Tinkler was invincible as promotion moves closer

Nene Valley Harriers are looking well placed for a return to Division Three of the British Athletics League, after a fine performance in their League Two match at Bedford.

Two promotion places were up for grabs before the meeting last Saturday, but this has become one after Trafford AC won the day, and with it a step up a level for next season.

The Harriers finished as runners up, and sit second in the league well clear of the chasing pack with just one meeting remaining.

Sean Reidy and Philip Wilson got Nene Valley off to a flying start on the track with A and B string wins in the 400m hurdles, and this marked the beginning of a top afternoon on the track, one of the highlights being the 1500m in which James McCrae finished second with a 4.01.90 clocking, while Lloyd Kempson comfortably won the B race in 4:03.40.

Martin Tinkler was invincible again in the shot putt with a winning throw of 14.79.

The second longest thrower on the day was Ben Stephens of Nene Valley, who won the B contest with a distance of 13.53. Tinkler also won the discus.

Youngster Lee Addison was a winner in the B high jump with a 1.75m leap. Addison also picked up valuable points with third place in the long jump.

The final fixture of the campaign takes place on August 20 at Portsmouth.

PARK RUN

Parkrunner Phil Martin found himself in an unexpected tangle as he led the field round Ferry Meadows last Saturday.

With a big gap over the second placed runner, and just 400m left to run, first place was guaranteed for the Peterborough AC ace, but out of the blue he found himself entangled in a dog lead and the victim of a huge misunderstanding, despite heroically retiring from the run in an attempt to sort out the chaos which ensued.

A dog on an extended lead was in Martin’s path and he dodged onto the grass to avoid it, but the lead got wrapped round the parkrunner’s legs, and was wrenched from the hands of the dog’s owner, who tripped and fell to the ground.

The dog then went to jump in the lake, and the fleet footed Martin chased after it grabbing the lead.

The Orton based speedster then ran to get help, deciding this was more important than his own personal glory.

Despite his good samaritan act when pausing to help Martin became the victim of a misunderstanding as a lady arrived on the scene shouting at him ‘you’re a disgrace, it’s not the Olympics that could have been your grandad.’

Afterwards a bewildered Martin clearly felt hounded, saying: “I genuinely don’t think I did anything wrong other than shout ‘keep it on a short lead’ as the dog came chasing after me. I did everything I could to avoid it, but unfortunately the guy then tripped over. It shook me up a little.”

ST IVES 10K

Phil Martin had a better day on Sunday when he was part of a Peterborough AC one, two three in the St Ives 10k.

The race was won by Ben Heron with a 34:00 clocking. Martin finished second 17 seconds behind Heron while John Pike was third in 34.36.

Nene Valley’s Rob Brownlee came home fifth, crossing the line in 35:14.

WATFORD OPEN

Nene Valley’s James McCrae lowered his 800m PB to 1:53.58 when finishing third in a midweek meeting at Watford.

TheHertfordshirestadium is proving to be a happy hunting ground for the Harriers, and the same meeting saw teenagers Bradley Allen and Katie Porter improve on their quickest times. Allen took his 800m PB down to 2:04.77 and Porter clocked 62.75 over 400m.

Peterborough AC’S Lordie Bevan also reduced his 800m PB at Watford with a 1:58.51 clocking.