Road Update – February 2022

Posted: March 8, 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 13^th 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 20^th 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 6^th 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 6^th 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 27^thFebruary 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 15^th 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 20^th March and is a local, pretty quick out-and-back course.

Finally, the Northern Road Relays are taking place on Sunday 27^th 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.