Northern T & F Championships – 19/20th August
Two very contrasting days at this years Championships held at the Leigh Sports Village. Saturday saw hailstones, rain and wind which was a remarkable contrast with Sunday as the wind dropped, the rain disappeared and the sun shone and out came the sun cream! At the end of the Championships the Harriers won two Silver and two Bronze Medals and set eight new personal bests.
The U17 Women started the Championships off in the most atrocious conditions with rain and hailstone battering them as they ran into the cage, threw and ran out as quick as they could. Nevertheless, it didn’t stop the athletes from throwing some good distances with Charlotte Williams finishing in 2nd place (54.15m) out of the fifteen strong field to win the Silver Medal. Afterwards Charlotte told the Club that it “wasn’t my best performance but I am happy with what I got considering the horrible weather which makes it very hard to compete and stay focused but overall I am pleased with a silver medal”.
There were more Medals for the Harriers Throws Squad with U17 Anthony Kent winning two Bronze Medals in the Shot where he came 3rd with a distance of 12.76m and third again in the Discus with a throw of 39.94m and afterwards he told the Club that he was “A bit below my best but still an enjoyable experience. Looking forward to the Mid Lancs Medal meeting next week end and hopefully a better result”.
U13 Nicky Saunders competing with the U15 Girls – and the only U13 in the event on the day – also won a Silver Medal in the Discus (1kg) achieving a distance of 25.15m, the first time she has thrown with that weight in competition which was a great result for her. She also threw 7.08m in the U15G Shot Putt (3kg) in 15th position – and – throwing the U15 weight in the Javelin (500g) for the first time she placed 10th over all with a throw of 23.68m afterwards telling the Club “what a fantastic weekend, with great people and I made many new friends and enjoyed both days , a weekend I will always remember 😆 can’t wait for next year, and a medal – what a bonus”. U15 Kieran Carroll had a good championships as well setting a new PB in the Javelin (600g) with a distance of 26.66m (7th) and added a 9th spot in the Discus (1.25kg) throwing 17.20m. Myah Booth finished 9th in the U15 Girls Shot Putt with a throw of 9.21m before going onto the Final of the 75m Hurdles which she had qualified for earlier where she finished 7th in a time of 12.27. Sisters Caroline and Julie Woodworth were competing in the Northern Championships for the first time – U13 Caroline throwing 5.31m in the Shot Putt (12th) and U15 Julie placing 8th in the Discus (1kg) with a distance of 15.82m.
On the Track there were new PB’s for Joe Gebbie, Harry Wilkin and Hollie Cubbon, firstly for Joe in the U17 Men’s 1500m where he lowered his previous best time of 4.30.1 down to 4.26.64 in 7th place and told the Club that he was “Delighted with a new PB today in the 1500m – a pretty big one cutting 3 seconds off my previous PB! The conditions were good and I’d been feeling good in training leading up to the race, so beating my PB was all I was focused on. Nice to see the summer training, particularly a lot of speed work, paying off! A perfect way to close out the season”. Harry cut his time down from 5.00.0 to 4.57.52 in the U15 Boys 1500m (8th) and commented that “was just happy to get a PB under 5 minutes before the last race of his first Harriers season”. U13 Hollie cut a whopping eleven seconds off her previous best to set a new 1500m PB time of 5.15.42 in 10th place and told the Club that she “enjoyed the run even though it was tough and liked running up an age group as it was a fast pace and pushed me on” . U15 Leon Thomas was just outside his personal best of 2.09.4 for 800m running a time of 2.10.8 to place 7th overall in a very strong field that featured a number of athletes in and around the 2.00 minute mark and just above.
Matt Ramsden went into the U15 Boys 3000m with a personal best of 9.34.4, the race featuring a number of youngsters much faster. Matt had a very good run clocking 9.39.15 which was even better than the time suggests as he had to run most of the race in 4th place on his own, the front three opening up a gap early on in the Race. Matt reflected on his Race and told the Club that “after my race today I wasn’t too pleased with my race as a whole. But since I’ve got home I’ve thought over my race again and I have realised it was a good race and I am happy with my performance today. I now understand that I can’t run a pb every race. But over all it was very good!” Wise words from such a young lad who has only just turned 14 a month ago. Amy Davies was also up against some pretty fast girls in the U15 1500m Race and finished in a solid time of 5.03.33 and 6th overall, commenting after the Race that she “wasn’t very happy with my race – I thought I could do a bit better but it was still a nice experience to run with higher experienced people and I would like to do it again”.
The U13 Boys 800m race was run as a time trial with three heats – Hayden Mercer ran a very good race to win his Heat in a time of 2.24.38, a new PB by over two seconds and 10th overall of the seventeen athletes taking part with David Holman (15th) in 2.32.68 just outside is personal best by a second. U13 Caroline Woodworth was up against twenty two other U13 Girls 800m runners and finished 21st overall in 2.46.56, a little under two seconds outsider her personal best. Unfortunately in the U20 Mens 3000m there was only two entries which saw Nick Smith run 9.47.10 just four seconds outside his personal best – a really good effort as he ran virtually the whole race on his own, something that requires real focus and earned him a silver medal. Nick summed up his Race “Really happy to come away from my first Northerns with a medal. Although the time was a bit disappointing, I felt I ran extremely well and would have got a pb with slightly better conditions. Overall a fantastic event, and I can’t wait to race it again next year”.
U15 Jonathan Gough wasn’t far off the Medals taking 4th spot in a new PB of 11.74m in the Triple Jump which was a very good performance considering he was jumping with a back niggle. George Whittaker (U15) finished in 9th place in the Long Jump with a leap of 4.09m which was down on his best of 4.50m set in the YDL League fixture in July. U15 Millie Coy set a seasons best in the U15 Girls Long Jump coming in 8th with a jump of 4.13m followed by a 28.19 clocking in the 200m Heats – on the previous day Millie just missed out on the Medals finishing 4th in the Javelin (500g) throwing a distance of 30.73m in horrible weather for the Javelin.
U15 Kyle Mashiter ran the Heats of the 100m not feeling well in a time of 12.94 and had to withdraw from the 200m whilst U17 Megan Tippett in her first ever competition for the Harriers clocked 13.90 in her 100m Heat. Ben Whittaker ran 26.33 in his U17M Heat of the 200m (7th). In the 300m Ethan Joyce set a new PB of 41.77 in 6th place which was a great effort by him especially as he was in his first Northern Championships and up against some pretty quick youngsters.
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BMC Grand Prix – Trafford Saturday August 19th
It was BMC time again last Saturday night and some of the Harriers athletes – Tim Raynes, Rob Warner and Ben Fish were targeting good runs and possible new personal bests, all three having had pretty good seasons to-date, securing new Pb’s on the Track and Road.
Tim Raynes went for the 3000m with a current personal best of 8.40.52 and had a great run on the night chopping a full six seconds off that time for a new PB of 8.34.14 and a was delighted when he spoke to the Club following the Race saying that he “Went into last night targeting a sub 8:35 run. With the pacemaker running 8:30 pace, I decided to just settle at the pack early on. Felt good and started to move up through the field in the latter stages of the race, finishing bang on target in 8:34. After a few frustrating performances over the summer (particularly over 5k), I’m really pleased to finish the track season with a new PB by six seconds!”
Rob Warner is another athlete who has had a fine season setting new personal best times at 10000m, 5000m and going under 3.50 for 1500m for the first time in July this year. In the 1500m on Saturday he finished 2nd in the Race in 3.51.17 and told the Club afterwards “Well done Tim great PB last night, fully deserve it!! ‘The target has always been to go under 3:50 for 1500m so I was quite a nice position where I could go out and enjoy this race. Unfortunately I felt terrible through 800m and thought I was going to start slipping back through the field, however, I managed to rally and push through on the last lap and finished in 3:51.17 for my 2nd quickest time ever and a 59s last lap and in 2nd place! I was closing down on first place but left it a little bit too late! Really pleased that 3:51 is now becoming quite consistent for me and hopefully I can push on next season towards 3:45!”
Ben Fish has raced sixteen times this year and won ten of them, finishing 2nd three times and third once which is a pretty good level to maintain, a record so far this year which included a new personal best in the Bath Half-Marathon which he won in 65.16. Ben Targeted the 10000m at Trafford and afterwards spoke to the Club saying that it was a “Great results by the lads, and a special thanks to Tim for lending me his vest, apparently wisdom doesn’t come with age as for the first time ever I forgot my vest at a race!!! Was running solid, as I expected, the race splintered quite early between, those few after sub 29 and those aiming for sub 30. The race really got spread eagled at around 3k and I tried pushing on ahead of the group I was in as the pace was sagging. Half-way was reached in 14:58ish and a couple of laps later I had the pleasure of being lapped by Chris Thompson who was aiming for sub 28:30. I tried to use him as a bit of a pacer to revive my own race and hopefully keep the sub 30 in sight, but it gradually got away from me. Still, 30:14 isn’t too shabby for me, but it’s a tad disappointing to be honest”.
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Dexta Thompson won this years Burnley & Pendle Grand Prix Junior Series for the U13 Boys whilst brother Felix Thompson won the Silver Medal in the U9 Boys – congratulations to them both and here, thanks to David Belshaw are some photo’s from the Presentation Night.
(Danny Collinge Presenting the Trophy to Dexta)
(Danny Collinge Presenting to Felix)
( A proud Thompson Family)
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Darwen Gala Catherine Dowdall Memorial Race – Saturday August 19th
Three Harriers running in this Race featuring sixty five runners up to Darwen Tower and back won by Marcus Preedy in a time of 26.58.
V45 Paul Brindle was first in for the Harriers in 8th spot (29.08) followed home by Ian Clarkson (V50) in 20th place in a time of 35.21 and V40 Allan Hartley (29th) in 38.20.
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Fab Four Race Series – Friday August 18th
Seventy fiver runners in this Race where Andy Buttery finished in 3rd place and 1st V45 in a time of 22.32 over the four mile course. Commenting after the Race Andy said that it was “another step in the right direction at Knowsley Fab Four Series 4miler on Friday, 3rd place in 22.32. Starting to feel stronger”.
