On Sunday 4th November, over
30 Knavesmire Harriers made their way through the mist and fog
to line up for the Guy Fawkes 10. Waiting in the queue to pick
up my race number one helpful fellow runner told me the course
wasn't too hilly and another that there was a bit of a hill at 7
miles. Strange then, that at 4 miles there was a hill hard
enough to make many decide they would be quicker walking up.
Despite (or maybe because of the hills), this was a great race,
well organised with plenty of encouraging marshalls and a
testing and varied route through the lanes, tracks and
bridleways above Ripley Castle.
Chris Roberts was first
Harrier and 12th man home in an impressive 1:01:31, shortly
followed by Emma Yates, 3rd lady in an excellent 1:04:34. Pete
Downes, Stephen Robson and Sarah Douglas all finished in 75
minutes or less and all of our Harriers finished well. I
particularly liked the "For Fawkes Sake Hill" sign at mile 7 and
the huge quantity of chocolate in the goody bag.
Bridlington Half Marathon 2012 Race Report…and
a bit more
By Sarah Douglas
The last 3 years I’ve ran the Bridlington Half
it’s been blue sky and sunshine all the way but if you were coming
along for a scenic coastal run this year I’m afraid you would have
been disappointed as fog meant you could hardly see a thing! The
lack of sun however did make for ideal running conditions and some
fantastic results for our 28 members who ran. Any Brid first timers
like Maddy Elliott, I hope you enjoyed the race. It is quite a
challenging a course but we all like a challenge don’t we? Emma
Yates ran an impressive time of 1:24:34 which won her the title of 2nd
lady. I ran a course PB of 1:34:47 finishing as 15th lady
overall. A really good run from Catherine Reynolds who finished in
1:56:30. Massive congratulations to Viv Fraser too for getting a PB
of 1:58:53. I know Viv has been desperate to break the 2 hour mark
so this is a great achievement for her.
As for the men, Chris Roberts finished 18th
overall in a time of 1:21:48. What I have to mention is that Chris
ran in the Wetherby Cross Country the day before so that time is
even more impressive considering that. Great running from Jim Mayo
with a time of 1:32:57 and Stephen Green who finished a whole 6
minutes quicker than last year in 1:32:57. Well done Stephen. Dave
Darton and James McDonald both ran sub 1hr40s so congratulations to
you both. It was Dave Hutchinson’s last run before the Dublin
Marathon on the 29th October and he ran a really good
time of 1:45:02 so he should be on for a good marathon time. Liz
Matthews is also entered for that marathon so the best of luck to
both of you.
On to more exotic destinations, well to
Amsterdam anyway, a big well done to Sarah Marwood and her husband
Fran Marwood for running their first ever half marathon. Fran
finished in 2:02:03 and Sarah in 2:13:53. It sounds like they both
really enjoyed it and they are keen to enter more. Well done to both
of you. I know Tony Kendrick was entered for the full marathon so
hope it went well and look forward to hearing how he got on.
The next club run is the Guy Fawkes 10 mile on
the 4th November so look forward to seeing you all there.
Keep running!
Sutton on the Forest 10k - 7 October.
Credit to Easingwold Running Club for promoting two local races this
autumn: Foston and Thornton 10k, and now Sutton 10k.
Nine Harriers turned out for this attractive mixed terrain race: stately
home gardens and woodland, disused (?) airfield runways, and road.
Between baby feeds on the Playing Fields Abey Lawrence was first home in
the Open Ladies section, placed 29th with a time of 42:50.
Congratulations on the birth Abey, and well done in the race! Pete
Downes clocked a creditable 40:49, and was last seen at a stall
rewarding himself with cake.
Knavesmire
Conquers Portugal.
Four Wandering Wasps (and one
adventurous York Acorn) conquered the Lisbon Half
Marathon on 30 September.
Club Captains Chris Roberts and Sarah Douglas were joined by Alistair
McQueen and Stef Durkin.
Mike Raynes from York Acorn came along for the ride too.
A toasty 28 degrees and beaming sunshine welcomed the
runners, but all made it to the finish line - hot but
happy!
Foston and Thornton le Clay 10K.
race report: 23 September
This would make a good club run: closeby, an attractive course, with
a smallish entry - and
cake afterwards in the village hall. There were seven KH. Pete
Downes had another great race finishing
13th in 40:21, and 1st M50. Jean Wright was 1st F60 in 63:34:- well
done! -and Neil Holdsworth 2ndM55
in 42:32. Dick Hunter was 3rd M65 in 49:56.
Awesome day out for the boys at Leigh for the Relays, shame we did
not field a Ladies team (only team of four needed! where were you?).
Anyway all the lads ran there bits off, Ewan got us off to a flier
(19th after his leg), and the rest of us held on for dear life, to
finish 41st.
Great team building exercise, warming us up for the Cross Country
season.
Each leg was 6.4km.
41st York Knavesmire Harriers 02:06:11
Ewan Wolfe (19) 18:56
Chris Roberts (27) 20:42
Darren Hendley (39) 21:56
Rory Henderson (48) 22:23
Simon Collins (46) 21:29
Giles Hawking (41) 20:45
ESCRICK
RACE REPORT - 19 AUGUST 2012
by Alistair McQueen.
The Escrick 10k has soared in
interest from just 300 runners in
2010 to over 600 in 2012. I'd
recommend it to all.
This year's hot conditions
challenged everyone but once again
our men's captain, Chris Roberts,
led us over the finish line in a
fantastic 6th place and time of
36:10. The official results don't
show club names, but well done to
all Harriers who completed the
course. I hope you later enjoyed the
well earned barbeque on the village
green.
On a personal note I'd like to thank
John Middleton for pacing me round
the first 7k. As a sign of my
gratitude, I eased back on the final
3k, giving John the glory of a 50
second lead by the end. Next time I
wont be so generous.
John's inspiraton however spilled
over into the afternoon when I
scrapped to a personal best at my
local golf course. You heard it here
first - a 10k run in the sun is the
perfect warm-up for golf. Maybe John
can caddy for me next time.
This year's was held earlier than usual on Sunday 22nd
July to avoid clashing with the Olympics. YKH has
connections with the Isle of Man Veteran Athlete's Club and
there are usually one or two Harriers that make the trip
over. For the 2012 race Nev Callow and Dave Bygrave were
there to run in YKH colours. Nev also has family living on
the island so had an extra reason for choosing this one.
The scenic 2 lap course is described as 'rolling' for the
first 5 miles, and the hill at Bride was more of a challenge
second time round at 17m. With only 94 people doing the full
marathon we saw hardly any other runners during the second
lap, eventually crossing the finish line together in a time
of 4h20m56s in joint 62nd place.
It was a real pleasure to run in this small, well-organised
event. With so few marathon entries and only a couple of
hundred doing the half-marathon there was no queueing at the
tea hatch or the toilets! The marshalls were full of
encouragement and we particularly appreciated the shouts of
"Come on Yorkies!", " Say hello to Jean for us!" and "hey
you're the Brass Monkey people!"
Note for the marathon addicts out there - one male was
competing in his 568th marathon and is still only in his
forties - I'm still trying to work out quite how he has
managed that.
San Francisco Marathon 2012
Tony Kendrick sported the York Knavesmire
Harriers’ vest in the San Francisco marathon on
Sunday 29th July. With just over 6,000
runners, this event is nowhere near the size of
other big city marathons, but it’s a wonderfully
interesting circular course around the iconic city,
including running across the Golden Gate Bridge,
through the historic Presidio Park, and along the
extensive waterfront. It starts at 5.30am to avoid
the heat of the day, so Tony was finished in time
for breakfast, with a time of just under 3.44, 15
minutes worse than his PB, but his excuse was that
it’s a very hilly course, up and down the steep San
Francisco streets made famous by films like Bullitt,
and best negotiated by cable car rather than on foot
after 20 miles or so!
Jane Tomlinson York 10k
report by Margaret Brown
– Club Secretary
10k August 2012
Congratulations toALLYKH
member who ran the Jane Tomlinson race 2012. When you open the
York Evening Press and see the pictures and the positions and
times of our members it makes you so proud to be a member of our
club even if your not running it (personally I think so). Well done
to Emma Yates you did yourself, family and our club proud and what a
lovely smile (with a smile like that Emma you could be the pride of
York!!). It is so hard to mention all our members individually by
name but well done to John Oliver, Chris Roberts, Stefan, Sarah and
so many more of our members who all commit themselves to running and
putting in the hard effort and commitment its just fantastic and
great to be a YKH runner. In fact I repeat to all our members who
are running distances of 10K races, half marathons and marathons
both in the UK and Overseas I applaud you all.
Harrogate 10k
SUNDAY 22 JULY
500runners
gathered in the centre of Harrogate for its popular
annual 10k race. Knavesmire, once again, did itself
proud by presenting 22 runners – more than any other
club. 80 clubs were there on the day.
It was dry and
warm as the runners pounded the two-lap “undulating”
course. Our
club was positively cheered along by many friends
and families standing on the road-side, providing
much appreciated encouragement.
Our club
captains did us proud by leading us home. Chris
Roberts, mens captain, was first Knavesmire man over
the line, and 14thoverall,
in a great time of 35.58. Sarah Douglas, ladies
captain, was first Knavemire lady over the line, and
13thlady
overall, in 42.47. Leading by example!
Their inspiration
obviously rubbed off with every Knavesmire runner
finishing in under an hour. A great achievement.
The fantastic day
was concluded with the annual garden party at the
home of Club President, Malcolm Fawcett. It
was a great gathering and a great way to celebrate
the club’s many recent successes. However, more 10k
runs will be needed to run off the many sandwiches,
sausage rolls and sweets generously provided by
Malcolm and his wife Barbara!
David Varley,
Knavesmire Harrier, was the first Over 65s in the Tyne
Bridge Harriers' 5 Mile Road Race on the Quayside in
Newcastle upon Tyne. Well done David you did yourself
and the club proud.
Chris Roberts YKHcame
storming home in a PB of 16m 30s in the 3rd RUTTP...?
5km race/walk for men only on Father's Day
He was 1m 39s in
front of the 2nd man home who wasPaul
Goblean
unattached runner
Chris then went
on to run in the castle Howard 10k
The weather was
kind to us on the day and 139 men completed the
course in bright sunshine Many more had entered the
event but some were unable to attend on the day!
Grateful thanks
to all the York Knavesmire Harriers members
who marshalled, and assisted in numerous ways on
the day (and of course ran!)
Also thanks to
some members of York Postal for helping to marshal
We must also say
a big thank you to all the families and friends who
turned out to help in some way
Last but by no
means least the we must not forget the supporters
who cheered on all the runners and walkers to the
very end
Most of us have been loving the beautiful
sunshine over the last week but we were all hoping for cooler
running conditions at Easingwold. Alas! That was not the case. A
combination of heat and hills made the course pretty gruelling.
Despite this, some more fantastic performances from our men. Chris
Roberts finished in 2nd place (36.35), Giles Hawking in 4th
(37.04), Ian Anderson in 7th (37.17) and Simon Collins
15th (39.17). Thanks to their efforts the men are currently top of
the mens team leader-board. Keep it up guys!
As for us ladies, we can boast that 5 of us
finished within the top 10 of ladies. Emma Yates was 1st
(39.41), Robyn Hawksby took 3rd (42.33), Sarah Douglas 4th
(43.00), Andrea Lancaster (44.11) and Nik Vogan (44.28). These great
results mean that we too are top of the team leader-board. I don’t
want to speak too soon but it’s looking like a strong possibility
that we might retain our winning ladies team status for the 3rd
year in a row. Here’s hoping.
Special mention too to Maureen Medlar and Mike
McGrath for coming 1st in their age categories and also
to Stephen Robson for running his fastest race of the league so far.
A big thank you to those who organised the food
afterwards. Once again it proved a huge hit.
So, it’s 3 races down, 3 to go. Keep up the
great running everyone because as we all know “Points win prizes!”
Edinburgh Marathon.
"WELL DONE SARAH DURKIN your first Marathon - the " Edinburgh
Marathon" in very hot weather conditions 75 degrees - extreme heat
to run a marathon and finish 3.59 for first time. It has been a
pleasure to see you work so hard and apply yourself to the
training. All of us on a monday and thursday night
training shout WELL DONE you did yourself proud and the club. As a
club we are delighted to have you with us. What next Sarah -
London? New York? (Great shopping and culture in New York
marathon??)
Congratulation
Harriers! YKH was the clear winner at last Tuesday’s
summer league race in Tadcaster. We called on you to
support this year’s summer league, and you have
delivered in style. We had more than twice as many
runners than any other club. Brilliant ... and thank
you.
Numbers of runners:
- Knavesmire
Harriers: 79
- Easingwold: 35
- Pocklington: 32
- York Acorn: 30
- Pickering: 22
- Selby: 19
- York Postal: 17
- York Triathlon: 12
- Tadcaster: 6
- York St John
University: 2
The special individual
award must go to ROBYN HAWKSBY who won the ladies race in a
time of 42.06, not bad only three weeks after finishing the
gruelling Yorkshire Three Peaks Race .
Big
congratulations to IAN ANDERSON who was the first Harrier
over the line, in 2ndplace
overall. And well done to GILES HAWKING and SIMON COLLINS
who also made the top 10.
Sarah Douglas was our 2nd lady
Harrier, and 4thlady
overall. Sarah’s time of 42.29 beat her previous PB by 60
seconds and her previous Tadcaster time by an amazing
4-and-a-half minutes. In the past 2 months Sarah has
delivered PBs at 5k, 10k and half marathon.
Brilliant results after a lot
of hard training.
CHRIS ROBERTS, our elite
runner over recent times, also earns an unfortunate mention.
Chris was powering towards a possible PB and top-3 place. An
absent marshal, however, resulted in the leading pack missing a
final turn. By the time the organisers were able to catch-up it
was too late for Chris to re-enter the race. A
formal apology was issued and Chris is now focused on racing the
FULL 10k at the next event in Easingwold.
After the race many of us
were able to enjoy well-earned refreshments at Tadcaster’s Royal
Oak pub. These after-race gatherings are proving to be a great
success. Many thanks to RICHARD GOTT for organising this one.
Well done Harriers. Our club
is going from strength-to-strength. Here’s to more success
throughout the rest of the season
Keswick Half Marathon - 6th
May.
report by Sue Adams
results .
Six intrepid York Knavesmire Harriers made the long
journey to the Lake District. With snow on the hills and
rain to start, the very hilly course which takes in the
road along Catbells high above Derwent Water is not
easy, but the views are stunning and the spring flowers
were in profusion. The weather improved making it a
fantastic event. Susan and Paul have done this event
many times although the route has changed in recent
years due to flood damage, for others it was a new
venture. Peter Welsh 1.40.08 was our first to finish
followed by Kelly Temple 1.49.04, Dave Scoreby 1.54.44,
David Bygrave 1.55.35, Susan & Paul Adams 2.39.32. There
was an apple and a drink at the finish with the option
to buy a slate coaster for £5. Well done all and thank
you for the cheers as we finished great club spirit.
North Duffield 10k - 5th May.
report by Daniel Sturgeon
The first running of the North Duffield Off Road 10k
took place on Saturday 5th May. The venue was Skipwith
Common and if that name doesn't ring any bells then
you're not alone. Until Saturday I was oblivious to its
charms but am now a big fan of this lovely little patch
of Yorkshire. The Common is an area of wild vegetation,
sandy soil, patches of woodland and marshy pools close
to Riccall. To further add to the uniqueness of the
Common a World War II airfield that has long since been
reclaimed by nature occasionally affords runners a short
stretch of broken tarmac and takes your mind off the
puddle dodging, wildlife spotting and root tripping.
The race takes in two 5 km laps across this varied
terrain and along the way throws in swing gates, short
plank bridges and 180 degree turns, making for an
interesting and testing route. Once you've added in the
friendly organisers, the worthy causes it's raising
funds for, the small entry list and the ideal weather
you have the perfect race.
The race itself was a reasonably slow affair, partly due
the route and partly due to the absence of many serious
runners. The strength of the field can best be summed up
by my 5th place overall (in the summer league you can
multiply that figure by 10) but at no point did this
feel like an event dominated by positions and times, it
was much more about enjoying the experience and the
smiles from the finishers told you it had succeeded on
that front. A shiny medal, a slice of orange, a farewell
to my companions for the run and it was back home by mid
morning. Even scheduling an early start on the Saturday
morning was a masterstroke.
I sincerely hope this becomes a regular fixture on the
running calendar and that come next May there are plenty
more Harriers lining up to enjoy this event.
Kirkbymoorside 10k - 6th MAY.
report by Liz Matthews.
Twenty one Harriers lined up at the start of the May
club run, in the pretty market town of Kirkbymoorside,
thanking our lucky stars that the weather was a huge
improvement on recent days.
We were well
aware of the mile long climb out of the town, but it
really was relatively tame after some of the hills of
previous club runs this year. The
route took us along quiet lanes into the countryside,
through idyllic villages, with far reaching views over
the North York Moors. The
locals were out in force, sitting in picnic chairs along
the route, clapping, cheering and encouraging everyone.
The course
had been described as fast and undulating and it
certainly lived up to its name, with plenty of uphill
undulations on the way out! It
was nice to see a little sign saying ‘Last Hill’ just
before the 8 km mark.
But what
goes up must come down, and down we came, at a great
rate of knots! We
practically flew the last 2km, with a sprint finish
along the main street which was lined with huge crowds
of cheering supporters and even a Brass Band playing.
Everyone I
spoke to was delighted with their times, too many to
mention, but congratulations to Chris Roberts for coming
4thoverall,
Sarah Douglas was 2ndlady,
Mike McGrath 3rdmale
vet and Ian Baldwin with a PB. Careful
perusing of the results has shown that there was a
slight hiccup with the chip timing, resulting in myself
and Maureen Medlar being deprived of 2ndand
3rdlady
vet prizes respectively. A
steward’s enquiry is underway!
The Moss
family were out in force, with Gary and Linda’s son
Peter putting in a good performance – probably our
youngest Harrier.
Well done to
Chris Roberts, Pete Downes, Martin Smith, Nick Griffin,
Tony Kendrick, John Middleton, Maureen Medlar and Linda
Moss who all squelched round Fountains last weekend,
Summer League on Tuesday and Kirbymoorside this weekend
– true YKH dedication!
This really
was a great race; very friendly, terrific atmosphere
and lots of tea-shops and pubs in the town for our band
of non-running supporters.
More photos in galleries below.
Sarah
Douglas was 2ndlady
.
.
Greater Manchester Marathon Race Report - 29 April.
by Mike McGrath.
The weather forecast was fine
rain to start then heavy rain and wind - don't believe it !
The rain started before the
race and got worse, by the second half people were dropping out
with hypothermia. Its the hardest marathon I have ever run. You
tend to think that people running marathons in hats,
waterproofs, tracksters and gloves are overdressed or doing a
mountain marathon, they were the lucky ones.
Stephan Durkin was first
Knavesmire home in 3:35:02 followed by Colin Lee 3:42:47 (he
passed me at 20 miles leaning into a gale), me, Mike Mcgrath
3:55:23 (my hands went numb about 16 miles, at 20 I couldn't
pick up jelly babies on offer). Then David Darton 4:23:02 ( I
met him at half way) and Vivianne Fraser at 4:48:16. We got 62nd
team out of 90. I think we all did very well to finish in
abysmal conditions.
The worst was yet to come at
baggage collection, waiting 45+ minutes for your bag in the wind
and rain was not pleasant.
Anyway we survived to run
another day. Oh and Monday, the day after was an ideal marathon
day!
Fountains 10K Race Report – Sunday 29th
April
.
by Nick Griffin.
The wettest April on record. Flood warnings. Over 25mm of rain
predicted in one day. 3.5 degrees plus windchill. None of these
things deterred the 17 Knavesmire Harriers who made their way to
Grantley for the Fountains 10K. Neither did the pre-race information
which described the course as ‘undulating’ (always a warning sign)
and declared that ‘the short section that crosses the moor has been
known to become very boggy if the weather has been wet.’
After a slightly delayed start the runners who had been huddled in
the primary school were persuaded out into the downpour to be warned
by the race director that conditions were the worst in his 20 years
of organising the race and some puddles on the course could be half
a metre deep. The multi-terrain course commenced with a steady climb
out of the village before a right turn onto the moorland track and
straight into the teeth of the wind and rain which had now turned
sleety so that a pair of goggles would have been advisable. Puddles
were deep, the bog was boggy and small boulders and sharp rocks were
helpfully positioned to break your fall.
One of my shoes was temporarily lost to one of the deeper puddles
and those without goggles were so blinded by the rain that they
often stumbled - I witnessed two runners go headlong into the mire
(one of whom I even stopped to help up). Leaving the moor the course
began to turn back towards the village and although now downhill the
wind conspired to stay mostly head on despite several changes in
direction. At 5 miles we turned for home and as the wind dropped the
road rose up for a final sharp hill back into the village and the
reward of a piece of flapjack and a cup of tea.
Despite feeling more like a winter than a spring race there were
some great times recorded with Chris Roberts being the first Harrier
home in third place in an excellent 36m18s. The race for the ladies
prize was very close with 50 seconds separating the first three.
Emma Yates was the first Harrier lady claiming third, just 6 seconds
from second place and first in her category!
Traffic control was a bit ‘hit and miss’ for the tail end runners
but other than the weather (did I mention the weather?) this was a
great scenic little race. Congratulations to Pete Downes, Martin
Smith, Tony Kendrick, Iain Baldwin, John Middleton, Gill Barker,
Martin and Maureen Medlar, Emma Gradwell, Garry Moss, Liz matthews,
Darren Leaf, Linda Moss and Keith Hillsden (and me) who alongside
our placing runners, Chris & Emma braved the elements for this, the
first in this year’s Yorkshire Dales Race Series. Results can be
found on the
Results page.
Paris Marathon - 15.04.2012. report by
Andy Falconer
New member, Andy Falconer, ran his first marathon on Sunday in
Paris. He was aiming for a 4.30 time but finished in 4hrs 11mins. He
also managed to raise over £2,000 for Martin House Children’s
Hospice at the same time. ‘It was an amazing experience being in an
event with 35,000 others. The route is great in that it goes past
many of the famous sites in Paris and there were runners from all
over the world. I’ve now got the marathon bug and am trying to get a
charity place for Berlin in September!”
.
Helmsley Multi-Terrain
Challenge - 8th April report by Liz Matthews
A cloudy but dry Easter Day
saw a good turn out of Knavesmire Harriers at the annual Helmsley
10K Multi Terrain Challenge. Many of us had run the race before and
remembered with dread the long uphill slog along the road to
Carlton. Once the hill was behind us, we headed off-road for some 4
km along a bridle track which was lined with cowslips and primroses.
Very pretty, and the views over the Howardian Hills were truly
breathtaking. All too soon, we were heading across slightly sticky
fields and back into Helmsley, but the race had a nasty little
'sting in the tail' - a 500 metre climb to the finish which really
tested our aching legs. However the lure of the Easter Egg at the
finish line kept us focused, and resulted in some really good times.
First Harrier home was
Darren Hendley in 39:57, followed by Pete Downes who came in as 3rd
M45. Mike McGrath was 1st M60, I managed 2nd F50, and Susan Adams
finished as 3rd F60.
Welcome to Kate Atkin,
running for the club for the first time, and finished with a huge
smile on her face!
This is proving to be a
popular race with entries on the increase - over 300 completed the
course this year. Well worth putting the date in your diary for
next year!
Hull Marathon - Easter Sunday 8th April report by Tony Kendrick
The new Hull marathon is an
event well worth considering next year for Harriers who miss out on
the London, being run two weeks before. Starting at the early time
of 8am in the historic heart of the city, the 876 runners stayed
cool throughout the morning, with mist shrouding the far side of the
Humber Bridge and only a light wind coming inshore in our faces as
we ran along the marina either side of the Deep. The flat course
offered fast times, and Ian Anderson ran a really impressive race,
coming third overall with a fast time of 2.41.12, and first in the
40-49 year age category.
Other Harriers finishing well
included Stefan Durkin, Colin Lea, David Darton, and Tony Kendrick (who
managed a PB of 3.26.39).
This wasn’t the first ever Hull
marathon: a Hull to Grimsby marathon was run in 1981 soon after the
Humber Bridge was built. Hopefully this event will grow and grow,
and can be recommended to YKH members as a scenic flat course
conducive to fast times.
(The photo shows Tony Kendrick,
David Darton, Colin Lea and Stefan Durkin at the finish).
Saturday 31st March 2012 is a day that will
always be remembered by Caroline Warrington, Joan Heron, Sarah
Douglas and Simon Collins. It is the day that they were amongst the
first people to cross the Olympic Stadium’s finish line. Over 43,000
members of the public entered the ballot to get a place in the
Olympic Park Run, organised by the National Lottery, however only
5000 places were available so our 3 Harriers were very privileged to
be there. The run was a five-mile race around the Olympic Park,
taking in landmarks such as the Velodrome and Aquatics Centre and
finished in the iconic Olympic stadium. For Caroline, Sarah and
Simon the most memorable part of the race will have been the final
300m when they actually ran on to the Olympic track to cross the
finish line. All runners were allocated 2 spectator tickets so
runners were greeted by 10,000 cheering spectators including their
own friends and family. A number of famous faces and former
Olympians including Princess Beatrice, Sally Gunnell and Roger Black
also took part and helped raise the profile of the race. The winning
man’s time was 25.11 and Nell McAndrew was the first lady in 29.21.
Our 4 Harriers all ran fantastic races too and did themselves, their
family and their friends proud. Simon finished 119th
overall in a time of 30.47 which is an exceptional performance.
Caroline took Harrier silver claiming 475th place with a
time of 34.47 and Sarah took bronze finishing in 488th
place in 34.52. There were 2634 women running and Caroline and Sarah
claimed 52nd and 55th lady, a great
achievement indeed. Joan finished in a very good time of 46.24. This
event really was a once in a lifetime opportunity for the 5000
runners who took part and when watching the likes of Usain Bolt, Mo
Farah and Jessica Ennis crossing the Olympic finish line in the
summer Caroline, Joan Sarah and Simon will recount the euphoric
feeling they had when they competed in the Olympic Park Race.
Joan Heron
Simon Collins(left)
Caroline
Warrington(right)
Sarah Douglas (far right)
Thirsk 10 mile - 25th March
report by Dick Hunter
A fine day greeted the five
Harriers who raced Thirsk 10 (and Yorks champs.). Pete Downes (M45)
had another fast race (chip time 1:04), as did Joannne Hunt (F35) in
1:15. And David Varley (M65) was 5th in his age category, running
1:19. Other Harriers were Dave Bygrave (M50) running 1:22, and Dick
Hunter (M65) 1:24.
Club Run Harewood House 10k - 18th March
report by Tony Kendrick
This was
a well run event with good facilities provided considering the
reasonable entry fee, including food and drink vans and lots of
toilets, a DJ, group warm-up and even a band! It was great to be
running on a sunny Spring day with a cooling breeze. The undulating
circular course on tracks around the estate took us past the
imposing mansion house and along the edge of the Dales to the west.
The uneven surfaces and long hill between 7.5k and 8.5k slowed some
runners down, so Janet Cordingley, Pete Downs and John Bullock all
did especially well to come first in their age categories with
excellent times of 49.03, 42.02 and 44.20 respectively. Altogether
20 Harriers ran in this Inaugural event, and we can recommend it to
other members for next year.
MONKEYS IN MALAGA - MARCH 2012.
Three mad monkeys - Sarah Douglas, Chris Roberts and
Alistair McQueen - recently flew to Spain to compete
in the Malaga half marathon.
It was something of a victory tour for Sarah and
Chris, for at the recent club dinner they had won
the ladies' and men's gold medals, respectively.
Alistair carried no medals, but travelled with a
spring in his step and a long-standing love for
tapas.
Malaga - a new destination
Sun, sand, sea and the occasional sangria helped
the monkeys prepare for the big day. Malaga was a
new destination, and it didn't disappoint. Friendly
people, fascinating culture and fabulous weather
made for a fantastic weekend.
Great performance on a great day
On race
day, 3,000 runners gathered in the city's modern athletics
stadium to prepare for battle. The sun brightly beat down as the
temperature gently rose to a challenging 26 degrees.
The foreign
conditions, however, were not enough to slow the Harriers.
Records fellas Chris
raced to a PB of 1.21.57 and Sarah to a PB of 1.38.35. Chris
finished in a stellar 95th place overall and Sarah was a
brilliant 28th fastest lady.Our
monkeys did us proud.
Alistair
meanwhile was just delighted to complete the course. Scottish
genes mixed with Spanish sun made for a tough run. He did
however win the race to the free bar at the finish line and
celebrated with a complementary glass of chilled beer.
If you want
to combine running with great weather and a fascinating city,
Malaga 2013 is one to add to your list. For more information,
contactalistair_mcqueen@yahoo.co.uk
Meltham 10k - January Club Run. report by Sarah
Douglas
This certainly wasn’t a race for the faint
hearted with temperatures only just reaching above freezing and more than a
handful of hills to tackle. 16 of us journeyed over to Meltham near Huddersfield
for the first of this year’s club runs. I have to say when I got to the start
line I worried I had underdressed for the occasion, sporting only a club vest.
Most people had jumpers on or at least a t-shirt under their vests. My logic
however was I would have to run faster to keep warm. Don’t know about the rest
of you but the exertion of getting up the hills did certainly help raise my
temperature. Luckily the snow topped ones were in the distance and we didn’t
have to attempt those but they were nice to look at. The positive to going
uphill is that it’s pretty likely that at some point you’ll have to go downhill
and there were some long downhill stretches to compensate, particularly the
final stretch of the course, but it was pretty cruel putting a final uphill slog
at the finish.
A big well done to all
of our runners who completed the course. Chris Roberts once again ran a
fantastic race finishing in 8th place in a time of 37.43. Anyone
would think it was a flat course with that time! Stef Durkin was our 2nd
male home in 43.48 and Dan Sturgeon 3rd in 43.54. Great performances
also by John Bullock who finished 3rd in his age category in a time
of 44.07 and Mike McGrath who came 2nd in his age category in 46.41.
Well done also to David Darton, Tony Kendrick, John Middleton and Colin Lea for
running sub 50mins on what was a tough course.
Liz Matthews and I were
the only Knavesmire ladies to enter but as they say it’s quality not quantity.
Big congratulations to Liz for finishing 3rd in her age category in a
time of 52.21. Hilly courses usually defeat me but I’ve been putting in some
hill training and made it round in 45.38 finishing as 8th woman (I
think!).
Not
our greatest turn out to date but still an enjoyable race and great to catch up
with everyone. Good luck to all those people who managed to get a place for
Snake Lane, sadly I didn’t but look forward to hearing how you all get on.
York Parkrun
- 14th January. report by Daniel Sturgen
This Saturday saw the long awaited arrival of the parkrun phenomenon to our
city. Before I get into the details of "who, what and how fast", I feel parkrun
probably needs an introduction to the uninitiated. About 7 years ago a group of
friends started running 5k time-trials every Saturday morning around Bushy Park
in West London. The simple idea of a free to enter weekly timed event was a hit.
The number of participants grew as did the number of venues - initially in
London but spreading nationwide thereafter. There are now well over a 100
separate parkruns taking place every Saturday morning all over the UK, and the
concept has even been successfully exported to Australia, South Africa, Denmark,
Poland and Iceland. Incredibly there are now 140,000 people signed up as
parkrunners, representing 1,659 running clubs. On Saturday York finally joined
the parkrun family, which segues nicely to the details of the debut run,... and
what a debut it was.
With the race scheduled to start at 9am the early arrivals were treated to a
race course shrouded in mist, but following a breathtaking sunrise, the race
took place under clear blue skies that showed the frost covered Knavesmire at
it's best. I can't believe a single one of the runners can have failed to be
impressed by the setting. For an event with minimal promotion (a facebook page
and some word of mouth) a field of 215 was much more than expected (by
comparison the Millennium Bridge 5k race 1 had 210 entrants) but must have been
hugely rewarding to the event organisers. That said, the field was boosted by
entrants from parkruns in Bradford, Barnsley, Middlesbourgh, Leeds, Sheffield
and many others who had turned out to show support for the new kid on the block,
so may fall a little in the coming weeks.
Among the local entrants I was pleased to count at least 9 Harriers lining up
alongside club runners from York Acorn, Pocklington, Pickering and the other
usual suspects. It was even nicer to see that some of our Harriers had brought
along friends and family who perhaps wouldn't be running at our usual events.
Despite the less clubby feel of the race there were still some fast times at the
sharp end of the field and some 46 runners posted times under 20 minutes. Will
New (second claim member) and Chris Roberts (mens U35 champion this year) were
both well placed in the top 10 and both Chris and Sarah Douglas reported hitting
new PBs on this remarkably flat and very fast course.
So a free to enter, timed event that offers huge PB potential. What could be
better... well the fact that it all happens again this coming Saturday and every
Saturday going forward (subject to racedays). Just think what a great means of
tracking progress a weekly, timed run provides. So, like a preacher coming to
the end of a sermon I feel I should urge you all to give this a go over the
coming weeks. If you want to find out more, or like what you've heard and want
to get yourself registered, check out
http://www.parkrun.org.uk/york/home