Over 170 club members competed in almost 130 road races in 2002. The two races attracting the highest number of Harriers entrants were the Cranfield 5k and the Biddenham 10k with 63 Harrier finishers. The Blisworth 5 was the third most popular race with 52 Harriers. The Harriers running the most races in 2002 were Graham King, Chris Capps and Mike Bernard who each competed in 26 events.
The best individual race performance (as measured in terms of age grading) was Nick Berrill's run of 2:33:54 in the London marathon. Nick's equivalent age graded time was 82:41%. The best age graded time by a Harrier lady was Nicky Klabe's run in the Liverpool Half Marathon. Nicky's time of 1:21:38 equated to an age graded time of 80:60%. Another Harrier to score an age graded time in excess of 80:00% was Martin Leach in the Silverstone 10k. Martin's finished in 39:54 for an age graded run of 80:59%
Five ladies set new club best times in 2002. Nicky Klabe set new senior ladies best times at 5k, 10k, Half Marathon and Marathon. Veronica Singleton set new LV40 best times at 5k, 5m, 10k, 10m and the Marathon. Teresa Munns set new LV50 best times at 5k, 5m, 10k (twice), 10m and Half Marathon. Deirdre Bethune set a new LV50 best for the marathon. Margaret Martin set new LV55 best times at 5m, 10m and half marathon. Only one new club best time for the men was set. This was Colin Tranter's MV60 run in the Cranfield 5k.
Graham King was voted the 'Most Improved Runner of the Year' During 2002, Graham set new pb's at all distances from 5k to the Marathon. His best age graded performance of 78:24 was achieved in the Nene Valley 10 (62:48).
The Mens Road Race Championship was won by Nick Berrill with a total of 810 points from ten qualifying races. The Ladies Road Race Championship was won by Nicky Klabe with 794 points from ten races. In addition to winning the road race championship, Nick Berrill also won the mens 5k and 5m race championship, Paul Langford won the 10k championship and Kevin Willett won the 10m and Half Marathon championships. Nicky Klabe won all five of the ladies individual race championships from 5k to half marathon.
Graham King continued his excellent year with another pb in the third race of the Stevenage 5k series. Graham's time of 18:19 was a 12 second improvement on his previous best for the distance which was set at the second race in the Stevenage series on the 3rd December. Graham missed the club best time for a 5k by a V45 by just 2 seconds . Also running well at Stevenage was Steve Crane. Steve knocked 26 seconds of his previous 5k best time of 22:33 (which was also set in the second Stevenage 5k race on the 3rd December) to finish in 22:07. Another 5k improvement was recorded by Steve Gaunt whose time of 19:21 was a 27 second advance on his time in the 3rd December race.
The second and third places in both the men's and ladies championship have still to be decided. Graham King is currently second in the men's championship with 766.3 points closely followed by Colin Tranter with 761.4 points. Second in the ladies championship is Teresa Munns with 737.0 points, followed by Veronica Singleton with 725.3 points and Deirdre Bethune with 724.3 points. The Championship ends on the 31st December.
The third race in this season's Boss Trucks X-C League was hosted by the Harriers and held at Priory Country Park. Though it was the third scheduled race in the series, it was actually the first race to be successfully concluded as the first event had to be cancelled due to bad weather and the second race was declared void after a marshalling error.
300 runners from a dozen clubs participated in the yesterday's 5 mile race around the Park with the overall winners being Wootton who won both the men's and ladies races. The Harriers team finished in seventh place. Graham King was the first Harrier to finish and Teresa Munns was the first lady. A full set of Harriers positions will be posted shortly.
A record number of finishers - 551- and a new men's course record, were two of the highlights of this year's Gt Barford Half Marathon. The new course record was set by Benson Matheka of Muzino RC. Benson's time of 1:06:44, achieved in very cold and windy conditions, was a two minute improvement on the previous best for the race which was set five years ago. The second man to finish was William Musyoki, also from Muzino, in a time of 1:12:22. Paul Gregory of the Vale of Alyesbury, who finished second in the race last year, was the third man home on this occasion in 1:13:27.
The first lady to finish in a time of 1:18:50 was another Mizuno runner Catherine Mutwa. The second lady was Amanda Yorwerth of St Albans Striders in 1:23:04 and the third lady was Sally Baker, an unattached runner, in 1:26:11
The mens age category award were won by Roy Kellaway of Biggleswade AC (MV40), Dennis Tomlinson an unattached runner (MV45), Christopher Lamont of Stopsley Striders (MV50), Michael Welland of Oxford City AC (MV55), Mike Shipway of Woodstock Harriers (MV60) and Eric Davis of Riverside Runners (MV65). The Stopsley Striders team of Christopher Lamont, Bill Barrett and John Chapman won the men's team award.
The ladies age category awards were won by Samantha Tophill of Fairlands Valley (LV35), Suzanne Pritchard of St Albans Striders (LV40), Yvonne Rice Oxley of West 4 Harriers (LV45), Margaret Swithenby of Milton Keynes (LV50), Rosemary Muston also of Milton Keynes (LV55) and Iva Barr of Bedford Harriers (LV60). The St Albans Ladies team of Amanda Yorwerth, Suzanne Pritchard and Carole Mooney won the ladies team award.
Driving rain
accompanied 14 Harriers to Bretton, scene last year of a Harriers Ladies' team
win and Mens' 2nd team place. Fortunately the race started at 1pm by which time
the sun was nearly shining but a fresh wind was
around.
Performance wise, this was Kevin and Graham's day. Hitting the 5- mile mark in
29-10, Kevin went on to finish 15th of the 285 starters, clocking 58-59 -a pb
30sec quicker than his previous best of some 15 months' standing. Not far behind
in 26th place, Graham King covered the first 5 in 30-48,just 17sec short of his
5 - mile best! Clocking 62-48 Graham beat his 'Maidenhead Easter' time by 1m
52s. Coming 4 weeks after his splendid New York, this is ample evidence that
marathon training can improve strength and speed over shorter distances. Andy
Sewell, Martin Leach, and Derek Morrison all came up with in-form runs, while of
the more senior vets' ,Ray Evans in 72-31,running his first 10m for some time,
showed his form is still there, while Colin Liddiard, running his last race
before leaving Bedford to return to his former haunts in North London, added to
his recent string of much improved performances by running 74-00. The Harriers
Ladies section was well represented by spirited runs from Dee Bethune and Suet
Lua, the latter happily making the start-line after locating the ' suburb', of
Bretton by car some five minutes earlier!
Two pb's and the third man to finish were the highlights of the Harriers performances in this year's Luton Marathon. The first Harrier to finish and the third overall on the day was Nick Berrill in around 2:38:00. (Official results will be given as soon as available). Nick's last three marathons have been run between 2:32 and 2:38 - great stuff. The second Harrier to cross the line was Alistair Fadden in 3:22:00. Alistair's time was a three minute improvement on his previous best for the distance. Also getting a pb, and finishing in under 3 hours and 30 minutes for the first time was Terry McEwen. Terry's time of 3.27:00 was a 17 minute improvement of his previous marathon best of 3:40:00 which he ran at London in April. Well done also to Richard Piron who, having recently returned from a two week holiday, still ran 3:39:00.
The second race in the Boss Trucks X-C league at Northampton was declared void after half the field took the wrong route. The problem occurred half way through the 7k race. A steward was missing from a crucial turning point and around 50 to 60 of the leading runners ended up rushing onto the local golf course rather than turning left down a muddy path. By the time the runners realised their mistake and doubled back, they were too far behind the rest of the field to catch up. As a consequence, most of the leading runners finished outside the first 100.
This year's X-C league is not having much success as the first race in the series was cancelled because of high winds. The next race in the series, which is scheduled for December 15th, is being organised by the Harriers.
This year's Wolverton 5 was run in somewhat wet conditions. The rain started to come down heavily around ten to three and just as the race began at three o'clock, the heavens opened. Fortunately, the rain stopped shortly after and a number of Harriers ended up improving their pb's.
The first Harrier to finish was Nick Berrill in 26:35. (Nick's time was amazingly consistent with his run at Wolverton last year when he ran 26:36). The second Harrier to finish was Kevin Willett in 28.02 followed by Alistair Fadden who clocked 30:02. Among the Harriers getting Pb's were Terry McEwen who knocked around a minute off his previous 5 mile best to finish in 32:26 and Derek Morrison who improved his pb by around ten seconds to 32:57. Well done also to a number of runners who ran their first race for the Harriers including D. Thornton, G Hinde and C. Griffths.
It should be said that some Harriers had some criticism of the event. Though the race itself was as enjoyable as ever, no changing or showering facilities of any description were available for the runners and no mementos of any type were presented at the end of the race. Not particularly good value for an entry fee of £7.00 on the day
Six Harriers ran in the first race of the 3-race Stevenage 5k series. The first Harrier to finish and the sixth man overall on the night was Nick Berrill in an excellent 16:32. Nick's time was just 15 seconds below his best 5k of the year of 16:17 at Cranfield in July. The second Harrier to finish was Paul Mowbray in 18:30. Paul was running his first race for around six months following an injury. Steve Gaunt finished in 20:22 and Graham Bufton who is also coming back from an injury ran 20:49. Steve Crane and Lesley Barnes who each set new half marathon pb's at St Neots two days earlier, also got new 5k pb's. Steve finished in 22:42 and Lesley ran 23:31.
There were more notable performances by Harriers at the 1st running of the St Neots Half Marathon. The first Harrier to finish was Nicky Klabe. Out of 557 finishers, Nicky was 25th overall and the first lady on the day in 1:23:30. Nicky's success at St Neots was her second half marathon win in two weeks the first being at Stevenage on the 3rd November. The second Harrier to finish and 29th overall was Andy Sewell in 1:24:21. Andy's time was a new pb by 20 seconds. The 3rd Harrier to finish and the 57th overall was Mike Bernard who finished strongly in 1:28:15. Among the Harriers getting pb's were Steve Crane in 1:43:34 and Lesley Barnes in 1:46:53. Ian Marshall also ran his fastest half marathon for a number of years (1:31:47) and Gary Chester did well (1:32:34) in his first race for five years.
Kevin Willet and Nicky Klabe won the club's half marathon championship at Stevenage on Sunday. On a course which some find a bit difficult, Kevin was the 6th man to finish overall in a time of 1:20:35. Nicky who was the 3rd lady to finish overall in last year's race, was both the first lady Harrier and the 1st lady overall to cross the line this year in an improved time of 1:23:52.
The second Harrier to finish this year (and 10th overall in the race) was Tony Dadd in 1:22:05. Tony's time was a 7 min 10 secs improvement on his previous best for the distance which was set at Canterbury in 1993. The second lady Harrier to finish was Teresa Munns in 1:43:04. Teresa also collected one of the LV prizes. The third Harrier male and lady to finish were Andy Sewell and Lesley Barnes.
Among the Harriers gaining pb's were Colin Liddiard (1:41:57) and Chris Capps(1:44:08)
Four Harriers ran in Sunday's New
York marathon. The first to finish was Graham King in an excellent time of
3:09:31. Graham's time was a tremendous 40 minutes inside his previous best for
the distance of 3:50:00. Also doing exceptionally well was Norma King whose only
been running seriously for around 18 months. Norma achieved her ambition to run
a marathon by crossing the line in 5:41:45. Well done Norma.
Paul Langford and Richard Canvin completed the race in 3:39:29 and 3:38:44
respectively. Richard has apparently had a bet with a friend which involved him
paying £1 a mile if he was beaten. (£26,000 in all!). Don't yet know the outcome
of this.
Cross-country league
race 1 - Letchworth
- called off due to bad
weather
The first race in the 2002/2003 cross country season was called off due to bad weather. Click here for a report.
One race which did go ahead was the Fenland 10. The Harrier representative in this race was John Shearer who braved the howling wind to finish in 71:50, a good time under the circumstances.
Derek Morrison and Terry McEwen ran new pb's at the Daventry 6 and the Royal Engineers Half Marathon respectively. Derek completed the Daventry 6 in 40:24, a 1 min 35 secs improvement of his previous best for the distance. Meanwhile, Terry knocked around three minutes of his half marathon previous best to finish in 1:30:02 at the Royal Engineers race. Well done also to Jim Gannon who ran his first marathon at Amsterdam in a time of 4:50:52. Jim ran for MENCAP and raised quite a bit of money for them.
Also running well was Colin Tranter in the Cabbage Patch 10. Colin's time of 69:12 was his first sub 70 minute-10 mile for some time.
Seven Harriers ran the Ridgeway Run 15k. On a wet and windy day, which made running conditions difficult, Andy Sewell was the first Harrier to finish (and the 36th finisher overall) in 66:22. Just behind Andy was Stuart Bartlett in 66:54 followed by Neil Klabe in 69:24. The other Harriers running, Bill Billington, Deirdre Bethune, Jeanette Cheetham and Robert Cox all finished in under 90 minutes.
Robert Ogborne got a new pb in the Cambridge Wildlife Trust 10k. Robert, whose only been with the Harriers for a few weeks, knocked three and a half minutes off his previous pb to finish in 46:19. Other Harriers getting pb's at Cambridge included Gordon Sutcliffe, (46:20), David Sutcliffe (46:58), Vic Byer (48:56) and Liz Byer (51:49). Chris Capps, who ran his first race for a few weeks, finished in a respectable 44:07.
A belated well done to Kevin Willet who ran 60:26 for the Goose Fair 10 on 22nd September. Kevin was the 10th person to finish overall.
Newcastle and Standalone were the two main races run by Harriers on Sunday 6th October. Around a dozen Harriers did the Gt North with the first to finish being Nicky Klabe in 1:22:38. Nicky, who ran in the elite ladies group, was the 22nd lady overall in the race. Good performances were also achieved by Steve Crane (1:45:28) and Graham Short (1:42:00) who both got pb's.
19 Harriers ran in the Standalone 10k.The first to finish was Mike Bernard in 39.27 followed by Paul Roberts in 40:24 and Martin Leach in 40:46. Veronica Singleton was the first lady Harrier to finish in 43:22. Gary Fuller (45:44) got a pb.
The 2002 Road Race Championship has only three months left to run. Nicky Klabe continues to lead the championship with 792 points from 10 races. Graham King is in second place with 757.9 points from ten races followed by Teresa Munns in third place with 732.8 points from ten races. The main challenge to Nicky comes from Nick Berrill who has 724.8 points from nine races.
Over 50 Harriers ran in this year's Biddenham 5k & 10k races. The event, which has only been run for a few years, also attracted its largest entry so far, with 415 people finishing in the 10k and 81 finishing in the 5k. The overall winner of the men's race was Matt Janes in 32:44 with the overall winner of the ladies race being Mary Caprini in 42.00. The 5k race was won by Ben Webster in 17:55.
The first two Harriers to finish in the 10k were Kevin Willett in 36:27 and Tony Dadd in 36:50. The last time Tony ran a 10k was back in 1995 at Dartford when he finished in 40:24. Biddenham was a new pb for Tony therefore by three and a half minutes. Other Harriers getting pbs included Graham Short who knocked around four minutes off his previous best to finish in 43:21, Zoe Willett who improved her time over last year's Biddenham 10k also by around four minutes to finish in 53:20 and Gerry Kinsella who ran 46:22. Other Harriers improving their times over the 2001 Biddenham race including Mike Bernard, Ray Evans, Jeanette Cheetham, and Lynne Gingell.
Malcolm McEwen recently ran an interesting half marathon at Club La Santa. Apparently, the entry consisted of just five runners (must be the smallest field ever) with the total number of marshals - including starter, water stations, finish funnel and time keeper, numbering no more than three. Perhaps not surprisingly, there was little in the way of crowd support. The good news however is that Malcolm achieved his best ever finishing position in a race (3rd male, 4th overall) in a time of 1:58:06. Brilliant stuff. Well done that man!
Well done to Jim Gannon who got a new pb in the Diss 15. Jim's time of 1:57:49 was a 6 minute improvement on his previous best for the distance. Jim's other pb's this year include a new 10 mile best at Leighton Buzzard and a new half marathon best at Grunty Fen.
Eight Harriers ran in this year's Robin Hood (Nottingham) Half including Andy Sewell and Jack Chana who have done some travelling to races over the previous two Sundays - Liverpool on the 1st September and Portsmouth on the 8th. The Nottingham race is one of the UK's most popular attracting an entry an entry of around 10,000. However, the course is difficult in parts and not easy to get a pb on.
Andy was the first Harrier to finish in 1:225:53 while Jack completed in 1:48:09. Derek Morrison and Chris Cottam who also both ran in the Liverpool Half finished in 1:33:21 and 1:46:19 respectively. Also running at Nottingham were Ian Marshall (1:42:17) and Alex Rothwell (1:54:09). Kelly Grant had a good run (1:41:26) and Debbie Hylton completed in 2:14:34.
Swineshead was once again the venue for this year's 10 mile championship club race. Around 30 Harriers ran in the race including a sizeable number who were experiencing the course for the first time.
The first Harrier to finish and the third man overall was Kevin Willett in exactly 60.00. The first lady to finish and the fourth finisher overall was Nicky Klabe in 62:34. The third Harrier to finish was Alistair Fadden in 64:30 followed by Mike Bernard in around 65:30. The second and third lady Harriers to finish were Teresa Munns and Viv Kilgour. Kevin, Nicky and Alistair won the team award and Richard Whiteman won the second MV50 prize.
All the results of the Swineshead 10 are expected to be published in this Friday's Times & Citizen.
There was more success for the Harriers at this year's Liverpool Half Marathon. In a race run in near perfect conditions, pride of place once again went to Nicky Klabe who was the third lady to finish in a new pb and club best time of 1:21:38. Nicky was only beaten by two internationals, one from Kenya and one from Russia. Out of a total field of some 2,500 runners. Nicky was the first British women to complete.
The race also produced some tremendous performances by other Harriers. Mike Barnard had a particularly good run and finished in 1:24:43, a new pb. Andy Sewell ran a very respectable 1:26:13 (despite experiencing some problems during the race) and Derek Morrison and Neil Klabe clipped around a minute and two minutes respectively off their previous best's for the distance. Liz and Vic Byer similarly ran their fastest half marathons to date and Chris Cottam improved his time over last year's race by a couple of minutes. Jack Chana who competed in his third race in seven days, also ran well to finish in 1:44:31.
Nicky Klabe is the new leader of the 2002 Road Race Championship. Seven months into this year's championship, Nicky has run her ten qualifying race and currently has an overall age graded score of 782.8 points (or an average of 78.2% per race.) In second position is Graham King with an age graded score of 753.3 points from ten races followed in third place by Deirdre Bethune with 723.4 points from ten races. In third place in the ladies championship is Teresa Munns with 588.1 points from eight races. In second and third places in the men's championship are Mike Bernard (642.1 points from nine races) and Neil Lovesey (640.2 points from nine races).
2002 Championship - Leading Positions (July)
| Runner |
Under 10 Miles |
10 Miles & over |
Half Marathon & Over |
Champ Races |
Champ Points |
| Nicky Klabe | 6 | 4 | Yes | 10 | 782.8 |
| Graham King | 6 | 4 | Yes | 10 | 753.3 |
| Deirdre Bethune | 6 | 4 | Yes | 10 | 723.4 |
| Mike Barnard | 3 | 6 | Yes | 9 | 642.1 |
| Neil Lovesey | 5 | 4 | Yes | 9 | 640.2 |
| Chris Capps | 6 | 4 | Yes | 10 | 639.0 |
| Colin Tranter | 6 | 2 | Yes | 8 | 605.3 |
| Jack Chana | 3 | 6 | Yes | 9 | 590.0 |
| Bill Bethune | 6 | 4 | Yes | 10 | 590.0 |
| Teresa Munns | 6 | 2 | Yes | 8 | 588.1 |
There was an excellent turnover by the club in the annual Harriers handicap race which was run in Bedford Park. The race was staged over a 4.1K course with the handicap being just over 12 minutes. On a glorious summer's night, the first to finish in an overall time of 24:00 mins was Kate Draper. Second was Paul Berry in 24:09 and third was Teresa Weaving in 24:14. The third lady to finish was Victoria Barnes in 25:16 and the second and third men were Mike O'Hara in 24:24 and Robert Cox in 24:57.
The fastest man on the night was John Shearer who completed in 14:37, second fastest male was Richard Piron in 14:45 and third fastest male was Alistair Vile in 15:26. The fastest lady was Veronica Singleton who finished in 16:09 followed by Lisa North in 16:22 and Lesley Barnes in 18:10.
All participants completed the handicap within four minutes of each other.
Many thanks to David Sutcliffe who organised the event superbly well. Many thanks also to those who helped marshal the race.
Over 50 Harriers ran in this year's Blisworth 5, the Club's 5-mile championship race. The first Harrier to finish in a time of 26:59 was Nick Berrill. Second was Kevin Willett in 28:04 and third was Alistair Fadden in 30:02. The first lady Harrier to finish and the 5th overall was Nicky Klabe in 30:10. The second lady Harrier to finish was Veronica Singleton in a new lv40 club best time of 32:49. Veronica, who clipped more than one and a half minutes of the previous lv40 best time for the distance, also won the 1st lv40 award. Also setting a new club best time was Margaret Martin. Margaret's run of 49:36 was a new best for the lv55 category.
Many other Harriers ran exceptionally well and achieved new 5 mile pb's. Included were Graham King who got under 31 minutes (30:36), Neal Lovesey (31:06), Neal Klabe (32:20) and Terry McEwen (33:10).
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Simon Fisher recently competed in the 2002 USA Ironman contest at Lake Placid. On a tough course with challenging weather conditions, Simon finished in 709th place out of 1, 751 competitors. The event consists of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and a marathon. Simon clocked 1:23:13 for the swim, 6:36:37 for the bike ride and 4:12:38 for the marathon. His overall time was 12:38:13. Tremendous stuff!
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Graham King continued his tremendous run of PB's at the Hook Norton 6. Graham's time of 37:41 was a one minute improvement on his previous best for the distance of 38:41 which was set at Rugby in May.
Six Harriers team took part in this year's Stevenage Relays. Pride of place went to the Senior Ladies Team of Nicky Klabe, Lisa North and Eugenie Carr who won the overall ladies race (for the second year in succession) and also the Beds County Championships. The Vets Ladies 'A' team of Veronica Singleton, Teresa Munns and Jacqui Furr, won the Beds Vets County Championship and the Vets Ladies 'B' team of Christine Armstrong, Angie Kay and Leslie Barnes were 3rd place in the Vets County Championships.
The Senior Men's Team of Kevin Willett, Alistair Fadden, Paul Langford, Franck Monmont and Steve Gaunt all recorded good times and finished 3rd in the County Champs. The men's Vets team of Andy Sewell, Richard Piron, Neil Lovesey, Graham King and Brian McCallen were 2nd in the Vets County Champs. The senior men's 'B' team of Mike Bernard, Martin Leach, Neil Klabe, Alistair Vile and Graham Bufton (who ran his first race for some time) all recorded good times.
It was another successful day for the Harriers at the Milton Keynes Half Marathon. Nick Berrill ran 1:15:44 and was 3rd man to finish overall. Nicky Klabe ran 1:22:41 and was the 2nd lady to finish. Nicky's time was a pb and also a new senior ladies club best time. Other Harriers running included Mike Bernard (1:33:27) Martin Leach (1:35:32), Jim Gannon (1:46:47), Vic Byer (1:56:58), Deirdre Bethune (1:58:58) and Liz Byer (2:04:57).
Over 60 Harriers in the Cranfield 5k, the Club's 5k Championship race. The first Harrier to finish was Nick Berrill in 16:17. Nick's time was almost half a minute faster than his only other 5k race this year, Blisworth in May. The second Harrier to finish was Paul Langford in 17:42 followed by Franck Monment in 17:48. Paul's time was his fastest run over the distance since his 2000 Cranfield 5k of 17:28.
The first lady Harrier to finish and the third lady overall on the night was Nicky Klabe in 18:07. Nicky's time was a new pb and and a new club best time. The second and third lady Harrier finishers were Eugenie Carr (20.00) and Veronica Singleton (20:16) who also won the LV40 prize. Veronica recorded a new lv40 club best for the distance while Teresa Munns got a new lv50 club best time of 22:07 (and a pb) and Colin Tranter recorded a new mv60 club best of 20:38. Both Veronica and Teresa won Beds County Prizes and Nicky, Eugenie and Veronica won the ladies team prize.
Many Harriers including Neil Lovesey, Graham King, Tony Parello, Neil Klabe and Chris Capps got PB's. Many of the beginners, who joined the club in April, ran their first race.
After six months of the 2002 road racing year, this year's Road Race Championship is being to take shape. Currently leading the Championship is Graham King with 748.3 age graded points from his ten qualifying races. In second place is Deirdre Bethune with 718.3 points from ten races followed by Nicky Klabe in third place with 700.5 points from nine qualifying races.
In the Championship, a maximum of 10 Age-graded scores per runner are calculated from official race times.
At least 4 of the events must be at 10 miles & over including at least one race at half marathon or over.
At least 4 of the events must be at under 10 miles including at least one race at 6 miles or over.
No more than 3 events at any one distance.
The age graded performances of all Harriers taking part in road races are now being posted on the site with times up to the end of June now available..
The highest age graded performances so far this year have been by Nick Berrill. Nick has produced age graded runs of 80+% in four of his five qualifying races up to the end of June. His best performance was in the London Marathon where his time of 2:33:54 equated to an age graded score of 82:41%. The only other Harrier to record an age-graded score of 80+% in a race so far this year is Martin Leach. Martin's time of 39:54 in the Silverstone 10k, represented an age graded equivalent of 80:59%. After Nick and Martin, the best age graded performances this year have been by Nicky Klabe. Nicky's best run was in the Silverstone 10k with her time of 37:45 representing an age graded equivalent of 79:25%.
The eighth and final race in this year's East Midland Grand Prix Series took place at Milton Keynes. The first Harrier to finish in a time of 35:36 was Kevin Willett. Kevin's time was a new PB by around 10 seconds. The second Harrier to finish was Nicky Klabe in a new Senior Ladies club best time (and pb) of 37:30. Nicky was the fourth lady to finish at Milton Keynes and the third lady overall in the series. Also establishing a new club best for 10k was Veronica Singleton. Veronica's time of 41:37 clipped almost two minutes of the previous LV40 best for the distance. Another lady Harrier to have a good Grand Prix Series was Eugenie Carr who finished in fourth place overall
Nicky Klabe and Paul Langford were the winners of this year's 10k championship race at Dunstable. Nicky was the first Harrier to finish (and the first lady overall) in a time of 38:23. Paul finished in 38:29 just ahead of Graham Horne (38:35) and Alistair Fadden (38:35). Teresa Munns (47:16) won a lady vets prize. Well done also to Graham Short who knocked almost 5 mins of his previous pb to finish in 44:26. 28 Harriers ran in the race.
The inaugural running of the three-day Colworth Marathon Challenge proved to be a big success. The Challenge, consisted of a 5-mile race on the Friday, an 8-mile trail race on the Saturday and a half marathon on the Sunday. The overall winner of the event was Paul Pudney who won all three races and completed the Challenge in a time of 2:33:32. Second in the 5-mile race and also the 8-mile trail race was Harrier Nick Berrill in times of 27:39 and 49:38 respectively. Nicky Klabe was the 1st lady to finish in the 5-mile race (30:42) and the 1st lady to finish in the half marathon (1:27:38).
Nearly 40 Harriers ran in one or more of the races. The first Harrier to finish all three races was Kevin Willett in 2:49:23. Kevin finished third overall. The second Harrier to finish and also fifth overall was Alistair Fadden in 3:02:22. The third Harrier to finish and also seventh overall was Andy Sewell in 3:04:46. The other Harriers completing all three races were Richard Piron (3:06:20), Richard Whiteman (3:11:51 & 1st MV50), Derek Morrison (3:18:00), Colin Bennetts (3:27:49), Gary Fuller (3:36:37), Jack Chana (3:45:41), Gary Denton (3:49:27), Shaun Trotter (3:52:57), Ian Kingstone (3:59:30), Chris Cottam (4:02:21), Gary Horsman (4:07:21), Lynne Gingell (4:09:39) and Jackie Bullard (4:10:02).
The Challenge will be held again next year with the dates already set at 20th/22nd June 2003. Organiser Richard is hoping to get a major Unilever Company to sponsor the event and to advertise the race more widely.
Colworth 5: Colworth 8-mile Trail Race: Colworth Half Marathon
The penultimate race in this year's 8-race Grand Prix Series took place at Market Harborough. The first Harrier to finish and the 3rd lady on the night was Nicky Klabe in 30:11. Nicky knocked almost a minute off her time in last year's Harborough race. Graham Horne was the second Harrier to finish in 30:18 and Graham King the third home in 31:32. Graham K's time was a two minute improvement on his 2001 Harborough run. Also running well was John Shearer who finished in 32:18 and Neil Klabe who ran 32:41 and got another pb. Chris Capps ran his 3rd race in 5 days and finished in 35:38. Bill Bethune's time of 43:06 was a minute and a half up on last year.
There was more Harriers success in the Banbury 5, the sixth race in the 8-race Grand Prix Series. The second lady to finish on the night was Nicky Klabe in 30:13. Nicky's time was a 30 second improvement on her performance in last year's Banbury race. The third lady to finish at Banbury was Eugenie Carr in 32:00. ( Eugenie also finished in 4th place at the Bedford 6 and in 2nd place at the Weedon 10k). The first Harrier to finish overall at Banbury was Graham Horne in a new pb of 30:08. Also continuing to run well is Neal Klabe who improved his 5-mile pb again to finish in 32:47.
Nine Harriers ran in the Weedon 10k, the hilliest and some might say toughest, of the 8-race Grand Prix Series. The first Harrier to finish was Graham Horne in 38:57. The second Harrier, and the second lady overall on the night, was Eugenie Carr in 40:51. Gary Fuller had a good run and knocked 10 seconds off his pb to finish in 46:50. Graham King (41:51), Veronica Singleton (43:12) and Bill Bethune (56:00) also all had good runs and recorded faster times than in 2001.
Graham King is the early leader in the 2002 road race championship. Graham has already run ten qualifying races this year and amassed 740 age graded points. The second man in the championship is Mike Barnard (562 points from 8 races) followed by Jack Chana (526 points from 8 races). Leading the ladies table is Teresa Munns with 586 points for 8 races. The second lady is Deirdre Bethune (575 points from 8 races) with Nicky Klabe in third place (543 points from 7 races). The Championship runs through to the 31st December.
In a new development, all Harriers age graded race times will now be published on the website. Age graded times to the end of May, are already available. A separate table which lists age graded times of 75%+ is also given. Both tables will be updated on a monthly basis.
Many thanks to Graham King and David Sutcliffe who have undertaken all the work and produced all the figures.
37 Harriers ran in this year's Bedford 6, the largest contingent from any club. The race also attracted the most Harrier entrants of any race so this year.
Following the withdrawal due to injury during the race of Nick Berrill, the first Harrier home was Nicky Klabe in a new pb of 36:49. Nicky was the 3rd lady to finish on the night. The first man to finish was Stuart Bartlett in 37:30 followed by the improving Mike Bernard in around 38:01. Neil Lovesey also had a good run finishing in 38:29. Running well also was Eugenie Carr who's recently rejoined the Harriers after a couple of year's break. Eugenie was the 4th lady overall in 38:43. Among those getting PB's were Neil Klabe who finished in 39:28 (his fourth pb in his last four races), Kevin Bullard (45:52), Jackie Bullard (47:07) and Teresa Munns (44:38).
Chris Proud came tenth in his age
group in the European Duathlon Championships at Zeitz in Germany. The Duathlon
consisted of an 11k run, a 44k bike ride and a 6k run. Chris's total time for
the event was 2:35:57 with his splits being 44:48, 1:23:57 and 26:30
respectively for the three stages of the race.
Deirdre Bethune was the 1st lv50 finisher (from 21 in her age group) in the Capitol Hill Classic in Washington DC. Deirdre's time of 47:17, was more than three and a half minutes ahead of the 2nd lv50. Bill Bethune ran 54:42 and was the 48th finisher from 78 in his age group.
There was more success for the Harriers at the Rockingham Speedway 5, the 3rd race in the 2002 East Midlands Grand Prix Series. The inaugural running of the Rockingham 5 (which has taken over from the old Corby 5) covered two laps of the Speedway course.
The first Harrier to finish, in a tremendous time of 26:39, was Nick Berrill. Nick was 10th overall on the night. Nicky Klabe was the second Harrier to finish and the 3rd lady overall in 30:17. Nicky's time was less than 10 seconds outside her pb. Neil Klabe also ran well (33:01) and got his 3rd pb in his last three races. Graham King similarly did well, despite suffering from flu and Chris Capps ran his first 5-mile race. Deirdre Bethune also had a good run and was the first LV50 to finish on the night.
On a sunny but breezy day, 3 harriers ran at Eye. The course was fairly flat but testing. The runners had the wind in their faces for the first 4K before turning home with no wind and high temperatures. Times were down for most competitors because of the heat. However Jacinta Horne, following on from her success in the Blisworth 5k when she knocked 6 mins of her previous best for that distance, lowered her 10k best time by another 2 mins 11 secs to 51:02. (Jacinta's previous 10k best time had been set at the Daffodil in March). Two other Harriers ran at Eye. Neil Lovesey finished in 40:45 and Chris Capps ran 45:41.
Nicky Klabe, in a time of 37.00 mins, was the 2nd lady to finish in the Rugby 6, the second race in the eight-race Grand Prix Series. In the first race in the series, the Silverstone 10k, Nicky had been the fifth lady finisher. Also continuing to run well is Graham King. Graham's time of 38:41 was a 26 secs improvement on his previous best for the distance which was set at Bedford back in 1998. Another PB was gained by Neil Klabe. Neil's time of 39:59, was a 1 min 38 secs improvement on his run in last year's Rugby 6. Alastair Vile, who was running his third race in a week, had another good run and completed the distance in 41:53.
Husband and wife team, Martin & Liz Yelling won the Laser Care Cranfield 10k on Sunday. Pride of place went to Beds & County's Liz Yelling who broke the old course record by 10 seconds to finish in 34:05. Martin Yelling, running for Team Milton Keynes, ran 31:28. The men's course record of 30:10, which was set by Hugh Jones over ten years ago, still stands.
The second and third men over the line, Bedford Harriers Nick Berrill and North Herts Paul Pearce, fought a close finish with Nick prevailing by just one second to finish in 33:53 to Paul's 33:54. The men's vet awards were won by Mark Booth (Milton Keynes), Brian White (Fairland Valley Spartans), Alan Webb (Midland Vets), Derek Myall (North Herts) and Ken Wilford (Beds & County). Team Milton Keynes won the men's team prize.
The second and third ladies to finish after Liz Yelling were Jane Wilson in 41:43 and Vicki Gibbs of Northampton Road Runners in 43:21. The ladies vet awards were won by Kari Ann Cowan (Beds & County), Yvonne White, Nina Souster, Margaret Swinthenby of Milton Keynes and Margaret Crowe also of Milton Keynes. Beds & County won the ladies team prize.
25 Bedford Harriers ran in the race. The second and third Harriers to finish after Nick Berrill were Mike Bernard in 39:53 and Graham King in 40:51.The first lady Harrier to finish was Jackie Bullard in 50:04. A number of Harriers substantially reduced their personal best times for the distance including Jane Sizer who knocked around 9 minutes off her old best time.
Two new club best times were set at the Blisworth 5k. Teresa Munns set her 3rd new LV50 club best time of 2002 with a run of 22:33 and Colin Tranter set a new mv60 club best time of 21:08.
The first Harrier to finish in the race and the 10th overall was Nick Berrill in an excellent time of 16:44. Jacinta Horne also had a very good run and knocked six minutes off her old PB with a time of 23:36
A new senior ladies club best time was set at the Silverstone 10k and many other Harriers got new PB's. The new club best time was set by Nicky Klabe. Nicky's time of 37:45 was a 38 secs improvement on the previous club best time of 38:23 which was also set by Nicky at Milton Keynes last year. Nicky was the fifth lady to finish on the night.
Franck Monment was the first Harrier to finish in 36:18. Second was Alistair Fadden in a new pb of 36:57 and third was Graham Horne in 37:37. Graham King knocked 1 min 4 secs off his old pb to finish in 38:40, Paul Mowbray ran 38:56 and Mark Cook finished in 38:59 which was another PB. Others running the distance faster than ever before included Chris Capps in 43:46 (a 4 mins 4 secs improvement), Neil Klabe 41:15, Mark Holland 45:11, and Debbie Bilham 50:04..
16 Harriers ran in the Leighton Buzzard 10. The first Harrier to finish was Alistair Fadden in 64:56. Mike Barnard, running his 8th race of the year and just two weeks after first marathon, was the second Harrier home in 67:40. Jim Gannon also had a good run and improved his pb by 6 mins 7secs to 76:55.
Excellent performances by the Harriers in the Stevington 7.5. Dave Briggs and Tony Dadd were joint winners in 45:25 and Richard Piron was the 1st vet to finish in 45:50.
At the Neolithic Half Marathon in Salisbury, Andy Sewell was the fourth man overall to finish in 1:27:13. Andy's carrying an injury at the moment so this was a good run.
Report by David Sutcliffe
Cathie goes ‘the extra mile’. Dubious club record for ‘supercrocks’.
Hemingford Grey is better known for its ‘Country Life’ image and as the home of retired Prime Ministers, rather than as a scene of athletic achievement. Unfazed by such trivia the Harriers Ladies team cruised home in third place in their section of this 3 X 3K event despite having mustered only two runners. So Beds & County, in complying with the rules by having three runners, thus took third-place medals, having finished in fourth place by a distance equal to the length of Hemingford Grey High Street plus that of John Major’s front garden.
LADIES 35+
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MEN 60+
The Harriers’ M60 team picked up awards for the fifth time in five visits to championship events, but were unable to hold a rejuvenated Milton Keynes team who came back strongly after losing out in the last encounter at the Eastern Vets cross-country. However, the team were able to claim a club a club record of a somewhat unusual nature – an age aggregate of 200 years!!
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VETERANS ONLY EVENTS
Harriers teams compete in three or four Veterans’ events each year, though many more events are available for those who like to travel further either around the U.K .or abroad.
NEXT EVENT is likely to be the ‘British Vets’ 5k championship, a competitive and enjoyable event held last year at the Open University. Details are awaited for this year.
LOCALLY, Beds & County will be hosting three Track and Field meetings ,open to all veterans, with races at distances up to 3000m. See Harriers Race-book or Beds & County notice-board for details.
Theresa Munns had another good run in the Nuneaton 10k on Sunday. Theresa's time of 45:57 was just four seconds outside her own pb and also the club's LV50 best time of 45:53 which she set at Whittlesey at the start of the month. Theresa also set a new LV50 half Marathon best of 1:41:38 at Brighton in February.
There were 32,536 finishers in this year's London Marathon. 24,768 men and 7,768 ladies. The first Harrier to finish was Nick Berrill in 2:33:54. Nick was the 89th finisher overall in the race and the 78th man. A tremendous run. (Nick's own pb is 2:28:01).The first Harrier lady to finish and the 106th lady overall was Nicky Klabe in 3:10:27. Nicky's time was a new pb and a new senior ladies club best time. Nicky's time should give her a start among the elite ladies next year.
Two other new club best times were set. Veronica Singleton established a new LV40 best of 3:18:36 and Deirdre Bethune recorded a new LV50 best (and pb) of 3:49:23.
Other Harriers getting close to 3 hours included Morgan Walters: 3:01:39, Andy Sewell: 3:08:02, Bill Jordan: 3:08:34 and Tony Parello: 3:08:49. Andy's time was a new pb by 2 mins 48 secs. Cliff Smith also had a good run to finish in 3:20:18.
Among other Harriers getting PB's were Mick Inskip by 2 mins to 4:13:43 and Gary Horsman by 18 mins to 4:13:44. Gary's run was his fourth successive pb. Alice Edwards knocked 27 mins of her previous marathon best to run 3:53:22 and Gary Fuller improved his old pb by a whooping 1 hour 23 mins to 3:57:38. Martin Lambourne and Neil Klabe also recorded best times over the distance.
Well done also to those Harriers who ran their first marathons: Matt Burgin: 3:12:06, Debbie Bilham: 4:33:35 and Chris Williams:4:48:05.
The Harriers took part in the Southern Counties Men's 12 Stage and Women's 6 Stage Road Relays at Milton Keynes. The Men's race consisted of 6-stages of 7.9K and 6-stages at 5.5K. The Women's race consisted of 6-stages of 5.5K.
Alistair, Stuart, Matt, Tony, Richard and Paul ran the longer legs and Graham Horne, Graham King, Neil, Andy, Steve and Brian ran the shorter stage. All did well with Matt finishing his Longer stage in under 30 mins and Graham and Andy completing their short stages in under 21 mins. The ladies team included Nicky, Veronica, Kathy, Christine and Kelly. Again all ran well including Nicky who finished her 5.5K stage in 20:23 and 11th place and Veronica who performed exceptionally well.
56 teams started the Men's race and the Harriers came 46th. 35 teams started the Women's race and the Harriers ladies came 22nd.
Many thanks to Steve Gaunt who organised the Harriers entry.
24 Harriers ran in this year's Sandy 10. Paul Mowbray was the first from the Club to finish in a new pb of 66:07. Mike Bernard and Martin Leach were the 2nd and 3rd Harriers to finish in 66:12 and 67:58 respectively. Jo Sawyers with 72:00 was the 1st Harrier lady. Deirdre Bethune won the lv50 prize with a time of 78:03 and Chris Capps and Jacinta Horne got PB's.
The Harriers won the Sandy 10 Erlensee Cup for the second year in succession for having the highest numbers of finishers (24) in the race.
Malcolm McEwen, ran the Bungay Black Dog Marathon on 7th April, the first our four Marathons Malcolm intends to run on successive Sundays over the next four weeks. The others are London, Shakespeare and Fort William.
Teresa Munns, whose running better than ever at the moment, got a new pb and established her second lv50 club best time of the year at the Whittlesey 10k. Teresa time of 45:53 was over half a minute faster than her best 10k run in 2001 of 46:36 at Cambridge. It was also over two minutes up on the previous lv50 10k club best time of 48:08 which was set by Deirdre Bethune at Milton Keynes in 1999.
Well done also to Colin Tranter who recorded a very respectable 42:17 at Whittlesey.
(Teresa puts her improved running down to the removal or wheat/ bread from her diet. Worth thinking about).
Graham King's fine run of form continued in the Easter Friday Maidenhead 10. Graham's time of 64:40 was a 24 second improvement on his previous best of 65:04 which was set at Nene Valley in December 2001.
181 runners finished this year's Oakley 15. The first man to finish in a time of 1:25:58 was Nick Berrill of Bedford Harriers. Second, two and a half minutes behind in 1:28:33 was Paul Pudsey of Liverpool Pembroke & Sefton. Third was Andrew Inchley of Leighton Buzzard in 1:34:54.
The ladies race was won by Nicky Klabe of Bedford Harriers in 1:36:01, a new course record. The second lady, just under 11 minutes behind was Louise Prole of Bedford Police in 1:47:48. The third lady in 1:48:09 was Veronica Singleton of Bedford Harriers.
The men's team prize was won by the Inchley brothers - Andrew, Thomas and Tim - of Leighton Buzzard AC. The ladies team prize was won by Bedford Harriers - Nicky Klabe, Veronica Singleton and Deirdre Bethune.
Click here for a list of all the Award Winners.
33 Harriers ran in the race and many improved their time's over last year. Nick Berrill ran 1 minute 38 secs faster than 2001 and Nicky Klabe's time was a 5 minute improvement. Tony Parello, who was the third Harrier to finish, improved his 2001 time by six minutes to 1:40:15; Andy Sewell improved his time by four minutes to 1:40:21; Richard Piron was a minute faster at 1:41:42; Jack Chana's time of 1:57:00 was a six minute improvement; Veronica Singleton's time of 1:48:09 was four minutes faster, Deirdre Bethune's time of 2:08:39 was seven minutes quicker, Mike Barnard upped his time by two minutes to 1:42:32, Gary Horsman ran five minutes faster at 2:13:29 and Ian Kingstone was a minute faster at 2:17:25. Chris Capps also knocked around eight minutes off his previous best for the distance and Andrea Ranson was seven minutes quicker. Debbie Bilham also had an excellent run to finish in 2:10:43. The largest improvement however, by over 20 minutes to 1:50:01 was by Neil Klabe.
Click here for all the Harriers times.
Six Harriers ran in the Bath Half Marathon, a race which incorporated the UK Half Marathon Championships. The first Harrier to finish was Anna Berrill in 1:23:56. Anna was the 16th lady to finish and 171st overall from a field of more than 3,250 runners. The second Harrier home, the 18th lady on the day and the 180th finisher overall was Nicky Klabe in 1:24:23. The first Harrier male to finish was Tony Parello in a new pb of 1:24:56. Graham Horne did 1:26:44, Neil Klabe finished in a new pb of 1:35:59 and Colin Welch improved his pb by over 2 mins to record an official time of 1:48:49
Eight Harriers ran in the Peterborough Half. First to finish was Alastair Fadden in 1:23:54. Simon Fisher, Graham King and Mike Barnard all ran between 1:27 and 1:28 and Zac Hollis just missed going under 1:30:00 for the first time. The first four Harrier runners were the sixth team.
Fourteen Harriers ran in this year's Hemel 10. The first Harrier to finish (and the 44th overall from a field of 783) was Nicky Klabe in 63:33. Nicky was the 3rd lady to finish on the day and the 2nd senior lady. Despite the strong winds, a number of Harriers improved their times over their Hemel 10 runs in 2000. Teresa Munns for example, was a minute and a half faster and Jack Chana was seven minutes faster.
Two new club best times were set at the race. Teresa Munns set a new LV50 best for 10 miles of 78:24 and Margaret Martin set a new LV55 best for 10 of 109:09.
Hemel was also the fifth and last race in the 2001/2002 Eastern Road League series. Pleased to report that the Harriers picked up both the men's and ladies team awards. Many individual awards were also won including Nicky Klabe who was the overall winner of the ladies race. More details of the E.R.L.awards will be posted as soon as available.
Seven Harriers took part in this year's Grizzly race. Grizzly is a tough event and this year's race, which was run over a distance of around 18 miles, was made worse by the strong winds. The first Harrier to finish in 2:34:16 was Richard Piron. Richard also finished in 139th position out of a total field of 1306. Next came Andy Sewell in 150th position, Cliff Smith came 226th, Graham King was 259th, Viv Kilgour was 360th, David Holt was 361th and Colin Bennetts was 700th.
Both Richard and Andy improved their finishing positions considerably over their 2001 finishing places. (247th position and 246th position respectively last year). Graham King's finishing position in 1999 - 840th - was also substantially lowered this year.
Graham King, who had an excellent running year in 2001, gained his first PB of 2002 in the Fenland Half. Graham's time of 1:26:02 was a 2 mins 11 secs improvement on his previous best for the distance which was set in Amsterdam in October 2001. Graham was also among the first 15 to finish in the race and second in his age category. His age graded score for the event was 76:02%.
A good run and a new club best time for the Half Marathon was set by Teresa Munns at Brighton Half. Teresa's time of 1:41:38 broke the old LV50 half marathon best by over 5 minutes and substantial improved Teresa's own PB for the distance. Colin Tranter also had a good run to finish in 1:34:48, his best half marathon time for a couple of years. In a field of around 1,200 runners Colin finished in the first 250.
The Harriers came eighth in the final race of the 2001/2002 Boss Cross-Country league. In a depleted Harriers entry, Richard Piron was the first Harrier to finish. Simon Fisher, Paul Roberts, Graham King, Zac Hollis, Mark Holland and Kevin Bullard also scored.The two lady finishers were Jacinta and Jeanette. The Harriers finished fifth overall in the 5-race series.
Four Harriers took part in the National Cross Country Championships. In a field of over 1,200 runners, Nick Berrill finished in 275th position in a time of 46:34. Stuart Bartlett finished in 814th position in 54:03 and Colin Bennetts finished in 1,137th position in 63:45.
In a field of 385 lady runners, Anna Berrill finished in 77th position in a time of 33.00 minutes. Anna finished well ahead of a number of good runners from Beds & County.
In the Inter-Countries X-C Championships held in Nottingham on Saturday, Avril Monmont ran the testing 8k course in 36:13. In a very strong field, Avril finished in 248th position. Anna Berrill also started the race. Anna didn't feel too well during it however and had to drop out.
This year's Stamford 30k was run in very windy conditions. Tony Parello was the first Harrier to finish in around 2:10:00. Veronica, Neil, Derek, Richard and Jack also ran.
Nine Harriers running in the Eastern Vets Cross Country at Arrington Park, Cambridge won three team awards and seven individual awards. The team awards were won by Avril Monmont, Cathy Rogers and Delores Wallis (2nd LV35 team), Teresa Munns, Jackie Keenan and Margaret Martin (1st LV45 team) and Maurice Crook, Bill Billington and David Sutcliffe (2nd MV60 team).
The individual honours were won by Avril Monmont-2nd LV35, Cathy Rogers-3rd LV35, Teresa Munns-1st LV50, Jackie Keenan-2nd LV50, Margaret Martin-1st LV55, Maurice Crook-3rd MV60 and David Sutcliffe-2nd MV65.
Very Well Done All.
by Nick Berrill
The South of England Cross Country Championships once again provided some top
quality races, and Parliament Hills lived up to its reputation as one of the
toughest and muddiest courses in England, writes Nick Berrill. The
driving rain and hundreds of pairs of youngster’s feet in the age group races
prepared the course for the main events of the day.
There were some 300 starters in the womens' race, including 4 Harriers; Anna Berrill, Dani Martin, Avril Monmont and Julia Phillips. Anna had a superb race, showing a clean pair of heals (or, very muddy pair) to many national and international standard athletes. Her 18th position is a significant breakthrough at this level of competition. Next Harrier to finish was Julia (94th position) drawing on her background fitness after a couple of months of less training. Avril (100th position) closely followed Julia, using her experience to pick her way through the ankle deep mud. Dani finished in an excellent 159th position to close in the Harriers team. This gave the Harriers team an outstanding result of 9th position, out of the 34 teams to complete 4 scoring runners. This result demonstrates the Harriers capability to perform at this level of competition, and underlines the importance of the team, not just the individual performance.
13 Harriers toed-the-line in a field of almost 900 runners. First, and only casualty of the day, was Graham Horne who had the misfortune of parting company with one of his spikes on the first lap and had to retire from the race (not a course for bare feet heroics!). By the second of the three-lap race the mud had reached peak depth and suction and was sapping even the fittest of legs. The smaller of the runners reported knee-deep experiences, amid taller (runner) stories of tumbles and falls.
First Harrier to appear from the swamp was Nick Berrill (163rd) followed by Kevin Willet (298th), who ran strongly to improve well on last years position. Stuart Bartlett (382nd) put in his best cross-country performance so far this season, showing form is returning to past levels. One of the Parliament Hills virgins Alistair Fadden (438th) skipped through the mud as fourth scorer. Simon Fisher (461st) as fifth scorer demonstrated endurance and strength from his Triathlon background, as Richard Piron (464th) running solidly closed in the team as the sixth scorer.
Making up the remaining scorers for the 12 man team event were; Graham King (567th), Andy Sewell (587th), Derek Morrison (682nd), Kevin Bullard (721st), John Shearer (731st) and Colin Bennetts (794th).
The mens' team (6 scorers) finished a creditable 39th out of 64 teams. The 12 man team results have yet to be posted.
Full results at: www.race-results.co.uk
16 Harriers ran in this year's Folksworth 15. First to finish
for the Harriers was Tony Parello in 1:44:48. Andy Sewell was the second Harrier
to finish in 1:49:57 and Veronica was the first lady Harrier to finish in
1:53:52. Both Derek Morrison and Jack Chana improved their times over last year.
Eight Harriers ran in the
St Albans 10.
Mike Bernard was the first Harrier to finish in 66:21. Graham King ran 68:53
despite not feeling too good. Ian, Bill, Jackie, Alice,
Vic and Liz also ran.
Kevin Willett and Nicky Klabe were the overall winners of the 2001 Road Race Championship. Nicky registered the highest individual score over the ten-race championship with 788.7 points. This equates to Nicky running each of her races at an average of 79% of world record standard. Kevin registered the second highest individual score and the highest in the men's championship with 760.6 points. This means that Kevin ran each of his ten races at an average of 76% of world record standard.
The men's championship was particularly close and Kevin's success was only achieved on the 30th December when his run at the Buntingford 10 secured him the necessary points to overhaul David Sutcliffe. David in 2nd place scored 758.5 points followed by Graham King in 3rd place with 735.8 points.
Second place in the ladies championship went toJulia Phillips with a ten-race score of 730.8. In 3rd place was Teresa Munns with 715.2 points.
30 members of the club ran 10 or more qualifying races in 2001. This was a substantial increase on the numbers running the 10 qualifying races in 2000.
The Harriers once again came fifth in the third race in the Boss X-C League at Stopsley. Nick Berrill was the second man to finish (his highest finishing position to date)and Anna Berrill was once again the 1st lady. The other ladies to score were Avril Thomas and Cathy Rogers. The men who scored included Matt Burgin, Richard Piron, Stuart Bartlett, Paul Roberts and Neil Lovesey. Over 30 Harriers ran in the race.
The finishing positions of all the Harriers running will be posted shortly.
11 Members of the Club took part in the Beds X-C Championships at Campbell Park, Milton Keynes on Saturday 5th. In the context of competitive athletics the County X-C Champs are a major fixture
The ladies race was run over a distance of 6k. Anna Berrill ran a very competitive race and was the 2nd lady overall to finish in an excellent time of 23:06. Anna's performance and those Avril Monment (8th position), Cathy Rogers (16th position) and Jenny Lovesey (17th position) resulted in the ladies being the second team to finish and winning the silver medal.
The significance of Anna's result should not be understated and deserves great credit from the club. Anna will now represent the Beds County team at the Inter-counties at Nottingham in February. This is a closed entry race doubling as the qualification race for the World X-C Champs, where the likes of Yelling and possibly Radcliffe will be wearing the Beds colours.
The men's race was run over a distance of around 10.6K. The first Harrier to finish and the 15th overall was Nick Berrill in 39:17. Kevin Willet came 25th in 43:06 and Stuart Bartlett was 37th in 45:26. Also running were Neal Lovesey (41st), Simon Fisher (44th), Derek Morrison (52nd) and Ian Kingston (64th). The men's team finished in 5th position.