Harriers Impress for Colin & Brenda

29th March 2018

The postponement of the Trafford 10k due to the ‘Beast from the East’ meant that the Andy O’Sullivan’s Colin & Brenda Robinson 5k at Cowm was the first race in the club’s 2018 Road Race Championship. Fittingly, in honour of two Rochdale Harriers legends, more than a quarter of the field were from the club.

From the start of the race, eight Rochdale Harriers men crowded the top ten places, dominating the race. Richard Stirzaker took the win in 16:24, in front of Halifax Harrier Will Smith in 16:41 and Jon Dearnley-Lane in 16:58. New members and twins Lewis and Philip Hinchcliffe battled for sibling bragging rights, with Lewis beating his brother by 2 seconds in 17:04 for fourth. Sixteen year old Charlie Harding took six place in 17:12, with a somewhat older Chris Merchant in seventh in 17:16, another junior Oliver Bentley demonstrated strong improvement over the winter to finish ninth in 17:26. Current Road Race Champion, Danny Bennett, was tenth in 17:29.

Seventeen year old Jessica Bull was second woman in 19:47, with Stephanie Harrison running a personal best of 20:43 to finish fourth. Ladies Captain, Jill Butterworth, was fifth in 21:20, just three days after completing the Canalathon 75km. A total of 28 Harriers completed the race, a number of whom demonstrated their hard work over the winter by running personal bests. The standing in he Road Race Championship after the first race is set out in the tables below.

Men’s Championship

Name	Cat.	Time	Points	Cat. Points
Richard Stirzaker	SM	16:24	32	–
Jon Dearnley-Lane	SM	16:58	29	–
Lewis Hinchcliffe	SM	17:04	28	–
Philip Hinchcliffe	SM	17:06	27	–
Charlie Harding	JM	17:12	26	32
Chris Merchant	M40	17:16	25	32
Oliver Bentley	JM	17:26	24	29
Danny Bennett	M45	17:29	23	32
David Bentley	M45	18:56	22	29
Nick Barton	M40	18:59	21	29
Alex Frost	M50	19:32	20	32
Max Bentley	JM	19:37	19	28
Matt Jones	SM	21:04	18	–
Mark Walker	M50	21:15	17	29
Ian Aitchison	M60	21:16	16	32
Dan Merlo	M40	23:35	15	28
Richard Mason	M60	24:43	14	29
Kris Robinson	M45	28:03	12	26

Women’s Championship

Name	Cat.	Time	Points	Cat. Points
Jessica Bull	JF	19:47	32	32
Stephanie Harrison	SF	20:43	29	–
Jill Butterworth	F45	21:20	28	32
Izzy McCarthy	JF	23:00	27	29
Diane Winterburn	F50	23:29	26	32
Molly Bull	JF	23:59	25	28
Niamh Roche	JF	25:41	24	27
Laura Fitton	SF	27:01	23	–
Catherine Unwin	F50	30:42	22	29

The next race in the championship will be the Joe Salt 5k, also at Cowm on Wednesday 4th April. A 1 mile race in aid of the Children’s Heart Association, the ‘Mia Mile’ will take place at 6:45pm before the 5k. It would be great if you could take part in this event, either racing hard or just using it as part of your warm up.

The Trafford 10k will stay in the Road Race Championship, the race has been rearranged for 2nd September.