—London Marathon.
1016th Lindsay Toulson 2:52:33
1222th Jon Pinder 2:54:40 PB
2883rd Dan Chan 3:08:51 PB
3395th Nicholas Tutill 3:12:41
3639th Ewan Kirk 3:14:14
4213rd Caroline Warrington 3:17:37 PB
7622nd Claire Antrobus 3:37:02 PB
10048th Thomas Mark 3:48:08
12341st Stef Durkin 3:56:52
13182nd Laura Halet 3:59:26
13377th Alex Bedingham 3:59:58 – doing excellent work as the official 4 hour pacer.
16392nd Margaret Metcalfe 4:13:33
17024th Kevin Dunn 4:16:00
17964th Pat Boden 4:26:51
24373rd Amy Bedingham 4:45:05
37828th Samantha Harkins 6:28:08
—Vets Honley. GP Series Race #1.
Report by Sarah Attwood:
Race report Race 1 vets series
Something positive has resulted from turning 35…I can now compete in the Yorkshire Veterans league. The first I knew about this league was 2 years ago when I helped marshal at one of the races we organised…they looked like friendly fun races which I was quite keen to take part in (when able). There multi-terrain races for men and women aged 35 and above, organised by the Yorkshire Veterans Athletics Association. The first race in this year’s series was at Holmfirth.
After driving through some gorgeous countryside, I arrived at race HQ at Holmfirth Harriers clubhouse with 45 minutes to spare. I was able to register quickly for the race and was greeted with a warm welcome by the people on the desk;
“its nice to see a York harrier….we haven’t seen you lot for a while”.
I paid my £5 entry fee and then went to see if I could find any other harriers that had come to race. After 30 minutes and not seeing any other harriers I thought I must have been on my own but then I bumped in to Pete Downs on the start line. Shortly afterwards we saw Maureen and Martin Medlar who kindly looked after my keys.
The race started after a 3..2..1..and then we were off doing a loop around the field before the climb began. I had been warned about the course being all uphill for the first half so I set off nice and steady. The course had just under 700ft of elevation and the majority of this was in the first 3 miles so I was thankful for the advice given to me from both Pete and some rival club members.
The majority of this climb was off road through woods and fields with only a short section on pavement. It made such a lovely change from all the road running that I had been doing lately. We got to stop to catch our breath at a number of styles which normally I don’t like in a race but today I was quite enjoying them. There were no large cues to get over them like in many races as the field had started to spread out between them.
I was trying to use the race as a training run, attempting to save something for Pocklington on Tuesday however each time I saw another women infront of me I couldn’t help speed up a little before reminding myself of the plan. I managed to pass several women during the first three miles and I’m sure that this was due to my conservative start.
At the top of the climb the views were amazing, the sky was blue, the sun was shining and you could see for miles. Spectators, also admiring the views were sat on the hill sides shouting words of encouragement as were the runners that you passed/passed you. It was such a lovely, friendly, scenic event.
I had given myself permission to put more effort in after the half way mark so once we started the descent I started to try and pick runners off. I managed to pass 2 more women and several men. The best thing about the vet races is that fact that everyone has their age category on their back, you can therefore decide on whether the person in front of you is worth catching or not….im my case they were as they were in my age category.
After running through several more fields (some with some confused looking larmers in them) and tracks I was back down at race HQ to run half way around the pitch to the finish. I was really surprised by the number of people that cheered me on at the finish, several runners from other clubs shouted words of encouragement in addition to Maureen and Martin who were also taking some photos. I managed to finish 3rd lady in a time of 48:08 2 minutes behind the first lady.
Pete finished a few minutes in front of me with a time of 46:49, 40th overall and 12th in his age category.
After a little cool down we sampled the free buffet which was an amazing selection of hot drinks, cakes, buns, savouries and sandwiches and then listened to prize giving.
I was amazed to receive a prize for coming 1st in my age category with having only paid £5 entry fee. I choose a lovely hoodie out of a selection of wine, hats, free race entry and hoodies and went home wondering why more harriers do not take part in this series.
It was a great little event that I enjoyed tremendously. As a result I thought that I would write about it to try to encourage other harriers to join me in doing some of the remaining races which I have listed below;
Race 2 Tuesday, May 30 @ 19:30 Kirkstall
Race 3 Sunday, Jun 4 @ 11:10 Lythe, Near Whitby
Race 4 Wednesday, August 9 @ 19:30 – halifax
Race 5 Valley Striders hosted event – TBC
Race 6 York Knavesmire TBC
Race 7 Stainland hosted event TBC
Race 8 Sunday, October 1 Horsforth
Race 9 Sunday, November 12 @ 11:02 Spenborough
Your best 6 results will count towards the league and the possibility of getting a trophy for those interested and you have to do a minimum of 5 races to qualify for an award.
https://www.yorkknavesmireharriers.co.uk/vets/
http://www.yvaa.org/grand-prix/
Pete Downes also sent in this report:
Perfect running conditions for our trip across to honley. this race is probably the toughest of the vets series, so it was nice to hear the course was completely dry as Sarah Attwood and myself set off on this 10k multi-terrain course. after 2 laps of the sports field it was up-hill for the next 3-4 miles with plenty of styles and gates to skip through , what goes up most come down and there was a let yourself go section just before we returned to the sportsfield for a one lap dash to the line, Sarah had a great result being 3rd lady overall and winning her a category , thanks to Maureen&Martin medler for there support on the day, hopefully we can get a few more members down for next race.
—Vets Championship Half Marathon – Ackworth.
Four YKH runners completed this half marathon on Easter Monday three of whom were eligible as vets. Congratulations to all three of the seasoned vets runners who secured age related placings in this yvaa Championship event – Susan Adams 1st F65 – Maureen Medlar 2nd F60 and Paul Adams 3rd M60. Couldn’t however fail to mention the great run by Nik Terrega (our non vet) who was the first lady home in a personal and household PB time!
Individual race and all vets competition details for 2017 will be displayed on the Knavesmire website or alternatively at www.yvaa.org
Hope to see you soon but if you need any further details you can contact either of your vet’s captains Neil Stabbs or Maureen Medlar
—Gisborough Moors Fell Race.
Chris Roberts (2nd) reaches the crowded summit of Roseberry Topping
This was the 40th running of this ever popular 12 mile race, which traverses the Moors above Guisborough, taking in such local features as Captain Cook’s Monument, Roseberry Topping and High Cliff Nab.
Stuart Grange worked his way up the field to finish 3rd.
Knavesmire’s Chris Roberts was in contention for victory, but after a hard fought race had to settle for second , with YKH runner Stuart Grange hot on his heels in third.
Awaiting results , but also running
Neil Stabbs
Tom Ratcliffe
Barry Atkinson
Giles Hawking
Phillip Chapman
Graham Gill
Katie Smith
Andrew Johnson
Zoe Pattinson
—York Parkrun.
Parkrun PB’s for:
1st Gareth Green 16:45
Peter Lyth 23:32
Jean Snelling 37:05
Richard Purser 17:38
Andrew Martin 20:02
Rachel Gillespie 25:46
Lucy Pinder 19:43
Emily Baines 19:42