A very creditable 19 members bumped up at Grantley to compete in the first of this season’s Yorkshire Dales Series races. I have it on good authority that the conditions were awful (I was watching the rain from indoors), so that can only have made this traditionally tough race that much harder. Unattached runner Jack Simpson won the race in an exceptional 33:48, however the club didn’t fare that badly either – Chris Miller claimed second spot with 35:59 and Andy Dobby took 5th and first MV40 with 37:34. Steve Trudgeon was just seconds away from winning the MV50 category with 11th place in 39:55, but the stand-out performance of the day probably came from Angela Peace who was our first lady home (7th overall) in 45:51, a great time in difficult conditions. The good results from our leading men meant that we scooped top spot in the Mens’ Team category, I think a big Well Done to everyone there is called for, please see full results here
Tim Pocock has put together one of his excellent race reports for this race, please find it here – well worth a read!
Cold and windy weather was the order of the day for the Greater Manchester Marathon, the first time this race had taken place for over 10 years! The race was won by Dave Norman from Altrincham A.C. in 2:24:46, while from the club Pat Brew and James Suttill braved the inclement conditions and actually did pretty well, Pat running a very creditable 3:41:02 and James and 3:50:50 – this was his first marathon and he did an excellent job. I should imagine there will be more Harriers competing in this one in the future, please see full results here
The Three Peaks Race is one of the classics on the annual fell-race calendar and renown for its toughness, taking in the Yorkshire peaks of Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough with a cumulative distance of around 24 miles and 5,600ft of ascent, to say nothing of some seriously hard terrain. You don’t enter this one by accident (though a touch of madness helps) and are required to demonstrate past experience of long distance (AL) fell races before being considered for entry.
The race was won by Joe Symonds from Hunters Bog Trotters** in 2:55.58, first lady was Sarah O’Neil, also from Hunters Bog Trotters, in 3:28:43. Two Harrogate Harriers braved the conditions (they were always going to be difficult after a week of heavy rain), Helen Price was running her first AL race of the season and put in a terrific effort with very strong climbs of Whernside and Ingleborough followed by a fast descent to Horton meaning she was first home for the club in 4:54:41 with Peter Turner not far behind in 5:03:35. Well done to both! Full results here
** I wasn’t making this up. Hunters Bog Trotters are a renown (if slightly eccentric) and very capable group of runners based in Edinburgh, they win a lot of stuff. Joe Symonds was the winner of the recent Coledale Horseshoe race and is the son of Hugh Symonds of “Running High” fame
In recent years the Lakeland Trail races have been very popular with club members, however Mark Jordan was the only Harrier to compete in this year’s Hawkshead race, finishing in a very creditable 1:28:32 – an excellent result in a very tough race. Well done Mark! Full results here
