Harriers start hit by weather
THE unusually wintry conditions led to the postponement of the Trafford 10km road race and in effect to the start of the 2018 Stockport Harrier’s Race Series.
It would have been the first event and that honour that now falls to the Poynton 10km on 25th March.
The presentation evening for the Manchester Area Cross Country League was also postponed to prevent unnecessary travel and with the Harriers expecting to pick up both individual and team prizes in a number of age categories the new date is eagerly awaited.
Closer to home things continued more or less as normal despite the weather with a very good turn out on Saturday morning for the weekly Endurance session which took place entirely on the grass to avoid compacting the snow on the track.
It meant the 400 metre repetitions were tougher than ever. The group was joined by under 15 National Cross Country Champion Sian Heslop of Macclesfield.
The 444th Woodbank parkrun was taking place in the park at the same time and proved to be one to be remembered; despite everything Storm Emma had thrown at them, the organisers managed to put together a route never before used in the history of parkrun at Woodbank which is now into its ninth year.
The hill in Vernon Park, usually tackled twice, was out, as were most of the paths which were very icy, but Woodbank Park offers a great many options and that versatility combined with the imagination of the organising team resulted in an enjoyable five-lap zig-zag route that kept participants both on the grass and under the watchful eye of marshals at all times.
With the worst of the wind having died down by this point it was a surprisingly pleasant run, and certainly all those taking part were very appreciative of their colleagues who volunteered, layered up and braved the conditions to make it happen.
At the England Athletics Championships for age groups under 15 to under 20 reported on last week Harriers’ new recruit Lucy Robinson, formerly of Macclesfield, had a phenomenal day when she twice jumped her way onto the podium.
She became the under 15 National Silver medalist in the High Jump when she cleared 1.59 metres and improved her lifetime best by one centimetre right when it really mattered and also won the Bronze Medal in the Long Jump with another lifetime best, beating her previous best which she set just three weeks ago by four centimetres when she landed 5.28 metres.
Fellow newcomer, under 17 Holly Murray, who joined the Club from Sale Harriers, also had a very good day when she ran a big personal best of 25.93s to finish third in her heat, knocking almost one third of a second off her previous best time to qualify for the 200 metres semifinal in which she came fourth in a time that would have been a personal best but for her run in the heats.
At the fifth and penultimate Sale Indoor Open fixture held at Sportcity a small contingent of young Stockport Harriers were put through their paces.
In the under 15 age category Rebecca Leather ran well to pull together an 11.45s 60 metre Hurdles and was one of a trio of under 15 Harriers in the 600 metres middle distance event when she lodged her best performance of the season so far and came tantalisingly close to her lifetime best of 2m:15.2s, a time which has stood since November 2016.
Team-mate Annabel Mobley finished ahead of her in fourth in that heat with her new personal best time of 2m:02.31s and in the following heat Ella Chambers came third with an incredible 22 second improvement on her previous best time over the distance which was set in December in Sheffield when she ran an astounding 2m:02.42s.
Melissa Cox was competing in her first 60 Hurdles in the under 15 age category so set herself a target to beat with her new personal best time of 11.98s; she also managed to come ninth overall in the combined under 15 and under 17 age category three kilogram Shot Put competition with her 7.67m effort.
Meanwhile, Anya Dunne launched a very pleasing 12 centimetre lifetime best throw in the three-kilogram Shot Put to finish 17th behind teammates Ella Chambers (7.15m in 12th) and Melissa.
In the 200 metres Amy Battle ran 27.64s to win her heat and end the day fourth fastest under 15 girl over the distance, fellow Harrier Ella Brabham came third in her heat recording a personal best of 29.53s in the process.
The Harriers’ fell running Hulley family were out in force at the Flower Scar Fell Race in Todmorden with all four of them taking part in what is described as a gem of a race with steep climbs, fast descents, rough moorland and plenty of mud, which started near the centre of Todmorden in the South Pennines and the proceeds of which went to the Calder Valley Mountain Rescue.
The junior races set off at five minute intervals with the older ones taking on the longer courses going first and the younger ones following on to result in a mass finish. Therefore, first of the Hulleys to set out was Esther, who has been running very well this cross country season and as an under 17 had a three-loop 4.8 kilometre course with 195 metres of ascent to tackle which she completed in 27m:40s. As the only one in her category not only was she first to finish but was delighted to receive double the chocolates for her efforts!
Younger brother Joel set off with the under 11s fifteen minutes later after the under 15s and under 13s had gone. He covered his 1.6 kilometre two inner loop route with 50 metres of climb in just 8m:23s to earn himself second place behind Jack Sanderson of Settle who finished in 8m:06s.
Participants in the adult race had to carry full Fell Running Association mandatory survival kit with them, including full body cover, waterproof, compass whistle, and emergency food and more as it covered areas of open moorland, in winter.
Of the 185 finishers in the adult race, which included 660 metres of climb along its 13.3 kilometre length, Harrier David Hulley crossed the line in a very respectable 16th position overall, the fifteenth male and second in the over 40 age category with his time of one hour and nineteen minutes exactly.
There was a tough two way battle at the front of the race with Will Neill of Mercia eventually coming out the victor in 1h:11m:19s with secondplaced athlete Karl Gray of Calder Valley only two seconds behind him. Jen Hulley arrived after 1h:45m:37s as the 17th female and seventh in the over 40 age category in time to enjoy the soup and homemade cakes provided by Todmorden scouts as a fundraiser for this summer camp.
This weekend will be a busy one with the final fixture in the Stockport Schools Cross Country Competition which will be held in Woodbank Park for Primary School Children in school years 3-6 as well as the Grindleford Gallop, a 21 mile fell race in the White Peak which with over 3000ft of ascent is not for the faint-hearted.
The Midland Indoor Open will take place in Birmingham over the two days and there is the sixth and final fixture of the Sale Indoor Open at Sportcity to look forward to.