National Cross Country Relays – November 5th
Last week we reported on the achievements of Blackburn Harrier Chris Wood who has reached an international level as a Starter. This week, as we set up the Tent HQ at the National XC Relays, we saw another Blackburn Harrier – Lee Thompson – helping run the Championships as Assistant Referee which was great to see. Congratulations to Lee who has been the mainstay of the Club’s Endurance Officials Team.
In the Championships themselves we had three Teams in the Senior Men’s and two in the Senior Women’s. First off were the Women with the ‘A’ Team finishing 30th out of the one hundred and twenty three Teams competing and the ‘B’ Team 99th. GB International Alison Leonard on the 1st leg for the ‘A’ Team came home in 16th spot (10.10.55) followed on Leg (2) by Rachel Wood (25th) in a time of 11.24.95 and Beckie Taylor on Leg (3) finishing 30th with a time of 12.16.40.
Senior Women’s RESULTS
Carly Edwards led off for the ‘B’ Team on Leg (1) in 86th spot (12.49.25) and was backed up on Leg (2) by Carol Reilly in a time of 13.30.20, maintaining 86th position and Lindsay Davies on Leg (3) who posted a time of 16.26.95 to finish in 99th place.
In the Senior Men’s Race where the ‘A’ Team placed 42nd out of a field of one hundred and sixty six teams and the ‘B’ Team 103rd, Rob Warner got the ‘A’ Team off to a good start with a great run to come home in 26th place in an excellent time of 15.42.25, supported with another good run by Tim Raynes (16.22.80) to hand over in 29th place to V40 Chris Davies (17.40.30) placing 39th and V45 Andy Buttery on Leg (4) who came home in 42nd spot with a time of 17.56.80.
Senior Men’s RESULTS
Richard Stones led off the ‘B’ Team placing 100th in a time of 17.59.80 followed on Leg (2) by Ben Costello, running with an injury, picking up two places to come home in 98th (18.58.85). Derek Reilly on Leg (3) who hasn’t run for four weeks because of an injury picked up another place to finish 97th in a time of 19.32.10 and V60 John Chaplin in only his third race since March finishing in 103rd position (21.36.55). Great effort by the lads here.
The Harrier’s ‘C’ Team had a withdrawal due to injury on the afternoon which meant it had run as a part Team, with Danny Maynard on Leg (1) Andrew on Leg (2) and Andy Hatton on Leg (3). As of this moment there are no results available for the Senior Men’s incomplete Teams.
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Abbey Dash 10k – Sunday 6th November
Eight thousand, six hundred and thirty three runners completed this Race which is noted for providing fast times and attracting top quality fields. It was won by Jonny Mellor in 29.12 and had the first twelve athletes all ducking inside 30 minutes.
U20 Joe Monk had been targeting this Race with a view to bringing down his PB which stood at 33.12 before the Race and it was most definitely on the cards as his training and racing has been very good. In the event, Joe ran brilliant splits of 16.22 for the front 5k and 16. 14 for the back 5k to knock a massive 36 seconds off his old time to finish with a new PB of 32.36 in 83rd place and richly deserved for the work and effort he has put in. After the Race, Joe spoke to the Club and reflected on his Race saying that “I’m very proud to be part of a club that is going forward with top quality athletes. It was a great race, knew I had potential to run 32:45. Went through 5k in around 16:22 and felt very strong and manage to negative spit it, so to run 32:36 I’m over the moon. Great feeling knowing the training is paying off”.
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Through The Villages – Sunday November 6th
Nearly three hundred runners braved the weather today at this Race which has been going for a long while now and always attracts a sizeable field.
The Harriers had seven runners out which saw them win the Women’s Team (Carly, Maddie & Grace) and win the Men’s Vet Team (Chris, Shaun and Paul). Should mention also that Joanne Nelson and Rachel Jones who compete on the Track for the Harriers were 2nd and 3rd women respectively overall in the Race with Joanne winning the Women’s V40’s and Rachel the V45’s.
First home for the Harriers was Chris Davies in 4th place with a time of 49.38 and having run at Mansfield yesterday in the National Cross Country Relays, that was a really good run. Behind him, just back from holiday came Shaun Livesey in 6th place (50.46) and Paul Guinan in 24th with a time of 53.51. In only her fourth race since January came Grace Handley in a time of 57.15 and crossing the line in 49th spot. U17 Maddie Elliott finished in 70th spot with a time of 60.34 followed by V45 John Cookson in 79th (61.34) and Carly Edwards – another athlete who ran at Mansfield – in 97th place (62.40). Carly gave us her thoughts on the weekend saying that “Having raced at the xc relays the day before I set off quite reserved. I know the course and know there is a lot of climbing over the 8.5 mile distance. I started passing people at around 5 miles and definitely felt better during the second half of the race. It’s definitely a race I would do again”.
(L-R Carly Edwards- Maddie Elliott – Grace Handley)
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And finally, V55 Paul Clarke relaxing after his recent run in the Dublin Marathon where he finished in 7869th position with a time of 4hr 08 38. Well done Paul.
