What a fabulous sight to see all those youngsters, some of them at their first ever competition, some waiting with anticipation for the opportunity to show what they can do and some who had experience in competiton before the restrictions that we have all had to contend with to keep us safe from the impact of the pandemic. A big thank you to all the Officials, Coaches and volunteers who gave up their time, not just yesterday, but in the weeks and months prior, putting together the organisation, without which, none of this would be able to happen.
Imagine – no competition, no smiling faces, no cheering and shouting for your team mates, no enjoyment, no thrills and spills as youngsters battle to win points for themselves and their team, no pride of achievement, of improvement, or just simply having a go. All of this becomes possible – only – because people give up their time to become coaches, officials and adminstrators, voluntarily and unpaid. They are the lifeblood of our sport and without them, we wouldn’t have our sport. There is nothing more rewarding than giving of yourself and your time to others. How many of these youngsters carrying on to become Junior and Senior athletes, is in part, down to the ability for them to access guidance, support, training, coaching and opportunity to compete at the various levels as they make their own journey in athletics. Without those dedicated unpaid volunteers at the grass roots of our sport, none of those circumstances would be available to them. That is what we help to try and deliver – opportunity and a chance to grow, improve and succeed. In the Clubs where much of all this takes place, the foundations are built by those volunteers – come and join them – it’s a great place to be.
Seven Teams took part in this Match held at the Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre, UCLan, Preston on Sunday November 21st — Blackburn Harriers – Blackpool Wyre & Fylde – Broughton Primary – Chorley A&TC – Kendal AC – Lancaster & Morecambe – Preston Harriers. The second Match is Sunday January 23rd 2022 at the Stanley Park Blackpool Leisure Centre as is the third Match on Sunday February 6th 2022. The overall Match score from Sunday was a great one for Blackburn Harriers Sportshall Squad as they won the Match with a points total of 548 with Chorley in 2nd (366), Preston (327), Blackpool (243), Broughton (159), Lancaster & Morecambe (58) and Kendal (34).
The Harriers registered 5 team wins, a 2nd, 3rd and 5th places in the 8 team competitions. The U9 Boys won team event with 100 points as did the U9 Girls with 81 points, Chorley A&TC being second in both cases. There was a third team win for the U11 Girls with 108 points from Broughton in second spot (80) whilst the U11 Boys team came 5th (52) which was won by Chorley (93). Our U13 Boys took 3rd place (32) behind Chorley (48) and Preston (90) alongside the U13 Girls who took 2nd position (48) behind winners Preston (61). The Harriers 4th and 5th team wins of the day came in the U15’s – the Girls winning with 62 points from Chorley A&TC in 2nd (51), whilst the Boys won with 59 points from Blackpool in 2nd spot (48).
Sportshall Coach Phil Craven outlined the success of the Harriers Team on the day as he commented later “After a year away from competition, Lancashire Sportshall League held its first fixture on Sunday. Greatly anticipated by athletes and parents alike, it did not disappoint. With athlete numbers approaching 150, it promised to be a busy and eventful meeting. With thanks to the organisers, coaches, officials and parent helpers everything ran smoothly and a fun day was had by all.
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Tour of Pendle – Saturday November 20th 2021
Results (not available currently)
This is a Category AL Fell Race run over a distance of 27km / 16.8m incorporating a climb of 1473m / 4833ft. John Horrocks took on the race and had a really good run to place 18th overall. After the Race, John spoke to the Club commenting that it is “Probably one of the toughest fell races in the local area at 17 miles and 4800 ft of climbing. Slight change to this years course from CP1 to CP2 as we had to follow the Stan Bradshaw route which I think made it slightly quicker. Had a good run today and felt strong all of the way round coming in 18th in a time of 2hrs 43mins. Thanks for the support out on course to a few of the fellow harriers that came out to watch”.
John Horrocks (408)
Spotted — Neil ‘the rare sighted’ Tatersall
Still on the Fells, this time at the Arnside Knott Race where John Orrell featured again for the Harriers run from Hollins Farm, Far Arnside,
on a scenic course above Morecambe Bay and the Kent Estuary over 6 miles/1093 ft ascent.
The Race was won by Northumberland’s Matthew Briggs in a time of 36.10 and delighted to be out on a sunny day John who came home in 61st spot (55.31) told the Harriers “Arnside Knott, described as a short category B fell race, but its 6 miles was really more like trail than fell. The 1093ft of ascent was still a good work out for a Sunday though and we were rewarded with spectacular views for the effort.“
John Orrell
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U17 Hollie Cubbon was running just her seventh race since September 2019 when she stood on the start line at the Preston 5 mile race on Sunday November 21st. The race was won by Wallasey AC’s Ray Clark in a time of 27.39 from Simon Croft in 2nd (27.45) and Matthew Holton in 3rd (28.46). Hollie finished in 14th place overall running 37.28 in her first ever attempt at a distance over approx 4k in cross country. Her time got her to 2nd place in the Women’s race and was a solid run as she now builds up to the Ribble Valley 10k race on December 27th.
