Inskip Half Marathon
Thirteen Halifax Harriers travelled to Lancashire on Saturday morning to compete in the penultimate race in this season’s club Road Challenge. The Inskip half marathon took place on a gently undulating loop around country lanes in Wyre and Fylde near Preston.
James O’Rourke was first home, finishing 13th overall in 1:23:42. Will Carver was next in 21st, setting a new personal best of 1:27:37. Joanne Arundale was the first of the trio of Harriers women to finish, clocking 1:44:30. Seven Harriers finished amongst the top three for their age group with victories for both Rob Hick (M65) and Hazel Berrett (F60). Hazel's time of 1:48:51 is a new club record for her age category.
Ryan Barker, David Ingle, Marc Rocheteau, Tim Slow, Steve Denniss, David Parrington, Martin Haigh and Kirsty Carver also all ran in Harriers colours. Full results are on the Recent Races section of the website.
Heaton Park 5k/10k
Stef Dickinson and Sue Corney both competed in Sunday’s Heaton Park 10k in Greater Manchester. Stef was second FV45 in 49:54 with Sue finishing first FV65 in 58:29. Katie Brook was third female (and first FU17) in the 5k event at the same venue, clocking 25:08. John Moore came home as the first MV50 in 26:25.
Halifax Harriers were represented by eighteen young athletes at the Yorkshire Cross Country Championships at Lightwater Valley in Ripon on 7th January. In the under-13 girls' race Kitty Harrison Sargent won the bronze medal, and along with teammates Alesha and Lily Atkinson (who finished 14th and 22nd respectively), earned the girls a well-deserved silver team medal. The under-13 boys were awarded a team bronze, with Sam Keighley 10th, Joe Stone 11th and Beau Clark 24th. The under-13 boys B team of Tom Wright, Albert and Ralf Jones finished in 7th position.
In a tough field the under-15 boys' team finished 5th, Ben Slow 22nd, Chester Gately 23rd and Eli Cattermole 28th.
Montane Spine Sprint
A huge round of applause for Will Carver, who (for the second time) ran the Montane Spine Sprint race along the Pennine Way from Edale to Hebden Bridge, finishing just before midnight on Saturday in 11:55:59 (40 minutes faster than last year). That's 46 miles, 8,658 feet of climbing, clambering over Kinder Scout, Bleaklow, Black Hill and all the othe boggy, windswept uplands along the way ... and the second half run in the dark. Congratulations to Will who finished in 16th place.
Valencia 10k
Fantastic effort from three Harriers at the Valencia 10k in Spain on Sunday. Josh Hall-Brown was first home in 32:38. Liam Parkin (35:59) and Matthew Green (40:18) both recorded PBs.
Stanbury Splash
There was a good turnout and some awesome results for Harriers at the tough Stanbury Splash fell races on Sunday. It was great to see so many from our club enjoying the bogfest! In the junior races, Will Cattermole and Jayde McGregor both took their first fell race wins (under 17 boys and girls races). Both Will and Jayde have been working hard this year to improve their strength and endurance, so it's fantastic to see them rewarded. Will's gun to tape front running performance was highly impressive. Jayde's run with just one shoe was also quite an achievement! Casey George competed in the Under 11s race, finishing in 9:54.
In the 6.8 miles senior race (with 1,200' of ascent), Ned Hughes was second U21 in 12th overall in 55:21. Ned took maximum points in the latest, and penultimate, race in the club's Fell League for 2022/23. Lee Cattermole (1:04:36), James O'Rourke (1:06:26) and Martin Ellis (1:31:58) also scored points in the men's section.
Andrea Ackroyd took the full ten points in the women's section, finishing in 1:18:18. Jane Hobson was next in 1:23:28. Jane was hotly pursued by Stef Dickinson, who fnished just ten seconds behind on her fell racing debut.
Photo of Ned Highes at the Stanbury Splash.