Park Summer Mile: 24th August
report by Daniel Sturgeon

Wednesday night saw two Knavesmire Harriers entering the inaugural Hyde Park Summer Mile. A rare fixture on the race calendar, this one mile circuit in the centre of Leeds gave entrants the chance to race against athletes of similar ability by grouping runners into five separate races (the fields based upon predicted finishing times).

By grouping people into smaller races of similar ability most runners found themselves with a shot at a podium finish in their respective race and, in turn, this resulted in some very close races that were thrilling to watch. The evening bore witness to some impressive performances, with the fastest time on the night going to Dan Garbutt of Leeds Carnegie AC in 4mins 44secs in the final race.

On the home-front, Ian Fairlamb did the Harriers proud with a time of 6mins 05secs (30th overall on the night), in a rain soaked wave 3, while Daniel Sturgeon, in wave 4, came home in 6mins 01sec (27th).

Having taken part in many longer races over the last two years it came as a genuine surprise how quickly this race was over, and how much fun those short few minutes were. I would heartily recommend this race to any Harrier who fancies themselves as the successor to Bannister, Coe and Cram, or those like myself who just like the thought of running in something a bit different.

York Millennium Bridge 5km: 16^th August.

Report by Sarah Douglas

A 5km race is a tough one to master. It sounds like a nice easy distance but it’s far from easy when you’re trying to go all out for a full 5km. The race started one side of Skeldergate bridge and finished the other with 2 laps of Rowntree park also thrown in. We were up against multiple hazards on the course including a gate and avoiding a plunge in the boating lake-that I think I came pretty close to not avoiding!

York Acorn were extremely efficient at getting the results up but some amendments were needed, notably Andy Neale appearing in the results as Male U13!

Like I said, mastering a 5km is not easy but all our Harriers who finished succeeding in it. There were two 5km races. 20 of us ran in the first race and 4 of our men managed to run sub 18 minutes. These I would like to call our 5km elite runners and they were: Jason Higgins, Jonny Kendall, Giles Hawking and Chris Roberts. In my eyes anyone who can run sub 21 minutes is a super pro 5km runner and our runners who achieved that were: Mark Lawrence, Andrea Lancaster, Katy Godfrey, Mark Dye, Caroline Warrington, Dan Sturgeon, Mandy Clarke and Andy Neale. All the ladies mentioned above were in the top 20 female finishers which definitely deserve recognition.  For the rest of us, I think we certainly deserve the pro 5km runner title as we still all finished in a good time so well done everybody.

2 of our runners: Janet Cordingley and Ian Bithell had to run in the 2^nd race but their finishing times show that there was no reason why they shouldn’t have been allowed to run in the 1^st race as they would have been up there with us pros. Well done to both of you for finishing 8^th and 10^th in that race.

I’m aiming to rise to the super pro 5km runner status and if you’re aspiring to that too or feel like you want to get faster in whatever distance you’re running then a Thursday track session is the best one to go to to help you do that. I think I’m going to have to stop using rain as an excuse and make sure I get down to a few more!

Ironman European Championships 2011.

Running a marathon is gruelling enough but combine that with a 2.4 mile swim and a 112 mile cycle and then you’ve got an event that is entered only by a special type of athlete. Former International Ultra distance runner Ian Anderson is such an athlete and he recently competed in the Ironman European Championships in Frankfurt. I’ve no doubt that Ian put in hours of intense training in preparation for this competition and all his hard work certainly paid off. More than 2500 people entered and in less than ideal conditions of heavy rain and gusty winds Ian finished in 228^th place overall and 56^th in his age category in a time of 9hrs50 (Swim: 1hr1; Bike: 5hrs18; Run: 3hrs23). We have some great athletes in our club but unfortunately we often don’t all get to hear about their amazing achievements but we felt that Ian undoubtedly deserved a mention for earning his title as a true Ironman.

Jane Tomlinson 10k
report by Sarah Douglas

For many of us it was our 3^rd race of the week having already run the Harrogate 10km and Stillington handicap, but for me this was the one that I was looking forward to the most. It’s the 3^rd year now of the Jane Tomlinson York 10km. It was a bit on the hot side and a delayed start of 10 minutes was annoying but nevertheless the race had a great atmosphere and the course is pretty special. Running past the Minster is definitely a highlight.

It was great to see lots of Harrier faces in amongst the masses. There were 4508 finishers for the race so I’m sure you can understand why I haven’t trawled through all the results to pick out every performance by runners from our club. Fortunately the York Press reported its own summary of the results so I’ve picked out the names I recognise from that. Big apologies if you did feature in the Press and I haven’t mentioned you but it’s hard knowing all 234 names of our members!

Jason Higgins had an amazing race and finished 9^th overall in a time of 35.35 which is absolutely fantastic in such a big race. It might also have been Emma Yates’ 3^rd race of the week but that didn’t stop her flying round the course and finishing in a time of 38.09 which meant that she was the 2^nd female to finish and she came 31st overall. I think Emma is an inspiration to all us ladies and I really can’t sing her praises enough. Four more of our runners featured in the top 100 finishers: Chris Roberts (37^th); John Oliver (58^th); Stef Durkin (67^th) and Rory Henderson (71^st). A great achievement by all of these runners and I hope they’re all feeling really proud of themselves. Well done also to Darren Leaf and Viv Fraser who both said they managed to get pb's.

It is a bit pricey to enter and I think many of us would prefer a later start, I’m certainly not my best at 9am on a Sunday morning but this really is a brilliant race and I’m sure many of us will definitely be entering again next year.

Congratulations also to Abey Lawrence and Andrea Lancaster who both competed in the Castle Howard Triathon. Abey entered the standard distance which was 1500m swim, 46km bike and 10km run. Abey was the 1^st female to finish and 13^th overall. Andrea entered the sprint distance: 750m swim, 23km bike and 5km run and was the 3^rd female to finish. A great achievement by both.

So, another brilliant week for Knavesmire. We’re really flying high right now.

Harrogate 10km July Club Run
Report by Sarah Douglas

Harrogate is obviously a popular race with a total of 541 runners entering this year. The sun was shining the sky was blue and 40 of us joined the masses for the 2 laps of Harrogate centre. I’m not usually a fan of courses with laps as you’ll know from my Knavesmire Summer League report but I’m not going to complain about this one. Maybe I should have spent less time admiring the scenery and more time concentrating on my running though!

Well done to all our runners for their efforts in this race. Jason Higgins was our first male Harrier to cross the line in 36.51. Jason came 19^th overall which is a great achievement considering the number of runners.  Giles Hawking finished 25th overall in 37.26 and our third Harrier home was Chris Roberts in 38.09. Looking at the times there was a closely fought battle for 4^th place between Neil Kingham and Pete Downes with Neil just scraping it in 39.39 just 1 second ahead of Pete. That must have been an exciting finish.

Whilst on the topic of our men big congratulations to Stef Durkin for finishing 28^th out of 200 runners at a recent Ultra race. I believe Stef ran a distance of 50km. I think that would take me 2 days to run!

Back to Harrogate: Glory for the ladies with Emma Yates yet again taking the gold for the Harriers in a time of 38.29. That also won her 2^nd female overall and 1^st in her age category. Surely Emma must be running out of space in her house with all these prizes she keeps winning but keep it up Emma! Katy Godfrey was 2^nd lady in 44.10 and 14^th overall, great running Katy and I was our 3^rd  lady. A big well done to Vivianne Fraser too for running a whole 2 minutes faster than last year, that’s a really great improvement.

And what better way to celebrate the race then a garden party at the Fawcett’s. It was my first time of going along and I had a lovely afternoon and I know everyone else did too so a massive thank you to Malcolm and Barbara for being such excellent hosts (see photos here)

So, there’s a big old break now until the next club run so we’ve all got plenty of time to train hard and come out all guns blazing at Tholthorpe on the 4^th September.

July update

Another busy summer weekend for the road racing YKH team with racing on both Friday and Sunday.

The July club run at Walkington on Friday evening was represented by 24 Harriers being led home by Jason Higgins who finished in 12^th place overall closely followed by Darren Hendley
in 16^th place overall. Overall a good night for the Harriers with some good age related successes.

On Sunday 5 club members ran the Eccup 10 miles and were led home by Pete Downes in a time of 1hr 06, whilst Susan Adams  got the YVAA 10 mile Championship Silver trophy for F55

The star performance of the weekend came at Kilburn 7 when Emma Yates won the ladies race in style. Finishing in a time of 45.20, she was just 10 seconds short of the course
record. Really impressive running by Emma who also won her age group. Harold Dobson also won his age category M70 in a time of 58.17.

A big thank you to our members who gave these updates. Roll on August for more stories of success!

Dales Diary
report by Maureen Medlar

With the series now past the half way stage things are quite literally hotting up!!

29^o was the recorded pre race temperature at the Rainton 10k on Sunday 26^th June. Thank goodness this is one of the ‘easier’ and flatter races of the series. All YKH competitors returned
home safe and sound – albeit for one runner who got exited about the ‘HOT POLES’ signs only to realise sometime later that they actually read as POT HOLES!!

Well done to Pete Downes who led our team home in a time of 41.30mins.

The infamous ‘BURN VALLEY’ followed a week later on the 3^rd July. Not quite so hot at 26^o this daunting hilly half marathon lived up to expectations! This, the ‘high spot’ of the series
was successfully completed by 3 Harriers who made the trip across to Masham to enjoy the racing and after-race buffet.  Pete Downes (first time but not apparently the last!) Sue Adams
(too many times to mention) and Maureen Medlar (can’t remember the number of times). Maureen secured a second place age category success which won her some more Black Sheep
 Brewery Vouchers – perhaps that explains the recent falling over and loss of memory!

There is still Burton Leonard 10k(probably the most difficult of the 10k challenges) and Wetherby 10k (probably the most boring) left to run. With several YKH members contesting age
related prizes for the series there is still time for improvement.

Watch this space for the next installment.

RUTP -R u  taking the P 5k - 19 June. York.
Well done to everyone who took part in the second York RUTP 5k.
A fabulous turnout and some great costumes. Results can be found here

EDINBURGH MARATHON REPORT.