Cross Country Double at Heaton Park

Last weekend the emphasis was well and truly on the Cross Country, with two races taking place simultaneously. Heaton Park was the venue and the leagues involved were the RedRose (RR), being the second out of four races in the league. The race was also the first of four in the South East Lancs league. Don’t ask me why the two leagues share the same race, because the next SEL race is at – guess where, Heaton Park. To add to the complexity, some Harriers run in the RR league but not the SEL. While others run in the SEL only and some in both leagues. So please bear with me when describing the results. also these results are provisional and will inevitable change when finalised.

Overall there was a good mix of juniors and seniors at Heaton Park, with a reasonable balance between the male and female members. Starting with the RR results, the first Harriers runner was Lily Hirst running in the U13 girls race, finishing 13^th in 12m, 36s. After that the next Harriers were to be found in the ladies race, with Danielle Dignan (L), 12^th, in 34m, 18s. Immediately after Danielle came Juliet Smith (L50), 13^th, in 34m, 42s. Third Harriers lady in a creditable 30^th place, in 37m 14s was Jennie Ransome (L60). So a very good placing for Jennie in the L60 category. Following Jennie, Zara Hirst (L) was the next Harriers lady 36^th, in 38m, 8s and Susie Hirst (L50) in 39m, 2s.

The Harriers ladies team, Finished 3^rd from 9 teams. The vets team (Juliet Smith, Jennie Ransome and Susie Hirst) achieved a very good placing of 2^nd from 9 teams. The senior men’s race saw Dave Parton first Harrier back, finishing 49^th, in 36m, 53s. Danny Bennett was our next runner home, 51^st, in 37m, 10s. Following Danny was Stephen Smithies, 78^th, in 40m, 42s. Jonny Lawlor then made the Harriers men’s team up, 84^th in 41m, 10s. The men’s team came 9^th out of 11 teams. Apologies for the lack of age categories, for some reason they were not included in the results.

Next the SEL results and placings with some very notable results. First Harrier was Jake Rigney and Oliver Clarke in the U13 Boys age category, finishing 12^th and 19^th respectively. The U13 Girls category saw the first of the Harriers achievements, with Lily Hirst coming an excellent 3^rd in 12m, 36s. The race also saw Lola Whittaker coming 11^th in 13m, 51s. Moving up a category, Alim Arkin achieved 7^th placing in 23m, 18s. Not far behind in 9^th place, in 23m, 55s was Alexander Reay. Harriers sole representative in the U15 Girls was Aliya Arkin, 12^th in 26m, 20s.

Now the outstanding performance of the day, with a big well done goes to Lottie Peacocke, coming 1^st in her U17 women’s category, in 27m, 38s. So a very big cheer for Lottie and her proud achievement. Next up for a bit of glory is Ben Hadfield, finishing 3^rd in the U17 Men’s category, in 22m, 13s, well done Ben.

Onto the Seniors now and onto the Ladies and Men’s races. You will need to bear with me here, the results you will already mainly know from the RR race report. So the main difference are the team placings, as many of the Harriers run in both leagues. So here goes. Only one Harrier ran in the Vets category, Ian Dale (V60), 23^rd in 44m, 14s. The Ladies team (Danielle Dignan, Juliet Smith, Jennie Ransome and Zara Hirst) achieved the excellent result of finishing 2^nd out of 10 teams. Well done ladies. A similar placing was also achieved by the Ladies Vets team, (Juliet Smith, Jennie Ransome and Susie Hirst), out of 9 teams. A big congratulations also to our Ladies Vets Team. The Men’s team (Dave Parton, Danny Bennett, Stephen Smithies and Jonny Lawlor), sadly couldn’t emulate the ladies success and came 5^th out of 8 teams.

Elsewhere, 6 Harriers made the short journey to partake in the Oldham Half Marathon. The race is classed as one of the toughest half marathons in the country and I am not surprised when you see the route, although it is very scenic. The race starts in Oldham town centre, heads up to Saddleworth, then through Delph, Dobcross, Uppermill and Lees, then back to the finish in the town centre. First Harrier back was Bruno Rolinha, 91^st, in 1hr, 43m, 44s. Followed by Harry Page, 112^th, in 1hr, 47m, 25s, David Bull, 113^th, in 1hr, 47m, 32s, and finally Taz Ali, 171^st, in 1hr, 53m, 52s.

Slightly further afield saw Bilal Ahmed travelling down to Leicester to run in the Leicester Half Marathon. He achieved a new PB for the half marathon in a time of 1hr, 59m , 22s. A massive well done to Bilal.

Finally one Harrier decided to enjoy a bit of winter sunshine. Julie Smith ran in the Valencia Half Marathon, finishing in a time of 2hr, 26m, 8s. Hope it was warm and sunny.

Onto a non-running topic, our very best wishes to two of our members who got married in Cumbria on Friday, namely Louise Mayall and Andy Whitehouse. Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Whitehouse and you are just about forgiven for not doing cross country the next day.

Sunday 2nd November sees the final race in the road race championships, the Derwentwater 10 mile road race. No prizes for guessing which lake that goes around.