|
From Shepton Fun Run to
the World Masters Championships in Italy
Mid-September 2007 round
up: Harriers here, there and everywhere.
|
|
Shepton
Fun Runs
There were
almost 20 junior Harriers competing at the
Harrier supported Shepton runs this past
Sunday. Harrier Curtis Stevens was first
boy home, well clear of the field, with Rebecca
Carver of Mendip AC first girl ahead of Harrier
Vera Assis. Abi Gibbons was 3rd
girl home in 5th place overall.
Elizabete Assis completed the top ten
finishers for the Harriers, with fellow Monday
juniors Jack Hale and Solomon Chadwick
not too far behind in 10th and 11th
places. Charlie Jupp was 16th,
Amy Gibbons 22nd, Gemma
Cook 37th, and Jake Cook
40th just ahead of Tomos Wray
going for gold in 52nd place. In the
Fun relay event a number of Harriers bolstered
the various teams and had lots of fun being
cheered on by the supporters. Well done to
Kaye Watts for organising such a great
event.
Track
& Field Play-off
Meanwhile a
number of the senior Harriers were out
supporting the joint Yeovil Olympiads/Wells team
at the end of season track & field play-off
fixture for a place in the national British
Men's League. The fixture, held at Abingdon,
brought together the best 8 clubs in the country
attempting to secure a place in the prestigious
League. This was the third season in succession
that the joint team has qualified from the
Southern Men's League for this end of season
decider based on its League form.
The Harriers
once again provided the bulk of the endurance
runners. Brewham's Adam Bowers recorded a
personal best in the 800m with his 1.59, and was
also 2nd in the 1500m B string with a
4.10 clocking. Pete Grist ran 4.08 for 5th
in the A string 1500m before going on to clock
15.42 for 3rd place in the 5km track
event. Angus Henderson ran a competitive
10.14 for the 3000m steeplechase before filling
in for an injured team-mate in the 5km B string
event with a very respectable 16.57. The joint
team was again managed by Bruce Pointer who was
pleased with this strong end of season
performance seeing the team finish 4th
overall, some 2 places higher than ever before.
The track and field season has again seen the
combined teams performing well in 5 different
leagues, covering all age groups.
Yeovilton
5km
Back on the
road there was another huge turnout of over 30
Harriers at the last of the summers Yeovilton
5km events last Wednesday, with a
comprehensive 1,2,3 by Harriers. British
international Frank Tickner sliced over
20 seconds off his personal best to record a
very impressive 14.14 for the sort of time not
seen in
Somerset
since the days of the Harriers Gerry Murray
races. That time probably places him in the
fastest 10 times on the road this year amongst
British runners. 2nd was his elder
brother and fellow international, Ben Tickner,
14.54, and 3rd was Carl Morris
in 15.30.
Carl's
position follows up two previous victories in
the 6 race Series, but this was good enough for
him to win the Series outright with fellow
Harrier Jon Gilling
claiming the overall title with his solid runs
over the entire set of races. Also in the Series
Harrier junior Tom Lock finished top
junior, 3rd overall, just ahead of
his dad, Les, who was top veteran athlete
in 4th. For the women, on the
night Anna Lewis was 3rd home
with a time of 18.27, but she's definitely
gaining on her husband who was only 10 seconds
ahead this time. In the Series standings Pat
Challis claimed another trophy for being 1st
F55, 5th overall, with Kay
Franklin not far behind in 10th
overall.
Other
finishers:
9th
Jack Bancroft 16.06; 13th
Jon Gilling
16.37; 15th Rob Parfitt 16.53; 20th
Les Lock 17.09; 23rd Tom Lock 17.35;
36th Matthew Lewis 18.16; 37th
Dickie Wythe 18.21; 51st Paul
Chadwick 19.04; 54th Ed Tickner
19.08; 66th Bob Martin 19.44; 67th
Alastair Middleton 19.45; 68th Gary
Tubridy 19.46; 73rd Cameron Rafferty
20.22; 79th Ann Taswell 20.21; 80th
Nick Edwards 20.23; 94th Carol
Buckland 21.53; 96th Colin Money
21.56; 100th Joseph Lewis 22.12; 103rd
Steve Padfield 22.20; 104th Adrian
Scadding 22.28; 112th Marion Colman
22.56; 115th Angela Thomas 23.12; 123rd
Pat Challis 23.50; 130th John Sutton
24.16; 142nd Terry Exell 26.24; 159th
Lorraine Royle 33.12.
Well done to Lorraine for her
first race over this distance.
World
Masters Championships
Whilst most
Harriers were enjoying the delights of Yeovilton,
another Harrier has been competing hard at the
World Masters Championships in
Riccione,
Italy.
the past fortnight.
Harrier newsletter editor Dave Stanfield was competing in the V40 age
group as part of a large British contingent. He
ran the 8km cross-country in a time of 29.46 in
hot conditions for 40th place, and
then went on to record 2.22 in the heats of the
800m, and 4.56.50 for the 1500m heat. Dave had
been in training for these events for the past 6
months and coped really well with the gruelling
schedule.
Good
luck to Harrier Adrian Marriott has he
makes final preparations for running for Team GB
at the Toronto Marathon at the end of the month.