Sarah Cumber ran in the Termal Bologna Marathon in Italy on Sunday. Sarah was fifth female finisher and was first F55, setting a new age group club record of 3:06:49. Sarah placed 140th overall out of 2,400 finishers.
Sarah commented, "It's our fourth time in Bologna. The city is nicknamed 'La Dotta' ('The Learned' because of the old university), or 'La Grassa' ('The Fat' because of the gorgeous food, which is perfect for me). The course is more or less flat. It starts and finishes in Piazza Maggiore in the centre and is a mix of everything from winding round the city porticos to the countryside and other urban and more industrial areas."
Closer to home, 17 Harriers donned their club vests to take part in the Liversedge Half Marathon. Known for its tough climbs and scenic route, the event is hosted by the Roberttown Road Runners and always attracts a strong and competitive field. Will Stewart was the first Harrier home in 20th place in a time of 1:27.38. Will, who is training for next month’s London Marathon, was closely followed by James O’Rourke (1:28:15) in 22nd and second in the M50 category. Joanne Arundale was the first of the Harriers’ women, again showing her strength at this distance, completing the race in 1:38.55 and finishing second F40. Jack Melia set a personal best time of 1:47:00 whilst Jenny Hopkinson won the F55 section in 1:54:51. Other Harriers were: Will Carver, Rob Hick, Rachel Standish, Tim Slow, Paul Hopkinson, Nigel Jamieson, Marc Rocheteau, Sharon Jamieson, David Ingle, Margaret Deacon, Emma Foley and Kirsty Carver. At the same time, Sarah Alexander completed the Roberttown 10k, taking second place in the F45 group in 58:04. Full results can be found on the Recent Races section of the website.
Yesterday saw a dedicated team Halifax athletes making the trip to Hardwick Hall Park, Sedgefield for the National XC Championships. The conditions were relativley mild in that it didn't rain and was a balmly 9 degrees! However, the course was no less challenging, as to be expected for the Nationals.
U13G (3k) 217 finishers - 35th Isobelle Crowther (making her Harriers debut)
U13B (3k) 235 finishers - 32nd James Neil
U17M (6k) 209 finishers - 101st Eli Cattermole, 114th Ben Slow, 123rd Will Pickering, 185th Beau Clark (16th team place)
SENW (8K) 531 finishers - 448th Lucia Cattermole
SENM (12k) 1046 finishers - 418th James Franklin, 712th Lee Cattermole.
Well done to all our athletes and thank you to our coaches and parents for their support.