Road Secretary’s Report – May 2025
You can tell we’re getting to the main season now with two Road Championship races and many other events taking place across April including five marathons and the National Road Relays. Let’s start with the Road Championships.
2025 Road Championships
There were two races again this month, one short and one long. The “not done the London Marathon” Half in Leeds saw four Harriers take the start line and the short run, The Brighouse 10k saw two.
| (Not done the London) Half Marathon – Leeds – 27 April 2025 | |||
| Name | Position | Chip Time | Notes |
| Ben Jarvis | 1/36 | 01:18:23 | 1st overall |
| Michael Tivers | 4 | 01:42:10 | 4th overall |
| Michael Hall | 14 | 01:59:25 | |
| Keren Pearson | 31 | 02:42:08 | |
| Brighouse 10k – 20 April 2025 | |||
| Name | Position | Chip Time | Notes |
| Mark Ludlam | 52/254 | 00:47:18 | 1st MV65 |
| Rob Kersey | 131 | 00:56:55 | 1st MV70 |
Congratulations to all and in particular Ben for coming first overall in Leeds, as well as Micky coming 4th and Mark and Rob winning their age categories.
Mike Hall continues to lead the men’s championship and Helena, the ladies’.
| 2025 Road Championships – Standings | ||||||||||||||
| Race | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | |||||
| Category | Long | Short | Short | Long | Long | Short | Short | Short | Long | |||||
| 2025 Mens | No. of races | Scoring Races | Four Villages Half | Stockport Daffodil | Blackburn Winter Warmer 10k | Run Through Media City Half | Dentdale 14 | LABC Runners 5k | Wilmslow 10k | Brighouse 10k (Elland) | Not Done The London Marathon (Leeds) | Club 6 | Road Relays | Total |
| Michael Hall | 4 | 4 | 23 | 25 | 23 | 22 | 5 | 98 | ||||||
| Ben Jarvis | 2 | 2 | 25 | 25 | 5 | 5 | 60 | |||||||
| James Washington | 2 | 2 | 23 | 25 | 5 | 5 | 58 | |||||||
| Darren Hansen | 2 | 2 | 25 | 25 | 5 | 55 | ||||||||
| Mark Ludlam | 1 | 1 | 25 | 25 | ||||||||||
| Rob Savin | 1 | 1 | 25 | 25 | ||||||||||
| 2025 Ladies | No. of races | Scoring Races | Four Villages Half | Stockport Daffodil | Blackburn Winter Warmer 10k | Run Through Media City Half | Dentdale 14 | LABC Runners 5k | Wilmslow 10k | Brighouse 10k (Elland) | Not Done The London Marathon (Leeds) | Club 6 | Road Relays | Total |
| Helena Croft | 2 | 2 | 25 | 25 | 5 | 5 | 60 | |||||||
| Keren Pearson | 1 | 1 | 25 | 25 | ||||||||||
| Helen Haigh | 0 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 15 | |||||||||
| Hannah Austin | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 | ||||||||||
| Julia Jagger | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 | ||||||||||
| Sophie Cromwell | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 10 | |||||||||
| 2025 Age Graded | No. of races | Scoring Races | Four Villages Half | Stockport Daffodil | Blackburn Winter Warmer 10k | Run Through Media City Half | Dentdale 14 | LABC Runners 5k | Wilmslow 10k | Brighouse 10k (Elland) | Not Done The London Marathon (Leeds) | #N/A | #N/A | Total |
| Michael Hall | 4 | 4 | 23 | 25 | 23 | 22 | 93 | |||||||
| Ben Jarvis | 3 | 3 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 75 | ||||||||
| Darren Hansen | 2 | 2 | 25 | 25 | 50 | |||||||||
| Helena Croft | 2 | 2 | 21 | 25 | 46 | |||||||||
| James Washington | 2 | 2 | 22 | 23 | 45 | |||||||||
There is plenty of time for that to change though. All the races in the championship are on the website https://www.holmfirthharriers.com/championship/road-championship/ and a brief reminder is shown below. The May races are the Leeds Half on 11th May and Northallerton 10k on 25th.
If there is a tie for 1st/2nd/3rd place, the number of races entered will be taken into consideration. If there is still a tie then the age graded scores will be used.
| APRIL | |||
| MAY | |||
| RACE | DATE | DISTANCE | CAT. |
| Northallerton 10k | 25-May-25 | 10k | Short |
| Leeds Half | 11-May-25 | Half | Long |
| JUNE | |||
| RACE | DATE | DISTANCE | CAT. |
| Bradford 10k | 01-Jun-25 | 10k | Short |
| Greenhead parkrun | 21-Jun-25 | 5k | Short |
| JULY | |||
| RACE | DATE | DISTANCE | CAT. |
| Hollybank Eccup10 (Leeds) | 06-Jul-25 | 10m | Long |
| Mossley 10k | TBA | 10k | Short |
| AUGUST | |||
| RACE | DATE | DISTANCE | CAT. |
| Preston 10m | 10-Aug-25 | 10m | Long |
| Leeds 5k | 27-Aug-25 | 5k | Short |
| SEPTEMBER | |||
| RACE | DATE | DISTANCE | CAT. |
| Garstang Half | 07-Sep-25 | Half | Long |
| Wistow (Selby) | 28-Sep-25 | 10k | Short |
| OCTOBER | |||
| RACE | DATE | DISTANCE | CAT. |
| Accrington | 26-Oct-25 | 10k | Short |
| Oldham half | 26-Oct-25 | Half | Long |
| NOVEMBER | |||
| RACE | DATE | DISTANCE | CAT. |
| Tadcaster 10 | 16-Nov-25 | 10m | Long |
| Doncaster 10k | 30-Nov-25 | 10k | Short |
| DECEMBER | |||
| RACE | DATE | DISTANCE | CAT. |
| Longridge Christmas Pudding | 14-Dec-25 | 7 mile | Long |
| Travellers 6 | TBA | 6m | Short |
2025 Club handicap races (Club 6, Club 5, Club 10)
The Club 5 is the next race in the championship and will be held on 20th May. There is still time to enter on the website and I am still looking for volunteer marshals.
https://www.holmfirthharriers.com/event/club-5/
Don’t forget the Club 10 as well, on Tuesday 8 July 2025
National Road Relays
The National Road Relays took place at Sutton Park in Birmingham on 12th April and we had both mens and ladies teams competing against the best in the country. Holmfirth acquitted themselves brilliantly against very stiff opposition with the men coming in 60th place and the ladies 27th.
| National Road Relays – Sutton Park, Birmingham – 12 April 2025 | |||
| Mens Team (12 legs) | Chip Time | Notes | |
| Joseph Minchella | 00:16:41 | ||
| Sam Williams | 00:17:54 | ||
| James Washington | 00:19:47 | ||
| Phillip Hinchcliffe | 00:17:35 | ||
| Craig Sheard | 00:20:15 | ||
| Luke White | 00:18:53 | ||
| James Burbidge | 00:18:05 | ||
| Oliver Beatson | 00:18:25 | ||
| Damian McQueen | 00:18:34 | ||
| Paul Sammonds | 00:18:00 | ||
| Michael Sanderson | 00:18:22 | ||
| Patrick Needham | 00:18:13 | ||
| Total | 03:43:44 | Position: 60/64 | |
| Ladies Team (6 legs) | Chip Time | Notes | |
| Katie Walshaw | 00:18:23 | ||
| Julia Jagger | 00:19:18 | ||
| Helen Haigh | 00:20:29 | ||
| Hannah Austin | 00:22:37 | ||
| Sophie Cromwell | 00:23:54 | ||
| Joanne Jones | 00:21:49 | ||
| Total | 02:06:30 | Position: 27/43 | |
Summer monthly 5k series
The first of the summer monthly 5k runs took place on Tuesday 15th April and it was great to see many old and lots of new faces take part in this event.
The big news from this first race was a new course record set by Ben Kellett in 18m 17s taking 3s off Sam Williams’ time last year. Results are on the web site here https://www.holmfirthharriers.com/results/2025-monthly-summer-5k-handicap-race-1-results-race-2-start-times/ where you can also find start times for race two on Tuesday 13th May.
See here for more details and to sign up.
The Joe Percy Invitational 10k
Holmfirth Harriers has again been invited to send teams to the Joe Percy – a local team 10k event held near Farnley Tyas. This is a great local race with representatives from all over the district. We normally enter one or two teams of ladies and gents so please sign up for this one. The race costs £10 per person and the first 10 male finishers for a club count as the first men’s team, the first 10 females count as the first ladies team and so on. The race is on a Wednesday evening, 11th June starting near Storthes Hall. Details are here – please sign up to represent the club.
Other races
Other races that I’ve been able to find this month are shown below. Please let me know if you would like any of your results included in this monthly update.
We’ll start with the Marathons. Well done to all Harriers that competed in what can be a gruelling event. One of the club members said this and I’ve re-produced it here as I cannot think of a better way of putting it:
“I just wanted to say how amazing it is to see so many members running marathons now. When we started Amber XXVI.II, it was just a few of us – now it feels central to the club’s running culture and aspirations.
All marathons deserve recognition, especially those overseas – they’re not easy, and they come with real sacrifices for runners and their families.”
| London Marathon – 27 April 2025 | |||
| Name | Position | Chip Time | Notes |
| Wilson, Philip | 1179 | 02:46:58 | |
| Sammonds, Paul | 1810 | 02:52:57 | |
| Burbidge, James | 2649 | 02:58:37 | |
| Savin, Rob | 7203 | 03:24:05 | |
| Vickers, Gareth | 12756 | 03:44:44 | |
| Bacon, Sarah | 53467 | 06:39:20 | |
| Manchester Marathon- 27 April 2025 | |||
| Name | Position | Chip Time | Notes |
| Jonny Mclean | 704 | 02:58:28 | |
| Nicky Evans | 23345 | 06:25:42 | |
| Ibiza Marathon – 12 April 2025 | |||
| Name | Position | Chip Time | Notes |
| Naomi Shields | 450 | 04:02:10 | |
| Heidi King | 811 | 04:40:24 | |
| Alison Smith | 974 | 05:02:31 | |
| Debbie Beck | 1003 | 05:11:44 |
| Boston (UK) Marathon – 13 April 2025 | |||
| Name | Position | Chip Time | Notes |
| Deborah Clarke | 641/869 | 04:22:55 | PB |
| Andrew Clarke | 712 | 04:38:43 | |
| Boston (USA) Marathon – 21 April 2025 | |||
| Name | Position | Chip Time | Notes |
| Jordan Millar | 5286 | 03:02:52 | |
| Matthew Rose | 9856 | 03:19:07 | |
| Kevin Dessoy | 12934 | 03:29:05 | |
We’ll follow that with some Half Marathons:
| Connemarathon Half Marathon- 27 April 2025 | |||
| Name | Position | Chip Time | Notes |
| Craig Sheard | 84/1418 | 01:42:40 | |
| Hannah Austin | 85 | 01:42:41 | PB / 3rd Lady |
| Monsal Trail Half Marathon – 5 / 6 April 2025 | |||
| Name | Position | Chip Time | Notes |
| Amy Smith (Sunday) | 25/339 | 01:34:15 | 3rd lady |
| Lisa Allison (Sunday) | 244 | 02:14:20 | PB |
| Paul Hadin (Saturday) | 65/261 | 01:46:25 | |
| Roundhay Half Marathon | |||
| Name | Position | Chip Time | Notes |
| Emma Prince | 299/393 | 02:14:05 | PB |
Congratulations to Hannah and Amy for their places (3rd lady in their respective races) and to Hannah, Lisa and Emma for their PBs.
Finally some 10ks, including the Wilmslow 10k that didn’t make it into last month’s report (sorry Ben).
| Wilmslow 10k – 23 March 2025 | |||
| Name | Position | Chip Time | Notes |
| Ben Jarvis | 3/815 | 00:34:03 | 3rd overall |
| Helmsley 10k (Multi Terrain) – 20 April 2025 | |||
| Name | Position | Chip Time | Notes |
| Michael Hall | 113 | 00:50:15 | |
| Salford 10k – 18 April 2025 | |||
| Name | Position | Chip Time | Notes |
| Mark Wilson | 111 | 00:37:58 | |
| Simon Platts | 144 | 00:39:22 | |
| Brandon Holroyd | 227 | 00:43:25 | |
| Michael Hall | 321 | 00:48:06 | |
| Karen Sinkinson | 333 | 00:48:44 |
Well done to Ben for coming 3rd overall at Wilmslow.
As always, if you’d like your races and achievements celebrated in the Road Update, please let me know by finding me at the club or dropping me an email.
Kevin Dessoy / 01May25