The storm that engulfed the country over the weekend, managed to hold off just a little to allow the Mid Lancs cross country league fixture at Blackpool to go ahead which turned out to be a successful day for the Harriers as they recorded team wins in the Senior Men & U17 Women’s races as well as 2nd place for the U11 Boys and 3rd place for the U13 Boys.
(Thanks to David Wood & Lindsay Davies for the photos from Blackpool)
Senior Men’s Start
Senior Women’s Start
Callum Davidson led the Harriers home to victory in the Senior Men’s race with his 4th place finish in a time of 34.48 in a field which had 248 finishers – the race being won by Kendal’s Alasdair Russell (34.03). Chris Davies carried on where he left off in his last race by winning the V40 age group category again in 10th place clocking 35.38, with Jacob Watson in 15th spot running a time of 36.15.
Callum Davidson (37)
Chris Davies (761)
Jacob Watson (758)
Marc Hartley made it four Harriers home in the top twenty with his 37.05 clocking in 20th, backed up by Tom Marchant (37.30) in 25th and Mark Chippendale in 26th with a time of 37.34 which meant that all the Club’s counters were home inside the first 26 places, resulting in the Senior Men taking the win on the day (100 points), with Lancaster University 2nd (147 points) and Lancaster & Morecambe 3rd (180 points).
Marc Hartley (755)
Tom Marchant (733)
Mark Chippendale (210)
Next across the line for the Harriers came Callum Holmes in 33rd position with his run of 38.29 foloowed home by Chris Balderson in 122nd spot (43.14), Paul Jeffries (195th) running 48.09 and Allan Hartley in 235th place in a time of 54.37.
Callum Holmes (735)
Chris Balderson (54)
Paul Jeffries (763) & Allan Hartley (764)
It was unfortunate for the Harriers in the Senior Women’s Race as we had two athletes home in the first six places, but didn’t have another one to count for the team on the day. Annabel Ralph after clocking a new 5 mile personal best last week had another fine race to place 2nd in a time of 24.09 behind the winner – Blackpool’s Emily Japp – the field featuring 134 runners. Katie Buckingham is moving further up the field with each race and clocked 26.29 on the day to take 6th place, getting stronger as each week of training goes by.
Annabel Ralph (652)
Katie Buckingham (38)
The U17 Women had a good day as they clocked up a team win with Amy Davies, Eleesha Charnley, Rebecca Ramsden and Ella Hardman the athletes. Amy had a good race to place 2nd in 17.12 behind the winner – Lancasters & Morecambe athlete Pheobe Hayashi. Eleesha was the next counter home for the Harriers in 8th spot (18.44) followed by Rebecca in 10th with her clocking a time of 19.21 and Ella in 21st spot running 22.24.
Forty nine runners in the U11 Girls race which was down in numbers compared to the usual turnout as were other Junior races and possibly affected by the weather and the threat of it. Hannah Davies ran in the U11 Girls race and maintained her good form over cross country this winter as she placed 6th overall in a time of 8.53. The U11 Boys saw the battle between the Harriers boys and Trawden continue with Trawden edging it on day with 15 points to the Harriers 26 points. At the front end, there was cracking compettive battle between 1st, 2nd and 3rd which ended up with Lancasters Ben Brassington being given the same time as the Harriers Sam Aspey (7.53) with the Lancaster athlete getting the nod from the officials – Trawdens’ Oliver Brown coming 3rd in 7.57. Theo Robinson is coming on leaps and bounds and had another good race to come home in 8th spot (8.16) with Liam Bennison is 16th place (8.38) making up the three counters for the Club. Charlie Hartley from our Sportshall group was was running another cross country race for the Harriers and came home in 54th spot (11.24).
Hannah Davies (613)
Sam Aspey (684)
Theo Robinson (676)
Liam Bennison (674)
Charlie Hartley (17)
Freya Neild is settling in very well with the Harriers and showing good form as she led the U13 Girls home to 4th place in the team race with her 10.45 clocking in 8th position. Imogen Robinson was next home in 14th spot running a time of 11.08 with Amelia Burton finishing in 27th spot (11.37) to make the three counters on the day for the Club. Isabela Thompson came next in 36th spot (12.07) and Eve Coulson finished in 4oth posistion with her time of 12.21.
Freya Neild (181)
Imogen Robinson
Amelia Burton (626)
Isabela Thompson (257)
Eve Coulson (619)
The Harriers U13 Boys team were represented by Daniel Smith, Jonathan Brindle, Ben Livesey and George Ramsden and finished 3rd team on the day. Daniel was the first Harrier across the finishing line in 14th spot running 12.18 with Jonathan Brindle just behind in 16th with his time of 12.33, Ben Livesey in 23rd spot (12.49) making the three counters and George Ramsden in 35th spot in a time of 13.23.
Daniel Smith (702)
Jonathan Brindle (699)
Ben Livesey (698)
George Ramsden (694)
Just 41 runners in the U15 Girls race and 46 in the U15 Boys Race which saw the teams finish 5th in the U15 Girls 4th in the U15 Boys. Keira Haxton was the Harriers first counter as she came home in 13th place with a time of 13.06 followed by Kate Cookson in 15th (13.10) and Kiera Booth in 16th (13.16) to make the teams three counters on the day. Eva Knowles was just a couple of places further back in 18th with a time of 13.21 with Molly Nicholls in 26th clocking 13.41.
L-R Kiera Booth (629) – Molly Nicholls (635) – Eva Knowles (630) – Keira Haxton (631)
Kate Cookson (627) – Keira Haxton (631) – Kiera Booth (629)
Eva Knowles (630)
Molly Nicholls (635)
Jack Paget-Fowler had a very strong race to be first counter for the U15 Boys, finishing in 9th spot with a time of 15.22. Next in came Hayden Mercer in 14th (15.49) with Sebastian Burton being the 3rd counter on the day in 23rd spot (16.08). Umair Rafiq came home next in 36th position with a time of 17.07 followed by Codie Dewhurst in 38th (17.21).
Jack Paget-Fowler (712)
Hayden Mercer (716)
Sebastian Burton (713)
Umair Rafiq (709) & Codie Dewhurst (704)
♦
Windy Hill Fell Race – Saturday February 2nd
A big fieid of well over three hundred runners tackled this fell race, described by the organisers as “a fast run on well visible paths, rolling hills and has one almighty memorable climb. All this takes place on the Pennine moors, where the views of Hollingworth Lake and landmarks further afield are stunning. 9 miles, 1281 ft of climbing”.
Pudesey’s Paul Pruzina won the race in a time of 57.41 some 25 seconds clear of 2nd place. Ian Clarkson and Calvin Ferguson ran for the Harriers which saw Ian – who hasn’t raced for a while – taking 222nd place in a time of 1hr 38.32. Calvin has had a torrid time with injuries and was happy to be out racing again as he clocked 1hr 44.18 in 254th place.
Photos courtesey of www.woodentops.org.uk
Ian Clarkson
Calvin Ferguson
