Jess Coulson finished a 7th in her first European Junior Track Championships in Hengelo, Holland in the 3,000 metres.
After opening laps of 75 seconds the race was taken on by the Romanian athletes who broke away with 3 laps to go with Jess in fourth.
Jess who tried hard to stay in touch still managed a last kilometre of 3-01 to finish 7th.
Jess who was the youngest in the field at 17, was adamant that she will be back in 2009 to compete again at the European Championships.
Coach David Turnbull said: “Jess went into the championships with a medal in mind.
“She wasn't going to sit in the pack when the race went, she probably could have played it safe but that's not how you win medals.
“She gave herself a chance by chasing the Romanians and you have to have guts to do that.”
In three years Jess has progressed from being a good club standard runner who could knock out 4-50 for 1,500 metres to being an international who can compete with the best in the world for her age.
The cross-country season will be on Jessica's mind next.
She already has her races planned and her track speed is a very important component to be able to compete at the highest level on the cross-country.
Macc Forest 5
Report: Tuck Shop Brian
This was a great evening for a hilly race, not raining and warm enough not to feel cold at the end. The route, now a blur of memories etched into the sub-conscious, involved a great deal of uphill, with an excellent downhill finish. This is not recommended if you don’t like hills, but if you do like forest trails, trees and some great views, then put this in your calendar for next year.
Macclesfield Harriers who put on this race are excellent at staging races such as the Macc half, but this could be best described as different, there is no entry fee, just a donation, the number is written on your hand, saves on paper numbers, the only cost I could see was the plastic cups at the finish for drinking water. Last year the prizes were jars of local jam, this year there was no such extravagance, there was no prizes for anyone, individuals and teams had to go home happy with the satisfaction that they have done a great run, in beautiful place, knowing that they are some of the few fit enough to take on this race. And that £250 was raised for St Anne’s Hospice in memory of the organiser's mother.
Notable results were Lee Barratt who managed a single number finish, James Corden who tried a change from flat 5k and 10ks to do a respectable 40.10 even having time to stop and state 'this is not fun' (paraphrased of course), and Brian who for the first and probably only time beat Hossein.
| Pos | Name | Time | Cat/Pos | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andy Lamont (Macc Harriers) | 34.15 | M/1 | |
| 7 | Richard Marlton | 38.45 | M40/5 | |
| 9 | Lee Barratt | 39.23 | M/3 | |
| 12 | James Corden | 40.10 | M/5 | |
| 18 | Brian Holland | 42.12 | M50/3 | |
| 20 | Hossein Yousefian | 42.36 | M50/4 | |
| 38 | Anthony Ward | 47.54 | M40/12 | |
| 47 | Ruth Lee | 53.00 | L/4 | |
| 55 | Sue Holland | 55.00 | L40/7 | |
| 56 | Kath Ward | 55.00 | L40/8 | |
Bashir Hussain notched up another win in the Buxton Carnival 5, leading Stockport to the team prize. More Buxton 5 pictures on Mick Hall Photos
Buxton Carnival 5
Bashir Hussain notched up another win in the Buxton Carnival Race in surprisingly pleasant sunny conditions.
With 7 finishers in the top 13, Stockport were easy winners of the men's team prize, plus Steve Haylock and Alan Pover won their age categories.
This testing but enjoyable five mile road race around the outskirts of the town finished in the Market Square in front of a large ready-made crowd, there for the town's annual carnival which is part of the 2 week long Buxton Festival.
| Pos | Name | Age Cat | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bashir Hussain | MV40 | 27.09 |
| 3 | Ged Cudahy | M | 28.30 |
| 7 | Stephen McLean | M | 30.10 |
| 8 | Mike Shaw | MV40 | 30.17 |
| 11 | Steve Haylock | MV45 | 30.33 |
| 12 | Alan Pover | MV55 | 30.58 |
| 13 | Richard Marlton | MV40 | 31.09 |
| 37 | Huw Morris | MV45 | 34.05 |
| 106 | Brian Robinson | MV60 | 45.04 |
| 136 | Ruth Harrison | FV55 | 60.57 |
Senior Northern League Match 3
A depleted team at Match 3 of the Senior Northern League fixture at Bolton were unable to prevent the team falling to 5th in the league.
A good turn-out at the final fixture at Warrington is essential to avoid relegation back to division 3.
Anyone wanting to help can contact team managers Alison Hesketh 0161 612 9024 (female) or Dean Loxam 0161 482 8126 (male).
Sefton Triathlon
Report: Maureen Wilkins
A group of Stockport Harriers' athletes gathered for the Sefton Triathlon in Liverpool, while the wind and rain never give up, our fine athletes focused on their races and all did excellently in battling against the wind and rain and not forgetting the mud.
Aimee Aikin, one to keep an eye on, this little motor won her race with a swim-bike transition that would put any elite athlete to shame.
Also doing well Carla Aikin came 10th and Hannah Wilkins 13th. Our only boy in the race was William Garner finishing in 9th place. Katie Huane making her 1st appearance came a brilliant 12th
Not to be out done the Veterans' race saw Julie Aikin 3rd lady and 4 seconds behind and in 4th place came Maureen Wilkins.
All our athletes did a great race plus Aimee gets the chance to meet Sir Steve Redgrave and Steve Parry when she picks up her well earned mountain bike prize.
Trafford Grand Prix
Report: Dave Turnbull
Tuesday night's Trafford Grand Prix saw Andy Nixon improve his 3,000 metres time to 8-36 and go into the UK top ten under-20 rankings. His race was helped along by his Hilly clothing boss Pete Riley who paced Andy around the seven and a half lap race.
Andy will join his other training partners Jess Coulson and Becky Lyne at the Norwich Union London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace on August 3rd.
Jess lines up in an invitation under-20 3,000 metres as will Andy in the men's under-20, Becky races an international field in the 800 metres.
Also at the Trafford meeting Stuart Cameron and Jon Walch went head-to-head in the open 800 metre A-Race, in an exciting finish the pair finished with Jon just holding off the fast finishing Cameron for first in 1-58.33 and Stuart 2nd in 1-59.11.
The men's BMC 1,500 metre A-race had GB Internationals Ross Millington and Steve Vernon in the same race for the first time. Ross came out on top with a 3-49.72 for fourth and Steve in 3-52.17 in 6th.
Ross, will race this weekend at the English Schools' Championships in Birmingham, he will be joined by club members who also qualified; Michael Logue 1,500 metre (Junior Boys), Michael Cooke 1,500 metre (Inter Boys), Luci McLoughlin 1,500 metre (Inter Girls) and Greg Watkins discus (Senior Boys).
Jess Coulson misses the English Schools' as she is on international duty for the Under-20 GB team at the European Championships in Hengelo, Holland where she races the 3,000 metres.
Offerton 10k
Report: Phil McCann
The Offerton 10k saw the race held under severe weather conditions with the course flooded in several places. The race got under way 20 minutes late with rapid changes being made to the course.
Stockport's Bashir Hussain and Altrincham's Andy Norman battled it out from start to finish. Bashir finally getting away from Andy on the last lap to win.
With many of Stockport's ladies were helping out marshaling we still had a strong contingent running. Alison Seadmen from Belle Vue led from the beginning and won in 41-38 but behind the real battles were going on, Leah Kay was in 2nd place on the first and 2nd lap but by the 3rd was overtaken by Kerrie Wood.
Next was Lois Brookes on only her 2nd 10k with Samantha Thomas catching her on each lap. On the final lap they were neck and neck, Lois showed her metal and used her track experience to out sprint Samantha on the last 100m. Close behind was Helen Hudson who was not having a good run having to make an extreme pit stop.
Next was Sarah Kay, another junior trying out a distance event then Maryte Moore finding it hard having had a teeth capped earlier Ouch! but still finished 1st lady V45.
Plenty of Maureen Wilkin's squad were also trying out this 10k, Lucy Harris, Helen Todd, Julie Fairclough and Carole Barnes battled hard through the tough conditions. The prizes went to the 1st three and 1st Vets but yet again we were missing with the team prize, if we are to do this event again then give us more incentives please.
| Pos | Time | Name | Category/Position | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0:33:54 | Bashir | Hussain | Male | 40 | 1 |
| 13 | 0:39:51 | James | Corden | Male | Snr | 9 |
| 15 | 0:40:16 | Peter | Rogers | Male | 40 | 4 |
| 16 | 0:40:25 | Neil | Johnson | Male | Snr | 10 |
| 18 | 0:40:37 | Dean | Loxam | Male | 45 | 3 |
| 19 | 0:40:45 | Ian | Mulligan | Male | 40 | 5 |
| 24 | 0:41:35 | Paul | Johnson | Male | Snr | 14 |
| 27 | 0:42:23 | Kerrie | Wood-Doyle | Female | 40 | 2 |
| 32 | 0:43:55 | Leah | Kay | Female | Jnr | 1 |
| 37 | 0:44:21 | Lois | Brooks | Female | Snr | 1 |
| 38 | 0:44:22 | Tom | McNally | Male | 40 | 8 |
| 39 | 0:44:30 | Samantha | Thomas | Female | Snr | 2 |
| 46 | 0:45:23 | Ray | Hampton | Male | 60 | 1 |
| 47 | 0:45:30 | Helen | Hudson | Female | Snr | 3 |
| 49 | 0:45:36 | Gregory | Allcock | Male | Snr | 25 |
| 51 | 0:45:44 | David | Hobson | Male | 40 | 11 |
| 57 | 0:46:48 | Sarah | Kay | Female | Jnr | 2 |
| 68 | 0:48:13 | Martye | Moore | Female | 45 | 1 |
| 73 | 0:48:59 | Mike | Thirsk | Male | 50 | 7 |
| 79 | 0:49:42 | Lucy | Harris | Female | Jnr | 3 |
| 81 | 0:49:51 | Raymond | Howarth | Male | 60 | 2 |
| 85 | 0:50:15 | Helen | Todd | Female | 50 | 1 |
| 91 | 0:50:55 | Julie | Fairclough | Female | 40 | 4 |
| 96 | 0:52:47 | Carole | Barnes | Female | 35 | 2 |
| 111 | 0:54:53 | Kay | Marie | Female | Snr | 8 |
| 113 | 0:55:08 | Steven | Johnson | Male | 45 | 7 |
| 115 | 0:55:59 | Chris | Bryans | Male | 60 | 5 |
| 132 | 1:04:25 | Barney | Gilligan | Male | 50 | 10 |
| 136 | 1:06:25 | Peter | Powell | Male | 60 | 6 |
| Young Athletes Mile | ||||||
| 2 | 0:06:04 | Olivia | Wild | Female | 1 | |
| 3 | 0:06:07 | Amber | Whewell | Female | 2 | |
Preston 10k
The Preston City 10k saw Toni McIntosh and Liz Turton running.
Toni battled it out with Yvonne Wyke of Wigan and came out on top wining the ladies' race in 39-00 with Yvonne 2nd in 39-10. Meanwhile Liz Turton was battling well to break the club's V50 10k record held by Helen Todd this year of 47-05. Liz clocked 46-39 so again the battle is on and no let up for those who break records.
After the race Toni decided that having felt quite fresh she also ran the 5k as well and was 2nd in 19-38.
BMC Nike Grand Prix at Watford
Report: Dave Turnbull
Jess Coulson ran 2 seconds under the under-20s European qualifying standard on a wet night at Watford in the BMC Nike Grand Prix Women's 1,500 metres A-race.
Jess also broke her own club record in the process by over three seconds to finish on 4-18.75.
This was just what Jess needed before going to the European Championships where she will run the 3,000 metres.
At the same meeting Steve Vernon improved his season's best to 3-51 and won the men's 1,500 metres E-race.
Ben Styles opened his season with a 2nd place in the men's 800 with 1.54 and Mike Thiele clocked another sub 2 minutes with 1.56.
Ross Millington finished on 3-56 after a rocky ride in the men's C-race. He will line up next at the English Schools' finals on July 13-14th.