English Schools Cross Country Championships 25th March 2006

Mansfield was the venue on Saturday 25th March for the annual ESSA English School’s Cross Country Championships, where Richmond and Zetland Harriers had three athletes competing. The course was fairly boggy and muddy in places, which added to the challenge of competing against athletes from schools all over England in their respective age groups.

Philip Fitzpatrick represented North Yorkshire in the Senior Boys category and finished an admirable 300th in a strong and highly competitive field, while Doug Roberts crossed the line in 95th place from 310 runners in the Inter Boys race, rounding off an excellent cross country season for him. His sister, Jessie Roberts, was in action for the Senior Girls and also ran a strong race to finish in 86th position from a field of 290 competitors, also ending her cross country season on a strong note.

London Marathon 2006 update

London Marathon Exhibition 2005

As the winter season draws to a close, attentions become more focused on tra ck and field and road races, not least the London Marathon on 23rd April, which acts as the real curtain-raiser for the forthcoming season. All being well, seven Harriers will take their places at the three starts in Greenwich Park. As usual, training for this demanding event has not been without injuries and set backs for some, including Colin Sewell, who has been unlucky once again and is injured for the second year running. Months are spent concentrating on speed work, endurance and mileage-building, which gradually reaches a crescendo, followed by three weeks of tapering before the big day.

Both Jon Orange and Shaun Purkiss have enjoyed a relatively injury-free training period, with many weeks spent running in excess of 60 miles and more, in pursuit of their desired times in London. Jon will be lining up at the blue start, as part of the men’s elite AAA Championship race, hoping to better his 2003 time of 2.29.51, when he finished an exceptional 63rd overall. Shaun meanwhile is looking to run under 3 hours from the green start, following last year’s superb time of 3.01.01.

Rachel Ross-Russell is usually the leading lady for the Harriers on the road, but has been hampered with a knee injury for several weeks during the key preparation period. On previous form, Rachel is capable of running under 3 hours and although all is not lost, she realises that some revision of her target may be required due to the mileage and training she has missed. Tony Hewson is a chef with a real taste for the London Marathon, having bettered his time at each attempt, he now has his sights firmly set on a sub 3.15 clocking on this year’s course, having finished in 3.23.23 last year. Although his training has had to play a secondary role to his business this year, he is still running well and his training times suggest that he is within striking distance of his target.

Sarah Gregory has had another turbulent preparation period, with knee and hamstring injuries threatening to prevent her from making the start line at all and forcing her to miss five weeks of the high mileage training period. However, determined to get there and follow on from the Berlin Marathon in September, she is now almost back up to speed and although originally aiming for a 3.30 finish, now knows that this may require some slight revision on the day. Team mate Ian Hepworth has opted for a more condensed training schedule of six weeks, however, he has dusted off the renown Fred Flintsone costume and will be rousing the crowd on his way round the 26.2 miles in central London. Last year Ian finished as “Fred” in a fantastic time of 4.04.13.

Louise Foster is the marathon debutant of the group making the trip to London and although not everything has always gone smoothly in training, she has put in some strong and solid runs, ensuring that she will be able to post a good time on her first outing and more importantly, enjoy the experience.