Last weekend 28 members of the Halifax Harriers running club celebrated 25 years of their bunk barn weekend. The senior runners have long been aware, not only of people's physical needs, but also their mental health, well-being and safety. Together with a quest to reduce isolation and a desire to improve community cohesion, 25 years ago, the harriers organised a bunk barn weekend. At this event members travelled to the Yorkshire Dales and spent three days running, walking and cycling together in order to help people get to know each other, to build strong lasting relationships and to encourage new members to further integrate into the club.
This event was so successful that the runners have spent a weekend away, every year since, benefitting many young people over that time. This January they wanted to mark their anniversary with a special celebration, so the group went to Grassington and to mark this milestone event they dressed up in dinner suits for the Friday evening meal and on the Saturday evening wore retro clothes. Those attending the 2023 event were presented with a branded beanie hat to help them remember the outdoor activities they embarked upon to promote fitness, well-being and friendship. The beanie hats were kindly sponsored by The Community Foundation for Calderdale, via their Halifax Courier Fund – established to support physical and emotional well-being.
More images on the Gallery page show the Harriers in dress suits at the Friday evening meal and the group wearing their memento hats, ready to go for a run on the Saturday morning.
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.
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.