This weekend saw the return of the very popular relays held over a gently undulating cycle track of 1mile. It was a good day for racing and yet again the men and ladies were in top contention.
The ladies proved once more they are a top team in Yorkshire by finishing in 6th place behind winners Holmfirth Harriers , Richmond and Ilkley. Each of the 4 legs was approx 4.8k. The ladies were given a great start by Helen Smith finishing 3rd on leg 1 running the 3 mile circuit in 17.35. Katrina Oddy ran leg 2 in 20.27 6th and relay debutant Helen Ward ran a fantastic 19.55 bringing the team back to 4th place. Laura Knowles was up against stiff competition on the last leg and Laura finished in 6th place running 20.45.
We had 3 teams in the mens race and again there were 4 legs of 4.8k. The A team finished 8th , the B team 29th and the C team unfortunately finished as a incomplete team only having 3 men. Not withstanding that our squad maintained their reputation as a top Yorkshire team. James Habergam finished 8th fastest overall out of 200 runners finishing 5th on stage 1.
A team James Habergam 14.55 5th Ben Crowther 15.55 6th Will Smith 16.36 8th & Simon Johnson 17.14 8th
B team Niall Smith 17.10 29th Andy Wiggins 19.04 34th Joe Crossfield 17.06 29th & Rob Macdonald 20.02 29th
C team Will Stewart 18.45 Mark Knowles 19.53 & Paul Sutcliffe 18.38
There were also supporting junior races. The juniors ran 2 laps totalling 3.2k.In the U15 Boys James Johnson ran 11.13 to finish 10th and he was supported by Danny Baxter 18th 12.37 and Ethan Clarke 19th 13.21 and they finished a very good 4th team.
In the U17 boys race Harry Johnson just missed a Yorkshire medal in 4th place 10.36 and Charlie Spencer 6th in 10.59. It was their last race as U17s as they now join the Junior / Senior ranks.
A massive thanks and congrats goes out to Elliot Clarke U13 who was the only U13 Harrier to compete and he finished 36th in a highly competitive race to finish with a time of 13.49 over 2 miles.
Halifax Harriers Annual Dinner and Senior Awards Presentation was held at the Imperial Crown Hotel in Halifax. Mark Gaughan, Club Chairman, presented the awards.
The Chairman’s Trophy is awarded to a member who has made a significant contribution to the club. This year it was awarded to Michael Spence who has been a club member for 33 years. During that time, Michael has competed for the club, served on the Committee, coached on the track and been the ladies captain for the Northern League track and field matches.
The Pearson Trophy for Endeavour was presented to Nigel Taylor. Nigel ran his first 10k for the club in 2014 in a time of 59 minutes. He now runs 43 minutes. He also now competes in all distances from 5k to ultra marathons.
The most improved 10k runner was Ian Giles.
The Burnsall Ladies Cup was won by Sarah Cumber and the Burnsall Male Cup by Will Smith.
The Helen Windsor ladies sprint cup was awarded to Louise Royston.
The winners in the Cross Country Championships were Laura Knowles (female under 20), Ben Crowther (senior men), Katrina Oddy (female veteran), Simon Johnson (male veteran).
In the Fell Challenge the ladies winner was Sarah Sladdin and the male winner Steven Sladdin.
The Road Race Challenge is split into 5 divisions. Division A winner was Michael King, Division B winner Will Carver, Division C winner Nigel Taylor, Division D winner Sophie Baxter, Division E winner Susan Hall.
BRADFORD 10K
Almost 2,500 runners headed to Bradford for the Epilepsy Action 10k on a cool, but dry, day. The race starts from Centenary Square and has only a few small inclines to slow runners down as it makes its way along Canal Road to the turning point at Shipley and then back again.
Halifax Harriers had a dozen or so runners at the event, with some fine performances. The ladies were led home by April Caufield who finished as fourth lady in a time of 40:10. Will Stewart ran a PB of 38:32 to finish in 41st position. Matthew Stott 43:54 and Rachel McCauley 55:03 also set PB’s.
Other runners were Will Carver 39:52, Tom Paget 40:37, Angela Clarke 45:23, Raymond Hall 46:56 (1st M70), Chris Greenwood 49:43, Paul Hopkinson 49:59, Monica Gallagher 59:53, Susan Hall 60:46, Audra Naylor 62:26.
TRIMPELL 20 MILE RACE
The Trimpell 20 miler is a traditional test run for those training for a Spring marathon. Three runners from Halifax Harriers travelled over into Lancashire to test out their fitness. Deborah Kirkbride finished in 3:18:44, PB and F55 club record. David Parrington’s time was 3:18:45 (PB) and John Moore finished in 3:38:17.
THIRSK 10 MILE RACE
The ever popular Thirsk 10 mile race saw three Halifax Harriers finishing within minutes of each other. Tim Pegg was first back in 1:14:20, followed by Nigel Taylor 1:15:56 (PB) and Jonny Lister 1:17:21.