Road Update – February 2022

Apologies for the delay with this, but just a quick update for you all regarding what everyone got up to on the road in February.

 

Championship Update

 

Eight Harriers took part in the Liversedge Half Marathon on Sunday 13th February, which was the first race of the 2022 Road Championship. First back for club was Michael Sanderson, whilst Amy Smith was the first female as both claimed PBs. Anthony Waring continued his good form as he finished third MV50, whilst Kevin Dessoy was not far behind and claimed third MV55.

 

Pos MPos FPos Name Cat Cat Pos Chip Time
19 018 Michael Sanderson MS (011/044) 01:28:40
30 028 Anthony Waring M50 (003/046) 01:32:11
52 046 Kevin Dessoy M55 (003/033) 01:35:30
91 009 Amy Smith FS (002/014) 01:41:34
112 095 Ian Goulding M55 (012/033) 01:45:47
276 080 Heidi King F45 (017/023) 02:17:02
308 097 Alison Smith F45 (020/023) 02:30:34
316 215 Richard Whale M65 (006/007) 02:35:45

 

A full race report can be found here.

 

At one point we had 42 runners signed up for the Club 6 which was held on Sunday 20th February, although this soon dropped to 36 as the race approached. We were greeted with biblical weather on the morning of the race, which seemingly put a few more members off as only 27 runners made the start line. The fastest time on the day was recorded by Phil Hewitt who ran the course in 38:15, whilst the fastest female was Helena Croft in 40:01.

 

In terms of the handicap results, Debbie Beck placed third, Andrew Kerry came second, whilst Adam Sunderland won overall to claim the Walter Greenwood trophy. Full results and a brief report can be found here.

 

Many thanks to all of the marshals for standing in the pouring rain for over an hour, as well as to Alex for tail-cycling and Roger and John for timekeeping.

 

The championship standings have been updated to reflect these results, although it is obviously very early days. A new ‘age-graded’ category has been introduced this year, which is based upon the tables produced by the WMA and considers each runner’s age and gender when ‘grading’ their performance. Kevin Dessoy has set the early pace in this competition, as his result at Liversedge returned an age-graded performance of 72.59%. The current race standings can be found here.

 

The Rother Valley 5k was the second race in the Road Championship and took place on Sunday 6th March; a results and report for that one will feature in next month’s update.

 

Other Results

The ever-popular Dewsbury 10k was held on 6th February, where six Harriers made the start line. The race is a fast out and back course which often makes for plenty of PBs. This turned out to be the case for our members, as Chris Taylor had an excellent run to set a new PB of 36:34, whilst Helena Croft knocked over three minutes off her previous best time to record a PB of 38:18.

Position Name Cat Cat Pos Chip Time
136 Chris Taylor MV40 27/191 36:34
232 Helena Croft FV35 4/144 38:18
1000 Heidi O’Shea FV40 40/167 49:30
1027 Michael Pelegrinis MV35 138/178 49:58
1073 Janet Foreman FV55 11/69 50:47
1277 Michael Hall MV55 81/118 54:09

An excellent turnout of 22 Harriers enjoyed a cold but sunny morning in Pocklington on Sunday 27th February as they took part in the Snake Lane 10. An issue with the timing mats at the start invalidated everyone’s chip times, which in a field of nearly 1,500 could easily account for one or two minutes. Despite this, there were PBs for Deborah Clarke, Andrew Clarke, Charlotte Whale and Vicky Clarke. Special mention also to Rob Kersey, who surprised himself by finishing first MV70 – over four minutes clear of second place.

Gender Name Cat Cat Pos Chip Time
Male Julian Rose Vet 55 6/94 01:06:02
Female Julia Thomas Vet 45 4/120 01:11:22
Male Matthew Rose Vet 45 41/123 01:13:30
Male Jon Burdon Vet 45 60/123 01:19:08
Male Rob Kersey Vet 70+ 1/16 01:21:10
Male Philip Brown Vet 40 78/111 01:20:38
Female Naomi Shields Open 49/106 01:25:31
Male Michael Pelegrinis Vet 35 71/85 01:27:03
Female Deborah Clarke Vet 50 27/79 01:28:52
Female Heidi King Vet 45 48/120 01:28:53
Male Andrew Clarke Vet 50 88/114 01:29:21
Female Debbie Beck Vet 50 30/79 01:30:48
Male John Field Vet 45 104/123 01:30:42
Male Phil Hanson Vet 65 10/19 01:31:59
Male Michael Hall Vet 55 71/94 01:33:57
Female Becky Burdon Vet 45 74/120 01:36:35
Female Tracey Newman Vet 45 83/120 01:41:01
Female Alison Smith Vet 45 93/120 01:43:39
Female Charlotte Whale Vet 35 62/75 01:43:47
Male Richard Whale Vet 65 16/19 01:44:30
Female Vicky Clarke Vet 40 111/116 01:53:42
Female Evans Nicky Vet 55 62/62 02:18:31

 

Upcoming

 

Next up in the Road Championship is the Salford 10k on 15th April (Good Friday); a fast and flat course with PB potential. That one has now sold out, but if anyone missed their chance then there is a waiting list that you can join:

 

https://bookitzone.com/ruth_bardsley/1BjFFX#

 

If anyone can’t wait until then, the Wakefield 10k is taking place on 20th March and is a local, pretty quick out-and-back course.

 

Finally, the Northern Road Relays are taking place on Sunday 27th March. This is one of the most prestigious running events in the road calendar, and acts as a qualifier for the National Road Relays which usually take place a fortnight later.

 

The event is open to all seniors aged 17 or over on 1st September 2021. The men’s team(s) consists of 12 runners and the women’s 6, with each runner completing either a long leg (8km – four for men, two for women) or a short leg (4km – eight for men, four for women). Some of the best athletes from the North will be competing, although the standard across the field varies hugely and anyone is welcome to run. If you’d like to take part and enjoy what is usually an excellent day out, then please sign up via the event page.

 

Cheers!

 

Michael.

 

 

 

 

 

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