Harriers out in force at Chester
THERE were a wealth of Stockport Harriers in Chester for the eighth MBNA Chester Marathon; enough to qualify for a place to call their own on the finishing straight, from which the club could support fellow runners on the home straight from the relative comfort of their gazebo.
Eighteen Stockport Harriers ran the full Marathon (26.1 miles/42.2 km) event and seven took on the shorter ‘Metric Marathon’ course, which at 26.2 km (16.3 miles) provided a step up from the more frequently organised half marathon distance for those not fancying the full marathon distance.
The route was spectacular, from it’s start at Chester Racecourse past the Roman Walls, Chester Cathedral, Medieval Rows and under the Eastgate Clock before heading out into the countryside and villages and into Wales.
The metric marathon runners started an hour and fifteen minutes later and, 8.5 miles in joined up with the marathon runners after their return to England to run back into Chester together via the River Dee for a triumphant finish back at the Racecourse, whilst the crowds and support along the route was fantastic.
An England versus Celtic Nations International in the veteran age categories (V35-V75) of the marathon meant competition was fierce across the full age spectrum.
Five Stockport Harriers had been selected to don the England kit and represent their country in this Masters Age event having recorded outstanding performances at Bournemouth, Brighton or Chester marathons during the previous year: Paul Brooks (VM40) and Dave Chadderton (VM70) for the men and Jenny Knass (FV35), Jayne Lawton (FV45) and Lesley Sinclair (FV50) for the ladies.
Paul Brooks was the first Stockport Harrier to finish, crossing the line in a remarkable 2 hours, 40 minutes and 23 seconds setting himself a marathon personal best in 23rd place overall out of over 2600 runners, ten minutes ahead of second placed Harrier Tony Potts (2:50:30) in 66th.
England compatriot Dave Chadderton had a phenomenal run, finishing in the rain in 3:30:06 and smashing his own Stockport Harriers V70 age category record for the marathon by over five minutes and in doing so running the 7th fastest V70 marathon in the UK this year.
The first Stockport lady back, Jenny Knass, raced down the grassy finishing straight in 166th position overall - the 14th woman to finish and 7th in her FV35 age category in a very impressive 3:02:21.
She was followed by further outstanding performances by our other England ladies with Jayne Lawton the 32nd lady home finishing 4th in the FV45 category in 3:15:05 and Lesley Sinclair the 11th FV50 age category finisher in 3:25:58.
There was fast and furious action at the ERRA National Road Relay Finals in Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield where four Stockport Harriers teams lined up to test themselves against the best teams from around the country.
The young athletes ran in teams of three, each completing a lap of the 3.88km course, with the Stockport under 13 girls team of Jasmine Reed, Lauren Dewsbury and Isabel Brundrett placing 55th overall against very tough competition, completing the course in a very respectable 52:26.
The under 15 girls were led out by Alice Davies who handed over to Esther Hulley in 21st place who held on for 23rd, to be anchored by Chloe Rogers to finish in 29th overall in a total elapsed time of 47:31 and our U17 ladies team comprising of Natasha Moore, Mollie Cooke and Clara Jarvis dug deep to end the day in 30th place.
In the Senior Men’s event each of the 6-man team completed a lap of the 5.88km course also within the confines of Sutton Park. Patrick Martin led the Harriers out with an inspiring 17m 36s leg handing over to Jack Morris in 9th.
Jack pulled off the 6th fastest second stage lap in 17m 44s before handing over to Kevin Acton for the third leg, followed by Andrew Nixon and running the 5th and 6th stages were Birmingham University students Grant Anderson and Thomas Drabble each making their national level debut.
A fantastic effort was made by all with the team ending the day in 51st position having recorded a total time of 1:56:26.
Further off the beaten track, one intrepid Stockport Harrier took on the Langdale Horseshoe at the weekend - a 21km fell race advertised as a ‘rough, tough course over almost exclusively rocky and slippery ground’. David Hulley recorded a solid run and completed the race in 77th position in a time of 2:50:51.
This coming week there are the Northern Cross Country Relays in Graves Park, Sheffield on Saturday for age groups from under elevens to seniors which will take place at Meadowhead School, Graves Park, Sheffield.