Stanley Park 10k

Two hundred and eighty nine runners in the Stanley Park 10k held on Saturday February 27th and it was a Blackburn Harrier – Tim Raynes – who came out on top.

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Full Results HERE

Tim who has raced three times on the road in 2016, set a new PB of 32.15 in winning the Stanley Park 10k, chopping over half a minute off his previous best as he recorded his second win on the Road since the New Year. After his latest Race Tim commented that“With only a small number of Harriers going down to the National XC this weekend, I decided to give it a miss and race more locally in Blackpool instead. There was a group of three of us running together for most of the race until about 8 or 9k when a Stockport runner and I began to pull away slightly. As we came onto the track (with about 300m to run until the finish), I managed to kick away to win the race. I was really pleased to both win the race and knock a good chunk off my PB in the process!”

Recent new member Warren Smith also competed in the race finishing 35th in 41.48, commenting after.” I finished in 41.48 secs and text Martin Kerry with my results as a he was running the same 10k on Sunday . He wanted a bench mark  – take a look at his time did he have the wind behind him or what?”. On the Sunday there 242 runners over the same course which saw Brian Fogarty finish 4th in 36.49 and brother Richard 9th in 38.17 which was a new PB. Martin Kerry, having asked for a benchmark from Warren Smith’s run the day before, unbelievably ran the exact same time of 41.48 finishing 19th overall.

Lostock 6

Two hundred and forty four runners out on a sunny, but crisp day for the Lostock 6 and it proved to be a good day for the Harriers who took a number of Prizes.

Full Results HERE

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Ben Fish had a real battle with Chris Steele of Border, finishing 2nd and just two seconds behind in a good time of 29.50. Ben said that he was “very happy with that. To be fair to Chris he pushed hard all the way and batted off all my attempts to lead the race. I thought I had him in the last mile, but he responded well. Didn’t expect to run that time, so was happy with that at least”.

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(Photo Courtesy of Mark Lysycia Photography)

Chris Davies also had a very good run coming in 8th with a time of 33.54 which was very much on 10k PB pace and he commented that he had never done the Lostock 6 before so I didn’t know what to expect. It’s a good course with a few tough sections to it, they seem to come early on in the race though which is good. The end of the race goes more in the runners favour near the end with a good 1 1/2 finish. Set of with a strategy in mind and stuck to it and it seemed to work. Finished strong with a good sprint finish (Jorma would be proud if he had seen it after the session we had with him 2 weeks ago). Enjoyed it and made a nice change to the marathon training. We also had a good Blackburn Harriers turn out. Well done you guys who took part. It looked like their was some really good runs from all. Well done”.

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(This is when you know you have given everything)

Next home was Liz Greenwood and the first of three Age Group Category winners on the day for the Harriers. Liz is in fine form and strong and on this latest outing it looks clear that there is going to be a big revision of her 10k PB pretty soon. She was 1st Female home, 1st U20 in 22nd place and set a new Female Course Record of 35.52. After the Race she told the Club that  “I really enjoyed the race, I always like running on the roads and was pleased with the result. I felt pretty good throughout and loved the long downhill section at the end”.

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(Photo Courtesy of Mark Lysycia Photography)

Joanne Nelson who runs for the Harriers on the Track was the 1st Senior Woman home in a time of 37.28 and 33rd overall with partner Paul Brindle (Darwen Dashers) 3rd V40 placing 13th in 34.33.

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The next Age Group Category winner was V60 John Chaplin placing 29th in a great time of 36.43 and it was a pleasure to see after his long battle with injury. John commented that he was Pleased to get a decent run out. Maybe overcooked it for the first mile or so but happy overall. Well done to all the Harriers (and Dasher associates) – some great performances”. Not to be out done was V65 Evan Cook who maintained his 2016 100% record of winning his Age Group Category in every race coming home in 52nd spot (39.20). Bryan Searby in many ways had the run of the day  as he knocked a massive chunk off his previous best performance in a 10k which was 44.30 in 2015. In this Race he came in 64th in a new PB time of 40.31 which meant he had chopped four minutes off his time which is a tremendous result for him and just reward for all the hard work he has put in. Also competing for the Harriers was David Morris who came in 213rd with a time of 56.19.

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National Cross Country Championships

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Just four runners in this years Nationals run at Donnington Park which saw the Senior Mens Race very closely contested with the first nine finishers within 10 seconds of one another.

ECCA Report HERE

Full Results HERE

Rob Warner had a very solid run to come in 130th with a time of 47.15 which was just 5 minutes behind the winner – Jonathan Hay (42.09) – demonstrating the quality of the competition on the day. Rob said he was Quite happy with the race yesterday, went off probably a bit too hard and had to dig in on the second lap, managed to finish quite strongly on a tough and hilly course. Overall quite happy with the cross season this year!

IMG_011712794795_10154600761974392_2647517492815155433_oJan Buckingham and Lindsay Davies ran in the Women’s Senior Race and Katie Buckingham ran in the Junior Women’s Race. Katie finished 93rd in her race in 27.51 whilst Jan took 582nd place in 48.26 out of a field of 739 runners and Lindsay placed 654th in 51.14. After the race Lindsay commented that…“This race should have been named the Big Dipper!! Very undulated it was like being on a roller coaster ride, it wasn’t for the faint hearted. I am really happy that I have been able to run in such a high calibre race, the atmosphere was brilliant. Spectators all the way round cheering everybody on.

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Glentress Trail Marathon

One of Helen Leigh’s aims this year is to win a GB Vest and all her training is geared towards that, training which included the Glentress Marathon, a Race run in the most spectacular of backdrops.

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Full Results HERE

Race Website HERE

Helen was going really well and was very much in contention for a win but had to take a very ‘mature decision’ – as she put it – and pull out at the Half-Marathon stage with a worsening injury. She told the Club “Argh didn’t finish Glentress so annoying my IT band has flared up badly so I dropped out halfway (was a two lap marathon) was 20mins in the lead as well and a stonking time of 1.51 with 3000ft of climbing. Took all my willpower not to hobble round for the win but not worth it with the Fling in 9 weeks. Possibly the first grown up decision ever! Hopefully it will settle asap”. My time was second fastest in the half and I was pacing for the full so I’m happy with my fitness, just not my knee!

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The Witton Park 5k had just short of 100 runners this week which included four runners from the Harriers – Mark Almond was first in (20.38) and 4th overall followed by 15yr old Hannah Cookson in 20th (23.50), 10yr old Oliver Gill in 39th with a time of 27.16 and Carol Cookson 49th in 28.52.

Full Results HERE

Over at the Cuerden Valley 5k Park Run (Results) saw Kyle Taylor-Pomfret and Ethan Barbarewicz run in the one hundred and sixty six strong field. Kyle just edged it to be the first home in 23.36 (25th) which was a new PB for him and Ethan in his first ever Park Run was just 7 seconds behind in 23.43. Well done to both lads.

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