It was rain all day for the 'Joe Galvin' Northern Athletics Road Relays at Leigh Sports Village on Saturday. This didn't deter Halifax Harriers from fielding teams across almost all the age groups though, no doubt inspired by Max Burgin's incredible performances on the World stage.
The relays consisted of 3 legs of 3.2km for the juniors, starting on the athletics track and then into the surrounding tracks and paths which became muddier as the day progressed.
The U13 Boys started proceedings with James Neil (12th in 10:48) and Oscar Thornton (21st in12:07) putting in a great effort despite being a team member short. The U13 Girls went next and finished 25th with Ellie Smith (11th, 11:26), Orla Madden (16th, 13:27) and Florence Paynter (25th, 15:07).
In the U15 Boys, Isaac Male (13th,10:00), Harry Booth (11th, 10:26) and Raphael Agahahowa (33rd, 14:42) finished in 33rd place. The U15 Girls A Team were 21st with Fleur Parkinson (24th, 11:39), Lacie Jagger (18th, 11:52) and Hollie Webb (21st, 13:42) with Katie Alexander running in an incomplete B Team in 15:22.
The U17 Women had just one runner with Kitty Harrison-Sargent running the first leg and finishing a very creditable 10th place in 11:01. The U17 Men had three teams. The A Team consisting of Ben Slow (21st, 9:39), William Pickering (22nd, 10:09) and a strong finishing leg by Sam Keighley (13th, 9:24) brough them home in 13th place in a strongly contested race. The B Team finished 28th overall with Henry Hallam (39th, 10:45), Oliver Powell (33rd, 10:06) and another strong finish by Beau Clarke (28th, 10:22). The C Team closely followed in 30th place with Thomas Alexander (25th, 9:53), Matthew Booth (27th, 10:34) and Daniel Hord (30th, 11:32) who stepped up from reserve.
The Senior Women competed over 4 legs of 6.5km and were led out by U20 Nia Harrison-Sargent who finished 29th in 24:21, handing over to Katrina Oddy (40th, 27:20) followed by Laura Tracey competing in her first relay event for the Harriers and finishing in a very creditable 28th in 25:08. On the anchor leg was Sarah Cumber, who despite having a cold, brought the team home in 25th place in 26:26.
The Senior Mens team sadly succumbed to last minute drop-outs and had only one runner for the 6 legs of 6.5km. Ben Crowther showed his grit and completed the first leg in 71st place in 21:54.
You can view the Harriers' full results on the Recent Races page of our website.
The complete results for the Northern 6&4 stage Road Relays 2025 are HERE
A total of 9 new club records were set at the West Yorkshire Track & Field League Final at Thornes Park Athletic Stadium on Sunday. In the U11 Boys 75m, Sean Duffy set a new West Yorkshire League record in a time of 10.44 seconds. He also picked up the overall U11 Boys trophy for the 2025 League season. In the U11 Boys 2kg shot, Solomon Clarke set a new club record of 6.16m. Isaac Male set a new U15B mile record of 4:53.98 whilst Sam Keighley set a new U17B mile record in 4:54:29.
Autumn Good set another U11G club record in the long jump of 3.81m to add to her 75m and shot put records. She also received the second place trophy in the overall League standings. In the mile, Sarah Cumber set a F50 record of 5:47.68. Claire Ryan bagged 2 new records in the F45 category; 30.99 in the 200m and 4.17m in the long jump.
Six Harriers competed in Saturday's Blackshaw Head Fete Fell Race; the latest race in the club's Fell and Trail League. The course is 5.25 miles long with over 750' of ascent and has a tough uphill finish.
James Franklin was the first Harrier home, taking first place in his age category in sixth place overall in a time of 38:30. Paul Bateman was next, taking ninth place in 40:49 with James O'Rourke 15th in 43:39. Both Paul and James finished second in their respective age groups.
Amy Radford was the first of our two ladies, completing the course in 47:16 and finishing third female overall (see photo of Amy accepting her prize). Stef Dickinson took first place in her age category in 52:48. David Ingle completed the team, finishing in 55:07.
Somewhat further afield, Jonny Lister completed Sunday's Sydney Marathon in a highly creditable 3:53:29. Jonny was amongst 33,000 finishers.