Recent road and fell race results for the Harriers
There has been a host of excellent performances by juniors and seniors over the last week with the final Yeovilton 5k race taking place last Wednesday (Sept 11th) and then Harriers out competing at half marathons across the breadth of the UK: at the Bristol Half, the Great North Run; and at the Chippenham Half. In addition we had members competing hard at the South of England Fell Running Championships this past weekend – taking in three tough races over two days on the Isle of Wight.
Rex Whitcombe came away from the Isle of Wight having finished 40th overall amongst the men, 5th V50 in the Southern Fell Running Championships. The races started with a ‘sprint’ of 3.8km miles, with 235m of ascent on the Saturday morning; followed by a ‘middle distance’ effort over 12km (443m of ascent) on Saturday afternoon; and finishing off with a 21km distance race(487m of climb) on the Sunday morning. This was some great running by Rex and he improved on his times from last year in all three races. Rex is now in ‘fine-tuning’ mode for the forthcoming Chester Marathon at the beginning of October.
Rex’s son Isaac, better known to some as one of our Sprint coaches on a Monday before he went away to College, had a go at the two races on Saturday declaring that the Sunday race would have finished him off. He managed to stay ahead of Rex on the Saturday morning but was caught with 4km to go in the Saturday afternoon race. Helen Rutter took the alternative approach and just ran the long race on the Sunday, again improving on her time from here the last time she ran. The South Of England medal presentations were conducted by the Harrier Chairman on behalf of the SEAA.
At Sunday’s Bristol Half marathon the Club had a huge entry of 13 runners. Tim Hawkins led the way in 32nd place with a time of 73.56 (2nd V40), with Tom Dukes in 60th with 76.50 taking 9 minutes off last year’s pb; and then came James Sewry as the 3rd Harrier to break the 80 minute mark, finishing in 95th with 79.26. Triathletes Martin Bailey and Heath Falck both had good runs for 88.56 and 90.55. Ed Tickner was home in 1.31 for a good 3rd V60. Then came the ‘battle of the Baldwins’ with Tom finishing ahead of his dad, Andrew and twin-brother Ben following up. Their times of 1.34, 1.37 and 1.44 indicating some reasonable packing amongst the multitudes at Bristol. For both Tom and Ben this was their first half-marathon.In addition Berni Mundy was round in 1.40 for 3rd V65 showing that there is still life left in those legs..
Rebecca Carver was 1st Harrier woman home in 1.39 in her first ever half marathon; and Sharon Bowles was next home in 2.04, and then came Melanie Maskell 2.12, Janet Menzies, 2.18 and Sheila Patterson 2.20. That’s some good running by all of the harriers.
Just up the road another three Club members opted instead for the slightly quieter Chippenham Half marathon with personal bests recorded by all three. In fact it appears that all three recorded their second pb of the week (the other being at the Yeovil 5k)Damien Pick recorded a very useful 1.28 for 76th place with Mike Rusca, who is making a habit of pbs nowadays again having a great run for his 1.29 clocking finishing in 90th place. Simon Carr also ran a pb with his 1.41.
A little bit further up the road – in fact a long way up the road – was a sprinkle of Harriers at the much televised Great North Run high-fiving with Mo Farah and various other stars. Simon Prior ran a steady 1.26, with Steve Dickinson strong in 1.32 and Katrina Prior not far behind in 1.34. Also competing at this event in the shorter junior races were Matthew Dickinson, finishing 2nd in the 5k event with a time of 16.00 and Oliver Dickinson, 3rd over the 4km course in 13.37. That’s some excellent running by all.
At September’s Yeovilton 5km race the Series results were decided with Harrier junior Philip Bridge winning the Junior men’s prize with his excellent set of results this year. Philip finished 5th overall with Tom Dukes just behind in 6th. Megan Rusca was 1st junior woman overall; with dad Mike Rusca also featuring high up, along with Simon Carr. In the junior races, Dylan Dukes was 1st and William Carr 2nd overall in the Series for the longer race; whilst Owen Dukes, Ryan Macpherson and James Carr also featured with medals for the shorter race Series.
In September’s 5km race itself, Harrier plaudits were taken by Kieran Young, 3rd in 16.02, and then a whole phalanx of Harriers in the top ten: 6th Tom Dukes 16.15 ; 7th Luke Prior 16.17; 8th Tim Hawkins 16.27 10th Lloyd Collins 16.33. Notable pbs on the night were achieved by Alex Williams 18.24; Damien Pick 18.44; Mike Rusca 18.58; and Simon Carr 20.39. That’s some great running by all.
Next 5k race opportunity over the road will be the Street 5k race on Wednesday October 9th. All Harriers should either come and race, or come along to help on the night. This will be the 25th Series of this event and Race Director Ed Tickner would be pleased to see you all. All that enter the Series on the 9th will get a free Technical T-shirt with their name on later in the Series to celebrate the completion of 150 races..
There is also a regular (weekly) 5k time trial at Montacute House at 9.00am on a Saturday as part of the Park Run initiative. For details go to http://www.parkrun.org.uk/yeovilmontacute/
GOOD LUCK to all that are competing at the Aldershot Road relays this coming weekend. see other report on the front page for details of teams; minibus and timetable.
SOMERSET SERIES UPDATE: Next race is the Mells Scenic Seven (see calendar). Graham Goldsmid is in 3rd place overall (1st V50) with Colin Williams 1st V60 and Tim Hawkins starting his long run for home - can he overhaul a few others and win the Series outright? For the women, Cath Goldsmid is in 5th place overall (2nd F45) with Rebecca Carver leading for the junior women and having a realistic tilt at getting 1st or 2nd place overall. The Series is sponsored by M5 Glass and the dedicated series website is at http://www.somersetseries.co.uk/
For 2014 it is likely that the Harrier supported Babcary and Butleigh races will again feature. This is subject to final agreement on the Series which is likely to recommence with the tough Hestercombe Humdinger on Feb 2nd 2014. (Note- entries open soon)