Halifax Harrier Sarah Cumber took the scalp of ex-Olympian Mara Yamauchi at the Oxford half marathon. Sarah just pipped Yamauchi by 14 seconds when winning the F45 age group in 1:23:59. Mara Yamauchi represented GB at the 2008 Olympics when she finished 6th in the marathon. Also at the Oxford half marathon was Halifax Harrier Marc Rocheteau who ran 1:40:00.
Halifax Harriers had runners at several other races at the weekend.
April Caufield was back to good form being the 3rd lady finisher at the Rochdale half marathon in 1:29:51. Will Stewart also ran the half marathon and finished in 1:34:01. John Moore ran the 10k race at Rochdale in a time of 49:09.
David Parrington set a PB of 4:13:55 at the Chester Marathon despite taking a bad fall at the 18 mile point.
At the strangely named Hedgehog half marathon Hanni Maeer finished in 1:49:11.
Halifax Harriers also had runners out on the fells at the Withins Skyline, with both juniors and seniors competing. In the juniors, Sam Keighley was 6th U/9 boy and Jessica Sanderson was 20th U/11 girl. First senior man back for Halifax Harriers was Steven Sladdin 44th and first senior lady was Hazel Berrett 181st, followed by Sarah Sladdin 187th and Jane Hobson 206th.
Following the senior athletes success in the West Yorkshire Track & Field Championships, Halifax Harriers junior members also competed well for the medals.
Isobelle Bloem U/15 won the silver medal in the 200 metres to round off a wonderful season following her top 5 in the English Schools 300m.
Team mate Tegan Hamilton-Adams won silver in the shot and a PB 4.25m in the long jump. Heleanor MacDonald, improving on the track, also took the bronze medal in the shot.
U/15 male Ethan Clarke ran a PB in the 200m and was 4th in the long jump.
In the U/13 athletes, Elise Horner won the gold in a runaway victory and showed her versatility with gold in the 80m, with team mate Maisie Brown getting the bronze.
U/13 boy Kai Daley, who was 2nd in the West Yorkshire League, excelled again with gold in the long jump 4.72m to rank him joint 1st place in Yorkshire.
U/11 Nia Harrison-Sargent was 1st in the 600m and 2nd in the 75m, following 1st place in the West Yorkshire League.
U/11 boys
Owen Helliwell 1st in the 75m and 1st in the long jump
Leo Riches 1st in the 600m and 3rd in the 75m
Harrison Goldthorpe 2nd in the 600m and 2nd in the 75m
Louis Augustine 2nd in the shotput and 4th in the long jump
Reubin McLoughlin 3rd in the long jump and 4th in the 75m.
A terrific effort by all who took part.
Good conditions greeted the 30 Halifax Harriers at the Littleborough 10k, just a slight nip in the air, but dry with only a light breeze. This year the race attracted a record field of 343 runners, an increase of 90 on last year. The first kilometre is a steady climb up to Hollingworth Lake, then its two laps round the lake on a mixture of roads and dirt paths. At parts the road narrowed and it was difficult to pass cars and caravans which did slow some runners for a short time. After the laps of the lake it was a relatively fast last kilometre back down to the finish in Littleborough.
Halifax Harriers, for the third year in a row, won the ladies team prize. They were led home by Johanna Sutcliffe 41:16 (1st F40), followed by Helen Ward 46:33 PB (2nd F35) and Sophie Baxter 48:41 PB (3rd F40).
The first lady back for the club was April Caufield 41:02 (2nd lady) but did not count in the team results due to her name being missed off team result.
Michael King had an excellent run finishing in 8th place in a PB of 37:18. Next back for Halifax Harriers men was James O’Rourke 39:53, with David Ingle not far behind 40:33 (1st M55).
Other age group winners were Robert Hick 43:52 (2nd M60), Raymond Hall 48:46 (1st M70), Deborah Kirkbride 54:56 PB (3rd F55), Susan Hall 61:24 (2nd F65).
Other runners for the club were Will Carver 41:25, Will Stewart 41:49, David Nutton 42:48, Tim Baxter 43:47, Paul Greenslade 45:39, Tim Pegg 45:52 PB, Nigel Taylor 46:07, Nigel Rigg 47:23, Ian Giles 48:42 PB, Samantha Layfield 49:13 PB, Paul Bunker 49:54, Clare Newton 50:44 PB, Martin Ellis 52:12, Daniel Ryan 53:31, David Parrington 54:55, Martin Haigh 57:46, Monica Gallagher 58:13 PB, Kirsty Carver 60:32, Audra Naylor 62:04.