There were 27 Harriers out competing at the Ash races last Sunday and there are over 50 being entered for the forthcoming Aldershot Road relays. There's also other great races - team and individual - coming up, so get training!
At the Ash races, held over the usual hilly terrain across fields and lanes, the Excellent Eight saw Gerorge Harris come home in 3rd place in a great time of 54.52, with Graham Goldsmid next home in 22nd place, 61.29. This will bolster Graham’s standing in the Somerset race series where he looks in line for an award this year. In 30th was Rod Little 64.54, then Stephen Dickinson 48th, 68.13, making rapid improvements thanks to his training regime, with Mike Rusca for company, 49th just a few seconds behind. Then we saw Hywel Thomas 69.59;Katrina Prior 71.08;Tracey Halliday 74.38; Cath Goldsmid 76.31Simon Jones, 88.31; and new member Rosanna Phelps 92.00. Both Katrina & Cath are also well up in the Somerset race series standings. See http://www.somersetseries.co.uk/ for latest positions.
In the 5 mile race at Ash, the Harriers provided the 1st men and women home with Matt Dickinson winning outright in a nippy 27.46 and Rebecca Carver continuing her good run of form with 37.23 for 6th overall, 1st woman. Simon Prior was 3rd, 32.48, and Hayley Carver 19th in 47.40. In the 3km race it was a clean sweep for the Harriers with 6 home in the first eight, led by Luke Prior 10.04, and then Oliver Dickinson 10.39, James Williams 10.56, and Alex Wiliams 11.04 to cover all positions 1 to 4. 1st girl home was Megan Rusca in 14.26 , 7th overall, and 2nd girl was Darcie Cook, 14.37, just behind. Finally in the Fun Run, Luke MacPherson had a great run but went slightly astray on the course and finished 2nd in 9.42, with Kathleen Cox-Thompson and Tilly Cox-Thompson in 17th & 18th places in 11.46 & 11.47
COMING UP: ALDERSHOT ROAD RELAYS & other great events!
The juniors and women compete on Saturday Sept 22nd and the men on Sunday Sept 23rd on a traffic-free course around the old Parade grounds. at Rushmoor Arena A great day out. See timetable below. Cal Paul 01749 812420 if any omissions or changes. Contact coaches/team managers to discuss travel arrangements or if you need a lift.
Athletes entered:
u13 girls: Lucy Baldwin; Harriet Fox; Elise Thorner; Connie Little; Louise Rusca; Jessica Cooksey; Victoria Prior ( 2 teams)
u13 boys: Luke Baker; Alex Williams; Bradley Seager; Josh Thorne; Ollie Thorner; Joe Heath; Dylan Dukes;Chris Ellis; will Pate; Archie Heath; Ben Little; James Forrester (3 teams)
u15 girls: Charlotte Baker; Amy Darcy; Annabel Arnold; Megan Rusca; Darcie Cook; Jess Pate;Iona Moir (2 teams)
u15 boys: Sam Sommerville; Luke Prior; Oliver Dickinson; James Williams; James Bridge;Johnny Ellis;Louis Tichenor; Curtis Strange;Jonathan Greenwood (2 teams)
u17 women:Emily Smith; Rebeca Carver; Lilly Hawkins; Abigail Gibbons (1 team)
u17 men: Matt Dickinson; Oliver Fox; Charlie Martin; Phillip Bridge; Tom Baldwin; Ben Baldwin (1 team)
Women: Katrina Prior; Claire Thomas; Lucy Heath; Sam Baker; Alice Knight (1 team)
Where we have more athletes entered than team places then final team selection will be based on current training and racing performance, and fitness.
SATURDAY timetable:
11.00am GIRLS UNDER 13 3 X 2291m
11.35am BOYS UNDER 13 4 X 2997m
12.30pm GIRLS UNDER 15 3 X 2997m
1.15pm BOYS UNDER 15 4 X 2997m
2.10pm WOMEN UNDER 17 3 X 2997m
2.55pm MEN UNDER 17 4 X 3851m
3.55pm SENIOR WOMEN 4 X 3851m
Final Mens & veteran mens teams for Aldershot to follow, but 2 senior mens teams and 1V40 & 1 V50 team have been entered. no V60 team was entered as we only had 3 athletes available in this age category.
OTHER TEAM EVENTS Coming Up
The Parret Trail relay takes place on Saturday Oct 13th. Bob Powell is team managing a mens team; and Helen Rutter is managing a womens team. Contact them if you want to be in the team or a reserve.
The first Gwent League cross-country fixture is coming up on Sunday Oct 21st at Bridgend. This is a great day out for all ages. Contact coaches for details and to advise if you are going to compete for the Club. The subsequent fixtures before Christmas will be on Saturdays: Nov 10th at Brecon and Dec 1st at Blaise Castle, Bristol - please put the dates on your calendar. Full details here http://www.gwent-league.org.uk/
All those competing at cross-country for the first time are encouraged to check out the Xc information on the 'About the Harriers' tab elsewhere on this website - there you will find out info about team managers and age groups etc.
OTHER GREAT RACES to think about coming up (see calendar)
Sat/Sun 15th/16th South of England fell running Championships
Sat Sept 22nd Uphill to Wells (inc team relay)
Sun Oct 14th Mendip Muddle
& of course not forgetting the return (for the 24th year) of the Street 5km race Series on Wednesday 10th October - get ready! Volunteers to help marshal please contact Ian Eddy or Race director Ed Tickner.