Jolly Holly Jog Ripon 31st December 2006

The festive Jolly Holly Jog fixture proved as popular as ever this year, with 528 runners taking part in the race on New Year’s Eve, starting from the Cricket Club at Ripon. The younger athletes got proceedings underway with the off-road fun run, which is approximately 1.5 miles around the cricket and rugby pitches. Liam Fletcher was certainly on form on the day, taking 3rd place overall, which also earned him 3rd in the Under 17 Boys category with a time of 9.42, while his sister Helen Fletcher also had a fine run, finishing in 46th place in 14.15 from a field of over 60 competitors.

The main event got underway at 11am prompt and proved to be more challenging than usual this year, with the off-road sections being extremely muddy, slippery and wet, making slower times for most runners. Last year’s winner, Ricky Stevenson of New Marske Harriers easily retained his title, however Ken Harker was first home for Richmond and Zetland Harriers in a fantastic time of 36.30 and 8th overall, using this race as training preparation towards the World Master’s Indoor Championships in Helsinki in only 12 weeks time. He also collected 3rd prize in the male 21-39 age group, while Shaun Purkiss also put in an excellent performance, finishing in 13th place with a time of 37.39 and taking the top prize in the male vet 40 category. Next across the line and only female Harrier on the day, was Sarah Gregory, down on last year’s time due to the mud, but finished in 123rd position with a time of 46.01 and picked up second prize in the ladies vet 35 age group. Taff Rogers had struggled with flu over the Christmas period, but decided to race anyway, finishing with a time of 46.08 and well down on his usual performance, but claimed 126th place nonetheless. Neil Piper was in good form, used to the off-road conditions and racing well to take 147th position in 47.16 and gained 5th place in the male vet 60 category. Ray Robson enjoyed putting his racing shoes back on and took 188th place with a fine time of 49.03, setting him up nicely for an outing in the next NYSD cross country fixture at Whitby on Sunday 14th January.

RZH Results: Fun Run – 3rd (& 3rd U17 Boy) Liam Fletcher 9.42, 46th Helen Fletcher 14.15. 10K Race - 8th (& 3rd male 21-39) Ken Harker 36.30, 13th (& 1st male 40) Shaun Purkiss 37.39, 123rd (& 2nd female 35) 46.01, 126th Taff Rogers 46.08, 147th Neil Piper 47.16, 188th Ray Robson 49.03.

Indoor Graded Meeting - Jarrow 4th January 2007

On the indoor scene, sprinter Brogan Fraser has been in action again at the Jarrow Graded Meeting on Thursday 4th January, gaining a fantastic PB of 8.3 in the 60m event and coming 2nd just behind Nicola Pearson of Gateshead in the final, who is ranked 4th overall in the UK indoor rankings. This shows that Brogan has certainly progressed by racing against stiff and experienced opposition and is now reaping the benefits. Her time also qualifies her to compete in the AAA Indoor Championships at Birmingham later in the season.