Race Report April to June 2021

gate gallop

27th June 2021

No Harriers took part.

Stone st michaels 10k

25th to 29th June 2021

A virtual race for 2021.

Pos	Name	M/F	AG	AG Pos	NSRRA	Time
13	Justin Green	13th	M50	3rd	B	41:03
56	Ian Hodkinson	34th	M50	6th	E	48:37
67	Chris Skellern	27th	F55	4th	L	51:15
112	Ruth Edwards	52nd	F60	3rd	W	57:49
141	Graham Williams	68th	M75	2nd	F	1:06:48
142	Kerri Delaney	74th	F Sen	7th	W	1:06:48
150	Julie Nokes	80th	F60	4th	W	1:10:31

grand prix race 12

21st to 27th June 2021

Name	15Km
NITESH THAKRAR	01:21:26
KAREN GRETTON	01:34:22
COLIN MITCHELL	01:46:31

grand prix race 11

14th to 20th June 2021

Name	8 Mile
NITESH THAKRAR	01:10:37
KAREN GRETTON	01:17:29
COLIN MITCHELL	01:24:31

Summer Handicap 2021

17th June 2021

Well done to Matthew, Ben and Marie.

A big thank-you to all the volunteers for making the event possible.

Position	Name	Time	Handicap	Net Time
1	Matthew Hilsdon	0:36:31	0:12:15	0:24:16
2	Ben Green	0:36:54	0:09:00	0:27:54
3	Marie Larnoire	0:37:37	0:07:15	0:30:22
4	Ian Heath	0:38:01	0:11:00	0:27:01
5	Graham Williams	0:38:24	0:00:30	0:37:54
6	Joanne Oliver	0:38:24	0:04:45	0:33:39
7	Ruth Edwards	0:38:25	0:04:45	0:33:40
8	Jack Heath	0:38:29	0:12:00	0:26:29
9	Matt Sargeant	0:38:41	0:16:00	0:22:41
10	Justin Green	0:38:42	0:14:00	0:24:42
11	Chris Skellern	0:38:44	0:07:15	0:31:29
12	Ian Hodkinson	0:38:45	0:11:00	0:27:45
13	Julie Nokes	0:38:48	0:00:00	0:38:48
14	Reuban Willson	0:39:01	0:06:30	0:32:31
15	Leon Stringer	0:39:03	0:11:00	0:28:03
16	Nitesh Thakrar	0:39:24	0:11:15	0:28:09
17	Tom Devall	0:39:33	0:04:45	0:34:48
18	Richard Crump	0:39:44	0:16:00	0:23:44
19	Al Langford	0:39:48	0:13:00	0:26:48
20	Phil Hilsdon	0:39:59	0:15:00	0:24:59
21	Mark Willson	0:40:07	0:08:15	0:31:52
22	Andrew Robinson	0:40:24	0:11:15	0:29:09
23	Tracey Burrows	0:40:34	0:02:15	0:38:19
24	Andrew Langston	0:41:01	0:02:15	0:38:46
25	Alan Jones	0:41:33	0:11:15	0:30:18
26	Pete Chell	0:41:35	0:11:15	0:30:20
27	Vanessa Welham	0:42:10	0:12:00	0:30:10
28	John Finney	0:42:21	0:07:00	0:35:21

Pictures by Chris Elsley

Harriers Grand Prix Race 10

7th to 13th June 2021

Name	7 Mile
NITESH THAKRAR	01:01:42
KAREN GRETTON	01:11:24
COLIN MITCHELL	01:18:40
IAN HODKINSON	01:31:02

westbridge 5

Harriers Grand Prix Race 8 and Harriers Challenge Race 11

23rd May to 13th June 2021

Pos	Name	M/F	AG	NSRRA	Time
2	Matt Sargent	2nd	–	B	28:56
19	Richard Crump	18th	2nd	B	32:05
23	Justin Green	22nd	6th	B	32:50
34	Adam Lightfoot	31st	7th	C	33:46
49	Sarah Dicesare	10th	3rd		35:28
84	Ian Hodkinson	57th	11th	E	38:58
86	Nitesh Thakrar	59th	4th	E	39:10
126	Chris Skellern	48th	5th	L	42:23
145	Joanne Oliver	60th	10th	W	44:14
148	Ruth Edwards	62nd	3rd	W	44:23
158	Kerri Delaney	66th	11th	W	45:07
193	Karen Gretton	91st	4th		48:30
203	Tracy Burrows	95th	19th	X	49:24
216	Wendy Sears	105th	12th		50:51
228	Graham Williams	114th	2nd	F	52:00
231	Colin Mitchell	115th	15th		52:28
267	Sarah Bromley	146th	27th		1:00:01
281	Amelia Daune	156th	21st		1:07:11
290	Valerie Stuart	165th	4th	Y	1:14:20

Harriers Grand Prix Race 9

6 mile race

31st May to 6th June 2021

Name	6 Mile
IAN HODKINSON	47:03
NITESH THAKRAR	49:10
KAREN GRETTON	57:09
COLIN MITCHELL	66:39

BatCh Bash Fell Race

Wednesday 19th May 2021

Race Report Dan Findlay-Robinson

With Lockdown being lifted, means one thing- Wednesday night racing is back.

So it was off to the Shropshire hills near All Stretton to introduce Harriers very own Jason Littlewood to his first Fell Race.

The Batch Bash Fell Race is organised by Mercia Fell Runners and was this years first race locally.

The start is in a little valley which after a rapid couple of hundred meters leads into a steep ‘hands on knees’ climb where at least one of the two intrepid Harriers first started to regret one too many lockdown snacks over the previous year as the hardened locals started to pull away, the rest of the race proceeded to continue across the rolling hills on a beautiful evening as the rain had cleared away just before the start.

There were another two serious climbs on the circa 5km route, one long extended one and another sting in the tail steep one just before the end. Luckily what makes climbing hills a challenge helps on the descents and the good old Mass x Velocity calculation played out again and some fast descending let our boys claw back some places.

All in all good to be back, racing and a well organised friendly event to do it at.

Winner – Daniel Connelly, Mercia Fell Runners – 24.58

49th – Dan Findlay-Robinson, Stafford Harriers – 38.35

62nd – Jason Littlewood, Stafford Harriers – 40.40

Virtual Clayton 10K

Harriers Grand Prix Race 7 and Harriers Challenge Race 10

11th to 15th May 2021

Pos	Name	M/F Pos	AG	AG Pos	NSRRA	Time
16	Liam Duggan	16th	M Sen	4th		39:47
19	Justin Green	19th	M50	3rd	B	41:04
31	Adam Lightfoot	27th	M40	8th	C	43:14
32	Jake Oliver	28th	M Sen	6th	C	43:14
46	Jason Littlewood	38th	M Sen	11th	E	44:55
77	Ian Hodkinson	54th	M45	10th	E	48:31
81	Nitesh Thakrar	57th	M55	5th	E	48:59
122	Chris Skellern	46th	F55	9th	L	54:06
129	Kerri Delaney	51st	F Sen	6th	W	54:55
152	Ruth Edwards	62nd	F60	2nd	W	58:19
156	Joanne Oliver	63rd	F50	6th	W	58:28
175	Amy Oliver	74th	F Sen	12th	X	1:02:02
195	Graham Williams	104th	M75	2nd	F	1:06:17
207	Sarah Bromley	99th	F45	20th		1:09:33
238	Valerie Stuart	127th	F75	4th	Y	1:37:39

Harriers Grand Prix

Race 6 – 4 Mile with 4 Hill Reps

3rd May to 9th May 2021

Name	4 Mile
NITESH THAKRAR	32:55
KAREN GRETTON	40:42
COLIN MITCHELL	44:42

Lakeland Trails in Staveley

8th May 2021

Race Report Sally Haycock

Racing’s back! In the Lakes!

Fourteen long months of pure unadulterated lockdown meant we were all starved from our ‘fix’. This ‘fix’ is like no other, it is joyous, rewarding and exciting yet also painful, arduous and torturous.

So what better way to re-introduce our ‘fix’ than to head up to the Lake District and compete in an 18k (never happy using ‘k’, I am strictly a miles girl) Trail race which formed part of the Lakeland Trails series. And what a day to pick! From the moment we left home to drive North to when we returned, it did not stop raining! Meaning conditions were, erm, well not exactly ideal! I thought the rain may slow the others down putting us on a more even keel, but no, it slowed me down more! Haha!

The Staveley 11.25 mile race consisted of hills, marshland, ankle-breaking slippy slate, steep rocky descents, stiles, oh and a small amount of tarmac but most importantly it was marshalled by the happiest, friendliest humans ever! Got to love them, these folk gave up their time to cheer us all on in unforgiving conditions!

There were two separate races; The Challenge and The Trail Race. The Challenge was for folk like me, people that would take over the 2 hour mark and more, whereas The Trail was for runners like John who would leg it round in well under 2 hours. The Challenge race went off first and I started in my ‘pod of 6’ with every six runners going off at minute intervals. This was very different to any other race I have competed in, where we all charge off at 100mph until we settle into our rhythm. This format meant we paced ourselves or at least tried to. To be fair I think it was the 232ft of climb in the first mile that ‘paced’ us!!!

Well it is safe to say a lot more people overtook me than the other way round! In spite of this, I did enjoy myself, apart from the ankle giving way (again – it is a design fault, my ankles are just not designed to carry this much weight….)This culminated in a gravity-defying save from a fall which meant my back contorting in such a way that I did not think possible! Anyway, that was the least of my worries, as at mile 6 (387ft climb) I was shuffling along and was almost overtaken by someone walking. There was nothing else to do but walk myself, to save face from the embarrassment of someone walking faster than I was ‘jogging’ (shuffling)

Just when you thought you couldn’t be any higher in the world came ‘The Sting in the Tail’ A cheeky little climb at mile 10 and guess who was at the top…..the photographer!! Standing, ready to pounce, snapping you at your worst! I would like to say how wonderful the views were at the top, but you really couldn’t see a thing! Hey ho, nothing to see here, let’s leg it downhill to the finish!!

I finally made it round in 2 hours 16 minutes (not my finest performance) but nevertheless, I had finally run a race, I had got my ‘fix’. I only just had enough time to change into dry clothes ready to cheer home John. Needless to say, he romped home in 1 hour 31 minutes finishing 35th in the Trail Race and 38th overall out of 480 runners. I think he enjoyed his ‘fix’ more than I did and judging from the smile on his face he is looking forward to his next!!!

Bring it on!!!

Uttoxeter festival of running

29th April to 5th May 2021

Half Marathon

Race 5 Harriers Grand Prix and Race 9 of Harriers Challenge

Pos	Name	AG	AG Pos	NSRRA	Time
15	Richard Crump	M Sen	5th	B	1:28:09
18	Liam Duggan	M Sen	7th		1:29:52
36	Justin Green	M50	4th	B	1:36:20
76	Nitesh Thakrar	M55	6th	E	1:49:44
78	Spencer Holland	M50	6th	C	1:50:20
87	Ian Hodkinson	M45	6th	E	1:53:08
95	Chris Skellern	F55	5th	L	1:54:37
98	Jason Littlewood	M Sen	16th	E	1:55:14
100	Vanessa Welham	F Sen	6th		1:55:35
107	Adam Lightfoot	M40	15th	C	1:57:01
147	Sarah Dicesare	F Sen	11th	M	2:08:17
155	Kerri Delaney	F Sen	12th	W	2:09:23
161	Tom Davall	M Sen	27th	E	2:13:19

10K Run

No Harriers took part

Harriers grand prix 3 mile

19th to 25th April 2021

Name	3 Mile
IAN HODKINSON	22:44
NITESH THAKRAR	23:41
KAREN GRETTON	28:30
COLIN MITCHELL	32:20

Harriers grand prix 2 mile

12th to 18th April 2021

Name	2 Mile
IAN HODKINSON	14:53
NITESH THAKRAR	15:23
TOM DAVALL	17:11
KAREN GRETTON	18:04
JULIE NOKES	18:57
COLIN MITCHELL	20:24

Harriers Grand Prix 1 mile

5th to 11th April 2021

Name	1 Mile
JUSTIN GREEN	5:40
JAKE OLIVER	5:43
JASON LITTLEWOOD	5:50
LIAM DUGGAN	5:51
VANESSA WELHAM	6:30
AL LANGFORD	6:43
IAN HODKINSON	6:51
NITESH THAKRAR	7:08
RICHARD BOOTH	7:09
MARK OLIVER	7:12
AMY OLIVER	7:25
JODIE CLARKE	7:37
JOANNE OLIVER	8:16
SARAH BROMLEY	8:44
JULIE NOKES	9:14
COLIN MITCHELL	10:03
VAL STUART	13:51

Virtual Air Products 10K

1st April 2021 to 6th April 2021

Part of the Harriers Challenge, Harriers Grand Prix 2 and NSRRA

Pos	Name	M/F	AG	AG Pos	NSRRA	Time
5	Matt Sargent	5th	M Sen	3rd	B	36:38
18	Richard Crump	17th	M Sen	6th	B	38:57
26	Liam Duggan	23rd	M Sen	7th		39:57
49	Jason Littlewood	41st	M Sen	12th	E	43:07
51	Justin Green	43rd	M50	6th	B	43:19
52	Jake Oliver	44th	M Sen	13th	C	43:23
89	Spencer Holland	66th	M50	11th	C	47:35
108	Ian Hodkinson	73rd	M45	11th	E	49:40
117	Mark Oliver	79th	M50	13th	E	50:32
120	Chris Skellern	41st	F55	5th	L	51:23
135	Kerri Delaney	51st	F Sen	9th	W	52:37
145	Karen Murray	57th	F55	8th	M	53:38
156	Joanne Oliver	63rd	F50	9th	W	54:56
163	Tom Davall	96th	M Sen	28th	E	55:57
164	Nitesh Thakrar	97th	M55	13th	E	56:01
171	Lindsey Foster	73rd	F55	11th	W	56:45
181	Ruth Edwards	78th	F60	2nd	W	57:55
202	Tracy Burrows	87th	F45	19th	X	1:00:43
225	Rachel Marsden	106th	F45	24th	X	1:07:02
228	Sarah Bromley	109th	F45	25th		1:07:20
269	Valerie Stuart	144th	F75	3rd	Y	1:57:28