Holmfirth Harriers News

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3. Mon 21 st Dec Stainland 7 run, meet Knighty’s 7.15pm
Mulled wine and mince pies afterwards

5. Fri 25 th Dec Christmas morning run, Scape 10am
Fancy dress
In date mince pies, Christmas ale, lambrini wine
70 minutes with photo calls

9. Thurs 31 st Dec Bob’s 9.30am 80 minutes
Parking in Field Head Pub, Quarmby!!

10. Fri 1 st Jan New Years Day Run
Scape 11am
Out of Date mince pies, new years ale, lambrini wine to celebrate New Year!!

11. Sat 2 nd Jan Golden Mile 10am Scape
Let Jeff know if you’re racing
Afterwards Longwood Bowling Club 12pm onwards

On Saturday the 19 th of September Huddersfield Actionairres, a club for blind and partially sighted youngsters travelled to the E.I.S Indoor Athletics Arena to take part in the regional athletics championships and returned home triumphant.

19 youngsters from 6 to16yrs of age represented the club in the competition, with every athlete earning points which resulted in the team coming out top despite strong opposition from 12 other clubs from throughout the North of England.

The young athletes have been training hard all summer receiving coaching and encouragement from Richard & Emma Sozstak and John McFadzean from Holmfirth Harriers who worked with the club for the past five years. One of the highlights of the summer was when the club attended Holmfirth Harriers home at Neiley playing fields the week before the competition for final practise, and although not in the competition all the children had a go with pole vault training poles and the smiles on the faces of Marine and Sean who are totally blind as they had a go was an inspiration to all.

The victory was celebrated this week at the Actionairres normal meeting at Huddersfield Sports Centre as it coincided with the clubs 6 th Anniversary of its formation. Sue Robinson the co-ordinator who was there on day one said, ‘These children are a pleasure to be with and their determination never seizes to amaze me. They really look forward to the athletics and it is one of the most popular sessions we have. It has been great working with John, Richard, Emma and the other Holmfirth Harrier coaches and we hope to work with them to retain the trophy next year.’

The photograph shows the proud actionarries after they have been presented with their medals and certificates at Huddersfield Sports Centre. Also in the photograph are Sue Robinson, Richard Szostak who now assist her and John McFadzean, plus a number of students from Greenhead College who give up their own time each Saturday to volunteer at the club.

The Club is expected to be allocated 5 entries for the London Marathon on 25 April 2010 which are available to Members at the discretion of the Club Committee.

All applicants must be fully paid up members since 1 September 2009, and priority will be given to members who have contributed towards the club as a runner or volunteer. The final decision will rest with the Club Committee.

Applications will only be accepted in writing to me with name, address and confirmation of rejection of their entry if applicable to be received before Tuesday 1 December 2009. Verbal or telephone applications will not be accepted. E-mail is no problem, see the contacts page on the web site for details.

It will be the successful applicants’ responsibility to complete and return the entry form with payment to the London Marathon office by 8 January 2010.

The 19 th Denis Stitt Fell Race, after heavy thunderstorms in the afternoon, was won, in near-perfect conditions, by Matthew Roberts (Eryri), easily justifying his long journey from Snowdonia. Remarkably the second placed runner Steve Oldfield V/50, now unattached, was competing in his 10 th Denis Stitt, and still has never been placed lower than second!

A strong field of athletes from the host club, Holmfirth Harriers, took many of the category prizes and the first two (mens) team prizes.

The record number of starters clearly welcomed the new course which starts at Cartworth Moor Cricket Club and now avoids the busy main road near The Victoria Inn, instead incorporating an old disused quarry track at the bottom of the course. These changes reduce the route to 3.75 miles but now involve 1220’ of climb making it a category AS course.

Russell Bangham, the race organiser, thanked the marshals, catering team and other helpers who provided support for the runners during the race and served refreshments to each athlete at the finish. Cartworth Moor Cricket Club generously allowed use of their ground and pavilion facilities.

Holmfirth Harriers track & field team continued to astound the pundits by qualifying for the Division One promotion play off match at Cleckheaton on Sunday 16th of August with the clubs highest ever finish in the North of England Track & Field League. A sterling team performance pushed the Harriers past Bingley in the league and by finishing second to Bolton they will take on West Cheshire, Blackpool & Fylde, Rotherham, City of Sheffield, Wakefield, Gateshead plus Bolton in a match to decide who will be promoted to Division One next year. This is another step up by the team who have gone from strength to strength this year and builds on the previous week’s effort in qualifying for the Plate Final.

On Sunday it was the unsung hero's and heroines who supported the teams stars to ensure a successful outcome in a match in which every team had an interest due to either for promotion or relegation. For the second week running the Harriers were the only team to have a competitor in every event, and this proved vital in the end as they edged by 7 points, 364 to 357 to secure the vital second place on the day to pass Bingley in the league.

The whole team rallied round with over ten first choice athletes being unavailable for a number of reasons, including two who could only let the team know as they were leaving the clubhouse at 9.30am.Top of the unsung heroines was Zoe Charlesworth who answered the call once again by gaining 16points in the 100, 200, & 400m plus the 100m & 400m Hurdles, and finally rounding of the day with a leg in the 4 x 100m relay. Not far behind was the clubs female elite veteran marathon runner Jacky France who opted for the shorter distances at the opposite end of the spectrum by taking part in the B 100, 400 & 800m.

The male athletes who are not usually seen as match winners but on this occasion made invaluable contributions were James Dewhirst who competed in a maximum 5 events, both hurdles, triple and long jump plus the 200m averaging over three points in each. The manager John McFadzean was pressed into service in the Hammer finishing 4th before the site of him charging down the 100m straight like a bull elephant brought the team to their feet and made everyone realise how vital every point was going to be.

Of course it was not only the unsung hero's who ensured glory but the more established stars that rose to the occasion, foremost amongst these were Graham Bickerdyke and Jenny Ibbitson who both put there body and soul on the line by undertaking a gruelling 7 event schedule. Both started the day with the victories in their pole vault events and like wise in the javelin but in between Graham had won a further 3 events, the 100m hurdles, discus and high jump plus being runner up in the shot, whilst Jenny's other had included runner up spots in the high jump and discus and third placing in the hammer and shot. With Tom Jennings being absent Andy Storr provided Graham with back up in the Hammer, Shot and Discus, he produced some solid throws with his best result being 2nd in the Shot.

The ever youthful Dave Watson showed his versatility by taking third in the javelin after showing his vast experience in psyching his younger opponents out to be the runner up in the 800m, he rounded an eventful day off by taking 2nd in his main event the 5000m before running the last leg of the 400m 20 minutes later.

Jake Rowlands was again on top form with victory in the 800m A race, he turned in another fine performance in the 400m and finished with a leg in each relay.

Both Richard Smith and Alistair Langron got into the mood of the day as after performing admirably in the 3000m steeplechase, Richard was 4th in the A and Alistair 2nd in the B, Alistair finished 4th his 400m whilst Richard finished 5th in the 1500m where he teamed up with the youngest member of the Team Thomas Travis-Pollard who was 3rd in the B race. Young TP later competed in the Triple Jump before ensuring the club filled every event by running in both relays. The other youngster on show was Liam Holdsworth who won his pole vault, ran well in the 400m hurdles, and came third in a very competitive High Jump and then rounded the day off with first leg of the 400m relay.

Russell Balmforth is another club stalwart who took on the role of the clubs A sprinter in the absence of the younger athletes he helps coach and ran well in both sprints and the relay.

The final male athlete was John Broom who took 2nd in the 5000m and provided vocal support for his wife Dawn all afternoon as she produced excellent results in both the 800 and 1500m A races, and rounded off with a leg in each relay. Claire Leaver joined Dawn |Broom in the 1500m and for the second week in a row showed what a gusty runner she had become by fighting back in the final 100m for the second week running to take second place. She had earlier teamed up with Kathy Farquhar in the 3000m in a dominant display of distance running as both won their races with over 15 seconds to spare. Kathy later gave Dawn Broom a rest by running in the 200m. Lauren Tyrell extended the club High jump record for the second week running and literally stepped straight from the high jump bed to the track to run a leg of each relay.

Last but by no means least is the ever present and reliable Katie Zientek who despite taking 2nd in the Discus and Javelin, plus 3rd in the Shot and Javelin her happiest memory of the day was in producing a PB in the long jump an event she on took up two months ago.

As ever a big thank you to the officials Adreinne Dewhirst in her new role of timekeeper, her husband Alwyn who calls out the lap times, John Buckingham on the track and our pool of Field Officials Andy Ibbitson, Richard Szostak, James Kendrick, John McFadzean and Sam Tingay who displayed a flair for officiating on her debut. Their importance can be judged as only the hosts Bolton and Holmfirth managed to field a full team of officials and gain 30pts with the other four teams loosing points which was vital in such a close match.

Match result: 1st Bolton 396, 2nd Holmfirth 364, 3rd Leigh 357, 4th East Cheshire 321, 5th Bingley 314, 6th Bury 269

Final League Placings: Bolton 1st 24pts, Holmfith 2nd 17pts, Bingley 3rd 15pts, 4th Leigh 11pts, 5th East Cheshire 11pts, 6th Bury 6pts.

On Saturday 25 th of July the Holmfirth Harriers senior track & field team travelled to Wigan for the semi final of the Northern League Inter-Club Cup. With the draw being made 30 minutes before the start the team waited with baited breath to see who they would be up against as a number of the top northern clubs were present. When the draw was made it pitched the top five clubs, Sale, Blackburn, Blackpool, Trafford and Holmfirth in what was labelled the group of death, with the other four clubs being in a higher league than Holmfirth.

It was anticipated that this would be a very high quality competition and so it turned out. This however stimulated the Holmfirth Athletes with a number of club records and personal bests being set on the day as the team battled all the way to the final relay to take third spot and qualify for the plate final on Saturday 12 th of September. This was an excellent performance from everyone and showed the importance of teamwork as Holmfirth was the only team present to field a competitor in every event.

The tone of the competition was set in the first event the men's Hammer as Tom Jennings threw close to his lifetime best but was still only able to finish in fifth place in match B with a throw that had he been in match A would have secured first place.

Tom later went on to take second place in the shot and fourth in the triple jump.

He was joined in the throws by Graham Bickerdyke, who recently joined the club and showed what a valuable asset he will be by winning the Discus and Javelin, coming second in the Pole Vault, setting new club records in all of these, plus taking the runners up spot in the 400m hurdles and fourth in the long jump.

Junior George took care of the sprints for the Harriers coming third in both the 100m and 200m against some very good quality athletes, Junior set a personal best in the 100m as he did later in the day in the 400m where he finished runner up in the fastest 400m race he has taken part in with five runners going under 50seconds. Liam Holdsworth the youngest member of the Harriers team on the day finished runner up in the Pole vault and fourth in the 400m hurdles before teaming up with Graham, Junior and Jake Rowlands in both relays.

In the longer distance races Jake ran a personal best to finish third in the 800m which would have been good enough for victory at any of this seasons league matches. Richard Smith also placed third in the steeplechase before doubling up in the 1500m. The two long races which started and ended the track races, the 10,000 & 5,000m were taken care of by the ever youthful Dave Watson who finished runner up in the longer race and third in the latter.

The women’s team had to pull out all the stops with one or two late call offs and Kate Zientek again epitomised the club spirit by filling in for the 100m and Long Jump, both personal best performances, before sealing qualification from the group by winning the Javelin. Jenny Ibbotson was her usual versatile self, winning the Pole Vault, Hammer, being runner up in the Discus and fourth in the shot. She then put on her running shoes and took part in the 4 x 100m relay with Katie, Lauren Tyrell and Emma Szostak.

Lauren had earlier set a new personal best and club record in the High Jump in finishing second and she also filled in for absent colleagues in the 200m. Emma had set the women’s track team off in the 400m Hurdles before returning to the track for the short hurdles, recording yet another personal best in finishing third. Emma also gathered valuable points with a similar finish in the triple jump. The other track events were shared by Katie Walshaw and Claire Leaver who both ran with determination to gain valuable places in their races. Katie’s finished second in the 3000m knocking a massive 20seconds off her personal best finishing fourth in the 400m whilst Claire who had finished in a similar position in the 800m fought back magnificently in the final straight of the 1500m to take second place.

Katie and Claire were then joined by Emma and Lauren in the 4 x 400m real where they finished second.

The final position were not decided until the last relay and when the dust had settled Holmfirth were placed in third place only 3 points behind Blackburn and 16 behind the strong who won the event, both these qualified for the cup final. The final team members who ensured the club did not loose any points were Andy Ibbotson, Charlotte Dillingham and Anne Tyrell who performed the field officials’ role in three events and John McFadzean who topped up his tan by spending all afternoon in the sunshine on the track officials stand. A big thanks and congratulations to all the team and officials who are now looking forward to finals day.

Holmfirth Harriers’ athletes travelled to Ashton-under-Lyne to compete in the 3 rd round match in the Northern Track & Field League. Currently in 3 rd place by a narrow margin, it was essential to consolidate the clubs points score to avoid falling into a relegation battle in the final match. The bright, sunny weather brought out the best in the athletes who returned home with 5 club records and numerous personal best performances between them.

In the Hurdles events Lauren Storr and Emma Szostac were in sparkling form, winning both the A and B 100m events in 15.7secs and 19.6secs respectively. Emma went on to record a personal best time in 73.10secs in the B 400m Hurdles, equalling the club senior record, whilst Liam Holdsworth and James Dewhirst gained valuable team points in men’s 400m Hurdles with 67.9secs and 67.0secs respectively.

In the Sprint events Junior George set a new U/20 club record in the 100m with 11.4secs ably supported by U/17 youngster Harry Ainsworth, making his debut in the senior team with his 11.9secs in the B 100m and 24.3secs effort in the A 200m. Zoe Storr, a club stalwart, competed in events ranging from 200m to 800m. Her best result was in the 400m with a time of 67.8secs.

The club’s throws athletes continue to dominate the top point-scorer board with Thomas Jennings amassing 25 points with fine second placing in the Hammer and Shot. His 29.69m effort was a new senior Hammer club record and his total score now stands at 76 points. Andy continues to give good support in the throws with his best result coming in the B Shot with a distance of 9.52m. Jenny Ibbitson and Katie Zientek once again contributed a large proportion of the team points total with their 56 points. Jenny took 2 nd in the A Discus with 31.05m, a new club record, and 2 nd in the Hammer with 34.30m, whilst Katie’s best result came with 3 rd in the A Javelin and 2 nd place in the B Hammer. Jenny currently heads the top point scorer board with 116 followed by Katie with 73.

The clubs distance athletes dominated the men’s eight events with four victories, two seconds and a third and fourth place. Jake Harman and Jake Rowlands both won their 800m events in sub two minute times of 1m57.1s and 1m.59.9s respectively. Harman then dropped down to team up with Junior George in the 400m, achieving two convincing victories in times of 50.3secs(George) and 50.7secs(Harman).

Max Kaye and Matthew Johnson had solid runs to finish 4 th A and 1 st B respectively, in the 1500m. Alistair Langron continues to improve with his 10m21.3s effort in the A 3000m Steeple Chase, whilst Mark Dewhirst gave valuable support with his 3 rd place in the B race. England international Matthew Pierson broke away from all competition early in the 5000m to win by a huge margin of 44 seconds. Team mate Richard Smith gained valuable points with his 2 nd place in the B event.

The women’s distance athletes also ran well. Dawn Broom showed a real turn of speed in the 800m to record a time of 2m35.9s. This excellent time puts her in seventh place in the over 45 UK rankings. Furthermore, she then went on to win the B 3000m in 11m29.4s. Katie Walshaw gritted her teeth in the A 3000m to hold on to 3 rd place with 11m03.1s before racing the 1500m later in the day. Cara Penfold’s 4 th place in the B 1500m scored valuable team points.

New member Liam Holdsworth was a great asset in the Jumps, taking 2 nd A in the high jump with a new best of 1.75m whilst also achieving 4.99m in the Long Jump. Emma Szostack and Anna Whitwam gave their best performances in the Triple Jump with Emma setting a new club record with 9.60m in the A event whilst Anna recorded 9.11m to finish 2 nd in the B event.

The relays at the end of the day’s competition are always an exciting prospect. The Women’s

4 X 100m team narrowly missed the club record with their 56.2secs effort whilst the men dipped under 50secs to record 49.5. The highlight of the day came in the competitions finale of the men’s 4 X 400m, with Junior George, Jake Harman, Harry Ainsworth and Jake Rowlands all running sub 54 second times to smash the previous record with 3m28.7s, whilst the women completed the event in a valuable 4m42.6s effort.

The team scores at the end of the day put Holmfirth in 3 rd place, 40 points clear of fourth. Maximum points were gained by the clubs officials and parental helpers, a clear exhibition of the value of team spirit contributing to the clubs success on the day.

Holmfirth Harriers young athletes took 3 golds, 1 silver and 1 bronze when they competed for Kirklees at in the West Yorkshire Schools Athletics Championships held at Thornes Park, Wakefield at the weekend. These championships are a stepping stone to the prestigious English Schools Athletics Championships where former British athletics greats such as Kelly Holmes Seb Coe, Steve Ovett, Steve Backley and Denise Lewis first came to prominence.

Jordan Toth was first in action winning his heat of the Intermediate boys 100m to go through to the final later in the day. His time of 11.16secs took him across the line in first place. Jacob Henton in the Junior boys 400m heats secured a place in the final where he stormed round to take second place in a new personal best time of 54.64secs. Junior George, the Club’s 400m record holder again clocked under 50secs in the Senior boys 400m with a time of 49.77secs to win the event.

In the Intermediate boys 3000m, Thomas Traviss-Pollard was chasing the senior boys who were running in the same heat. He committed himself to follow Daniel Davis of Leeds who took first Senior with Thomas crossing the line to take first Intermediate, both well ahead of the rest of the field in a new best time of 9mins 24secs..

The Intermediate boys 15oom saw one of the most closely contested and exciting races of the day. Max Kaye was up against the Northern gold and silver medallists Michael Wood and Elliott Todd of Leeds. He went with the initial pace but on the final lap they pulled ahead to open a gap of 50m leaving Max to finish third in 4mins11.63secs.

The Booth twins had excellent runs in their first representative championship events. Georgia ran strongly in the Junior girls 800m final taking 6secs off her previous best time with 2mins 39secs, whereas Alanah ‘s time of 5mins 27secsin the Junior girls 1500m final was 14secs faster than her previous best, both girls reaping the reward for their consistent hard work in training.

The selectors will meet later in the week to consider athletes for the West Yorkshire Schools team.

Holmfirth Harriers’ athletes travelled to the new sporting complex at Leigh for the second Northern Track & Field match of the 2009 season. Despite cold, wet conditions and the absence of some key athletes, Holmfirth’ athletes rallied round, filling gaps where necessary and achieving some excellent performances to overhaul Bingly Harriers in the final stages to gain 3 rd place by a margin of only 1 point.

Jenny Ibbitson and Katie Zientek, the clubs leading throwers, scored a massive 71points between them with Jenny winning the A events and Katie the B events in both the Hammer and Discus along with third A and first B in the Javelin. Charlotte Dillingham gave good support in the B Shot to finish third.

Multi-eventer Thomas Jennings also made a massive contribution of 28 points, his best result was his second place in the shot with 10.70m.

In the Sprints, Russell Bamforth continues to improve recording 11.5secs for the first time in the 100m. Junior George and Ali Magdi finished second A in the 400m and 400m Hurdles events in times just outside the club records with 51.3secs and 58.4secs respectively. Magdi later went on to record a seasons best in the 100mH with 17.7secs. Zoe Storr, performed in a wide range of events but her best performance was also in the sprint hurdles with a time of 20.6 secs.

The Distance events saw the return of Jake Harman on the track for Holmfirth Harriers AC winning the A 800m event in 1min 56.6secs before going on to win the B event in the 400m. Northern League Stalwart Dave Watson was up against tough opposition finishing third in both the A 3000m steeplechase and B 800m, fourth in the A 5000m. Thomas Traviss-Pollard ran well in the B 1500m to gain third in 4mins 30.9secs.

Claire Leaver put in a more confident performance to win the A 3000m in 10mins 52.6secs before going on to take third in the A 1500m. She was ably supported by Dawn Broom, winning the B 3000m and Helena Croft finishing third in the 1500m. It was good to see Cara Penfold returning to the track in the B 800m and finishing third.

The best performances in the jumps were achieved by Lauren Tyrell in the A High jump with 1.50m.

Finally the men’s 400m relay team of Junior George, Ali Magdi, Jake Harman and Richard Smith ran the fastest time for some years with 3mins. 36.9 secs in one of the most exciting races of the day.

HARRIERS TRACK & FIELD TEAM MOVE TO JOINT 2ND IN DIVISION TWO AFTER A
SUPERB TEAM PERFORMACES BY ATHLETES AND OFFICIALS ON A VERY WET DAY AT
LEIGH.

Contributions by every athlete and official resulted in the team pipping Bingley by one point to take 3rd place on the day and to move level with on points in the league. Whilst every track and field athlete made valuable contibutions it was having a full team of officials that made the difference as whilst we received a full
30 points Binlgey were docked 5 points for failing to field a full compliment of officials which proved vital.

As you can see your efforts were extremely vital and 3rd with a few missing was great result.

The Club completed a successful year of Centenary celebrations culminating in the publication of ‘See How They Run – The History of Holmfirth Harriers’. The Committee thank the authors Graham Ellis, Norman Berry and John Buckingham for their hard work and effort.

That the Club enters its second century in a healthy state is evidenced by some notable personal athletic achievements by Harriers at regional and national level during the last twelve months.

Matthew Pierson won the bronze medal in the National Half-Marathon Championship Race and is the first person from the Club to win an individual senior national medal. In the London Marathon Matthew placed 23 rd and 7 th Briton. Matthew also won the Northern AA 10 mile Championship race at Thirsk. In the same race Clare Leaver, Kathy Farquhar and Helen Berry were first ladies team.

Max Kaye, Tom Halton and Thomas Travis-Pollard won U15 boys gold medals in the Yorkshire Cross-Country Championships. Max won silver as an individual and was chosen to represent Yorkshire. At the same event Matthew Pierson came 4 th senior and was also selected to represent Yorkshire. In the Northern Championships Max, Tom and Thomas were team bronze medal winners with Max and Thomas chosen to represent West Yorkshire in the English Schools Cross-Country Championship.

At the Yorkshire Track & Field Championships gold medals were won by Junior George, Aaron Kettlewell and Jordan Toth. Silver medals were won by Jacob Henton, Aaron Kettlewell and Lauren Tyrell with Max Kaye winning bronze.

In the Yorkshire Vets Cross-Country Championships Dave Watson was 1 st M35-39 and, together with John Broome and Gary Graham won the gold team medal in that category. Julia Johnson, Karen Sinkinson and Yvette Arthur won the silver F45 team medal. John Ewart, Gary Armitage and Andy Hauser were second M50-59 team.

Bill Wade became English V65 Fell Champion. Tom Halton was U14 English Fell Champion. Lisa Lacon took bronze in the Yorkshire Fell Championships at Pen-y-ghent.

In the Yorkshire Vets AA road relays Jacqueline France, Lesley Ewart and Karen Sinkinson were first F45 team.

The Committee recognises that, sadly, team events always represent a challenge to the Club Captain and Section Secretaries to obtain commitments from members and ensure the best team turns out on the day. The Committee is grateful to John Ewart, Tom Brunt, Roger Bradley, Helen Berry, Matthew Pierson, Rachael Mellor, John McFadzean and Rob Kersey for their efforts in this respect and hopes that the successes achieved this year will encourage more members to make themselves available to represent the Club in the future.

The Committee congratulates Brian Heywood who becomes English Cross Country Association [ECCA] President for 2009 - 10. This is in addition to his continuing responsibilities as Northern Athletics Chairman.

At the England Athletics Regional Club Awards the Club was honoured to be awarded the Junior Club of the Year and thanks go to all the officials and helpers of the Junior section who made that possible. We are also pleased to record the following individual honours from England Athletics. Emma Szostack (Yorkshire & Humberside Volunteer of the Year), John McFadzean (Y&H club Volunteer of the Year) and Kevin Johns (Runner up - Official of the Year).

Members continue to represent the Club at races both locally and elsewhere in the country. On the road Matthew Pierson won the Full Bronte 5, Askern 10 and the Brass Monkey Half Marathon. Dave Turnbull and Dave Watson won the Penny Lane 10K and the Bridlington Half Marathon respectively. Dawn Broom was 1 st lady at the Mad March 20 and the Spenborough 20. Rob Kersey, BillWade, Julia Johnson, Ros Haigh, Jacquie Dews, Lesley Ewart, Kiersti Dickinson and Karen Sinkinson all won age category road races. The senior ladies’ and senior mens’ road championships were won by Jacquie Dews and Richard Smith respectively.

The Club was particularly well represented at fell races by Lisa Lacon, Tom Brunt and Helen Berry. Lisa won Belmont Winter Hill, Wadsworth Half Trog, Ovenden, Giant’s Tooth, White Holme Circular, Mickleden Straddle, Broomhead Chase, Burnsall Classic and Autwick Amble. Tom won Crowden Horseshoe, James’ Thorn, Old County Tops, Pendle Cloughs, Rab Mountain Marathon, Edale and the Bakewell Mini Mountain Marathons. Helen won Crowden Horseshoe, Holme Moss, Pilsley, Dennis Stitt, Cop Hill and Ian Roberts. There were age category wins for Julian Rank, John Ewart, Barbara Hinchliffe, Karen Sinkinson, Chris Couch, Tim Cock, John Adair and Lesley Ewart. The Mens’ team won the Cross Keys fell and road relay. The senior 2008 Club Fell Championship was won by Tom Brunt.

The Club’s Track & Field athletes continue to hold their own in Division 2 of the North of England League. Holmfirth Harriers men’s and women’s track & field team finished the season in 5th place in the North of England Plate Final. This was particularly notable as the season had been disrupted by injuries and absences. Many athletes have consistently performed above themselves to place the team 3 rd in the league. Along the way Club records were broken by Jordan Toth, Junior George, Yasmin Ellis and Jenny Ibbitson.

The Club’s Vets continue to support the Yorkshire Vets AA Grand Prix Series and post excellent results. In the overall positions for 2008 Holmfirth finished 3 rd mens’ team in the ‘all to count’ table.

In the West Yorkshire Cross-Country League the U11 Boys A team won all four fixtures and the B team were 2 nd overall. There were wins in individual races for Richard Smith (U20 Men) and Lesley Ewart (O/50 Ladies).

Following the success of the Centenary Junior Challenge at the EIS in Sheffield, the event was repeated in March. The Committee thanks the many parents and coaches and particularly John McFadzean and Richard Szostak without whom the event would not have taken place.

In association with West Yorkshire Police and the Pennine Schools Sports Partnership the Club organised the ‘Fun in Athletics’ event for junior school children at Honley High School.

The Committee congratulates John McFadzean who was named Individual Volunteer of the Year by the Huddersfield Examiner for his work in the community including his contribution to the Harriers.

The dedicated members of the Triathlon Committee, particularly Rachael Mellor continue to promote the Summer Duathlon as part of the Yorkshire & Humber Junior Series. There were wins for Tiras Waterman, Rowena France and Seth Waterman. In various other events throughout the year the Club’s triathletes consistently posted high places enabling us to pose a credible and creditable challenge to the county’s bigger clubs.

The Club continued its regular promotion of local open races. The Ian Roberts fell race, the Holme Moss Fell Race, the Harden Moss fell race, the Holmfirth 15, the Neiley Races, the Dennis Stitt and the Yorkshire Vets trail race all continue to thrive. That they do so is wholly due to the largely unseen but very much appreciated hard work of the race organisers and helpers and the Committee thanks them all. The Committee also thanks all the sponsors for their financial help in difficult economic times. The Neiley Races reached the landmark of 21 years this year and the Committee congratulates the organisers from the Harriers and outside the Club who have kept the race going and successful for this length of time.

The Club’s series of Members’ only events continued over the last twelve months. The Tinker Cup again proved popular with 87 runners. Matthew Dewhirst won and Matthew Pierson posted the fastest time. The fastest lady was Katie Walshaw who received the Norman Haigh Memorial trophy. Once again the Committee thanks the landowners and Honley Cricket Club for their generosity, good will and co-operation. The Point to Point was won by Andrew Hambleton whilst Julian Rank achieved the fastest time. The Club 6 was won by Jason Kaushall with Richard Smith once again fastest time. The Winter Championship was won by Steve Rimmer. The 2008 Club 5 was won by Phil Senior with Matthew Pierson running the fastest time. The Club 10 was won by Richard Smith and Matthew Pierson ran the fastest time. The Club 15 was won by Jim Sommerville and Matthew completed the treble with the fastest time. Wayne Byram was the 2008 Summer Champion.

On the social side the Club wishes to thank Ashley Smith and his team who organised the successful Presentation Night. Similarly, thanks go to Dianne Waite for the organisation of the Christmas dinner.

The main issue for the Committee over the last twelve months has been to synchronise the Club’s membership data with that of England Athletics and in particular administer the EA competition levy. The membership data has also had to be widened for health and safety and medical reasons. This has proved more difficult than it sounds with EA changing its financial year, hence the staggered subscription payment period in 2008, then it was rumoured to be changing it back again which, thankfully, did not happen. Sincere thanks go to the Membership Secretary, Jacqueline France who has performed this task with diligence and patience. Jacqueline has also done a sterling job in identifying those Members who are late in their payment of subscriptions and ensuring that they are paid or membership is cancelled. This is obviously important for the Club’s finances and is fairer to the vast majority of members who pay on time.

Under Jacqueline’s stewardship the website has gone from strength to strength increasing its importance as a means of communication to members and others.

The 2008/09 Committee maintained the previous year’s progress on reforming Committee structures and the effectiveness of Committee positions. The roles of officials were reviewed by Rob Kersey and his recommendations adopted. Rob’s work ensures that the roles are more clearly defined whilst the creation of the new posts of Mens’ and Ladies’ Captains and Vice-Captains will ensure that workload is more manageable for those who volunteer for these important posts.

In the light of these self imposed changes and those imposed on us by England Athletics the Constitution and Club Rules were altered, a tedious but necessary job and ratified by an EGM.

A Junior Committee was authorised to promote junior athletics and their interests. Kathy Farquhar and John McFadzean have begun work to set this up with a view to ‘passing the reins’ to others to contribute and organise. We hope that parents and younger members will seize this opportunity to contribute to the running of this important section of the Club.

In the same vein the Triathlon Committee continues to meet regularly and the section maintains its progress.

The Committee welcomed new officials this year and believes that this balance of new ideas and experience must be maintained if the Committee is to remain representative of the membership and keep the Club in a healthy state.

The objective of the Club is to encourage, promote and develop athletics and related physical activities. In this annual review it is therefore quite right and heartening to highlight Members’ athletic achievements. However, we also celebrate every single Club Member who gets out of bed on a morning feeling better about themselves because they have started regular physical exercise.

Finally but no less importantly it is essential to acknowledge that the Club is completely reliant on its band of helpers. To all those who organise races and events; bake and sell cakes and sell sweets to raise funds; those who steadfastly remain at their race marshalling point in all weathers, sometimes in some of the most desolate spots in West Yorkshire until the last runner has gone through; those who give and retain youngsters’ enthusiasm to forsake the telly and the computer on training nights to enjoy athletics and those who haggle with venues, plumbers, disc jockeys… etc to get the best deal – we salute you.

The start of our Marathon journey started in 2008 when we decided to get together with our friends and compete in the Edinburgh Marathon Hairy Haggis Relay (see http://www.therosefamily.me.uk/running/fatboys/)

Whilst that was a great achievement, we finished the race in 03:32:16 and raised over £2,000 for Hope for children, for 2009 we decided to return - to run the whole 26.2 miles for ourselves!

So after a further 12 months of training, on Sunday 31 May 2009 we completed our debut marathon. The weather was very kind, if not too kind; at 22 degrees it certainly took it's toll on us as well as many other runners struggling to beat the heat over the last eight miles. We finished in 03:57:12 (Matthew) and 04:28:44 (Charles) and are both delighted at this, our greatest ever running achievement.

So what next? We've both applied for London and after being unsuccessful last year are hopeful this year we'll be successful. In the meantime, we're hoping to build on this experience and complete the Dublin Marathon on 26 October 2009.

The sun shone brightly on the International Stadium at Gateshead to provide ideal conditions for the final day of the Northern U17/U15 Track & Field Championships. The weekend meeting is a show case for the regions top young athletes and Max Kaye was amongst them as he lined up for the final of the U/17 men’s 1500m.

The race was dominated by athletes from Yorkshire with the Leeds trio of Elliott Todd, Gordan Benson and Michael Wood constantly exchanging the lead throughout the race. Max ran well, maintaining contact until just before the bell and held his form together to come home in 5 th place with a new personal best time of 4mins 10.23secs. This was a good performance at this level, particularly as he is bottom age this year. The race was won by Michael Wood in 4mins 5secs.

Holmfirth Harriers’ Track and Field stars returned home with 7 medals and 2 club records from the Yorkshire Track and Field Championships held at Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield. This year’s event, held over both Saturday and Sunday, incorporated the Humberside Championships which ensured greater numbers participating along with greater depth in performances.

The first in action was Jordan Toth in the U/17 mens 100m. Having cruised to victory in the heats he went on to secure the gold medal shattering the club record in the process with his time of 11.08secs.

In the U/13 boys Aaron Kettlewell, competing in his first championships event rose to the occasion magnificently with a gold medal performance in the long jump with a leap of 4.59m to follow his silver medal in the 100m. Aaron Arthur showed massive improvement this year in the 800m securing a place in the final with a new personal best time of 2mins 35.71secs.

Jacob Henton was Holmfirth’s only competitor in the U/15 boy’s competition. Despite his lack of experience in a championship event he stormed round the 400m to claim the silver medal in 54.8secs and later in the day finished just outside the medals in the 200m.

It was good to see Thomas Jennings back competing at this level as a senior. In the shot putt his 11.38m was a new personal best. Jake Harman, returning to compete for Holmfirth, reached the final of the 800m with his time of 1min 57.47secs in the heats going on to finish 6th.

Distance athletes, Max Kaye and Thomas Traviss-Pollard were in action on both days in the U/17 men’s 800m and 1500m events. Max ran well to reach the finals of the 800m, but went one better in the 1500m to secure a bronze medal with a new best time of 4mins 11.07secs. Thomas, a novice on the track improves with each race setting personal best times in both events with 2mins 21.79secs and 4mins 30.79secs respectively.

The U/20’s were well represented with Junior George, now specialising in the 400m, running a controlled heat to get to the final where he blasted round to the gold medal in a new club record time of 49.49secs. Lauren Tyrell took the silver in the high jump with 1.55m and Katie Zientek achieved her best result of the season in the Javelin with 30.57m.

These results, 3 golds, 3 silvers and 1 bronze, are the best achieved by Holmfirth Harriers in a track and field championship event in recent years and hopefully will inspire others to have a go.

On behalf of the Committee notice is given that the AGM will be held at the Clubhouse after training on Tuesday 9 June 2009 commencing at 8.30. An agenda to which Members can post items for discussion at the meeting and, most importantly, can put themselves up for Committee positions is attached. All items and nominations will need a proposer and seconder. These should be made in writing on the notice on the wall by the tuck shop. Items and nominations must be posted by the end of training on Thursday 4 June.

The AGM is one of the most important events in the Club’s calendar. It allows you as members to criticise, question, endorse or bend the knee in adoring wonder before your previous Committee and then elect the next one to drive the Club through the next 12 months.

So, if there is something you want to get off your chest about the running of the Club this is the most effective time to do so, not in the changing rooms afterwards. If you are unhappy with the running of the Club and would like to make a contribution to its future this is the time and place to make your point.

Furthermore, please consider putting your name forward for a Committee post. The Committee continually needs new ideas and new people to reflect the membership of the Club and help to take it forward and thrive. Please do not rely on the same old faces or assume we all want to continue into our dotage. The AGM is the place to make your voice, criticism and ideas heard and the Committee is the body you elect to do it – so make sure it’s the right one.

Holmfirth Harriers’ athletes were out in force for the opening Northern Track & Field fixture. Having maintained their Division 2 status in a nail-biting finish last year, Holmfirth started the season in the West Central division, facing teams from Bingley, Bury, Bolton, Leigh and East Cheshire. This first fixture was held at Thornes Park, Wakefield in bright sunshine with very little wind to hinder the athletes.

The sprinters demonstrated that hard work during the winter months pays off, with Jordan Toth (U/17) setting a new club record in the 100m with a time of 11.2secs. Junior George (U/20) stormed round the track to gain maximum points in the 400m with 50.4secs with Russell Bamforth giving vital support in the 100m and relays.

Jake Rowlands, running in a Holmfirth vest for the first time in the ‘A’ 800m clocked 2mins 0.6secs. His 6 th position underlining the strength in depth in this event. Holmfirth’s talented U/17 distance athletes, Max Kaye and Thomas Traviss-Pollard, competing against senior athletes for the first time, gained valuable experience. Dave Watson, returning to the track after injury, scored valuable team points in his 1500m and 5000m events with 4mins 17.6secs and 15mins 30.8secs respectively. He was ably supported by Matthew Dewhirst making his debut on the track as a senior .Alistair Langron’s excellent 2 nd place in the 3000mS/C was his best performance in this event.

Thomas Jennings, who has progressed through the age groups from U/11 to senior ranks, had an extremely busy day competing in 6 events to gain 23 points. His best performance was his 37.20m effort in the Javelin. He was ably supported in all the throws by veteran Andy Storr, whose 2 nd place in the ‘B’ Shot of 9.47m was his best result.

The highly specialised technical events were tackled by James Dewhirst (U/20). His creditable performances in both 400m and 110m hurdle events and the Pole Vault gained 15 points for the club.

The women matched the men in both team commitment and performances. New member, National O/50 record holder, Jenny Ibbottson, opened her account by setting three new senior club records with 3.0m in the Pole Vault, 35.55m in the Hammer and 30.65m in the Discus. Her individual contribution to the team effort was a massive 34 points over 6 events. Katie Zientek was also in scintillating form, winning the ‘B’ Hammer and Discus events and gaining 2 nd place in both the ‘A’ Javelin and Shot, whilst Charlotte Dillingham finished an excellent 2 nd place in the ‘B’ Javelin and Discus.

Both Lauren and Zoe Storr competed in the sprints, their best performances coming in the Hurdles events with Lauren winning the ‘A’ 100mH in 15.9secs and Zoe finishing 3 rd in the ‘B’ 400mH in 79secs. Between them they accumulated 45points to the team total.

With many of the clubs leading distance athletes either recovering from the London Marathon or injury, the responsibility fell on the shoulders of Claire Leaver. Claire ran well to finish in 3 rd position in the 1500m and 2 nd in the 3000m, but it was club stalwarts, Julia Johnson in the 800m and Zoe Charlesworth in the 1500m, 3000m, and 100mH, whose efforts also gained valuable team points.

Finally the club’s officials John McFadzean, Adrienne Dewhirst, John Buckingham, Andy Storr, Kevin Johns, Andrew Ibbottson and parents Russell Kaye, Richard Szostac, Steve Spencer, ensured the full complement of 40 points could be added to the athlete’s scores to give a final match score of 305points 3 rd team place. A good performance at the start of this season.

This week I have managed to make people recoil in horror at the thought of running 5 laps to make up a Marathon, I don't know how they would react to just over 105. Last week the long suffering wife and I found ourselves under a grey and drizzly sky outside the rather impressive K2 sports centre in Crawley. We were chatting to some chums and watching a bunch of hardy souls running round and round the track - they were taking part in the 12 hour race. Thankfully that level of insanity has not got to me yet - I was there for the Marathon. The long suffering wife was there to count not only my laps but those of my friend Jim's, (Manic to those who know him well). What can I tell you really about track marathons? They're a lot tougher than I imagined. A much more experienced track runner said this was because they're so flat, and they are. The drinks are never far away and you pass your loved ones every 2 mins or so. The only moment of high drama was after 3 hours when we had to change direction from anti clockwise to clockwise. Instead of running on the white line of lane 1, I found myself drifting into lane 3. This could have potentially added miles to the day. They are friendly low key affairs with great support from the lap counters and fellow competitors. Unfortunately there is not going to be one next year, just the 12 hour and a 6 hour race. I am contemplating the 6 and casting an eye over the newly laid out track down by the club. Anyone fancy a track Marathon?

Cheers Gary.

Holmfirth Harriers AC was in action this weekend in the Nike ERRA National Relays held at Sutton Park, Birmingham. The Women’s race was over six stages of 2.9 miles, whilst the men ran twelve stages with athletes alternating between a long stage of 5.3 miles and a short stage of 2.9 miles. This event has been held at Sutton Park since 1970 and over the years there have been some epic individual performances from many of Britain’s great distance runners.

Over 50 teams faced the starter in the women’s race and it was Club captain Helen Berry who shouldered the responsibility for making sure the team got a good start. Helen coped well with the fast early pace and then used her strength and experience to bring the team back in 29 th place in 18mins 17secs. On stage two Julia Johnson ran well against much younger athletes, just losing three places to finish in 32 nd place with an individual time of 19 minutes 37secs.

On stage three and four, super veterans Lesley Ewart (20mins 31secs) and Karen Sinkinson (20mins 36secs) ran well to keep the team in 32 nd place. Another leading veteran, Dawn Broom stormed round the course passing 8 teams to finish in 24th place. Dawn’s time was 19mins 12secs.

The youngest member of the team, Katie Walshaw, again ran another good relay leg to bring the team home in 23 rd place in 1hour 56mins 18secs. Katie’s individual time was 18mins 05secs. The race was won by Charnwood AC in 1hour 38mins 14secs and Olympic athlete Steff Twell of Aldershot Farnham and District ran the fastest leg min 15mins 15secs.

In the Men’s event Holmfirth were relying on the strength and good pace judgement of Dave Turnbull to cope with the pressure of the first long stage. He put in a very good performance to bring the team back in 36 th place with a time of 28mins 13secs. Adam Bowden of Harrow AC led home the 67 teams who started with his 26mins 29secs effort.

Matthew Pierson then flew round the first short stage passing 18teams to finish in 18 th place with a time of 14mins 17secs. This was the eighth fastest time of the day and the fastest ever short stage run by a Holmfirth Harrier. The club’s leading veteran, Dave Watson slipped back to 23 rd on stage 3, but his time of 28mins 03secs was still a good performance.

Another veteran, the `in form’ John Broom, took the next short stage returning home in 23rd place with a good time of 16mins 25secs. The two youngest athletes in the team, Matthew Johnson and James Dewhirst suffered the backlash from the team’s good start. Matthew slipped back to 33 rd on stage 5 with a 30mins 29secs effort, whilst James recording 17mins 46secs, lost a further 3 places as the team reached the halfway mark in 36 th place.

Richard Smith lost a further place on the next long stage recording a time of 31mins 16secs, whilst Matthew Dewhirst slipped back to 39 th with his 18mins 27secs effort. Over 45 veteran Ricky South lost a further 3 places on stage 9 but his 31mins 43secs effort was still a good run. Steve Rimmer, another veteran, then gained 2 places on the next short stage as the team moved back up to 40 th. Steve’s time was 17mins 45secs.

Julian Rose, competing in his first national event, ran a good solid leg to finish 43 rd with an individual time of 32mins 16secs. Brandon Holroyd gained a place on the final stage to bring the team home in 42 nd place in 4hours 44mins 57secs. Brandon did well to hold off Derby AC who finished just 5 secs behind and his individual time was 18mins 17secs. The race was won by Belgrave Harriers in 4hours 04mins 33secs with Phil Wicks of Belgrave running the fastest long stage in 25mins 13secs and Jonathan Taylor of Morpeth running the fastest short stage with 13mins 57mins.

Holmfirth Harriers AC’s leading endurance athletes were in action this weekend at the Northern Athletics Road Relay Championships held at Woodbank stadium, Stockport. Both the women’s 6 stage and the men’s 12 stage race started and finished on the track, with the women running 2.36 miles on their leg, and the men alternating between long legs of 4.25 miles with short legs of 2.36 miles. The top half of the course through Woodbank Park was flat, but once through the park gates there was a steep decent into Stockport and then a tough climb back into the park.

In the Womens event 45 teams faced the starter and Claire Leaver opened up for Holmfirth returning home in 21 st place with a time of 15mins 30secs. Horwich RMI Harriers won the stage with a 13mins 24 secs effort. On stage 2, Helen Berry ran strongly to move Holmfirth up to 18 th recording a time of 14 mins 50secs. Up front Sale Harriers had moved into the lead. Julia Johnson ran well on stage 3 to gain two more places with an individual time of 15 mins 55secs and Karen Sinkinson kept the team in 16 th place on the next stage with her 16mins 35secs effort. Morpeth Harriers AC had now moved into the lead.

On stage 5 leading veteran Dawn Broom used her experience to good effect to gain two more places recording 15mins 12secs. Katie Walshaw continued the good work on the final stage to bring Holmfirth home in 12 th place in a time of 1hour 32mins 44secs. Katie’s individual time was 14mins 42secs. The race was won by Chester-Le Street and District AC in 1 hour 25mins 04 secs. Lucy Griffiths 16mins 31secs and Yvette Arthur 18mins 14secs ran the first two legs of an incomplete B team.

It was an ‘in form’ Matthew Pierson who opened up on the first long stage for the men as 58 teams toed the line. He was involved in a tremendous battle with Adam Grice of Leeds City AC and Carl Hardman of Salford Harriers as all three athletes entered the stadium together, with Adam just gaining a two second advantage over the last 300m. Matthew recorded a splendid time of 20mins 34secs to claim 2 nd place. Matthew Johnson, home from Oxford University, had his best run of the season on the first short stage to keep Holmfirth in second place with an individual time of 12mins 48secs. Dave Watson came under pressure on stage 3 as Liverpool, Salford and Derby turned their leading athletes out. He slipped back to 5 th but still recorded a good time of 22mins 03secs.

Middle distance specialist Jake Harman used his speed to good effect on stage 4, just losing one place as he crossed the line in a good time of 12mins 53secs. On stage 5 Dave Turnbull was passed by Sale Harriers and Altrincham’s leading athletes as the team slipped back to 8 th. Dave still recorded a good individual time of 22mins 21secs. The Youngest member of the team, James Dewhirst was passed by Trafford and Morpeth on the next short stage, but still kept the club in the top ten at the half way mark. James’ individual time was 14mins 25secs.

On stage 7, Richard Smith slipped back to 12 th with a 23mins 51secs effort, whilst veteran Julian Rose, running at this level for the first time just lost one place with his 14mins 23secs return. John Broom ran an aggressive leg on stage 9 to keep Holmfirth in 13 th place with a time of 23mins 19secs, whilst Mark Dewhirst lost one place with his 13mins 56secs effort on stage 10. Alistair Langron ran very strongly on stage 11 to move Holmfirth back up to 13 th with a 23min 26secs effort. Matthew Dewhirst in 14mins 54secs just held off Stockport Harriers on the final stage to bring the team home in 13 th place in 3hours 38mins 52secs. The event was won by Leeds City AC in 3 hours 19mins 22secs. Chris Carris of Bingley Harriers ran the fastest long leg 20 mins 15secs.

The contact details for members who use the facilities at Holmfirth Sports Centre and wish to voice their concerns about the sudden change in parking arrangements.

Kirklees Active Leisure (KAL)
Alison Morris
email: alison.morris@kirklees.gov.uk

Mark Dunstan
Area Manager
email: Mark.Dunstan@kirklees.gov.uk

Dr A Williams
Head Teacher
Holmfirth High School
email: school@holmfirthhigh.co.uk

Hochtief FM
Tony Redman
Facility Manager
30 Victory Avenue
Paddock
Huddersfield
HD3 4HA
Telephone: 01484 485440

Help desk: 01925 40455

Hochtief FM
Managing Director
Unit 2
Ibis Court
Centre Park
Warrington
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Adrienne

At the committee meeting on Wednesday 11th Feb it was decided that club archives should be deposited with the West Yorkshire Archive Service (Huddersfield section).

They are first being gathered together by Neil Midgley. If you have any official club papers or records, please contact Neil on Huddersfield 684261 or Mob 07773 450 860 to arrange collection.

There are many reasons behind (and benefits to) this move. Facilities for storage at Neiley are totally inadequate in terms of space available, conditions and access from members. Even after work on the centenary book it is far from clear exactly what records and materials exist or where they are held but we do know that there is a significant amount.

Once things are gathered together they will be deposited and the archive service will determine which records it can store. This will certainly include things like minute books, account books, record books, correspondence, scrap books, photographs, papers from the Neiley project, etc etc. Anything they feel is not relevant will be handed back to us - not thrown out!

The next stage will be for them to record and catalogue everything. We will be given both hard and electronic copies of the catalogues and it should be possible to have a link to this from the club web site. This will provide a permanent and professionally stored deposit which any member would be able to access at the archives office (same building as the library).

SO - the first stage of this initiative is to get everything to Neil please. Thanks.

4 days into the new year and the first Marathon is in the bag. A few years ago the powers that be at the 100 club decided to start an annual marathon in the hope that folk would stay for the AGM that follows, but this was no ordinary race but a handicap based on an average taken from the last 7 road marathons. The first two were based in Stevenage, mainly because the club chairman could get a good deal on the local scout hut. The race itself was 14 laps of Fairlands Valley park, a park without a single flat bit to be found. The first year we ran clockwise and the second anti clockwise, both were horrific - the masses were not happy. Thankfully, a group of runners from the Blackheath and Bromley club stepped in to save us and organised this years race.
And so to Bromley, and the chance to run in another bit of London. We set out for the race at 8 with the temperature at -5, it did get a bit warmer but not much. This was the first time I have ever had to wear tights to race in, must be getting old. The 5 laps were a mix of the local park where Blackheathhave their track, suburban streets, a bit of Bromley high street, Bromley Common (the common included woods and a farm complete with comedy chickens who seemed intent on running across the path of oncoming runners, amazing what you find in the London suburbs.) All went well until lap 5 when the temperature dropped and I had to check to see if my knees had fallen off, this was the only time I have seen runners adding clothing rather than taking it off. The whole thing was a great success despitethe freezing temperatures.
Gary

100 years ago the good people of Hastings were so overcome with Olympic fever that they staged their own Marathon. A century later they decided to have a re-run of the event. They expected around 300 runners but instead got just over 1600 - the start was so crowded, the tail end disappeared into British Home Stores allowing slower starters to keep warm and do a little browsing before the off. Another concern was with the light or lack of it. As the afternoon progressed, it was suggested that we wear bright clothing and we were issued with the biggest brightest number I have come across, two in fact, one for the front and one for the back. Mine almost met at the sides.
After the downpours on Saturday, Sunday was bright and cold. Unfortunately it didn't last. A couple of laps of the town were followed by a series of long up hills. My plan was to ride these out and then speed up. But things don't always go to plan. I knew lots of other runners, some by name and others by sight, and lots more seemed to know me - the race had the feel of a club run to it, scores were there to be settled and rivalries renewed. Running at a suicidal pace, mostly scared of being passed by anyone who knew me, we reached the town of Battle at 9 miles and disappeared into the fog, cover at last. I also hoped it was the end of the hills but they continued until the descent into Bexhill at 17 miles. At 21 miles, the hills stopped and we turned onto the prom, headwind, great. Then at 22 miles, the horror of running along the beach for half a mile. The beaches down here are pebbly and although someone had tried to flatten them, they made the old London cobbles seem like a tartan track in comparison. At last the finish came into view and I crossed the line in a seasons best time of 3 36. 17 Marathons this year and the fastest is the last. Unless there is a giant leap forward in medical science I won't be at the next Hastings marathon in 2108. But hopefully the 2012 Olympics might inspire some other town to stage a marathon.

Cheers Gary.

Steve Moslin provides sports performance massage. He is mostly based at the stadium but would be willing to come to the club if a few people were interested. Contact Jacqueline if you are interested in a massage at Neiley.

Regular sports massage can help reduce risk of injury and reduce stiffness and soreness after training.

It can also speed up recovery after exercise and prevent muscle and tendon strain.

Let Sports Performance Massage help you to get the most from your potential by being properly prepared for the event.

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