February 2019 Results Round-up

Featuring…  Dave in War Paint, hills, snakes, lakes, hills, and more hills but sadly no axes.

February. Just long enough to bridge the gap between January and March. With cold, barren landscapes, the continued absence of daylight and resolutions becoming a distant memory, it’s a wonder that any running happens at all! Not so for our Striders though, who cranked up their competitive efforts as the race calendar began to stir from its winter slumber. It was probably some help that the harsh conditions of 2018 stayed away too!

Sunday 3^rd February

Dewsbury 10

The birthplace of the Brownlee brothers, Dewsbury played host to six Striders who took part in the 10km race there. With a slightly uphill first half, the course lends itself to negative splits and PBs. This proved to be the case as our Striders clocked some blistering times so early in the year.

Tom Calvert led the Striders home in a fabulous 35:05, whilst James Wright was setting a new PB of 37:21 followed less than a minute later by Martin Brock (38:07). Nicola Carter (47:16), Fyn Lees (53:54) and Jo Gray (1:14:19) completed our representatives in a huge field of 1700 contenders.

Sunday 10^th February

Dave digs in at Roundhay Park PECO!

PECO Round 5

You’ve already seen the final results of this year’s PECO season, but how exactly did things shake out in the final round at Roundhay Park? Once again the runners were welcomed by unseasonably warm weather, but this time enjoyed the opportunity to race together for the first time in the series. A more open course swept the runners around the edges of the park, albeit with a couple of leg-shredding climbs en route. Steve Morland was first to emerge over the hill and past the bandstand into the finishing straight, clocking 30:58 in 66th place, narrowly ahead of series stalwarts Ted Shelton (31:18) and James Wright (31:55). Issy Rowe closed out her successful series, claiming 12th lady in 33:36, only a little ahead of the departing Gary Wilkinson (34:24) and Sima Lowery (35:52). By now the Striders were swamping the finish line: Sean Brennan (36:01), Ian Mitchell (37:20), Mark Shelton (41:12),  Andy Tibbals (41:31), Lisa Harrison (42:01) and Jason Green (42:33). Sue Morley (43:14) once again claimed first place in her age category, ahead of Julie Elmes (44:09), Claire Killingworth (44:26), Fyn Lees (44:55), Claire Baxter (45:43), David Sinton (45:55), Pam Singleton (46:39), our outgoing Strider-of-the-year Edna Wood (47:09), Debs Goldfield (47:56), Sarah Gore (48:34) and Sally Taylor (49:42). So we reached the end of really well-attended and positive  series. ICYMI, here are the series results: PECO Round-up. Don’t forget though that the PECO relays take place on 31st March and are open to all.

Muddy Boots

The Muddy Boots 10k remains a popular test for runners early in the year, heading out of Ripon to take in a challenging mixture of terrains and elevations. The deceptively clean and tidy start out of the city soon gives way to the more rural terrain which gives the event its name. Stewart Hymas (49:10), Craig Mitchell (49:40),  June Graham (1:01:37), Sally Fannen (1:02:47),  Dawn Richardson (1:08:40) all performed strongly around the course.

Saturday 16th Feb

Nostell Priory Night Run

Jo Bower & Edna Wood headed down to Nostell for the extra challenge of the dark. We haven’t been able to find any results yet but rest assured they returned safe and well!

Sunday 17th February

Liversedge half

Some of our Liversedge entrants.

Our Ben Campbell Club Championship got underway over at Roberttown, where the very friendly Roberttown Road Runners hosted their very challenging Half-marathon. Stretching between Liversedge and Brighouse and twice passing over the M62, the route heads in and out of the valleys which typify the area, with a steep descent to the River Calder quickly followed by the brutal climbs which persist throughout the remainder of the race. Some blustering wind on the high ground only added to a challenge which demanded some gritty and determined runs. Not the most forgiving circumstances in which to make your half-marathon debut then, yet that’s what Dave Sinton did, clocking a great 2:03:34 and showing the incredible progress in stamina and speed which he continues to develop! Another six Striders took up the challenge: Steve Morland (1:30:41), Anthony Mulley (1:49:49), Claire Baxter (1:56:02), Mark Shelton (1:57:44), Ryan Middleton (2:04:41) and former Roberttown resident herself, Sarah Gore (2:21:09).

Harewood Half and 10k

A trio of our Striders at the Harewood Half/10K

The British Heart Foundation’s event at Harewood is a popular charity challenge with a hilly route along trails, forest inclines and tree-lined fields in the stunning grounds of Harewood House. Whilst mud was less in evidence than at previous events, the rolling hills of the estate nonetheless meant that whichever distance was chosen would proved a stern test. Claiming their finishers’ medals and t-shirts in the 10k event were: Vanessa El-Atriby (50:31), Debbie Herridge (51:40) and Gosia Przybyl (56:02). In the longer half-marathon option were: Mhairi Sellar (2:03:44), Amy Naylor (2:07:50),  Beyham Akyollu (2:07:51) and Sally Fannen (2:31:42). Apologies to anyone we’ve missed!

The Bloodaxe challenge

Due to Health and Safety regards, this Viking-inspired event features neither Axes nor Blood. That would be stupid anyway. So, what better way to celebrate the Viking years of rule in Yorvik than to go to the tiny 1km Heslington  cycle track and then persuade enough willing idiots to run around it non-stop for 2hours? With clearly nothing better to do, a quartet of Striders took on this dizzying spectacle. James Wright completed 27laps , whilst Julian Carr clocked 22, Lisa Harrison 21, and Fyn Lees 19 whilst Emma Hall and Jo Gray both saw 14km tick past. They should all be thoroughly commended but instead we’re providing some counselling sessions to help them to recover.

Saturday 23^rd February

Saucony National Cross-Country championships

With the National Championships being held so close to home this year, several Knaresborough Striders took the opportunity to test themselves alongside 8,000 of the finest junior and senior athletes in the country. The grounds of Harewood House provided the same hilly and grassy challenge which it had offered just a few days earlier for the BHF event. The huge fields for each race (no pun intended) were typified by incredible quality which, combined with the energy-sapping grass, made for the sternest of tests. In the senior ladies race, Issy Rowe (36:25) was the first to complete the 8km course, joined by Sima Lowery (37:11) and Julie Elmes (47:10) in a field of over 800. The final race of the day was the 2000-strong senior men’s 12km race, featuring the ‘widest’ cavalcade start of the day! Our fearless four were: Steve Morland (47:57), Ted Welton (49:12), Gary Wilkinson (54:14) and Sean Brennan (58:58). A huge well done to our squad who turned out.

Slaithwaite Slog 2019

One of our very newest members, Donna Tucker, took part in the 10K event at the latest ‘Grim up North’ event, clocking a very respectable 1:04:55. Welcome to the club Donna!

Sunday 24^th February

Ilkley Fell Race

Beautiful weather greeted this year’s edition of the Ilkley Fell Race, reducing the amount of mandatory kit to be carried, but the tough terrain remained! Not content with having competed 24-hours earlier at the National Cross Country, Sean Brennan clocked a strong 58:59 on the trails above Wharfedale.

Snake Lane 10 miles

Gosia Przybyl and Fyn Lees travelled to Pocklington to take part in the fantastically-named ‘Snake Lane 10’. As its name suggests, the course has a winding stretch that snakes its way through beautiful East Yorkshire countryside at the foot of the glorious Wolds. Gosia clocked 1:28:17 and Fyn 1:33:27, then collected their bling.

Carsington Water Half-Marathon

James Wright and Tom Calvert found themselves at the Marathon Chat Podcast weekend in Bakewell (no Sandy Balls* this year) and entered the nearby Carsington Water Half Marathon, which takes place around the undulating, traffic-free trails surrounding Carsington Water Reservoir. The route offers stunning views of the Lake and surrounding Peak District countryside and is popular with runners undertaking a spring marathon training schedule. Both our Striders clocked highly-impressive results – Tom placing 4^th overall in a very swift 1:23:05, whilst James placed 15^th in 1:29:01.  *See February 2018

So with that, February was done. Striders now look forward to lighter nights and more events from which to select, whilst keeping their fingers firmly crossed that winter doesn’t make any determined efforts to disrupt those plans! March sees the continuation of our club championship at the Harrogate and Dentdale rounds, the ever-popular Thirsk 10mile, the fabulous PECO relays and the somewhat-flat Elvington Flyer, just to name a few.

Keep on Striding!