31st Dec 2009. UK Senior Rankings for 2009 - Club has 6 top 50 Ranked Athletes.
In the World and UK top 50 rankings, published recently in Athletics Weekly, the club once again had an athlete at the very top of the UK rankings, and for the first time three athletes ranked in the World's top 50, an outstanding achievement for the club.
Emily Freeman was easily the UK's top 200m runner with her world class time of 22.64s, which ranked her 25th in the world for 2009. She was also Britain's top 100m sprinter this year, with her new PB of 11.33s. Charlene Thomas was ranked 4th in the UK and 33rd in the world with her 1500m time of 4m 05.06s. Martyn Bernard had his season cut short by injury, but was still equal 3rd in the High Jump with his best of 2.27m, which ranked him equal 50th in the world.

The club had 4 athletes in the UK Senior Women's Top 50 Rankings, with 3 making the top 4! :-
Emily Freeman was ranked 1st in the 200m (22.64) & 1st in the 100m (11.33), both new club records ;
Charlene Thomas was 4th in the 1500m (4:05.06), 4th in the 3000m (9:01.63i) & 6th in the 800m (2m 01.87), all new club records ;
Zara Hohn was 3rd in the 100m Hurdles with her new club record (13.37/13.26w) ;
Lauren Proctor (U17) was 45th in the 3000m (9:34.89).

The club had 2 athletes in the UK Senior Men's Top 50 Rankings :-
Martyn Bernard was ranked 3rd= in the High Jump (2.27m i) ;
Jack Hallas (U20) was ranked 41st in the 800m (1:50.14).

31st Dec 2009. UK Track & Field Junior Age Group Rankings for 2009.
In the UK age group top 20 rankings, published recently in Athletics Weekly, the club has several athletes ranked :-
U13G Abigail Roberts was 2nd in the Pole Vault (2.50m) ; Bethany Thomas was 11th in the Shot (9.67m).
U15G Hannah Yates was 16th in the Discus (30.30m) & 17th in the Hammer (33.36m) ; Grace Eyles was 18th in the 100m (12.55) & 17th in the 200m (25.76) ; Bethany Porter was 19th in the Pentathlon (2753 pts) ; Abigail Roberts (U13) was 19th in the Pole Vault (2.50m).
U17W Lauren Proctor was 4th in the 1500m (4m 24.40), 5th in the 3000m (9m 34.89) & 12th in the 800m (2m 11.01) ; Samantha Brook was 10th in the 300m Hurdles (45.28) & 18th in the Heptathlon 4119 pts); Rebecca Watts was 18th in the 100m (12.23).
U20W Lauren Proctor (U17) was 15th in the 1500m (4m 24.40) & 14th in the 3000m (9m 34.89).
U17MMarcus Nixey was 17th in the 400m (49.40) ; Will Mulroy was 19th= in the High Jump (1.90m) ; Joe Charlesworth was 15th in the Javelin (54.07m).
U20M Jack Hallas was 5th in the 800m (1m 50.14) & 15th in the 1500m (3m 51.45) ; Thomas Atkinson was 11th in the 800m (1m 51.03).

31st Dec 2009. Harriers Brave the Wintry Conditions in Auld Lang Syne Race.

29th Dec 2009. Emily Freeman Gets Married to Philip Cantrell.

28th Dec 2009. Senior Christmas Handicaps Postponed until New Year.
Due to the continuing icy conditions the annual Christmas Handicap race had to be postponed until the New Year, and it finally took place on Tuesday 26th January 2010. Race Report and Results

26th Dec 2009. Julie Briscoe Impressively Wins Ward Green 6.
Julie Briscoe showed that she is in great form by easily finishing first lady in the Ward Green 6 Mile road race, when finishing 5th overall in 33m 47s on the hilly course. She was just ahead of Ben Homer in 6th, with young Matthew O'Connor also running well to finish 12th ( Download Results ). Elsewhere on Boxing Day Tom Coney raced in his hometown of Aylesbury and came 9th out of over 200 in the 5km race ( Download Results ) and there were a few runners competing in the popular 7 mile Chevin Chase, with Richard West our first man home in 69th place out of over 800 runners ( Download Results ).

22nd Dec 2009. Matthew O'Connor Wins 2009 Junior Christmas Handicaps.
Whilst the senior road handicap had to be postponed for a week because of the weather, the icy conditions didn't deter the young runners who competed in the junior Christmas Handicap race, run in the park. Matthew O'Connor and Jake Worton set off together from scratch, and were also the first two home, with Matthew winning a close race by just 2 seconds. Ben Read finished 3rd and Libby Greatorex was first girl home in 7th.
All the coaches wish all the young athletes and their parents a very happy Christmas and new year, and thank them for all their efforts and support throughout the year.
Download Race Results in Excel.

20th Dec 2009. Two New Club Records at Reebok Manchester Indoor Open Meeting.
Despite the snow and ice there was a decent turnout of Harriers at the latest Reebok Manchester Indoor Open Meeting at Sport City, with two new club records being recorded. Once again it was Abigail Roberts who stole the show, increasing her own U15 & U17 indoor pole vault record to 2.75m, a performance that moves her up to 9th in this year's UK U15 rankings. Bethany Porter was also outstanding in running a New Club U17 60m Hurdles Record of 9.49s. Several PBs were also registered from the likes of Danielle Anderson, Bethany Sharp and Alice Cusworth and good performances from Rory Walker, Tom Coney, Adam Anderson, Dylan Roberts and Sally Spurr. Congratulations to all the Harriers who turned out to represent the club, and thanks to Alan Spurr for sending the report. Meeting Results.

19th Dec 2009. Club 2010 Charity Calendar Now Available.

Pat Wood and Chris Ward have produced a superb calendar for 2010, featuring many of the ladies from the club. This is now available for £5 and will make a great souvenir or an excellent Christmas stocking filler, and can be purchased from the cabin or from Pat. All proceeds to go to Wakefield Hospice.

13th Dec 2009. Men's Team Record Best Ever Time in Calderdale Way Relay.
The club had a men's team competing in the tough Calderdale Way Relay, which consists of 6 legs with 2 runners from each club running as a pair, and with many of the country's leading fell and cross country runners taking part. The team finished in their best ever time of 7 hrs 03 mins 44 secs, with a fine 27th place out of the 117 teams. Once again the best performance was by the 2nd leg runners Neil Penn and Martin Green, who were 18th fastest on leg 2, after Neil Dutton & Carl Quinn had got the team off to an good start in 31st place. Chris Ward & Brian Horsfall ran a club best time on leg 4, and there were solid runs from all the rest of the team.
Download Results from Halifax Harriers

12th Dec 2009. Personal Bests Galore at Northern Indoor Open Meeting.
Several Wakefield athletes took part in the 2nd Northern Athletics Indoor Open Meeting at the EIS in Sheffield, with some good performances and many personal bests. Amongst the middle distance runners Chris Price trimmed his 3000m best with 8m 59.31s and U20 Tom Coney ran the 1000m in 2m 39.15s, with U17 Matthew O'Connor running the same distance in 2m 52.51s. There were other top performances from U17 sprinters Rebecca Watts & Grace Eyles who ran the 60m in 8.14s & 8.26s respectively, with Grace also running 42.98s for 300m. Bethany Porter threw the U17 shot 8.44m & Bethany Thomas the U15 shot 8.20m.
Download Results from Northern Athletics

6th Dec 2009. New U15 & U17 Pole Vault Record from young Abigail Roberts.
At the Sale Harriers Indoor Open Meeting at Sports City in Manchester the club had a small number of Harriers competing, the highlight being a New Club U17 Pole Vault Record from 12 year old Abigail Roberts. She not only increased her own U15 record but also took the U17 record in the process, with an outstanding vault of 2.70m, a performance that moves her up to 9th equal in this year's UK U15 rankings. Meeting Results.

6th Dec 2009.  Ben Homer is Complete Runner Cross Country League Champion.
In the overall Complete Runner Cross Country League team competitions the U17 ladies won their age group, the U15 boys were 2nd after just losing on countback, the U13 boys 2nd, the U15 girls 5th, the U13 girls 5th and the senior men 6th after an up and down set of results.
In the individual league standings Ben Homer was a clear winner of the U20 men's competition, Annabel Mason was an excellent 2nd place in the U13 girls, as was Sam Convery in the U13 boys, Jake Worton was 3rd in the U15 boys & Libby Greatorex 4th in the U15 girls.
Results of all Races and Final League Positions.

6th Dec 2009.  U15 Boys Team Win Again in Complete Runner Cross Country League.
At the 4th and final meeting of the Complete Runner Cross Country League at Nunroyd Park near Leeds the very wet conditions no doubt put a lot of runners off, but there were still some good performances. The U15 boy's team were victorious again, with Matthew O'Connor having another excellent run to finish 2nd, and with fine runs also from Jake Worton (5th), Daniel Franks (10th) & Michael Callaly (16th) they easily won their team race. Sam Convery finished a good 6th in the U13 boys race, and well supported by Andrew Jones (11th), William Ingram (16th) & Benjamin Read (15th) their team finished 2nd again. The U13 girls were 6th, led by Annabel Mason with an excellent 3rd place, followed by Sophie Woolin (28th) & Bethany Lovell-Waldegrave (33rd). The U15 girl's team of Libby Greatorex (5th), Jessica Rowlands (36th) & Hannah Marsh (37th) came 5th. The only other complete team was that of the senior men, the team of Ben Homer (27th), Neil Penn (47th), Martin Green (65th), Pete MacNamara (83rd), Chris Ward (92nd) & Neil Dutton (118th) finishing 9th.
Results of all Races and Final League Positions.

6th Dec 2009.  New 10k Road PB from Nathan Elliot.
Nathan Elliot clipped a couple of seconds off his 10k Road PB when finishing 6th in 33 mins 04 secs in the Percy Pud 10k in Sheffield, a time which moves him to the top of this year's club rankings. Download Race Results.

29th Nov 2009. Harriers Fell Runners in Action.
Two of the club's fell runners took part in the David Staff Memorial fell race from Darwen in Lancashire. Run in very bad weather the race was 5.1 miles with 1200ft of climbing, and Neil Penn came 12th in 36 min 52s and Martin Green 14th in 37 min 4s out of 150 in the race. Race Results.

28th Nov 2009. Jack Hallas Finishes 33rd in U20 Trial for European Cross Country.
Jack Hallas had his first race after a spell of injury, and finished 33rd in the U20 Men's race at the McCain UK Cross Challenge at Sefton Park, Liverpool, which also incorporated the trials for the forthcoming European Cross Country Championships. There was also a good run by Sally Smith who finished 83rd in her U17 ladies race against top competition. Download Results of all races

22nd Nov 2009. Good Performances in Leeds Abbey Dash Road Race.

21st Nov 2009. Wakefield Harriers In Action at North of England Open.
At the first North of England Open Meeting at the EIS in Sheffield, the club had several young athletes in action, with the highlight being Abigail Roberts extending her own U15 girls pole vault club record to 2.60m. With athletes of different ages competing together all the results are mixed up, but the Results can be downloaded from NoEAA.

21st Nov 2009.  2009 Club Cross Country Championships at Thornes Park.

Two of the cross country teams pictured with UK 1500m Champion Charlene Thomas

21st Nov 2009.  2 Team Victories and 1 Individual Win in Complete Runner Cross Country.
The club successfully hosted the 3rd meeting of the Complete Runner Cross Country League at Thornes Park, which incorporated the Club Cross Country Championships. Matthew O'Connor was the club's only individual winner, as he had an excellent run to lead the U15 boy's team of Jake Worton (4th), Daniel Franks (11th) & Jordon Turner (13th) to victory. The U17 ladies team were also victorious, with Sally Smith a fine 2nd place, backed up by Alice Lightfoot (9th) & Harriet Speight-Hulme (12th). There was also an excellent 2nd place from Julie Briscoe in the senior ladies race, but the clash with the following day's Abbey Dash 10k meant we didn't have a complete team. Our senior men were out in force however, and had their best team result for many many years, finishing an excellent 3rd team. 17-year old Ben Homer was outstanding again in 7th, just beating Chris Price to the club championship title by 2 seconds, and they were well supported by Sam Bucknall (20th), Tom Coney (25th), Martin Green (48th) & Neil Penn (56th). Sam Convery finished a fine 3rd in the U13 boys race, and with Andrew Jones (8th), Benjamin Read (14th) & William Ingram (16th) their team finished 2nd. The U13 girls were 5th, with Stephanie Rodgers leading them home in 7th, followed by Annabel Mason (9th) & Sophie Woolin (39th). The U15 girls team of Libby Greatorex (11th), Olivia Radcliffe (18th) & Hannah Marsh (25th) came 5th as well, and also noteworthy was the 6th place finish of Emily Gill in the U11 girl's race.
Results of all Races.

18th Nov 2009. Harriers Invited Again to Compete in Race in France.
The club have been invited once again to take part in a relay race at Wakefield's twin town of Castres, France over the first weekend in February next year. This is a fantastic long distance event for senior runners, and here's the report of this year's trip. Any runners wishing to take part please contact Peter Young.

15th Nov 2009.  Some Good Performances in Barnsley 10k.
The club had several runners competing in the Barnsley 10k, with some good performances recorded. Martin Green was the club's first man home in 24th place in 36:50 and was followed by Neil Penn in 32nd place in 37:34, out of the large field of 850 runners. Richard West ran a useful 39:03 and new member Tom Wainwright ran an encouraging 39:52 in his first 10K. Julie Greenwood was our first lady home in 43:35. Race Results

14th Nov 2009.  Fine Runs from Young Cross Country Runners at Gateshead.
Some of our leading young cross country runners were competing against some of Britain's best distance runners in the McCain UK Cross Challenge Races at Gateshead. Ben Homer finished 18th in the U20 race, Matthew O'Connor 34th in the U15 race and Sam Convery was 16th in the U13 race. Race Results.

1st Nov 2009. Jake Worton & Annabelle Mason Win at 2nd Complete Runner Cross Country.
At the second meeting of the Complete Runner Cross Country League in very wet and windy conditions at Leeds many of the teams were weakened, due to the relays at Mansfield held the previous day, but there were still some fine performances, including two individual winners.

Jake Worton

Annabelle Mason

In the U15 Boy's race Jake Worton had an excellent victory, with Daniel Franks 11th, Jack Mitchell 15th & Daniel Thompson 36th the team finished 3rd. Annabelle Mason came home first again in the U13 Girls race, and with team mates Sophie Woolin (25th) & Bethany Lovell-Waldegrave (44th) the team came 5th. The U13 Boy's team came 2nd, with Sam Convery leading the team home in an excellent 2nd, and he was supported by William Ingram (14th), Andrew Jones (26th) & George Heppinstall (28th). In the U17 Women's race the trio of Alice Lightfoot (7th), Sarah Franks (14th) & Louise Whiteley (15th) were 3rd.

In the Senior Men's race U20 runner Ben Homer was superb, finishing an excellent 7th, and once again the first U20 overall to finish. He was well supported by John Mason, who came 33rd & 2nd in the M45 category, and by Chris Ward (100th), Neil Dutton (109th), Richard West (119th) & new recruit Tom Wainwright (133rd), with the team finishing 11th out of the large field of 222 runners.
In the other races where we didn't have complete teams, the best performances were by Emily Gill, who finished a fine 5th in the U11 Girl's race, and Libby Greatorex 5th in the U15 Girl's race.
Results of all Races, and see more pictures taken by David Brett.

31st Oct 2009. A Good Turnout at the English National Cross Country Relays.
The club had a good turnout of runners at the English National Cross Country Relays at Mansfield, with full teams in most age groups competing against the best cross country runners in the country. The Senior Women had a good result, the trio of Sharon Marshal (12:13), Julie Briscoe (10:49) & Kelly Johnson (11:29) finishing 28th out of 85 complete teams, with Julie making up 17 places on leg 2! The Senior Men also had a solid performance, with their 'A' team of Nathan Elliot (16:39), Chris Price (16:28), Martin Green (19:22) & Neil Penn (18:38) finishing a fine 66th, and the 'B' team of Jonathan Prideaux (21:47), Steve Faulkner (18:53), Chris Ward (19:07) & Neil Dutton (19:22) coming 122nd out of the 151 complete teams. The U20 Men's team of Sam Bucknall (9:56), Ben Homer (10:10) & Tom Coney came 33rd.

The Young Athletes Who Competed at the Cross Country Relays.

27th Oct 2009.  Charlene Thomas and Emily Freeman to Get Lottery Funding for 2010.
Because of their excellent performances this year Charlene Thomas and Emily Freeman are to receive financial support next year, and have been invited onto the World Class Performance Programme (WCPP) for the 2009/2010 season. Emily is amongst the 'podium' list on the UK Athletics top tier of lottery funded athletes, which are those considered to be potential Olympic and World Championship medallists, after coming 7th in the World Championships in the 200m, and being part of the 4 x 100m relay team. Charlene is on the 2nd tier of 'development' athletes, having finally had her breakthrough season, winning the UK 1500m trials, and being selected for the World Championships in that event. So our congratulations to them both, and we hope it helps them achieve even more next season.
Report from UK Athletics.

24th Oct 2009. Harriers Fell Runners in Action.
Two of the club's fell runners took part in the pouring rain in the Running Bear, Race You to the Summit Fell Race, over a distance of 4 miles and 800ft of climbing. Neil Penn came 7th in 31min 15sec and Martin Green just behind in 8th in 31min 51sec.
Elsewhere young Annabel Mason has had a successful summer on the fells. Following on from her 2nd place in the Under 14 Yorkshire Fell Championships, she finished 4th U14 overall in the FRA Junior Championships 2009 (series of six races) and also came 6th in 2009 English School Championships for Year 8 & 9 Girls.

18th Oct 2009. Excellent Team Performances at ERRA Young Athletes Road Relays.
At the ERRA Young Athletes Road Relays at Sutton Park, Birmingham all the top teams from England were on show as usual, and the club had some excellent team performances. The best result was by the U17 Ladies team of Sally Smith (14:19), Lauren Brooke (15:00) & Harriot Speight-Hulme (15:43) who finished an outstanding 9th overall. The U13 Girl's team of Stephanie Rodgers (15:58), Heather Ludvigsen (16:57) & Sophie Woollin (18:04) came 32nd, and the U15 Girl's team of Libby Greatorex (15:28), Jessica Timmins (16:28) & J Rowlands (17:02) were 42nd. The U13 Boy's team of Sam Convery (14:29), William Ingram (15:17) & Benjamin Read (15:46) were a fine 18th, as were the U15 Boy's team of Jake Worton (13:14), Matthew O'Conner (14:00) & Jordan Turner (13:59), with Daniel Franks (14:10) & Jack Mitchell (13:35) also running well for the incomplete 'B' team. With 'B' teams in several age groups competing as well it was a great show from the junior running section of the club, and credit should go to the hard working coaches and team managers for such a great turnout. Results of all races from Sportsoft.

18th Oct 2009. Dianne Simmons & Ruth Bailey Complete the Amsterdam Marathon.
Dianne Simmons & Ruth Bailey both ran their second overseas marathon of the year, successfully completing the Amsterdam Marathon in personal best times. Dianne ran 4 hrs 13 mins and Ruth 4 hrs 19 mins, so our congratulations to them both. See Amsterdam Marathon website.

18th Oct 2009. Encouraging Runs from Ladies in Bridlington Half Marathon.
In the Bridlington Half Marathon we had a number of runners competing, with two of our improving ladies leading the way. Helen Beck was first Harrier to finish in a new PB of 1 hr 31:26 in 98th place, with Julie Greenwood also running well to finish 147th in 1hr 35:22 out of 700 runners.
Download Race results.

17th Oct 2009. Good Performance from Men at National 6-Stage Road Relay Championships.

The successful men's team at the National 6-Stage Road Relays.

11th Oct 2009. Good Day for the Club at First Complete Runner Cross Country League.
At the first meeting of the Complete Runner Cross Country League at Halifax the club had a good day, with 1 team victory and 1 individual winner from the 10 age group races.
Annabelle Mason was our only winner, coming home first in the U13 Girls race by 5 seconds, and supported by Heather Ludvigson (22nd) & Bethany Lovell-Waldegrave (40th) the team came 4th. The U17 Women's team had a clear team victory, the scoring trio of Harriot Speight-Hulme (6th), Alice Lightfoot (7th) and Louisa Long (8th) packing very well. The U13 Boy's team came 2nd, with Sam Convery leading the team home in 4th, and backed up by George Heppinstall (11th), Benjamin Read (18th) & Andrew Jones (27th). The U15 Girls came 6th in their team race, with Libby Greatorex finishing a fine 5th, and followed by Jessica Timmins (22nd) & Bethany Sharp (43rd).
The Senior Men, strengthened by the influx of the new U20 runners, finished a fine 6th, with U20 Ben Homer first home for the club in an excellent 21st place, and 1st U20 overall to finish. He was well supported by Sam Bucknall (34th), new recruit John Mason (38th), Tom Coney (43rd), Martin Green (67th) & Neil Penn (83rd). In the Senior Women's race Kelly Johnson rallied well to finish 13th, and leading the team of Helen Beck (24th), Julie Greenwood (37th) & Lisa Hall (56th) to a 6th place team position.
In the U15 Boy's race Jake Worton came a fine 3rd, with Jack Mitchell 13th & Daniel Franks 16th, although they were missing a 4th counter for the team. In the other races where we didn't have complete teams, the best performances were by Emily Gill, who finished an excellent 2nd in the U11 Girls race, and Ryan Hartley 17th in the U17 Men's event.
Results of all Races and see pictures taken by Adam Kerfoot.

11th Oct 2009. Great Runs from Our Police Colleagues in Leicester Marathon.
West Yorkshire Police colleagues and Wakefield Harriers members Carl Quinn and Alex Potter had great runs in the Leicester Marathon, which incorporated the National Police Championships. Despite carrying injuries they both ran PBs, with Carl breaking the 3 hour barrier for the first time with his excellent 25th overall in 2 hrs 58 mins, and Alex shaving 3 minutes off her PB with 3 hrs 27 mins. Race Results

5th Oct 2009. New Members Elected to Harriers Committee at AGM.
At the Annual General Meeting there were a few changes to the Club Committee, with a few new members volunteering to help out. The most important change was the election of Sally Holmes as General Secretary, after Vera Grindle stepped down after 13 excellent years of service.
See list of Committee Members

4th Oct 2009. Harewood House 10 Mile Trail Race & 2 Mile Run.

We had several runners taking part in the popular Harewood House 10 Mile Trail Race. Martin Green was our first runner home in 17th place, followed by Neil Penn in 24th. Julie Greenwood was our first lady finisher in 107th, and 7th lady overall out of the field of nearly 600 runners. Jake Worton was a clear winner of the 2 Mile race for junior athletes, and is pictured here with his medal. 10 Mile Race Results and 2 Mile Race Results