This years Great North Run had a stellar field at the front end to add to the thousands who wanted to run. Names like Bekele, Gabrielle Sellassie, Mo Farah, Jeptoo, Dibaba and Defar certainly wet the appetite for those watching and none of the leading elites disappointed, producing great Races at the front end

Full Results HERE

(Some Photo’s courtesey of http://www.marathon-photos.com)

Nor did those Harriers who went up disappoint either, setting new PB’s. First Harrier home in 55th place was Stephen Chew who took over 5 minutes off his PB of 78.32 to record a cracking 72.45. Speaking afterwards Stephen said that “it’s no more than what I expected but i’m very pleased with it….I was aiming for between 72 – 73 minutes before the race with an outside bet at a high 71 minute so I hit my target. What a race though and i’ll be back next year. The support around the route is amazing and it’s needed in the last three miles. Well done to everyone else and to Tom Cornthwaite who finished in the top 30 once again”.

AAAD0154

In 122nd place came Chris Davies who seems to run a PB every time he races, this time knocking off another 48 seconds from his previous PB set a few weeks ago and now stands at 78.47. Chris went to the Race in a positive mood and said afterwards that he “went to Newcastle to get a PB and I got it but to top it of I got a great day out as well. The atmosphere is second to none. The crowds are massive and they really do help you get round the course. You want to stop and see what’s going on but obviously you can’t especially when you hear some of the bands playing. It’s a really well organised event considering the number of runners that turn out and I would defiantly recommend this race to anyone. I am going to go back and have another go next year because I enjoyed it that much”.

DSCN0326

Paul Wilkinson, who is racing quite a lot also had a fabulous run to cut nearly six minutes off his old PB (1.49.16) to set a massive new one with 1.43.44. The week before Paul joined with 64 other runners who contested the Burton-in-Kendal 10k placing 25th in 48.11. (Full Results HERE)

DSCN0327

Two other athletes who compete for Blackburn on the Track, Tom Cornthwaite and Sarah Ridehalgh also contested the Race, and who can forget the image on the television of Tom blasting away from the start in the first mile alongside Selassie, Bekele and Farah. Tom finished 29th in a time of 67.41 and Sarah ran 82.54 which was a seasons best.

AABE0149                                                          AAAD0048

====================

Lake Vyrny Sunday 15th September 2013

As usual, this very attractive Half-Marathon run around a Lake and in wooded shelter for a lot of it attracted 1348 runners.

Full Results HERE

Ben Fish who had won the Race in 2009, 2011 and 2012, was aiming to make it a hat-trick of wins on the bounce when he contested this years Race as part of his build up to the Berlin Marathon. Ben duly obliged by winning in a time of 68.05 and said after the Race that he “went down with a cold over the weekend, so I did the race to gauge how much it’s affected me, so in the circumstances I was quite happy with the time………As for the race, the conditions weren’t great, but the good thing with that course is you get a decent amount of shelter from the wind as it’s lined with trees all around the lake. The first mile and a half was exposed, but after that it was pretty good. It’s a fantastic race to do, really well organised and friendly. It’s definitely a pb course on the right day”.

====================

Sabden 6 Mile Trail Race Saturday 14th September 2013

Organised by Blackburn Harrier – Shaun Livesey, 78 runners finished the race won by David Rigby. Four Harriers competed and were led home by new member Michael Toms in 8th place and first V45 (40.09) with the effervescent Chris Barnes in 12th place and 2nd V45 (42.11), followed by Scott Monk, back racing after a long period of injuries in 18th (44.06) and Ian Clarkson in 49th (51.31).

Full Results HERE

====================