Sarah Leads Way At Tad 10

Halifax Harriers Sarah Cumber had an excellent run at the Tadcaster 10 mile race.  She was the first finisher for the club and fourth female finisher in the race in a time of 1:02:44.

The race starts from the race headquarters ‘The Barn’ in the centre of Tadcaster and comprises a small loop of 1.5 miles before the 600 runners headed out East towards Healaugh and Wighill.  The finish line is alongside the River Wharfe at the end of a long 2 mile flat road back into Tadcaster with a downhill section of 500m into the finish.

The first man back for Halifax Harriers was Andrew Wiggins 1:04:48.  Helen Ward was 3rd F35 in 1:09:49, Rachael Beaumont 2nd F50 in 1:12:29, Fiona Murphy set a new PB of 1:25:38 which was a F60 club record and Susan Hall was 1st F70 in a club record of 1:41:22.

Other runners for the club were James O’Rourke 1:07:42, Marc Rocheteau 1:10:59, Robert Hick 1:12:20, Erika Nightingale 1:17:04, Sharon Cousen 1:22:38, Rachel McCauley 1:25:24 (PB), Hanni Maeer 1:26:28, Deborah Kirkbride 1:28:05 (PB), David Parrington 1:30:46, Christopher Kirkbride 1:32:04, Christopher Burrell 1:32:35, Monica Gallagher 1:40:25 (PB).

Sunny Beats The Wet In Wales

Sunny Curwen was the first finisher for Halifax Harriers on a wet Saturday at the Snowdon Marathon.  After persistent heavy rain on the previous day, it was just light rain that greeted the runners on this challenging course with over 800m of climbing, which included the highest hill at 22 miles, followed by a steep descent on water logged dirt roads.  Sunny finished in a PB of 3:38:13. Jude Cole also set a PB of 4:05:34 whilst Geoff Cumber was the M70 winner in 4:17:23 and Jane Curwen ran 5:57:22.

Come Sunday, the weather was lovely for the runners at the Worksop Half Marathon.  The course is described as undulating through pleasant countryside and attracted 2,400 runners.  Halifax Harriers had the race as part of the club competition which is a mixture of road races from 5k to half marathons.  First back for the club, in 17th position, was Niall Smith who was delighted to get a PB of 1:20:59.  The first lady back for Halifax Harriers was Sharon Cousen 1:47:02.  Ian Giles had very good run and was rewarded with a PB of 1:47:44.  Susan Hall was first F70 in 2:17:58. Other runners for the club were Andrew Wiggins 1:30:01, James O’Rourke 1:33:27, Will Carver 1:34:54, Marc Rocheteau 1:38:33, Paul Hopkinson 1:44:48, Nigel Rigg 1:49:34, Nigel Taylor 1:51:40, Rachel McCauley 1:57:50, Stephanie Dickenson 1:57:57, Fiona Murphy 1:58:39, Deborah Kirkbride 2:02:48, David Parrington 2:04:48, Christopher Kirkbride 2:14:21, Kirsty Carver 2:26:30.

As always, the Leeds Abbey Dash attracted thousands of runners for this fast out and back course.  Halifax Harriers had ten runners at the 10k event.  First to finish for the club was Stephen Fitz-Costa in a PB of 42:22. The next four back were within seconds of each other.  The fastest time of the quartet was from Tim Pegg 43:21 (PB), followed by Emma Vincent 43:49, Harry Brackenridge 44:00 and Angela Clarke 44:14 (PB).  Erika Nightingale ran 48:32 (PB), John Moore 49:32, Monica Gallagher 58:02 and both Teresa Booth and Susan Pegg 1:04:31 (PB’s).  In the Junior Dash, Foley Marshall was 15th in 8:59 and Rhys Nightingale 51st in 10:19.

The Bronte Way Fell Race had four runners from Halifax Harriers.  First back was Andrea Ackroyd 1:27:20, followed by Martin Ellis 1:29:36, Jane Hobson 1:32:01 and Jenny St Romaine 1:50:16.

Juniors Win A Host Of Medals

Halifax Harriers held their Annual Awards Presentation night where over one hundred athletes and parents celebrated the success of junior members at the club’s Track and Field Competition held earlier in the year.

The awards were presented by Max Burgin who has gone through the ranks of the club to become one of the country’s top 800m runners.  Max hold the World Record for both the 15 year old and 17 year old 800m and has run the qualifying time for next year’s Olympics.

The junior members competed in races from 60m to 3000m as well as javelin, shot put and long jump. 

In the eight year old girls category, Francesca Egerton was the overall champion with twin sisters Alesha and Lily Atkinson in joint second place.  The eight year old boys had joint winners Arlan Wiggins and Fionntan Bunker both on 50 points, with Thomas Sanderson just behind on 49 points.

The under 11 girls also had joint winners with Thea McNulty and Eva Engwell both on 55 points, with Jessica Sanderson in third.  In the under 11 boys, Josh Cooke was the champion with Ben Slow second and Sam Keighley third.

The under 13 girls had a clear winner with Nia Harrison-Sargeant taking gold in all her four events.  Jayde McGregor was second and Olivia Ackroyd third.  Kai Daley was the under 13 boys champion with Freddie Bentley second and Oliver Norris third.

The under 15 girls had joint winners Amelia Brown and Heleanor MacDonald both on 70 points, with Niamh Woodhouse third.  The boys under 15 champion was Ben Border, with Harley Spears second and Alex Franklin third.

Tegan Hamilton-Adams was the under 17 girls champion, with Verity Clements second and Jess McConnell third.  In the under 17 boys competition, with 53 points, was Joseph Shaw.  He just pipped his twin brother James for the trophy who was in joint second place with James Johnson, both on 50 points.