31st Mar 2007. Aine Hoban Smashes Club 10000m Record in USA.
Aine lowered her PB by nearly a minute, and ran a fantastic New Club 10000m record of 32 mins 45.94 secs in the Stanford Invitational Meeting in California. This is a fabulous time, and elevates Aine into the international reckoning, being just 25 seconds from the qualifying time for the World Student Games.

25th Mar 2007. Wakefield Harriers in Action in Ackworth Half Marathon.
The club had several runners competing in the Ackworth Half Marathon, some using the race as part of their build up to the London Marathon. Mark Ridgway finished 15th overall and 3rd M40 vet in 1hr 16:29, whilst Richard West came 66th and 5th M50 vet in 1hr 26:40. The race also incorporated the Yorkshire Half Marathon Championships, and Mark and Richard won the Yorkshire titles in their respective categories.
Louise Taylor was our first lady home, running an encouraging 1hr 40:05 in her first run for the club. Our famous former international 400m track runner, Elaine Sutcliffe, was a surprise competitor, and managed to complete the course in 1hr 56:18. Race Results from Sportsoft.

25th Mar 2007. Chris Price & Helen Singleton Run Fast Time in Wakefield Hospice 10k.
The annual Wakefield Hospice 10k race round the Merrie City centre again attracted over 1000 competitors, and U20 runner Chris Price ran a personal best time of 33 mins 06 secs to finish a fine 6th. Helen Singleton had an excellent run, finishing 2nd woman in the superb time of 36 mins 25 secs, whilst Alex Potter made an encouraging debut in 44 mins 20 secs. Brian Fozzard made a welcome return to competition, coming 2nd in the M65 vets category.
Race Results from John Schofield's ukresults.net

25th Mar 2007. Second Yorkshire Vets League Race.
In the second race at Meltham Steve Wilkinson (16th) and Tony Smith (17th) had a good battle, and both ran well to finish 3rd in the M50 and M35 categories respectively.
Race Results from YVAA site

24th Mar 2007. Wakefield Harriers at the English Schools Cross Country Championships.
There were several club members representing West Yorkshire Schools in the English Schools National Cross Country Championships at Temple Newsam, Leeds. The club were best represented in the Intermediate Boys race, where Joe Hargreaves and Jack Hallas were West Yorkshire's first 2 counters in 27th & 34th, and with Ben Homer 4th counter in 56th Harriers runners made up half the county team who finished an excellent 2nd team out of the 43 counties there. Sam Bucknell was also a non-scorer for the county in 236th place.
In the Senior Girls race Chloe Patchett was West Yorkshire's leading runner in 46th, helping the county team to 8th, whilst in the Intermediate Girls race Catherine Hillerby was the county's 4th counter in 209th, with Kate Wilson 5th counter in 240th. In the Junior Girls race Eleanor Richmond was 4th counter in 84th, with the county finishing 10th.
Full Results of all races from ESAA website.
Photographs and more Photographs from Howard Miller.

11th Mar 2007. Club 5000m Record for Aine Hoban in the USA.
Aine justs gets better and better, and in her latest race she was fifth in the women's 5000m at the Division I National Collegiate Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She ran an excellent New Club 5000m Record of 15 mins 53.42s.

10th Mar 2007. Wakefield Harriers Competing in National Cross Country Championships.
The club had several runners taking part in the English National Cross Country Championships at Sunderland, competing against the top cross country runners in the country. Ben Homer was our highest placed runner, finishing 26th in the U15 Boy's race. Chris Price came 47th in the U20 Men's race, Joe Hargreaves was 50th in the U17 Men's, and Jack Mitchell 156th & Jack Richmond 183rd were our finishers in the U13 Boy's. For the girls we had Eleanor Richmond finishing 71st in the U15 race, and in the U13 Girl's race Olivia Radcliffe finiished 78th, with Amelia Debiase 229th and Emily Kesterton 234rd. Race Results from Sportsoft

4th Mar 2007. Gold Medal for Bryan Shearsmith at British Vets Indoor Championships.
For the climax to a fine indoor season Bryan, our most senior sprinter, entered the British Indoors Masters Track & Field Championships at the Lee Valley Stadium. His competitive spirit over the two day meeting was a great surprise, after two years of injury, and his haul was two medals in the M65 age group. In the 60m final he won bronze in 9.05 secs, but his gold medal performance was in his strongest event the 200m, winning the championship in 29.58s.

4th Mar 2007. Martyn Bernard Wins Bronze Medal at European Indoor Championships.
At the European Indoor Championships at Birmingham Martyn performed at the very highest level to add the Bronze Medal in the High Jump to his growing collection. He cleared 2.29m at the 3rd attempt, and was quite close to a new PB of 2.32m. This was one of the greatest ever performances by a Wakefield Harrier, and the club can be very proud of him.

4th Mar 2007. Sarah Beevers Wins Norton 9 Mile Road Race.

Sarah had a fine victory in the Norton 9 Mile Road Race, finishing 47th overall and first lady in a time of 57 min 32s. Chris Price, still an under 20 junior, was an excellent 5th in the fast time of 50 min 03s, and with Matthew Dodsworth 25th and Richard West 34th the men's team finished 5th. Richard is currently showing some good form, and was 2nd in the M50 category. The club had quite a good turnout of runners, and here's Pat Wood and some of the Ladies Road Team before the race, with lady's winner Sarah Beevers in the centre. Race Results from Askern District Running Club

3rd Mar 2007. Martyn Bernard Reaches Final of European Indoor Championships.
At the European Indoor Championships at the National Indoor Arena at Birmingham Martyn reached the final of the High Jump with a PB and New Club Record of 2.30m. This performance lifts Martyn into true world class, and he must now have the British record of 2.38m in his sights, as he becomes Britain's 6th best ever High Jumper. Report and Picture of Martyn from UK Athletics

25th Feb 2007. Road Runners in Action over the weekend.
The club had runners taking part is several road races around the region, with some creditable performances. In particular Mark Ridgway continued his build up to the London Marathon with a solid 75 min 34s Half Marathon in Blackpool, whislt in the Snake Lane 10 at Pocklington near York Richard West was 4th in the M50 category in 61 min 50s.

24/25th Feb 2007. Thomas Atkinson Makes Final in AAA Indoor Championships.
Thomas reached the final of the AAA U17 mens 800m at Birmingham, finishing in a fine 5th place in a tough physical race. In the heats he smashed his PB by over 3 seconds, in 2:00.54 secs. This excellent time for a 14 year old puts him 6th on the UK standings, in his first year in the U17 age group. See pictures of Thomas in action from Howard Miller.
Chris Brennan also did well in these championships to make the semi-final in the U17 mens 60m, and ran a New Club U17 60m Record of 7.44s.

24th Feb 2007. Another Club Record for Aine Hoban in the USA.
Continuing her excellent form whilst studying in the USA, Aine won her race at an Indoor meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico, running a New Club 3000m Record of 9 min 24.49s. As with her recent 5000m record this indoor record is now quicker than her outdoor record, so we wait to see what she can do on the outdoor tracks this summer. The previous week she had run another fast 3000m in 9 min 29.47s, and a 5000m in 16 min 16.67s in Akron, Ohio, on successive days.

24th Feb 2007. Ben Homer & Lauren Brooke First Yorkshire Runners in Inter-Counties.
Ben returned to top form with an excellent run in the UK Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships at Wollaton Park, Nottingham. He finished 13th, and first counter for Yorkshire, in the U15 Boys race, helping Yorkshire to team silver medals. And that despite running almost the entire race with one bare foot, having lost a shoe at the start! Lauren was also outstanding in the U13 girls race, leading the Yorkshire team home in 35th. In the U20 men's race Chris Price had a fine run to finish 51st, Yorkshire's 3rd counter, and Kate Wilson was also competing in the U17 girls race, which incorporated the UK Cross Challenge. Championships Report and Results from UK Athletics

Ben Homer (with one shoe!) and Kate Wilson in action at Wollaton Park. Pictures from Howard Miller.

23rd/24th Feb 2007. Naida Bromley Competes for Great Britain in Indoor Pentathlon.
Naida was selected to compete for the Norwich Union Great Britain and Northern Ireland team for a combined events international for U23s and U20s against France and Spain, at the Lee Valley Athletics Centre, London. She achieved a 60m hurdles PB of 8.93s, high jumped 1.62m, equalled her indoor shot PB of 12.24m, and long jumped 5.32m, so was set for a high score, but unfortunately was not able to finish the 800m. Report from UK Athletics

20th Feb 2007. Martyn Bernard Competes Against Olympic Champion.
As part of his preparations for the forthcoming European Indoor Championships Martyn competed at the IAAF Indoor meeting in Stockholm, Sweden, finishing fifth in the high jump with a 2.24m clearance at the second attempt. The competition was won by Sweden's Olympic Champion Stefan Holm with 2.33m. See the GB team for the European Indoor Championships from UK Athletics

18th Feb 2007. Sarah Beevers Finishes 2nd in Wombwell Five.
Sarah was the second woman home in the local Wombwell Five Mile Road Race, finishing in a time of 30 min 17 secs. Race Results from ukresults.net

18th Feb 2007. Bronze Medal for Thomas Atkinson in Scottish Indoor Championships.

Thomas competed in the Scottish Indoor Championships at the Kelvin Hall, and despite being at the bottom end of the age group won a Bronze in the U17 mens 800m, with a PB time of 2min 03.98s. He was lying in 4th place and 20 metres down on the race leader with 200m still to run, never the less Thomas sensed that the third placed runner was faltering, and finding the energy from somewhere he seized his chance & with one final attack overhauled him in the final 50 metres to snatch a well deserved Bronze Medal. He also reached the final of the 400m, finishing 5th with another PB time of 53.32s.

17th Feb 2007. Martyn Bernard Competes in Norwich Union Grand Prix.
Martyn was back in action indoors, competing in the Norwich Union Indoor Grand Prix at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, where in two weeks time he will be representing Great Britain in the European Indoor Championships. He was only able to finish 5th this time with 2.20m, after taking a gamble and going on to attempt a new PB of 2.30m. Report and Results from UK Athletics

11th Feb 2007. Olivia Radcliffe represents West Yorkshire in UK Sportshall Challenge.
Olivia represented West Yorkshire in the Norwich Union UK Sportshall Challenge, competing in the Yorkshire and Humberside Final. West Yorkshire U13 girls & boys, along with the U15 girls & boys had a clean sweep with all 4 teams winning through to the national finals in Birmingham, at the National Indoor Arena on 22nd April. Olivia won silver in the 4 lap event and also gold in the 8 Lap event, making a significant contribution to the Yorkshire U13G team winning through to the Final.

11th Feb 2007. Martyn Bernard Wins UK Indoor High Jump Title.
At the Norwich Union European Trials & UK Indoor Championships, at the Sheffield EIS, Martyn wasted no time in winning glory in Wakefield's colours when he won the High Jump title, with a New Club Record of 2.23m. These championships were also acting as the trials for the forthcoming European Indoor Championships, so as he already has the qualifying height this victory will ensure his selection for the GB team. Kelly Johnson and Ruth Dales were also in action but didn't manage to make the finals of their events. Report and Results from UK Athletics

11th Feb 2007. Road Runners in Liversedge Half Marathon.
Several Harriers ran in the Liversedge Half Marathon, from Roberttown, with over 50 vets Dave Brailsford and Richard West well up in their category. Alice Butler also had a solid run as part of her build up to the London Marathon. Race Results from ukresults.net

5th Feb 2007. Martyn Bernard Rejoins Wakefield District Harriers & AC.
The club are always pleased to receive new members, and we usually have well over a 100 athletes joining us each year. But this month we are especially delighted to welcome Martyn Bernard back into the club, after a few years away. Martyn started with the Harriers as a Junior Jet, and coached by John Matthews went on to win the English Schools High Jump title. He has progressed steadily to become a world class athlete, and is now Britain's top high jumper, winning the silver medal at last year's Commonwealth Games in Australia. We all wish Martyn continued success, and hope to see him competing for Great Britain in this year's World Championships, and in next year's Olympic Games.

4th Feb 2007. Wakefield Harriers Win Women's Team Prize in Dewsbury 10k.
In the Dewsbury 10k the scoring trio of Sarah Beevers, Chloe Patchett and Kate Wilson won the Women's team prize. Sarah ran a PB of 36:59, and finished 5th woman and 93rd overall out of the field of over a thousand. U17 runners Chloe and Kate also ran PBs of 38:19 and 42:41, just a day after competing in the West Yorkshire Schools Cross Country Championships. Chloe finished 10th woman, and her time of 38m 19s is outstanding for her age. Full Results from Dewsbury Road Runners

4th Feb 2007. First Yorkshire Vets League Race.
After an absence of a year the vets team returned to the Yorkshire Vets Grand Prix series. In the first race at Horsforth the scoring quartet of David Brailsford (19th), Richard West (23rd), Steve Wilkinson (27th) and Tony Smith (32nd) packed well to finish 4th team, with Dave taking 3rd prize in the M50 category. Race Results from YVAA site

3rd Feb 2007. Charlene Snelgrove Finishes 16th in World Cross Trails.
In the Trial Race at Bath for the World Cross Country Championships, Charlene finished a fine 16th place, less than a minute begin the 3rd place runner. This shows she is in good form for the forthcoming track season.

3rd Feb 2007. West Yorkshire Schools Cross Country Championships.
The club had quite a large number of runners competing for the Wakefield District, and also other areas, in the West Yorkshire Schools Cross Country Championships at Batley. Chloe Patchett and Jack Hallas were impressive winners of the senior girls and intermediate boys races, and other Harriers runners finishing in the top 6 were Katie McHale (3rd senior girls), Kate Wilson (3rd inter girls), Catherine Hillarby (6th inter girls), Eleanor Richmond (6th junior girls), Joe Hargreaves (4th inter boys) and Ben Homer (6th inter boys). All these runners are likely to be selected to represent West Yorkshire Schools in the English schools Cross Country Championships, to be held this year at Temple Newsam on Saturday 24th of Mar. Race Results from Bradford Schools AA.
Detailed Report and Photographs from Howard Miller.

Jack Hallas and Chloe Patchett on their way to winning their West Yorkshire Schools Cross Country Championships races at Batley.

28th Jan 2007. Several Medals in Northern Indoor Championships at Sheffield.
We had several athletes in action at the North of England Senior Indoor Championships at the EIS at Sheffield, with three runners winning medals in the middle distance events. In the Women's 800m final Kelly Johnson came 3rd in 2:15.34, and Helen Singleton went one better with 2nd in the 1500m in 4:40.99, with Sara Beevers also winning a silver in the 3000m in 10:36.79. Rimatas Martisauskas just missed out on a medal with his excellent 15.89m in the Shot, and we had two finalists in the Women's 60m Hurdles, with Ruth Dales 5th in 9.14s, and Zara Hohn 7th in 9.89s. Although Zara is clearly not at her best yet she still also managed 6th in the 60m final in 7.91s. Full results from Sheffield from NoEAA site.

27th Jan 2007. New Club 5000m Record for Aine Hoban in USA.
Competing in the Indoor Games at Boston, Massachusetts, in the USA, Aine smashed her PB and ran a New Club 5000m Record of 16min 08.63s. This was a marvellous performance, and confirms with her recent performance for the Great Britain U23 team in the European Cross Country Championships that she has now moved up another level.

27th Jan 2007. Harriers Competing in Northern Cross Country Championships.
In the Northern Cross Country championships at Heaton Park, Manchester, the club had a good contingent of runners. Lauren Brooke was an excellent 12th in the U13s race, and with Olivia Radcliffe 21st, Anna Cheeseborough 117th and Amelia DeBiase 135th the team finished 12th. In the U15 race Eleanor Richmond came 39th, whilst in the U17 race Chloe Patchett came an outstanding 8th, with Kate Wilson 48th and Catherine Hillarby 49th.
In the U13 boys Jack Mitchell and Jack Richmond were 95th & 123rd respectively, and in the U15 boys the team of Dale Worton 41st, Thomas Atkinson 64th, Sam Bucknell 68th and Nathan Bolton 78th packed well to finish 9th team (and 2nd Yorkshire team). In the U17 race Jack Hallas was a fine 15th, whilst in the U20 race Nathan Elliott came 27th, with Chris Price 43rd.
Results of all races from NoEAA. and Photographs from Howard Miller.

21st Jan 2007. A Squad of Harriers Compete in UK Cross Challenge.
A squad of Wakefield Harriers competed with distinction in the UK Cross Challenge at Blackweir Fields in Cardiff. Jack Hallas, Joe Hargreaves, Chloe Patchett & Kate Wilson made the long trip to South Wales and all placed highly. Detailed Report from Howard Miller.

21st Jan 2007. Two Harriers Compete in Inter City Challenge.
Two athletes from the club represented the region in the first semi-final of the Inter City Challenge at the Kelvin Hall, Glasgow. Zara Hohn and Helen Singleton competed in the team which qualified for the final which will be held on Sunday, 8th Feb at Sheffield. Zara was second in the 60m hurdles in 8.88s and ran a leg of the medley relay. Helen, 3rd in the 800 metres in 2:14.90, also competed in the medley relay team.

20th/21st Jan 2007. Harriers in Action at Northern U20 Indoor Championships.
At the Northern Indoor Championships at Sheffield the club had several athletes performing creditably. In the U20 Men's 1500m Chris Price came 5th in 4m 11.11s and Lewis Tatt was 3rd in his 800m heat with a PB of 2m 02.74. In the U17 Men's 400m Thomas Atkinson came 5th in the final with 53.97s, after a fast 800m heat in 2m 03.94. In the U15 Boys age group Craig Westerman came 2nd in the Shot with 9.95m, and Jamie Lunt 4th with 6.17m., whilst in the Long Jump Sam Dennis came 5th with 4.57m, with Jamie Lunt 8th with 4.08m. Jamie completed a busy afternoon with 4th in the 800m with 2m 35.31s. Full results from North of England AA site.

13th/14th Jan 2007. Naida Bromley 4th at English Combined Events Indoor Championships.
At the England Athletics Combined Events Indoor Championships at Sheffield, which were also acting as trials for forthcoming international matches, the club's leading multi-eventer Naida Bromley finished an excellent 4th in the Pentathlon with 3624 pts. Her individual performances were 60m Hurdles 9.16s, High Jump 1.62m, Shot 11.78m, Long Jumo 5.35m and 800m 2:30.7.

14th Jan 2007. Sharon Marshall Medals in Yorkshire Vets Cross Country Championships.
Sharon made her vets debut in the Yorkshire Vets Cross Country Championships at Rotherham, and gained a bronze medal in the over 35 category. The men's over 50 team of Dave Brailsford, Richard West and Steve Wilkinson packed well to finish 5th team.
Men Over 40 results , Men Over 50 results , Women Over 35 results

6th Jan 2007. Aine Hoban Wins Yorkshire Cross Country Championships.
Aine dominated the Yorkshire Cross Country Championships at Skipton, winning the race easily by nearly a minute. With Charlene Snelgrove also well placed in 9th, and Sarah Beevers 24th in a good quality field, the team finished 3rd. Ben Homer came very close to making it a double individual gold for the club, when he was narrowly beaten by just one second in the U15 Boys race. With Sam Bucknell in 14th, Dale Worton 24th and Adam Anderson 59th they finished 5th team. Jack Mitchell and Jack Richmond finished 34th & 35th in the U13 race. In the U20 men's race Chris Price confirmed his good form with an excellent 4th place, with Nathan Elliot finishing 12th. Lauren Brooke had an outstanding run to finish 4th in the U13 girl's race, with Samantha Brook 18th and Olivia Radcliffe 25th ensuring the team finished in the medals with 3rd team place. In the U17 women's race Catherine Hillerby, Ellie Archer and Chloe Bracewell packed well in 14th, 17th and 29th to finish 4th team, and our U15 girl finishers were Eleanor Richmond 12th and Laura Timms 41st.

6th Jan 2007. Lucy O'Gorman Competes for North of England in Belfast International.
Lucy was called up to run for the North of England in the Belfast International Cross Country/UK Cross Challenge race at Stormont, and she finished an excellent 16th in 21.25 on the 5.6km course in the race won by Ethiopian Ethalamu Kidane.
The club also had a small squad of junior runners competing, with Jack Hallas finishing an outstanding 4th in the U17 mens race, and Chloe Patchett with a fine 8th in the U17 ladies event being our best placed runners. Detailed Report and Photographs from Howard Miller.