Harriers left smiling in Happy Valley run
STOCKPORT ruled the roost at the Foodbank 5K (race one of three) on in Happy Valley, Bramhall.
This race features a river crossing which was gladly welcomed by those taking part due to the recent heatwave but unsurprisingly (and disappointingly) the water was somewhat lower than usual.
The winner was Stockport’s very own Iain Murdoch 20:38. Second Harrier and 10th overall was Mike Nixon in 23:00.
First female was Stockport’s Under 20 Sofia Tavini in 24:19 and a great overall position of 21st.
Jennie Pickard, another Harrier, was second female and 28th overall out of the 158 finishers in a time of 25:16.
Both Stockport men and women picked up the winning team prizes with Isabel Brundrett and Steve Shaughnessy making up the third counters.
There was also a great turn out for the Under 11s 2K.
Will Bailey won in a great time of 07:41 with Freya Murdoch just 5 seconds off in second place. Ben Sturgess placed third overall and Freya’s partner in crime, Saffron Meade took second female and fourth overall.
Woodbank Stadium hosted the English Schools Combined Events Championships North West Regionals, the highest level Track and Field competition to be hosted in Stockport for many years.
Teams representing counties from across the North West descended on Woodbank, and simultaneously at venues in the other five regions, to compete for places in the September’s National Final in Bedford, with the winning teams in each category and top two athletes not in the winning team qualifying for the National Final.
With county teams made up of just four athletes, competition for places was strong yet Stockport Harriers was one of, if not the, best represented clubs there, with twelve athletes selected for county teams.
Just a few months after joining Stockport and, in only her second ever Combined Events competition, Lucy Robinson took silver in the Junior Girls Pentathlon.
Lucy was close to a personal best in the Hurdles but followed that with a below par Shot Put Throw.
After this, Lucy did a great job to focus on the High Jump with her best jump of the season and the best in the competition with 1.57m, followed by the highest scoring jump of the competition in the Long Jump, having fouled her first two jumps.
The day was finished with an 800m personal best of 2:37 in second place and first place and qualification for the National Final as part of the Cheshire Team.
Rebeca Cox who was competing for her county for just the second time, represented Greater Manchester in the Junior Girls Pentathlon finishing 12th and the second highest placed athlete in her School Year with 2402 Points that included a strong 800m and a Shot Put Throw personal best.
There was also a great performance by Abigail Pawlett who took gold in the Heptathlon in her first year in the Under 17 age Group.
This was only her second ever Heptathlon and just weeks after returning to full training following a four month period recovering from a hip injury that kept her out of the whole indoor season.
Abigail started with a Hurdles personal best of 11.49sec and led the competition from the first event to the seventh, qualifiying for September’s National Finals in Bedford where Abigail will compete for the first time in the Inter Girls competition having taken National Junior Gold last year.
Evie Wild finished fifth in the Heptathlon earning a place automatically to compete in Bedford.
Along the way she had personal best results in Hurdles, Long Jump & Javelin, very close to one in the Shot Put Throw, another solid performance in the High Jump and a brilliant run in the 800m to finish the weekend.
On Wednesday evening before the competition, a freak accident saw Emily ●●James Barnett was first Stockport Harrier in the Waters Wilmslow Half Marathon Misantoni in A&E with a sprained ankle and facing several weeks out and missing many of the key upcoming competitions. Despite this, thanks Emily’s courage and her commitment to the intense rehabilitation process she was able to get to the start line and, despite the further setback of scoring zero points in the javelin thanks to three no throws, finish fourth of the seventeen athletes, just missing the podium but contributing to her Cheshire Team winning the team competition and qualifying for the National Finals.
With her injury unknown to all but her teammates, Emily won her Hurdles heat, jumped a season’s best in the High Jump, threw a big personal best in the Shot Put Throw, won her 200m heat, set a season’s best and was just a centimetre shy of her personal best in the Long Jump and ran the fastest 800m in the competition.
Abigail Pawlett, Mia ●●Evie Wild performing the high jump on her way to a fifth place finish in Bedford Lowndes, Emily Misantoni and Sale’s Scarlett Whittaker, all competing for Cheshire, collectively won the team competition.
Representing the boys, Jack Doodson scored three consecutive personal bests in the High Jump to finish with 1.59m and a best of 2:32.00 in the 800m to finish 14th of 28 in his second Ever County representative competition and debut in the English Schools Combined Events Championships.
Sunday 24 June 2018 also saw the return of the Waters Wilmslow Half Marathon.
Conditions were very warm following the rearrangement from the cancelled March date.
The race was again won by Mohammad AbuRezeq of Altrincham & District AC in 1:06:44.
The first female runner was Sarah Lowery of Rotherham Harriers & AC. James Barnett was first Stockport Harrier over the line in 27th place in 1:16:44. Lesley Sinclair was first Stockport female and 2nd in her F55+ category in 1:38:01.
Finally, recognition needs to go to Lee Barratt and Neil Thompson who took on the infamous 66 mile Bob Graham Round on 22nd June after training and preparing for 20 months.
First done way back in 1932 by Bob Graham, the 42 Peak Round has become a testing ground for the supremely fit. Each summer around 100 of the most highly tuned ultradistance fell runners attempt the 27,000ft of ascent within the allotted 24 hours.
Only one in three return to the Keswick Moot Hall before the clock runs down.
Lee and Neil set off at 18:45 with support teams waiting at the end of every leg with food and clothing.
Unfortunately, Neil was unable to proceed past half-way but Lee succeeded in a feat of unbelievable endurance and despite suffering from nausea and agonising pain in his legs and feet, he completed the route in an amazing 23 hours.