Northern relay bronze medalists Olivia Wild, Nicol Berry and Hannah Coulson
Stockport Harriers' young athletes made the journey over to Liverpool's Croxteth Park to take part in the North of England Young Athletes' Road Relays, taking on teams from far away as Gateshead Harriers.
The day could not have turned out any better as the sun shone all day, the course over 3km took in a long loop of Croxteth Country Park.
The first race for the under-13 girls had the biggest field of the day and the Harriers had three teams in this race, from the start Olivia Wild of the A-team went to the front and took the team to 3rd place in 12-12 followed by Aimee Aikin for the B-team in 13-05 for 21st place and the C-team's Sarah Tipping in 13-54 for 34th.
On the second leg Nicola Berry kept the A-team up with the leaders in 4th place in 12-46 with Imogen Nutter for the B-team in 15th place with 13-12 and Emma O’Connell 33rd in 14-33.
The last lap saw the A-team's Hannah Coulson record the 6th fastest time of the day coming through to take 3rd place behind Liverpool Harriers in 12-04, in the B-team Alice Bowden came in 22nd place in 13-54 and in the C-team Carla Edwards in her first race for the club came 32nd in 14-21.
The next race saw the under-15 girls' team have a good team display with Amie Hughes having a great run to bring the team in on the first leg 3rd in 11-43 followed by Becky Hetherington (13-12) and Samantha Wilson (14-18) to bring the team home in 25th place.
The under-17 ladies had to run a longer 3.5km course and the A-team just missed out on a medal finishing 4th overall just behind Vale Royal AC but a great team performance by Lucy McLoughlin (13-13), Bryony Pearce (13-27) and Leah Kay (13-04) chased them all the way to the line.
Michael Cooke finished second in the opening leg of the under-17s' race
The B-team of Sarah Kay (14-26), Jenny Bauer (15-10) and Sinead Graham (15-44) chased Vale Royal's B-team all the way but could not catch them to finish in 16th place.
Two boys' teams from the Harriers both came close to the medals with the under-15 boys again taking 4th spot behind Wirral AC with Jack Morris (11-01) then Jack Nixon (10-45) and Harry Long (10-53) over the 3km route.
In the last race of the day the under-17 men's team had a great start from Michael Cooke who finished 2nd on the first leg in 10-57 but the team could not hold on to the position and with David Thomson 12-13 and Nathan Ludlain had to settle for 6th place just behind Derby AC over the 3.5km course.
Jersey Marathon
Congratulations to Liz Turton who ran the Jersey Marathon in 3-47-45 to break the Club's over-50s record by nearly 6 minutes in only her third marathon.
The Great North Run
The popular Great North Run weekend got underway brilliantly for the Harriers with Richard Hindley winning the Tesco Great Junior Run. Also amongst the field of over 1,000 competitors were Danny Lawton, James Bartley, Clarke Seeds, Sarah Tipping and Amber Whewell.
Unfortunately only two ladies made it to the start line for the ladies' elite race after Michela Stepto's car broke down on the way up to Newcastle and Jenny Knass withdrew due to a hip injury. However Jenny Murray still recovering from her recent Nottingham Marathon managed to get within 30 seconds of her best with 1-22-05 for 17th place. Following Jenny, Sara Lomas finished in 1-27-45, only 15 seconds short her best on her first elite race.
Following up in the mass field were Jamie Loxam breaking into the top 100 with 1-12-38, Tony Lee ran superbly to record 1-25-02, Sean Whewell in 1-28-53 plus Phil Bartley, Steve Tipping, and Mike Graham all running well. Phil McCann battled through the 2 hour barrier for the first time in 4 years with 1-58-20 (contact Phil if you want to hear his full mile-by-mile account).
There were personal bests for the ladies with Samantha Thomas in 1-33-16, Alison Coulson with 1-39-33, Jayne Lawton 1-44-25 and Tracey Hague in 2-02-43 for her first half marathon.
Macclesfield Half Marathon
Michela Stepto, made up for the previous day's disappointment to finish 5th lady while Neil Thompson continues to improve with 1-22-53, promising to beat 1-20 next time out.
| No. | Name | Cat | Pos in Cat | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Neil Thompson | M | (010/245) | 01:22:53 |
| 33 | John Parrott | M50 | (002/036) | 01:27:13 |
| 38 | Paul Johnston | M | (025/245) | 01:27:50 |
| 41 | Stephen Jones | M40 | (005/096) | 01:28:19 |
| 51 | Lee Barratt | M | (029/245) | 01:29:19 |
| 62 | Andy Titley | M45 | (008/083) | 01:30:07 |
| 83 | Michela Stepto | F40 | (003/029) | 01:32:35 |
| 154 | John Delany | M60 | (002/006) | 01:38:10 |
| 167 | Billy Craig | M | (086/245) | 01:38:50 |
| 194 | Andy Fowler | M40 | (033/096) | 01:40:23 |
| 253 | Dave Gosling | M60 | (004/006) | 01:44:47 |
| 269 | Belinda Wells | F45 | (006/027) | 01:45:19 |
| 318 | Robert Miller | M55 | (011/019) | 01:47:54 |
| 383 | Breeshey Wood | F40 | (010/029) | 01:51:18 |
| 464 | Julie Fletcher | F40 | (015/029) | 01:56:33 |
| 470 | Deborah Cox | F45 | (015/027) | 01:57:05 |
| 472 | Raya Haynes | F40 | (016/029) | 01:57:08 |
| 505 | Jenny Kinnaird | F35 | (019/035) | 01:59:44 |
| 569 | Victoria Healey | F | (040/064) | 02:06:26 |
| 570 | Neil Mason | M50 | (032/036) | 02:06:26 |
Are you fully paid up?
A number of people continue to run as Stockport Harriers but have not paid their membership fees this year. If you are not paid up you are not covered by UK Athletics insurance and are not eligible to represent the Club. If you count as part of a team in any event the whole team can be disqualified.
If in doubt you can check with Alan Dilkes who has the membership database while Jerzy Matuszewski is away on holiday.
Ladies 12th in the Northern Relays
Stockport Ladies fielded three teams at the Road Relays at Birchwood Park, Warrington. The course loops twice round the industrial park, and although the pre-race information said it was 5K, finishing times, tired legs, and a Garmin GPS put the distance nearer 6K.
The A-team put up a spirited performance, with Kerrie Wood-Doyle getting them off to a good start. Jessica Coulson showed her excellent form by gaining the 4th fastest finishing time of the day and lifting the team from 22nd to 5th. Despite feeling the effects of a cold, Carly Davies finished strongly in 12th, handing over to Leah Kay, who anchored the team to its best ever finishing position.
A well matched B-team got within 30 seconds of beating Liverpool Harriers C. Lois Brooks got them off to a solid start in 35th position, and Alice Dagg ran so strongly she didn’t believe the timekeepers when she finished inside 24 minutes and 33rd place. Karen McCrackle pegged back one team and Vicky, terrified of being run over by the men’s race which was just about to start, brought the B-team home in 28th position.
The C-team found itself down to three runners after a last minute pull-out by Nicola Pickford. Julie Fairclough got the team off to a great start in 41st spot, with Helen Garner running just inside 25 minutes to consolidate the team to 37th. Maureen Wilkins maintained that position as she completed the third leg.
Many thanks to all the team members for giving up their Saturday to go giddy round the roundabouts in Birchwood Park. It was a good day for the Stockport Ladies; great team building and some excellent personal achievements.
| Ladies A-team - 12th | |
|---|---|
| Kerrie Wood-Doyle (22) | 21.51 |
| Jessica Coulson (5) | 19.01 |
| Carly Davies (12) | 22.22 |
| Leah Kay (12) | 21.48 |
| Ladies B-team - 28th | |
| Lois Brooks (35) | 24.25 |
| Alice Dagg (33 | 23.50 |
| Karen McCrackle (32) | 24.24 |
| Vicky Barrett (28) | 23.33 |
| Ladies B-team | |
| Julie Fairclough (41) | 25.29 |
| Helen Garner (37) | 24.59 |
| Maureen Wilkins (37) | 26.58 |
| Men A-team - 41st | |
| Mike Thiele (38) | 28:14 |
| Andrew Nixon (24) | 27:43 |
| Jonathon Walch (37) | 31:03 |
| Steve Haylock (34) | 29:43 |
| Mike Shaw (35) | 30:35 |
| Pete Rogers (41) | 32:02 |
Greg sets a new mark
In the recent Club Championships Greg Watkins won the senior discus with a throw of 40.99 metres, breaking the 16-year-old club senior record.
This throw puts him 16th in the UK for an under-20 throwing the 2kg senior discus.
Beginners’ Run and Buffet
Monday night’s beginners’ group are holding a Beginners’ Run and Buffet on Sunday 7th October at 3.00pm at the Waterloo Hotel (opposite Strawberry Studios), Waterloo Road, Stockport.
Names and £5 in advance for a substantial buffet ASPA. Starting with exercises, then a 1 mile group jog and finally a 1 mile race. All welcome.
Route: Middle Hillgate, left at Star and Garter and down Shawcross Street and left onto St. Mary’s Way, left at main lights into Spring Gardens then bear left back down Waterloo Road.
Jenny wins Nottingham Marathon
Report: Phil McCann
On her return to running Jenny Murray yet again showed her quality by winning the Nottingham Marathon. Although originally it was to get her time for London she battled well in the conditions.
Along side her was Rachel Chatwin finishing 3rd trying to get the championship time for London of 3-15. Her previous Marathons were Nottingham her first in 2006 here at Nottingham in 3-38-00 and London 2007 in 3-16-23.
On a demanding course which is hilly in the first half then was exposed to wind on the second the runners do find this route quite scenic. Jenny led from start to finish with Rachel just behind both setting a good pace although in the first half they were mixed with the Half Marathon runners as well. They both completed the course Jenny winning in 2-55 followed by Rachel well within her target to finish 3rd in 3-06.
This bodes well for the London Marathon next year with 5 of our ladies with championship places.
Great Langdale Half Marathon
Elsewhere saw two other ladies competing in the lake district at the Great Langdale Half Marathon. This an extremely tough course which saw Karen McCrackle run 1-51-23 finishing 16th lady and Alice Dagg 1-52-31 and 20th lady.