MARCH HAIR RAISER

27/3/11
It was an overcast and quite chilly Sunday morning when 26 harriers turned up for the slightly extended (10k) March Hair raiser course. Considering it was only a week after the Stafford half the temperature difference was very noticable, couldn’t wait for the start to get going and warm up a bit. The course was across farm fields and foot paths mostly with firm ground due to no rain for ages, although between mile 4 to 5 there was a bridle path that was very muddy underfoot, most runners elected to weave around and stick to the small firm area. The finish was on an uphill stretch which made sure you worked right up to the end. Good runs by Russ Barron coming in as first Harrier and 9th overall. Young ‘road runner’ Nathan Sabin out ran us all with an 18th place and 1st Under 20 male. I will beat him one day!!! It was my first off road race and thankfully I’ve not been put off so maybe I’ll consider taking part in the cross country this year. Darren Mattocks

Pos	Name	Time
9th	Russell Barron	37-58
18th	Nathan Sabin (jnr)	40-59	1st U20
35th	Chris Skellern	44-17	1st F40
38th	Chris Owen	44-46
43rd	Paul Risby	45-27
45th	Neil Martin	45-58
46th	Darren Mattocks	45-59
62nd	Steve Turner	48-23
76th	Steve Cooper	49-56
84th	Esther Hughes	51-18
101st	Brian Langston	53-12
107th	Karen Sabin	54-14
113rd	John Greatholder	54-39
115th	Jane Bisiker	54-43
124th	Karen Murray	56-13
138th	Tony Baker	57-38
142nd	Rebecca Bostock	58-04
155th	Sarah Johnson	60-29
160th	Alison Kelly	60-36
168th	Amanda Pearce	62-28
170th	Sara Broome	62-41
172nd	Mike Moore	62-56
174th	John Hateley	63-01
195th	Stuart Fowley	71-36
196th	Kirsten Fowlie	71-39
197th	Frank Grant	72-08

STAFFORD HALF MARATHON

20/03/2011
After having had several attempts at getting the Harriers times on the website I think we are there. It has taken a little time because some of you were hiding and in one case hiding very well.

However here are 104 finishing times. They are in chip time order as with the race being in the challenge that’s the way it will be marked.

It was great to see so many Harriers running the Home Half Marathon and it certainly put the club on the map.

Pos	Name	Time		Pos	Name	time
23rd	James Perkins	1-19-56		828th	Caroline Nichol	1-48-38
31st	Steve Vaughan	1-20-52		834th	Dave Stephens	1-48-44
33rd	Russell Barron	1-21-38	pb	837th	Esther Hughes	1-48-48	pb
79th	Mark Cooper	1-26-28		981st	Steve Woodcock	1-52-19
82nd	Richard Dinning	1-26-34		987th	Karen D Murray	1-52-29	pb
90th	Dave Clarke	1-27-04		1023rd	Rob Simpson	1-53-23
93rd	Ian Talbot	1-27-15	pb	1029th	John Greatholder	1-53-26
155th	Tanmay Joshi	1-30-58	pb	1041st	Mike Jones	1-53-38
166th	Mark Bridgewood	1-31-24		1085th	Sophie Cartmail	1-54-42
186th	Chris Owen	1-32-06		1129th	Bill Chidlow	1-55-35
231st	Chris Skellern	1-33-34		1136th	Helen Richardson	1-55-38	pb
249th	Mark Eccleston	1-34-02	pb	1173rd	Karen Sabin	1-56-46
252nd	Kirsty Stephenson	1-34-07	pb	1180th	Bill Whitworth	1-56-54
284th	Adele Arnold	1-35-11		1181st	Steve Clarke	1-56-54
335th	Brian Denham	1-36-36		1214th	Jeff Martin	1-57-42
342nd	Rob Proctor	1-36-37	pb	1318th	Sheyne Wilcocks	2-00-53
350th	Mike Down	1-37-18		1333rd	George Singh	2-01-24
370th	Ruth Umerah	1-37-55		1334th	Shaun Holt	2-01-27
379th	Joe Atherton	1-38-15		1354th	Karen Murray	2-01-53
395th	Mark Bentley	1-38-43		1369th	Lynne Geoghegan	2-02-22
411th	Andrea Sutton	1-39-16		1381st	Dave Chittem	2-02-41
414th	George Fox	1-39-19		1440th	Tony Baker	2-04-49
419th	Dave Preece	1-39-59		1457th	Amy Yeomans	2-05-17
422nd	Eddie Smith	1-39-44		1463rd	Dave Banner	2-05-34
426th	Mike Willis	1-39-50
430th	Paul Risby	1-39-59		1477th	Allen Aukim	2-06-11
458th	Tracey Gee	1-41-09		1491st	John Peake	2-06-41
481st	Neil Martin	1-41-27		1517th	Salley Liggins	2-07-46	pb
495th	Lucy Earnshaw	1-41-27	pb	1526th	Sara Broome	2-07-58	pb
496th	Martin Moore	1-41-27		1532nd	Tom Rogers	2-08-15
507th	Tim Hough	1-41-45		1535th	Joanne Carson	2-08-24	pb
517th	James Thorpe	1-41-59	pb	1620th	Michelle Jackson	2-12-48
519th	Dave Cook	1-42-01	pb	1700th	Frank Evans	2-17-04
530th	Darren Mattocks	1-42-20		1707th	Simon Stanyer	2-17-45
539th	Keith Faint	1-42-37		1711th	Denise Rogers	2-18-02
550th	Steve Babb	1-42-44		1716th	Sally Burns	2-18-06
615th	Steve Cooper	1-44-12		1718th	Alison Kelly	2-18-07
631st	Robin Eley	1-44-28	pb	1719th	Sue Down	2-18-07
634th	Steve Cartmail	1-44-35		1743rd	Paul Wilson	2-19-45
638th	John Richardson	1-44-38		1753rd	Rebecca Dale	2-20-26
641st	Wayne Vaughan	1-44-41		1794th	Kellie Lee	2-23-17	pb
655th	Kenton Sharpe	1-45-02		1844th	Elaine Rock	2-27-13
657th	Bernard Wilkes	1-45-04		1862nd	Helen Holt	2-29-37	pb
671st	Stuart Rowley	1-45-23		1868th	Judith Colman	2-30-38
674th	Steve Turner	1-45-26		1891st	Jo Oliver	2-36-12
677th	Simon Cox	1-45-29		1893rd	Louise Notely	2-36-17
693rd	Shane Duggan	1-45-44	pb	1921st	Stuat Fowlie	2-44-12
713rd	Craig Baxter	1-46-23	pb	1922nd	Kirsten Fowlie	2-44-13
734th	Vicky Lowndes	1-46-49		1941st	Val Stuart	2-55-52
764th	Emma Greensill	1-47-38	pb	1943rd	Wendy Bailey	2-59-26
789th	Mark Oliver	1-48-10
806th	Andy Bourne	1-48-21
810th	Richard Caley	1-48-22
813rd	Ralph Wedlock	1-48-23
817th	Liz Stanyer	1-48-26

STAFFORD 20

13/03/2011
Twenty Three Harriers completed this years Stafford 20 with Paul Douglas first Harrier home and also first V55. Kirsty Stephenson had a great run to be first lady Harrier and also won the bronze medal in the County Championships. There were a number of pb’s but as yet I don’t have them all in.

Harriers Times and Positions as follows.

Pos	Name	Time	Cat
46	Paul Douglas	2-19-51	1st V55
58	Chris Owen	2-24-51	pb
73	Ian Talbot	2-27-09
96	Kristy Stephenson	2-33-43	3rd County Champs
103	Joe Atherton	2-35-36
115	Mark Bentley	2-38-39
133	Rob Proctor	2-42-48	pb
135	Dave Preece	2-43-16
137	Eddie Smith	2-43-27
151	James Thorpe	2-48-38	pb
152	Keith Faint	2-48-55
153	Steve Babb	2-49-04
179	Kenton Sharpe	2-55-37
183	Liz Stanyer	2-57-08
189	Esther Hughes	2-59-08
190	Steve Turner	2-59-22
195	Ralph Wedlock	3-00-14
210	Lisa Percox	3-03-53	pb
211	Karen D Murray	3-04-26	pb
232	John Greatholder	3-08-28
233	Mike Jones	3-10-14
257	Karen Murray	3-22-53
270	Tony Baker	3-38-28

Above are the first three Harriers home, Paul Douglas, Chris Owen, Ian Talbot and Kirsty Stephenson.

Also shown are the three ‘Amigos’ enjoying themselves far to much.

STAFFORD HALF MARATHON EVENING

3/3/11

Thursday evenings Stafford Half Marathon evening was a great success with the four previous winners sharing their experiences with around 30 Harriers. Questions about the course, training, diet, kit and other relevant topics were covered, along with anecdotes from races past. Here we see Rob Cope, Christine Kilkenny, Clare Skelton and Chris Hollinshead at the club.

HEARTBREAK (14.5) HALF MARATHON

27/02/2011

Report from Karen Davies

The plan had been to visit friends in Hampshire in early December and combine the trip with the Downton Half Marathon near Fordingbridge. However that trip got snowed/iced off (twice) and the race was cancelled – the option was money back or switch entry to the Heartbreak Half in the New Year. The latter was chosen (though unfortunately clashed with one of my favourites – the Milford 21 – sob!). Snow and ice stayed away – but the fine start at Sandy Balls in the New Forest soon turned to a chill wind then ended in cold, sheeting, drenching rain! The course was described as ‘testing’ and with some leg numbing hills it was definately a test. I enjoyed seeing the fabulous landscape and the New Forest ponies both of which disappeared from view about half way round the course!

About 170 finished with winning times: Nick Buis, Totton RC, 1 hour 20 mins 55 sec: Tracy Cook Dorset Doddlers, 1 hour 37 mins 38 sec and Harrier times, Karen Davies 2 hours 36 seconds (12th lady) and John Greatholder, 2 hours 13 mins 45 sec.

Probably choose Milford next time!!

MILFORD 21

27/02/11

Report from Ian Talbot.

I arrived at the car park at Milford greeted by the wind and rain, I asked myself if this was really such a good idea.

I looked for another Harrier face and eventually found Chris Owen, the only other Harrier running the race. We did a long warm up which consisted of stretching twice and away we went.

For about 4 miles Chris and I ran together keeping a decent pace. Then I tucked in with a couple of runners from Stoke and Matlock. They were running well and kept me going at a decent pace. The course was well marked considering the boggy conditions. We got to the halfway mark in around 1hour 16 minutes and all seemed ok. Then we hit the switchbacks which were a little tough to say the least!

After regaining my breath I managed to keep going at a good rate until the two lads I was running with starting to pull away and from that point it became a lot tougher. Once I hit the 18 mile mark at around 2 Hours 15 (previous longest run the Trig around 17miles) my legs were gone. From that point it became a seriously hard slog. Once I hit the final hill I was slightly lifted and I managed to finish in about 2 Hours 48, with Chris following me in around a minute behind. Well done again Chris. Big thanks to Edd and Tracey for their support on the course, and Esther for her photos and encouragement at the finish line. I enjoyed it now it’s done but think it may be a while until I do it again.

RAIL TRAIL DUATHLON – New Zealand 26

27/02/11

I managed to do the Duathlon this weekend, covering the full Rail Trail over 2 days (91km on the first day and 59km on the second).

The running bits were no problem of course, but I struggled with the bike rides particularly the first day when I rode my Dawes road/trail bike. I had tried the bike out on sections of the trail beforehand and felt reasonably comfortable, but that was more leisurely riding and when it came to trying to go fast it was a different proposition! Partly because the trail was too full of loose stones in some stretches; partly because I decided to fit toe clips on the day and I struggled to get my knobbly trail shoes into them and they hurt after a while; and partly because the saddle was too angled and I kept slipping forwards ( I know I should have stopped to adjust it – though I’m not sure the allan keys I took with me fitted that particular nut).

On the second day I used my old Scott MTB bike without clips and the trail was much clearer and shorter (well 25km + 17km compared with 2 x 37km on Saturday), and I was much happier (though the saddle slipped to a forward slope early on).

I finished 7th from 11 finishers in the vets(o/40) individuals, 15th from 26 total individual finishers (including 1 female individual) and 80th from 145 total finishers including teams of 2 – 4 members.

Saturday time 5hrs 33min (4.27min/km) and Sunday time 3hrs 09min (3.20min/km).

It’s not really a good way to do the Trail as you see little of the scenery (head down pushing the pace or struggling to stay upright) and get to read none of the information boards and don’t get to stop at the various cafes / pubs on the route!

But at least I’ve done the whole route now.

Pete Sarson

ENGLISH NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Alton Towers 19/2/11
It was agreed by all of the organising committee that these were probably the worst conditions the National had ever known. It was suprising really as on the Friday the Event Referee walked the course in a pair of normal shoes. During Friday night however it rained most of the night before turning to snow. At 7am the course was white over and the snow turned back to rain. Then as thousands of runners ran the course it just churned up. Everyone who ran it will certainly remember it.

Four of our ladies ran in the Championships and finished 41st team out of 67 finising teams and were ahead of all the local clubs with the exception of Trentham. There were 553 finishers the second highest ever in a National.

Pos	Name	Time
142	Nina Skilton	29-53
282	Chris Skellern	32-40
338	Tracey Gee	35-22
368	Ruth Umerah	35-22

SW_Final_GunResult-1

SW_Final_TeamReportPointsSummary

We had nine men running in the Championships finishing 89th team. There were 1302 finishers.

Pos	Name	Time
916	Ian Talbot	54-29
951	Chris Owen	55-33
969	Graham Young	55-56
1048	Dave Marsden	58-20
1063	Joe Atherton	58-36
1100	Eddie Smith	59-51
1130	Ben Nash	61-02
1150	Mark Bentley	61-43
1154	Roy Clay	61-50

SM_Final_GunResult

SM_Final_TeamReportPointsSummary

STOURBRIDGE STAGGER

06/02/2011

Just seven Harriers went down to Stourbridge to run the Stourbridge Stagger. This is a 10 mile off road race that is famous for it muddy tracks. This year it appears that it was dry ish.

The race was Won by Paul Rogers Tipton in 1-04-15 and 1^st Lady was Jessica Harvey Telford in 1-16-54.

403 finished

11 Tom Hobbins 1-10-20

39 Keith Skelton 1-16-29

48 Chris Ross 1-17-53

252 Lydia Hobbins 1-37-33

254 Jill Ross 1-37-58

287 Jane Bisiker 1-41-05

321 Brian Langston 1-45-26

ALSAGER 5

06/02/2011
A total of forty two Harriers took part in this annual race round the lanes of Alsager. Many of them were running in Harriers Colours for the first time and for some it was their first race ever. So well done to all.

Steve Vaughan was our first Harrier in 61st place and a creditable 29-28.

Nathan Sabin again showed that moving up to the senior ranks is well on course as he finished in 32-04 and second Harrier.

Chris Skellern was again our first lady home and took 2nd prize in the L45’s. Dave Marsden having a great run took second prize in the V55 age group. We also had Frank Grant 3rd V70.

There were pb’s for Ian Talbot, Chris Owen, Darren Mattocks, Karen D Murray and Alison Kelly.

The race was won by Anthony Ford of Sale Harriers in 23-49 and the first Lady was International runner Hattie Dean from Hallamshire Harriers in 27-32.

Below are the corrected results.

Pos	Name	Time	cat
61	Steve Vaughan	29-28
146	Nathan Sabin	32-04
148	Mark Bridgwood	32-06
171	Ian Talbot	32-41	pb
198	Chris Owen	33-21	pb
208	Joe Atherton	33-59
209	Dave Marsden	33-59	2nd V55
210	Chris Skellern	33-59	2nd L45
251	Wayne Vaughan	34-52
307	Darren Mattocks	36-07	pb
310	Mark Bentley	36-12
329	Steve Turner	36-52
348	Eddie Smith	37-11
349	Tracey Gee	37-12
350	Steve Babb	37-13
361	Paul Risby	37-27
388	James Thorpe	38-03
394	Steve Cooper	38-16
405	Craig Baxter	38-27
461	Ralph Wedlock	39-48
476	Liz Stanyer	40-01
532	Caroline Nichol	41-15
541	Jeff Martin	41-35
550	Shaun Holt	41-45
582	Bill Chidlow	42-25
586	Mike Jones	42-26
597	Karen D Murray	42-49	pb
620	Karen Sabin	43-21
681	Dave Banner	45-01
696	Bill Whitworth	45-32
699	Tony Tompkins	45-35
709	Sally Liggins	45-56
726	Simon Stanyer	46-47
730	Alison Kelly	46-59	pb
742	Sara Broome	47-36
749	John Hateley	47-49
811	Amanda Pearce	50-38
829	Helen Holt	51-53
837	Judith Colman	52-16
868	Louise Notely	55-34
869	Maria Banner	55-34
882	Frank Grant	57-27	3rd V70

alsager2011

BRASS MONKEY HALF MARATHON

23/01/11
report from Julia Crick

I, and my partner Steve (who runs for Durham City Harriers) took part in the Brass Monkey half marathon in York on Sunday 23rd January. Its a fairly flat fast course that starts and finishes at the race course. The route heads south away from the city and takes you through some lovely villages and past plenty of farms! The only hills are when the road goes over the A64 and what looks like a disused railway line and you encounter these on the way out and the way back.

Its a very well organised event – this was their 39th brass monkey – and all the marshalls along the route were friendly and offered encouragement to the 1500 strong field. The conditions were great, not too cold that you froze to death waiting at the start line, fairly dry and slightly overcast with no wind!

Apart from the Great North Run this is the only other half marathon I’ve taken part in (only started running last February) so was pleased with my time of 2:02:38 beating my previous time of 2:11:56. Steve managed 1:59:55 so was really pleased to get under the 2 hour mark – next time I’ll get there!!

Its definitely a half marathon I’d take part in again but its a very popular event – the race was fully booked within 24 hours! and there are plenty more out there to try.

First male – Paul Martelletti – 1:05:21 (new course record) – Victoria Park Harriers & Tower Hamlets AC
First female – Stacey Rogers – 1:21:12 – Heaton Harriers

FOUR VILLAGES HALF MARATHON

23/01/11
I was going to start this report by saying both myself and Sara Broome got seasons best(as this one of the first half marathons of the year) but we actually both got pb’s.mine was 1.31.04 and Sara’s was 2.16.54. The race was around quite country lanes which were virtually traffic free. The first 5m was gentally down hill with a climb at 8m,not severe but long and railway bridge at 12m. The weather was ideal ,cool and no windFirst male Neil Renault 1.05.54 Edinburgh acFirst female Michelle Ross-Cope 1.14.29 Stoke ac
Chris Owen

NOT THE ROMAN 9

16/01/2011
report from Joe Atherton

This is one of the more outlying races in the Harriers calendar, taking about 1.25 hours to get there. It is run in the countryside around Stratford-on-Avon. The race was well organised with ample toilet and changing facilities. The weather was dry, occasionally sunny, and quite windy on exposed parts of the route.

We had a 1km walk to the start, which was on a single track country lane with 800 of us queued up. I thought I’d got quite near the front but it still took me about 30 seconds to get into my stride. (I use the term stride very loosely; I’d done a pretty hard X-country the day before.) The roads were very quiet, and flattish. There was one slightly challenging hill at 5k but t’was nothing for a seasoned trig runner like me… I actually talked to several people that recognised me from the trig race, which helped take my mind off the pain for a while. There was split timing shouted out at 6k, which I worked out to be that I was doing 7:20 min miling. I actually finished with an average of 7:06!!! Due to the mildness of the weather I did actually lose quite a lot of fluid, so the two drink stops were very welcome. The last 1k was slightly downhill, and had markers at 1k, 800m, 400m, 200m, 100m, getting everyone psyched up tor a sprint finish (even I managed to pip someone in the last 25m).

So would I do it again? It was very well organised with plenty of parking and great facilities. The route was pleasant enough and the smattering of support en-route was enthusiastic. BUT it was a 68 mile drive, and 12k is a bit of an odd distance. So – maybe… But it would be nice if a posse of us were to attend the next time!

Harriers results

Name	Overall position	Category position	Harriers position	Chip Time
Joe Atherton		11	1	53:05

TRIG RACE

09/01/11
On a cold but fine day for running 20 Harriers took part in the annual Trig Race. This year it started from Milford just above Sister Dora’s and it saw runners going off in all different directions. The aim is to visit various Trig Points in a set order but along any tracks you wish. It was interesting listening at the end as folks compared thier GPS readings. The shortest distance I heard was 16.71 miles but then again two people came in together having run together and had recorded 16.82 and 16.93 so who knows. It was a long way with lots of climbs involved. The winner was Pete Vale of Mercia Fell Runners in a time of 1-45-03.

First Harrier home was Kate Burge in overall 10th place and 1st lady in a time of 2-07-31. First male Harrier was Ian Talbot who admitted he hadn’t got a clue of where he was going but he still finished 36th in 2-19-27.

There were lots more prizes for Harriers with Chris Skellern 2nd Lady and 1st L45, Liz Stanyer 3rd Senior lady, Tracey Gee 3rd L40, Karen Davies 3rd L45 and Brian Langston 2nd V65.

Here are all the Harrier times.

Pos	Name	Time	cat
10^th	Kate Burge	2-07-31	1^st Lady
36^th	Ian Talbot	2-19-27
44^th	Steve Littlewood	2-22-16
46^th	Joe Atherton	2-23-15
50^th	Chris Skellern	2-25-55	2^nd Lady 1^st L45
60^th	Eddie Smith	2-30-13
72^nd	Mark Bentley	2-36-19
76^th	Liz Stanyer	2-37-34	3^rd SL
82^nd	Tracey Gee	2-38-42	3^rd L40
88^th	Rob Eley	2-40-17
94^th	Karen Davies	2-47-44	3^rd L45
95^th	John Greatholder	2-47-45
106^th	Dave Mantle	2-56-02
116^th	Esther Hughes	2-59-58
121^st	Brian Langston	3-06-05	2^nd V65
122^nd	Jackie Allen	3-06-13
128^th	Mike Jones	3-11-06
132^nd	Rebecca Bostock	3-25-53
134^th	Sarah Johnson	3-47-32
135^th	Amanda Pearce	3-47-49

If you want the full results then just click here

Here are a Happy gang of Harriers setting off on their jaunt round the Trig Race. Did I say happy?

Here is Kate Burge and Ian Talbot at the first crossing of Morse Gorse.

STAFFS COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS

08/01/11
Congratulations to Nathan Sabin who took the Bronze Medal in the under 15 Boys race in the Staffordshire County Championships held on Stafford Common on Saturday 8/1/11. This now means that Nathan will represent Staffordshire U15’s in the Inter Counties Championships which will be held at Cofton Park later in the year. Watch out for him on the TV as it is live on Sky Sports.

Also well done to Hannah Talbot who got a reserve place in the County team for finishing 10th in the Girls Under 13 race. Not too bad considering she just turned 11 in September. One to watch methinks.

I will put a full report on the Young Athletes page when I get it.

THANK YOU

A Big thank you for all who helped to make these Championships a great success. Course builders and those taking it down, car park team, refreshment sellers (Jackie Grant, Sue Williams, Joan Finney and Jean Whitworth) and the frozen marshalls. There were many compliments passed on from Officials, Organisers and Team Managers about the organisation of the event, the course and the weather. (How on earth did we fix the weather?) Well done everyone involved.

For all the results of the races see below.

Staffs_AAA_Cross_Country_Championships_2011

VERNONS STUPID HEROES BARE WRIST RUN

01/01/11
Well done to all of you that braved your hangovers to run in the Annual New Years Day Race.

It was good to see so many turning up for what has to be one of the best races of the year.

For those who are reading this and wonder what on earth a Limp Wrist Race is it is simple. You predict your time over 5 miles, you don’t wear a watch and the winner is the person closest to their predicted time.

The runner who actually finished first in the race this year was Mark Neeld from Stone Master Marathoners in 28-03 unfortunately that was 40 seconds faster than he predicted and so he was not in the prizes. The winner of the race was unattached runner Alan Jeavons in 38-50 just 6 seconds slower than his predicted time.

For all this years results please click on the link below.

LIMP_WRIST Results 2010

Here is Team manager Eddie Smith along with the gang before start of the race.

Captions Please.

“They are not leaving here till I find out who nicked my watch”