The second West Yorkshire XC league race was held on a sunny autumnal day at Thornes Park, Wakefield on Sunday afternoon. Halifax Harriers were represented across all the age groups over the challenging hilly course.
The U11 girls were out in force and took 4th team place, with the U15 Boys doing one better to secure 3rd team place. In the Senior Womens race, Sarah Cumber and Katrina Oddy both won their respective age categories, placing well up in a quality field. The senior men fielded a full team again and all ran well to finish in 7th team place.
The results are on the Recent Races page and the XC standings after 2 races are on the Cross Country page. The next West Yorkshire XC league race is on 10 November at Middleton Park, Leeds.
The U13, U15, U17s and the Senior Men will be in action next Saturday (2nd November) at the iconic English Cross Country Relays at Berry Hill Park, Mansfield. We wish them all the very best of luck!
Harry Johnson was ninth out of more than 18,000 runners at the Manchester Half Marathon on Sunday. Harry set a personal best and club record time of 1:06:21, continuing his recent sensational form. Erawan Wanithanont also represented the club, finishing in an impressive 1:24:15 in 551st place.
Ten Harriers participated in the ever-popular Leeds Abbey Dash 10k. Ben Crowther led the team home in 33:25. Watson Peel was next in 34:54. Tabitha Howe was the first of our ladies, clocking 43:23, with Joanne Arundale (44:08) and Alice Vick (44:18) close behind. Susan Hall was third FV75, setting a new age group club record of 1:13:42.
Husband and wife team, Will and April Stewart, raced in the Holmfirth 10k. April was third female finisher in 17th place in 42:12. Will completed the challenging undulating, but scenic, course in 43:29 in 23rd.
Further afield, John Moore finished the Chicago Marathon in 6:06:27.
Away from the roads, James Franklin ran in the Withins Skyline Fell Race. James finished the 6.2 mile course, with 820’ of total ascent, in 53:28 in 32nd place.
Ryan Barker travelled to South Yorkshire for the Sheffield TenTenTen. This 10k trail race takes place in the city’s Endcliffe Park, incorporating grass, roads, paved paths and woodland trails with a fair number of lumps, bumps, twists and turns. Ryan was second MV50 in 35th place overall in 45:08.
Well done to all our athletes competing at the weekend. Full results are on our website under Recent Races.
Photo of Harry at the Manchester Half Marathon
Last Sunday, Mark Crabtree took first place in his age category in the tenth, and last, race in this year's Grand Prix Series run by the Yorkshire Veterans' Athletics Association (YVAA). Mark completed the course at Ackworth in 48:08.
The YVAA promotes athletics events for over 35s in most running disciplines and runs both a Grand Prix (GP) Series and a programme of Championship races. Each year, the GP series consists of up to 10 multi-terrain races of approximately 10k. The races frequently have over 200 runners and are a great social as well as competitive event. I'm sure they would appeal to all our Vets who like to venture off-road.
Mark competed in eight races in this year's series (best 5 races count) and took second place overall in the M65 category. An excellent achievement. Well done, Mark!
Three other Harriers also participated in the series; Martin Ellis (3 races), James Franklin and Ryan Barker (1 race each).
On the YVAA Championship side, Martin Haigh found out this week, much to his surprise, that he won the prize for second M70 in the Half Marathon race, which was part of September's Vale of York Half Marathon (see photo).
Joanne Arundale (3rd F40) and Rachael Beaumont (3rd F55) were also among the podium places in the Half Marathon. Many congratulations to all three.
Our own race, the Halifax Harriers 10k, featured as the YVAA Championship 10k race this year. Mytholmroyd Fell Race on 1st December will be the Championship Fell Race. Vets, get your entries in for the chance of a prize!