Max Burgin, a member of Halifax Harriers Athletics club was invited to Start the club’s track and field championships at their Spring Hall running track on 10th September. The venue was packed with young athletes, their parents and senior runners as Max started the first junior race. He then signed autographs for the young athletes and presented a trophy to the under 11 team who had recently won the West Yorkshire track and field competition. Max also congratulated two athletes who had come first and second in the under 11 individual scorings, Shaun Duffy and Harry Brown respectively.
Proceedings were then paused as host for the evening, Harriers’ Martin Haigh, reminded the gathered audience that Max reached the final of the 800 metres at the Paris Olympics last month. Max got to the final by coming third in the semi-final in a personal best time of 1 minute, 43.5 seconds. Martin said, “when we see one of our athletes attending an international competition, all we can ask is for them to do their best and you can’t get better than attaining a PB!”
Martin then introduced Calderdale Councillor Danielle Durrans, the Cabinet Lead for Public Services and Communities, which includes sport. Danielle said, “she was incredibly proud of what Max had achieved and was highly encouraged by the friendliness and warmth of the Halifax Harriers.” The social media team from CMBC Culturedale were also present to interview some of the athletes and to capture content for their website.
The icing on the cake of the evening was when club President, Keith Midgley said a few empowering, heartfelt words to Max and then presented him with a special award from the club in recognition of his amazing achievements at the Paris Olympics. Max responded by thanking everyone for supporting him on his journey to becoming an Olympian.
Max now goes on to altitude training in preparation for the next round of top competitions and we are sure that he has inspired the young athletes in the club who will perhaps, one day, become Olympians too.
Marsden Trail Half Marathon
Four Halifax Harriers travelled to Marsden this weekend to take part in the ‘Magnificent Marsden Madness’ trail half marathon, with 1700ft of elevation.
The route involved two laps, starting on Binn lane and heading up past Butterley and Blakeley reservoir and then turning off onto the Pennine way and heading up again onto the waterlogged and windswept moor.
The Harriers braved blustery headwinds and horizontal rain with the normally stunning views hidden in the clagg. After passing Blackmoss reservoir the Harriers made their way down the aptly named strava segment ‘Slabba Dabba Doo!’. Then, the route makes its way to Mount road for a fast descent with the wind now in their favour.
First back was Fred Carver in an impressive 1h47 mins, in First place overall, next Andrea Ackroyd, Kirsty Carver and Jenny St Romaine. A great effort by all in some challenging conditions. Well done everyone and a good half marathon to use as a base for easier races.
High Peak 40
A 40 mile ultra race in the place where I grew up. Super fun to run round this lovely landscape.
Starting in Buxton, pavilion gardens and running across to Fernilee reservoir, Chinley, New Smithy and up to Mam Tor, Hollins Cross and down to Castleton and then up Cave Dale on the Limestone way, though the Monsall trail and back to Buxton. What a fab run and route - thank you High Peak 40 Mile Challenge.
A number of Harriers have recently swapped their trainers for swimming gear to take on a variety of significant aquatic challenges.
Asia to Europe
Martin Haigh recently completed the 6.5km swim from Asia to Europe to become a Cross-Continental Swimmer (see photo). The swim took place along the Bosphorus Strait in Turkey on 25th August in the 36th year of this iconic race. Over 2,800 participants from more than 78 countries competed in this race from Kanlıca to Kuruçeşme, traversing the historic divide between Istanbul's two continents.
Martin said: “The race was extremely well organised with plenty of rescue boats and scuba divers in case any swimmers got into difficulty. The weather was beautiful and we were graced with Istanbul's awe-inspiring skyline and the stunning vistas of the Bosphorus.” Martin completed the race in 1 hour 24 minutes placing him in the top half of his age category and well inside the strict 2-hour cut off time. Atakan Ercan, a professional swimmer from Antalya, was the first person to finish in a time of 45 minutes.
Martin trained diligently for this event, swimming many times in open water and completing the Windermere 5km event in June. Whilst all swimmers needed to produce a medical declaration from their GP and certification from their swim coach to enter the Bosphorus swim, the event can be quite challenging for swimmers who may not have prepared well or found themselves in difficulty along the route. This year over 200 competitors failed to complete the course.
Martin said: “I was fortunate to have fellow runner Nigel Rigg with me as a non-swim partner and he gave me lots of encouragement and support during our week in Turkey. Whilst running is my main sport, it’s nice to have a change and do some other complementary activities from time to time.”
Windermere End to End
A few days later on August 31st, Sharon Cousen swam the 11 miles from one end of England's longest lake to the other. Sharon completed her swim of Windermere, organised by Chillswim, in just over six hours. Earlier in the year, she had swum the length of two other Lake District lakes; Coniston (5.25 miles) and Ullswater (7.5 miles). Sharon's latest swim meant that she completed the Chillswim Triple Crown 2024; a marvellous achievement.
Sharon's daughter, Amelia, also completed the Windermere swim and the Chillswim Triple Crown and took the opportunity to raise money for The Brain Tumour Charity in honour of her cousin, who was recently diagnosed with a brain tumour at only 8 years old. Amelia commented, "11 miles done! Hardest swim I've ever done, but feeling very accomplished. Thank you to my wonderful mum for being my training partner/Mrs Motivator this year."
River Dart 10k
On Sunday 8th September, Wayne Stevens swam the River Dart 10k in Devon. Wayne completed the 10k course from Totnes to National Trust Greenway, past a number of landmarks including the Cormorant Tree and Bow Creek, in a time of 2 hours 16 minutes.
Wayne commented, "Wow! What an experience. So glad it went ahead despite all the recent rain and possible elevated pollution levels. Best swim I've done so far. Tidal assistance is definitely the way forward!"
Serpentine Swim
Our intrepid swimmers haven't finished yet! Sharon and Wayne, along with Nigel Jamieson and Margaret Deacon, will be swimming two miles this Sunday in the Serpentine Lake in London's Hyde Park as part of the annual Swim Serpentine event.
Congratulations to you all on your achievements so far and good luck for this weekend!
Harriers were out in force yesterday, competing in a number or races on what was a wet and miserable morning across the north of England.
A dozen runners participated in the Vale of York Half Marathon; the latest race in the club’s Road Championships. James O’Rourke was the first to complete the fast, flat, but very wet, course on closed roads south of York and north of Selby in 1:27:42. April Stewart was next, finishing in 1:29:45. Rachel Beaumont was third F55 in a new club record time of 1:38:50. Two Harriers raced in the 10k event. Will Stewart finished in 42:30 with Mark Crabtree winning the M65 category in 48:08.
A number of Harriers took to the hills and moors around Haworth and Ogden to take part in the Yorkshireman Off-Road Marathon. The course includes over 3,000’ of elevation and there was drizzle, rain and fog. With wet trails, paths, mud and bogs, it made for a challenging, but fun day out. Ryan Barker was first home, finishing first M50 and 16th overall, in 4:09:49. Next were Fred Carver and Will Carver, running as a pair, in 4:26:08. The father and son team were the third pair to finish. Tom Paget finished 77th in a time of 4:58:31; an impressive feat after falling off a bridge into a stream and stopping for fruit cake and port at Checkpoint 5!
Stef Dickinson and Jane Hobson competed in the Yorkshireman Off-Road Half Marathon, completing the nearly 15 mile course in 2:40:29 and 3:16:58 respectively.
Four club members made the journey to the North East for the Great North Run (GNR); the world’s largest half marathon with 60,000 runners. Stephen Rainbow led the quartet home in 1:29:33 followed by Paul Hopkinson (1:47:25) and GNR regular, Dave Cooper (1:56:45). Group 1 regular, Katie Tompkins, completed the team, finishing in 2:34:13.
Two Harriers competed in the latest in the Yorkshire Veterans’ Grand Prix race series. James Franklin completed the 5 mile undulating, multi-terrain course around Queensbury in 35:07, finishing third M45 in 12th place overall. Martin Ellis was 101st in 51:54.