28th Sep 2014. Distance Runners Weekend Roundup.

27th Sep 2014. Another U13 Javelin Club Record from Aran Thomas.
Aran Thomas competed at the Biggleswade Open Graded Track Meeting in the Shot, Discus and Javelin, and managed grade 1 throws in all three events. He threw a New U13 Club Javelin Record of 32.02m, and also recorded a PB of 9.68m in the Shot, and 28.82m in the Discus. Meeting Results.

20th/21st Sep 2014. Distance Runners Weekend Roundup.
The City of Wakefield now has its own Park Run, and they had an astonishing 252 runners for the first event in Thornes Park. Details available on the Wakefield Park Run website.
The improving Jenny Latham ran another PB at the Worcester City 10K, as she finished 5th lady in 36:30, and not too far behind a certain Paula Radcliffe, making her racing return! Race Results.

20th Sep 2014. Northern Athletics Autumn Road Relay Championships.
The club had just three teams competing at the Northern Athletics Road Relay Championships at Warrington, including the U15 squad pictured below.

20th Sep 2014. Leading Coach Bill Dance Passes Away.
It is with great sadness that we hear of the death of respected coach Bill Dance, after a long illness. Bill coached and helped many of the leading distance runners from our club, including international athletes Darren Spawforth and Julie Briscoe, and was always a supporter of the club and its athletes. He will be sadly missed by all. Read Roger Norton's tribute to Bill on the Northern Athletics website.

14th Sep 2014. Distance Runners Weekend Roundup.
The Club 3000m was the 13th round in this year’s Club Distance Runners League Championship. Chris Rippon was first Harrier home, and Helen Beck was first lady. Pete McNamara maintains his lead in the championship, but Mark Whitehouse now moves into 2nd place.
A couple of Harriers ran in the Spen Greenway 10k Road Race at Cleckheaton, with U20 Faye Beckett running a new PB of 39:05 and F40 Julie Greenwood recording 42:21, as they finished 2nd & 4th amongst the ladies. Race Results.

14th Sep 2014. Douglas Bedford Memorial Open Meeting & Club Championships.
We had a good entry list of athletes in most events for the Douglas Bedford Memorial Open Meeting, which also incorporatated the Club Track & Field Championships. The Pole Vault in particular was well supported, and included the leading performance from a club member, as George Heppinstall jumped a New U17 Club Pole Vault Record of 4.30m. He'd also jumped a new record of 4.20m the previous day at Liverpool, so that was his 3rd club record this month! U13 Aran Thomas cleared 2.10m, and as the first known U13 Boy to clear 2 metres we'll make him the inaugural club record holder in the event.
There was also a good turnout in the U11 age group, which was encouraging for the future, with wins for Ben Chafer (80m 11.92s) & Michael Flood (SP 5.94m). There were other good results, including grade 2 performances from Molly Dunbavin (1st U13G SP 8.30m) & Aran Thomas (1st U13B SP 9.06m), and grade 3 performances from Yasmin Moorehead (1st U13G HJ 1.33m), Emmie Beaver (2nd U13G HJ 1.33m), Kiera Wareing (2nd U13G LJ 4.20m), India Elliott (1st U15G 800m 2m 26.10s & HJ 1.45m), Rebecca Tolson (1st U17L HJ 1.57m) & Aran Thomas (3rd U13B HJ 1.35m).
Meeting Results Page

9th Sep 2014. New U17 60m Club Record from Alfie West.
Competing at the European Kids Athletics Games at Brno in Czechoslovakia, Alfie West twice broke the U17 60m Club Record, as he recorded 7.28 secs in the heats, and then 7.23 secs as he came 2nd in the final. Results in Power of 10.

8th Sep 2014. New Members Joining Wakefield Harriers in August & September.
Here's the list of people that have been accepted into membership by Wakefield Harriers at the monthly Committee Meeting. Please welcome them all to the club.
List of New Members.

6th/7th Sep 2014. Yorkshire County Combined Events Championships.
At the Yorkshire County Combined Events Championships at Cleckheaton the club had several athletes competing, and three of them came away with medals. Molly Dunbavin was a clear winner of the U13G Triathlon with 1291 points, with Ceris McElhatton finishing 5th, and Richard Flood finished 4th in the U13B Triathlon. Patrick Thackray won a silver medal, finishing 2nd in the U20 Men's Decathlon with 4677 points, and Bethany Porter won bronze in the Senior Women's Heptathlon with 3646 points. James Shaw finished 4th in the Senior Men's Decathlon with 4012 points. Meeting Results.

6th/7th Sep 2014. West Yorkshire Track & Field League Championships.
For the first time the West Yorkshire T&F League Championships were held over two days, running alongside the Yorkshire Combined Events Championships. On the Saturday conditions were dreadful, but on Sunday conditions were excellent, and two Championships records were broken. One Harrier almost broke a third record, as U13 Aran Thomas came very close to the U13 record (which is also our club record) with his Discus victory with an excellent throw of 31.56m. Other young athletes having good victories were Ben Chafer (U11B 75m 11.23s), Michael Flood (U11B SP 6.41m), Richard Flood (U13B 80m 11.37s), Rebecca Sheppard (U15G 1500m 5m 22.74s) and Alyce McCurdie (U17W SP 10.60m & JT 22.37m). Senior Lucy Holmes had a good day, winning four events, her Shot Putt of 10.91m being a Grade 2 performance.
Results from Cleckheaton :- Mens and Womens.

7th Sep 2014. Some great Half Marathon Times at Vale of York.
There were some great Half Marathon times achieved at the new Vale of York Half Marathon, from Sherburn in Elmet. Jenny Latham became only the 3rd female Wakefield Harrier to break the 1 hr 20 minutes barrier, with her excellent new PB of 1 hr 19 mins 56 secs, finishing 2nd lady in the race, and 27th overall. Stephen Tilford also had an excellent run to finish 7th, and he recorded a big PB of 75:55. Tom Potter & M45 Hugh Allen also recorded PBs with 85:55 & 86:22, and Alex Potter was very close to her best with 90:22. Nicky Steel was our 3rd lady home in 97:43, as the ladies team finished 2nd. Pete McNamara just missed Pete Gooding's club M55 record by 5 seconds, with his time of 87:12. Race Results.
The race was also the 12th round of the Club Distance Runners League Championship, where Pete McNamara has now taken the lead, ahead of Hugh Allen, with Helen Beck the leading lady.
In the Great North Run we also had several runners competing, with M45 Chris Rippon first home from the club in 87:54.

5th Sep 2014. A Victory and a New Club Record at UK Schools Games.
Two of the club's top young athletes were selected to compete at Sports City in Manchester in the Sainsburys UK Schools Games, a multi-sport event for the UK’s elite young athletes of school age. Representing a team from the North-East, Abby Ward won the High Jump competition with 1.72m, and George Heppinstall came 3rd in the Pole Vault with a New U17 Club Pole Vault Record of 4.10m, breaking Mark Johnson's previous record of 4.00m that has stood since 1981. Meeting Results.

31st Aug 2014. Wakefield Harriers Ladies Team Win Leeds Country Way Relay.
The club had 2 teams of 12 runners participating in the 64 mile Leeds Country Way Relay, a long distance off-road event where the runners run in pairs, over 6 stages of between 9.7 and 11.8 miles. The ladies team of Alex Potter & Eileen Mannion, Katie McHale & Nicky Steel, Joanne Biltcliffe & Denise Tibbs, Helen Beck & Jacqui Khoueiry, Sharon Sykes & Faye Beckett, and Julie Greenwood & Jenny Latham, all ran well to win their category for the first time. Of the 6 legs our girls were fastest on 4 of them, and the team did exceptionally well to finish 18th overall, just 5 places behind the men's team, who were 13th.
Race Results from Kippax Harriers.

31st Aug 2014. Spenborough AC Ivan Stringer Memorial Open Meeting.
There was a good turnout of Harriers at the Spenborough AC Ivan Stringer Memorial Open Meeting at Cleckheaton, the best result being from U13 Aran Thomas, who came very close to the club record in the Discus with a big PB of 32.00m, a distance which places him 2nd in the 2014 UK Rankings. Aran is now just 3cm short of Charles Handley's excellent club record from 1998, and he also threw a Shot PB of 9.60m. Lucy Holmes was close to her season's best with 11.30m in the Women's Shot, and U17 Alyce McCurdie won the U20 Shot with 9.54m. Another athlete to shine was Ben Chafer, who won the U11 75m in 11.2s & 150m in 22.6s. Meeting Results.

31st Aug 2014. Chris Ward Second in Blackpool Half Marathon.
Chris Ward had probably his best ever road run when finishing second in the Blackpool Half Marathon, in a new PB time of 76 mins 31 secs.

25th Aug 2014. New U11 150m Club Record from Ben Chafer.
There were some excellent performances at the Trafford AC Medal Meeting at Stretford, including a New Club U11 Boys 150m Record of 22.04s from Ben Chafer. He also ran a fine 75m in 11.37s. Very close to another club record was Aran Thomas, who just missed his own U13 Javelin record with 31.42m. He also won the Discus with a Grade 1 28.57m, and came 3rd in the Shot with a Grade 2 8.88m. Meeting Results.
Two days earlier at Southport, Aran had his first competition after a long lay off with a broken arm, and won the Discus with 28.24m, and also threw the Shot 8.67m and the Javelin 30.22m. Meeting Results.

24th Aug 2014. More Pole Vault Success for George Heppinstall.
George Heppinstall has been selected to compete at the Sainsbury UK School Games at Manchester. He also won the pole vault at the Gateshead Tartan Games with 3.80m.

23rd/24th Aug 2014. Two Harriers Represent Yorkshire at Inter-Counties.
Two Wakefield Harriers were selected to represent Yorkshire at the CAU Inter-County Championships at Bedford, and competed with distinction. Jack Hallas won the 800m in 1m 53.14s, and Jennifer Walsh finished 2nd in the Women's 1500m in 4m 25.44s. Meeting Results.

16th/17th Aug 2014. Bronze for George Heppinstall at Northern Champs.

16th Aug 2014. More Fast Times in BMC Races at Solihull.
There were more fast times from some of our middle distance runners in the BMC Races at Solihull. Jack Hallas was close to his recent 800m PB with 1 min 49.97 secs, U20 James Saxton did run a PB with 1m 54.83s, as did Sally Smith with 2m 06.93s. In the 1500m races Jennifer Walsh ran 4m 25.48s. Meeting Results.

13th Aug 2014. Thornes Park 5Km Challenge Series Race 3.
In the 3rd race of the Thornes Park 5Km Challenge Series Pete McNamara ran well to finish 4th, as did U13 Abbey Brooke who finished 17th. Race Results.

12th Aug 2014. Jack Hallas Close to Club 800m Record Again.
Jack Hallas once again came very close to Alan Slack's club 800m record at the BMC Gold Standard Races at Stretford. He was just a few hundredths from his recent PB with 1 min 49.59 secs, when finishing just behind former international Tom Lancashire. Also posting good 800m times were U20 James Saxton with 1m 55.99s and Alistair Robinson with 1m 56.15s. Meeting Results.
In the Trafford Grand Prix events Sally Smith was close to her 800m best with 2m 08.07s, whilst in the 3000m Jennifer Walsh ran 9m 38.61s. Meeting Results.

10th Aug 2014. Yorkshire & District League Match 4.
Unfortunately the 4th round of the Yorkshire & District League at Wakefield had to be abandoned because of the bad weather.

10th Aug 2014. Medal for Andrew Cartwright at British Masters Championships.
We just had one athlete this year competing at the British Masters Track & Field Championships, and Andrew Cartwright came away with a medal, finishing 2nd in the M35 800m in 2m 06.03s Meeting Results.

9th Aug 2014. Annabel Mason & Julie Briscoe Compete in World Mountain Running Trials.
The club's two National Cross Country Champions in 2013, Julie Briscoe and Annabel Mason, both competed in the World Mountain Running Championships Trial Race, at Sedburgh. Former National Vets Cross Country Champion Julie Briscoe is trying her luck on the mountains this year, and she did well to finish 10th in the Senior Women's race. Former National U17 Cross Country Champion Annabel Mason finished an excellent 5th in the Junior Women’s race.

9th Aug 2014. Wakefield Harriers Win Northern Mens & Womens League Title.

9th Aug 2014. Club Distance Runners League Championship Race 11.
We included another local Parkrun in this year’s Club Distance Runners League Championship, and returned to the popular Pontefract event. Times were slow because of the waterlogged course from the previous night's storm, but 55 year old Pete MacNamara was first Harrier home in 4th, followed by 13 year old Matthew Hill! Alex Potter was first lady home in 19th. Race Results.

3rd Aug 2014. New Club Record at Sixth Round of West Yorkshire T&F League.
There were some outstanding performances at the sixth round of the West Yorkshire Track & Field League meeting at Wakefield, including two league records, and two performances from athletes at the top of the UK rankings. One of these came from Wakefield's young sprint talent Olivia Roe, who almost equalled the U11 Girls League Record, and ran a New U11 Club 75m Record of 10.71s, a time that further establishes her at the Top of the UK U11 Rankings.
There were several other good victories from the Harriers, the best performances being from Declan Sheehan (U17M 100m 11.53s), Rachel Crorken (U15G 100m 13.35s & 200m 26.88s), Alyce McCurdie (U17W DT 30.55m) & Hannah Yates (SW DT 32.79m), whilst Lucy Holmes also recorded a Grade 3 when finishing 2nd in the Shot with 10.51m.
Results from Wakefield :- Mens and Womens.
The club has once again won the overall team competition, and in the individual totals Rachel Crorken has won the U15 Girls competition, and Bethany Porter the Senior Ladies competition. 2014 League Results page.

2nd Aug 2014. Two Club Records at Northern Athletics U15/U17 Inter Counties.
Three Wakefield Harriers competed with distinction for Yorkshire at the Northern Athletics U15/U17 Inter Counties Championships at Derby. The outstanding performance came from Abby Ward, who won the U17 Ladies High Jump in a New U17 & U20 Club Record of 1.78m, a performance that moves her to the Top of the UK U17 Rankings. The superb leap also broke Judith Payne's U20 club record of 1.76m, which had stood since 1998. Another to excel was George Heppinstall, who finished 2nd in the U17 Pole Vault, and Equalled the U17 Club Record of 4.00m, which had been held since 1981 by Mark Johnson. Charlotte Sampson also competed in the relay for the U15 Girls, and all three athletes helped Yorkshire finish first. Meeting Results from Northern Athletics.

28th-30th Jul 2014. Martyn Bernard Finishes 5th in Commonwealth Games.

27th Jul 2014. UK Youth Development U17/U20 League Match 4.
There was once again a disappointing turnout of Wakefield athletes at the 4th and final match of the Northern Premier 1 Division of the UK Youth Development U17/U20 League at Wakefield, but those athletes who did compete, did the club proud. The highlights were excellent 'A' string victories from Ethan Plumb (U20 JT 45.94m), Declan Sheehan (U17 HJ 1.80m), Faye Beckett (U20 3000m 10m 42.43s), Alyce McCurdie (U17 SP 11.63m & DT 29.17m) & Abby Ward (U17 HJ 1.70m).
Match Result :- Team Edinburgh 746, Team Glasgow 587, Sale H Manchester 586.5, Gateshead H&AC 558, City of Sheffield 552.5, Wakefield DH&AC 221.
Download Provisional Results.

20th Jul 2014. Yorkshire & District League Match 3.
At the 3rd round of the Yorkshire & District League at Cudworth there were some good winning performances, of grade 3 or above :- Declan Sheehan (U17M 100m 11.2s & 200m 22.9s), Ben Read (U17M 800m 2m 01.3s), George Heppinstall (U17M PV 3.70m), Alyce McCurdie (U17W SP 10.43m), Charlotte Sampson (U15G 100m 13.1s & 200m 27.1s), Jessica Matthews (U15G JT 24.47m), McKenna Drake (U13G 150m 21.6s), Kiera Wearing (U13G LJ 4.29m) & Emmie Beaver (U13G HJ 1.33m).
Match Result :- Cleethorpes 331, Halifax Harriers 292, Wakefield Harriers 260, Skyrac 184. Meeting Results.

19th Jul 2014. Abby Ward Wins SIB Schools U17 International High Jump Title.
After winning the English Schools Track & Field Championships at Birmingham, Abby Ward was selected to compete for England Schools at the SIAB Schools' U17 Track and Field International at Cardiff. She continued her winning streak by coming first in the Girls High Jump, and once again equalled her U17 Club Record of 1.74m. So our congratulations to Abby on her first international selection, which we hope will be the first of many. Meeting Results.

19th Jul 2014. Good Pole Vault from U17 George Heppinstall.
At the UK Athletics Jumps & Throws Fest at Birmingham U17 George Heppinstall got a new PB of 3.85m in the pole vault, a Grade 2 performance, and he must now have the U17 club record of 4.00m set by Mark Johnson in 1981 in his sights.

16th Jul 2014. Great 1500m Time by Dale Worton.
Dale Worton has been improving his track times steadily this season, and made another leap forward in the BMC Gold Standard Races at Watford, where he ran a big PB of 3 mins 47.56 secs. This moves him ahead of Roger Young and Jack Hallas (by 1/100th of a second!) into 3rd place in the club all-time list, behind Darren Spawforth (3:40.48) and U20 Richard Hollings (3:46.5). Meeting Results.

16th Jul 2014. Ladies Win Team Prize at Nostell Priory 10k.

16th Jul 2014. Fifth Round of West Yorkshire T&F League at Cleckheaton.
There were several good victories from the Harriers, the best performances being from Ben Chafer (U11B 75m 11.16s), Michael Flood (U11B SP 5.78m), Aran Thomas (U13B DT 25.56m), Declan Sheehan (U17M 100m 11.54s), Ben Read (U17M 1500m 4m 13.87s), Jack Mitchell (U20M 1500m 4m 12.83s), Lucy Robinson (U17W 1500m 4m 54.27s) & Alyce McCurdie (U17W SP 11.60m).
Results from Cleckheaton :- Mens and Womens.
With just one meeting remaining the club leads the overall team totals, and in the individual totals Rachel Crorken leads the way in the U15 Girls.

13th Jul 2014. Northern Mens & Womens League Division 1 Match 3.
The combined Mens & Womens Senior team produced another great all-round team effort to win the third match of the Northern League Division 1, at Moorways Stadium in Derby. Many athletes rose to the occasion and competed in extra events to secure points for the team, and the result now puts the club at the top of the league, with just one match remaining. The leading performances were 'A' string victories from Alistair Robinson (400m 50.9s), Dale Worton (1500m 4m 01.0s), George Heppinstall (PV 3.80m), Sally Smith (800m 2m 09.0s) & Jenna Wheatman (HT 48.31m).
Match Result :- Wakefield Harriers 382.5, City of Manchester 366, Blackburn 347, Kingston-U-Hull 343, Preston Harriers 319.5, Derby & County 270.
Results from Northern Athletics.

13th Jul 2014. New M55 Club Record from Peter McNamara at Eccup 10 Mile.
Peter McNamara moved into the M55 age group a few weeks ago, and didn't wait long before breaking his first club age group record, running a New M55 10 Mile Club Record of 65 mins 21 secs. M50 Steve Tibbs continued his racing comeback with 65:57, and M60 Peter Gooding wasn't far off his club M60 record with 69:52. Helen Beck was our first lady runner home in 72:27. Race Results.
It was also the 9th race in this year’s Club Distance Runners League Championship.

12th Jul 2014. Jack Hallas Almost Equals Senior Club 800m Record.
Jack Hallas has been close to former Olympic 400m runner Alan Slack's club 800m record for 3 or 4 years, and in the BMC Gold Standard Races at Stretford he came the closest yet. He ran another new PB of 1 min 49.51 secs, which is almost equal to Alan's hand held record of 1 min 49.5 secs, which has lasted nearly 25 years.
Also recording 800m PBs were Sally Smith with 2m 07.52s & U20 James Saxton with 1m 55.89s, and Jenny Walsh and Helen Singleton had good 1500m runs in 4m 22.13s & 4m 33.26s respectively. Meeting Results.

11th/12th Jul 2014. Abby Ward Wins English Schools High Jump Title.
Wakefield Harriers had several athletes competing at the English Schools Track & Field Championships at Birmingham, and they produced some excellent performances. Star performer was undoubtably Abby Ward, who won the Intermediate Girls High Jump and equalled her U17 Club Record of 1.74m.
Other club members competing with distinction for West Yorkshire Schools were Charlotte Sampson (7th ht Junior Girls 100m 13.04s), Ben Read (4th ht Inter Boys 800m 1m 57.58s), Bethan Oates (5th ht Inter Girls 800m 2m 17.68s), Lucy Robinson (9th ht Inter Girls 1500m 4m 42.11s), Sachin Gosna (8th Junior Boys HJ 1.72m), George Heppinstall (11th Inter Boys PV 3.80m) & Alyce McCurdie (15th Inter Girls SP 11.01m).
Results from Power of 10 and ESAA website

10th Jul 2014. Reindeer Romp Race 3 from Overton.
At the 3rd of the Reindeer Romp race series from Overton, Annabel Mason made a welcome return, and although not on her best form still finished 4th overall, and first lady. Not far behind her was Faye Beckett in 9th, and Pete McNamara was first male Harrier to finish, in 11th place. Race Results in XL.

9th Jul 2014. Tom Coney Finishes 3rd in Inter Services Championships.
Tom Coney was selected to compete for the Army at the Inter Services Championships at Portsmouth, and finished 3rd in the 1500m. Meeting Results.

9th Jul 2014. Thornes Park 5Km Challenge Series Race 2.
In the second race of the Thornes Park 5Km Challenge Series Chris Price returned from injury to win in 17 mins 33 secs. Over 50 vets Steve Tibbs and Pete McNamara also did well to finish 5th and 6th respectively, as did U13 Abbey Brooke who finished 17th. Race Results.

7th Jul 2014. New Members Joining Wakefield Harriers in July.
Here's the list of people that have been accepted into membership by Wakefield Harriers at the monthly Committee Meeting. Please welcome them all to the club. List of New Members.

6th Jul 2014. U11 Club Records from Olivia Roe and Ben Chafer at Barnsley.

There were some excellent sprint times at the Paul Naylor Memorial Open Meeting at Cudworth, with no fewer than three U11 club record set! Olivia Roe ran a New Club U11 Girl's 80m Record of 11.3 secs, and a New Club U11 Girl's 150m Record of 22.0 secs. Ben Chafer was close to his best in the 80m, running 11.6s in the heats and then 11.7s in the final, before running a New Club U11 Boys 150m Record of 22.1s. Also running fast was Declan Sheehan with 11.2 secs in the U17 100m, and Charlotte Sampson with 12.7s in the U15 Girls 100m, both Grade 1 performances. Declan also ran a Grade 2 23.0s in the 200m, whilst Rachel Crorken ran a Grade 3 27.2s in the U15G 200m, and recorded a Grade 3 LJ of 4.75m. Meeting Results.

1st Jul 2014. Harriers Do Well in Jane Tomlinson 5Km Canal Race.
A handful of Wakefield Harriers competed in the Jane Tomlinson 5Km Canal Race, organised by Rothwell Harriers at Methley, and did very well indeed. Andrew Cartwright went one place better than last year with an excellent 2nd place in 16:33, and Julie Greenwood was first lady and 24th overall in 19:18. Download Race Results.

1st Jul 2014. Some Fast Middle Distance Times in BMC Races at Stretford.
Jack Hallas became the 3rd Wakefield Harrier (after Alan Slack & Darren Spawforth) to break 1 min 50 secs for the 800m. In the BMC Gold Standard Races at Stretford he ran a new PB of 1 min 49.91 secs, and is now not too far away from Alan’s club record of 1 min 49.5 secs. Meeting Results.
Sally Smith also recorded a PB of 2m 08.64s in her 800m race in the Trafford Grand Prix, as did U20 James Saxton with 1m 56.04s in his 800m race, whilst Helen Singleton recorded 9m 48.29s in the 3000m. Meeting Results.