Perfect racing conditions produced amazing times and new PBs for 3 leading Harriers this morning. And not to be outdone there were other PBs to report too.
Tom Hodgson knocked a massive chunk off his best time to record a PB and a new club record V35 of 31.14 finishing in 7th place, only missing Josh Hall Brown's overall club record by 3 seconds.
Harry Johnson produced an amazing run to knock 2 minutes off his best time to finish 18th in 32.48 and only 6secs behind Harry was U20 Alex Franklin with a new PB and new Club U20 record of 32.54 in 19th place and 2nd U20. Halifax Harriers finished 2nd team behind the hosts Salford.
Liam Parkin ran a PB of 35.24 to finish 64th.
Will Stewart ran a PB of 37.05 to finish 101st
April Caulfield ran 40.42 for 169th
Cara Bintcliffe ran 46.53 289th
John Moore V50 ran 55.07 421st
Susan Hall V70 490th 66.24 2nd V70
Well ran all, a great day all round - Happy Easter.
Rob McDonald represented Great Britain this weekend at the World Indoor Masters Champs in Torun, Poland. Rob competed in the 200m and 400m double V55 but just failed to qualify into the Finals. The Canadians/Kenyans and the French were his nemesis on this occasion. Well done Rob and we look forward to seeing you train on the track in your GB vest.
Halifax Harrier Ryan Barker had a successful running weekend in the ‘Dark Skies’ race series over the weekend of 17 to 19 March, bringing back 5 trophies. The Dark skies races, organised by Trail Outlaws, are a night race series consisting of 3 races over 3 nights, taking place at Kielder water and forest part, one of the largest protected ‘dark sky reserves’, famous for astronomy.
Ryan took part in the ‘Silver’ challenge- a 10-mile race on Friday night and 26.5 mile race on Saturday night. All races take place on trails around and through Kielder forest, close to the reservoir. With recent heavy rain the course was slippery and challenging in places as well as requiring headtorches to keep safely on course.
In the 10 mile race Ryan started badly, following a small group of leaders the wrong way into marshland, off the main path, but managed to track back and regain a reasonable position when entering the ‘Bull Crag’ peninsula loop of the race. On the return section, Ryan pushed ahead of a larger group of runners up a long incline to move into 4th place and onto the flatter lakeside track, through Leaplish Waterside park and back to the start finish location at Hawkhirst. Ryan finished 4th overall and won ‘Vet50’ age category, beating the V50 course record. Time 1hr 17:48.
On Saturday night the 26.5mile ‘marathon’ began earlier, allowing a fast start using almost an hour of remaining daylight, as racers took on a full circuit around the reservoir, beginning on the flatter lakeside paths towards Kielder castle. Ryan settled in a group of 3, with another 3 leaders well ahead, in the early stages. The race became more challenging on the opposite side of the reservoir, with undulating tracks sweeping around dramatic inlets. Although the night sky was spectacular it made navigation difficult, especially through the deeper forest areas.
Ryan and Derwent Valley runner, Jonathon Parker, pushed on past runners into 2nd and 3rd position, with Parker strong enough to edge ahead to try to challenge the leader (Stephen Shanks, Victoria Park Harriers) in the tricky section to Kielder Dam.
From the Dam, Ryan consolidated position, with a consistent pace to hold off some fast finishers from behind, completing the course using the same waterside finale as Friday’s 10 mile race.
Ryan finished in 3rd place and won Vet 50 age category in 3hrs 27:45. And won the overall ‘silver’ race- the lowest time for both races, by over a minute, (also picking up another trophy for vet 50 age group, again)
There are additional gold and platinum challenges, which include a 14-mile race on Sunday night- so that may be a challenge for 2024!
https://www.trailoutlaws.com/event_results/dark-skies-kielder-silver-results-2023.php#