Harriers Race on Road, XC and Fell

After the “quiet” weekend of the National Cross Country Championships, last weekend was anything but quiet.

First we had the last South East Lancs Cross Country fixture at Heaton Park. Then the second race in the Harriers 2023 Road Race Championships – The Trafford 10K. Plus the first race of the RHAC fell Championships and the Run the Moors Fell Race Grand Prix.

The SEL fixture at Heaton Park was the postponed one from last December, due to the very cold weather. Normally the Nationals  signal the end of the Cross Country season. Three juniors, two senior ladies and four senior men ran at Heaton Park. In the Under 11 Girls, Lily Hurst finished 12^th with a time of 8m 36 secs, Lottie Peacocke came 9^th in the Under 13 Girls, in 14m 38 secs and in the Under 17 Ladies, Sadie Gee finished 9^th with a time of 46m 45 secs. Over the series Lily Hirst finished an impressive 8th in the FU11 category.

In the Senior Ladies, Juliet Smith, who after a 22 year break, only started running seriously again at the beginning of this year after joining the Harriers, came 8^th in 34m 6 Secs. Susie Hirst was 19^th in 38m 15 Secs, both ladies in the L45 category. Over the series Juliet Smith finished as 2nd FV45 and Susie Hirst finished 4th FV45.

Four Senior Men competed to make up the Men’s Team. Danny Bennett, 11^th, V50, 36m 52 secs, Matthew Cox, 59^th, V60, 53m 20 Secs, Richard Mason 64^th, V60, 1hr 1m 33 Secs and finally Ray Dalby, 65^th V65, 1hr 5m 20 Secs. Thanks must be given to Richard and Ray who came to the rescue, after a plea for two runners to make up the Men’s Team. Over the series Rochdale men’s team finished 9th overall, 3rd in the V50 category and 2nd in the V60 category.

Attention now turns to the Road Race and Fell Championships for the rest of the year. 10 Harriers competed in the Trafford 10K, the second race in the road race championships. It is a one lap course, starting and finishing at Partington, heading towards Dunham Massey on a very flat and fast course, perfect for personal bests (PB’s). As a result several Harriers achieved PB’s for the 10K. Isabel Brandon, posted 43m 29 Secs and Leon Aston 44m 14 Secs. First Harrier home was Kevin Holland, 504th in 38m 58 Secs, followed by Kay Welsby who was 8th FV40 and was delighted to achieve a PB time of 39m 44 Secs. Andrew Martin dipped under the 40 minute mark for the first time to post 39m 57 Secs.

The rest of the Harriers running were Graeme Grindrod in 573rd place in 40m 07 Secs. Anjum Ahmed also dipped under the 40 minute mark with his time of 39m 59 Secs. Fiona Williams was 135th female in 44m 00 Secs, Brian Moore, 708th in 44m 08 Secs and Joe McMillan, 833rd, in 47m 55 Secs. To put these placings into context, a total of 1685 runners took part in the 10K, so very creditable placings.

Now onto the fells, in the first race of the Harriers Fell Race Grand Prix (FGP), which involves eight clubs taking part in the FGP, where both club and individual placings are up for grabs. This was the Ian Roberts Memorial race, run over the moors near Marsden starting and finishing at the Marsden Cricket Club. The race is 10.5K (6.5mls) with 260 metres (850ft) of ascent, so its classed as a BM race (medium distance race, i.e 10km to 20km length, B-moderate climb and descent relative to length).

Six Harriers competed in the race, but sadly there was no victory for Dave Parton this time, having to settle for 11^th position in a time of 53m 28 Secs. Second Harrier home was Jenny Brown, 40^th, in 1hr 2m 57 Secs. This positioned her in 4th place amongst the ladies from the 8 Clubs in the Run the Moors Fell Grand Prix. Jennie Ransome finished 56^th  in 1hr 6m 2 Secs, making her 5th amongst the ladies from the 8 Clubs in the Run the Moors Fell Grand Prix. Fourth Harrier home was Jill Barton, 73^rd in 1hr 10m 14 Secs and last but not least, Chris Gee, 98^th in 1hr 17m 31 Secs.

Finally Ian Stainthorpe travelled further afield and ran in the Anglesey Half Marathon. Starting and finishing on the Menai Bridge (closed to traffic), an out and back route along the shores of the Menai Straits to Beaumaris, with stunning views of Snowdonia from the route. Ian had knee problems on the day but still managed to finish in 217^th position out of 671 runners in a time of 1hr 48m 57 Secs.