Area Cross Country trials - Richmond 2nd November 2006

Jo Adams

No less than 21 young Harriers were in action again on Thursday 2nd November at Richmond School in the Area Cross Country Trials. The top 11 athletes in each age group then automatically go forward to the County Trials later in the season, meaning that 12 Richmond and Zetland athletes will be competing there. In the Year 7 boys race, Fergus Roberts once again took top honours, winning the race outright and was followed by James King, who promptly claimed the runners up place. Another athlete in top form was Amy Coulson, winning the Year 7 girls event, while Rosie Stirr had a strong run to come home in 7th position overall.
The junior girl’s race had 4 Richmond and Zetland runners taking part, all fairly close together and showing good team spirit. Rachel Holloway was first to cross the line in 13th position, with Leanne Ryder close behind in 16th, team mate Harriet Jakeman ran well to finish in 21st and Gabby Rawdin rounded off the quartet strongly, just one place behind in 22nd. The junior boys race was an amalgamation of years 8 and 9 running together, with eight Harriers claiming finishing positions inside the top 31 places. George Robinson was the outright winner on the day, with Marc Scott taking 2nd place, followed by fellow athletes Sam Wood and Thomas Allen in 3rd and 4th positions respectively. Rob MacLean lead the next group of runners home, finishing in 25th place, with Nathaniel Frankland hot on his heels in 26th, while Tom Targett and Ciaran Wood performed well to take 30th and 31st place.

Dougie Roberts is going from strength to strength and claimed another victory in the intermediate boys race. For the intermediate girls, Rosie Adams finished well in 5th overall and sprinter Brogan Fraser in a very respectable 13th position. Jo Adams and Katie Roberts rounded off a very successful days competition for the Harriers, with no less than another victory and 4th place respectively.

Forces Cross Country Competition - Leeming 1st November 2006

The previous day at RAF Leeming, Kelley Haniver and Sarah Gregory took part in the HM Forces Cross Country competition over approximately 3.5 miles, taking in tracks, trails and fields around the station. Kelley was the clear winner in the ladies race, while Sarah finished 4th overall. John Frost also took part in the mens race, over the longer distance of approximately 6 miles, producing a fine top half finish.

Guy Fawkes 10M race - Ripley 5th November 2006

Sarah continued her campaign to regain race fitness after injury and was competing again at the popular Guy Fawkes 10 mile road race at Ripley, near Harrogate on Sunday 5th November. The course is a testing one, with plenty of hills and on this occasion, windy conditions as well. She finished in 336th position from a field of 871 runners in a time of 1.20.44, a little down on last year, but glad to be racing again. Tony Hewson covered the same distance on the same day, but made the trip over to Keswick in Cumbria to take part in the scenic Derwentwater 10 mile road race; another challenging course. His travels were well rewarded with an excellent time of 1.06.31 and 65th place from a total of 485 entrants on the day.

Kilburn Kanter - 4th November 2006

Neil and Liz Piper once again opted for one of their longer off-road excursions at the Kilburn Kanter on Saturday 4th November, which loops around the Hambleton Hills, starting and finishing at Kilburn. The course has a 22 or 30 mile option, with Neil taking the longer route and finishing in a fantastic 8th position with a time of 6.16 hours, while Liz took the slightly shorter alternative, completing it in an excellent 5.25 hours.