29th Dec 2022. Jennifer Ibbitson Wins Mike Swain's 2022 'Best Thrower' Award.

29th Dec 2022. New U11 Boys 60m Record from Ethan Ford.
There were quite a few Harriers competing at the third Yorkshire Indoor Open Meeting at Sheffield, with some good performances. The highlight was a New U11 Boys Club 60m Record of 8.93 secs from Ethan Ford, beating the previous record set by Ben Chafer in 2014 by 1/100th of a second. Results Link.

20th Dec 2022. Ava Walsh Wins Junior Christmas Handicap Race.

20th Dec 2022. Philip Ambler Wins Senior Christmas Handicap Race.
33 runners competed in the Senior Christmas Handicap Road Race, over the traditional 4.5 mile course, twice round the perimeter of the park, and with a lap round the running track at the end.
This year's winner of the John Newsome Memorial Handicap Trophy was Philip Ambler, pictured below receiving the trophy from Wendy Newsome. Phil has made huge advances this year, and ran well over a minute quicker than his estimated time, so is a worthy winner. Other big advances were made by Andy Cartwright in 2nd, Chris Mitchell in 3rd and Suzanne Brooke not far behind in 4th.

18th Dec 2022. Thornes Park Stadium Christmas Closures.
Thornes Park Stadium will be closed over Christmas and the New Year, and will not re-open until Tuesday 3rd Jan. So the last Harriers Club Night is Thurs 22nd Dec, then there will be no Club Nights until Tues 3rd Jan.

12th Dec 2022. Several Medals Won in West Yorkshire Cross Country League.
At the end of the 2022 West Yorkshire Cross Country League season Wakefield Harriers did well to come away with three sets of team medals.
The Senior Mens team weren't able to retain their title, but still did well to finish 2nd, behind Leeds City. Also winning silver medals were the U11 Boys, who turned out in force this year. The Senior Ladies team came away with bronze medals, just missing the silver medals by the narrowest of margins.
In the individual standings we had just one outright winner, with Ben Butler winning the M40 category for the 2nd year running. Silver medals were won by Charlotte Knowles (SW), Angela Dales (F50), Euan Gaskin (U17M) & Rosie Thistlewood (U15G), and bronze medals by Helen Beck (F40), Holly Walker (U20W) & Andrew Cartwright (M45)
Link to league totals.

11th Dec 2022. West Yorkshire Cross Country League Meeting 4 at Rothwell.
The fourth and final meeting of the West Yorkshire Cross Country League took place on a very cold day at Rothwell, which no doubt partly explained the low turnout in some of the races.

11th Dec 2022. Amy-Eloise Markovc Competes for GB in European Cross Country Championships.
Amy-Eloise Markovc was selected to compete for Great Britain in the European Cross Country Championships at Turin, in Italy. The 8km course was quite tough, with lots of sharp climbs and descents, and with some muddy and slippery sections, and so was not really suited to her style of running. However she still did well to finish in 26th place in a very strong field, and 6th counter for the strong GB team, who finished in 2nd place behind Germany.
Results Link.

11th Dec 2022. Very Fast Times at England 10k Championships at Telford.
At the Telford 10k, recognised as one of the fastest courses around, and which this year incorporated the England 10k Championships, there were some very fast times recorded from the Harriers competing. Mark Bostock became the 4th Wakefield Harrier to break the 30 minute barrier, and he moved up to 2nd place in the club all-time list, with the scintillating time of 29 mins 45 secs. Only Darren Spawforth with his club record of 29:15 from 1992 has run faster.
Daniel Franks also ran an excellent PB of 31:19, which moved him up to 9th place in the club all-time list, and M45 Stewart Knowles also improved his best with 34:03. Results Link.

5th Dec 2022. November Athletes of the Month - Daniel Franks and Charlotte Knowles.

26th Nov 2022. Amy-Eloise Markovc Gains Selection for European Cross Country Championships.

20th Nov 2022. Wakefield Harriers Senior Runners Distance League Race 15.
The 15th and final event in the Wakefield Harriers Senior Runners Distance League was the Tadcaster 10 Mile road race. There were nine Wakefield Harriers competing, and some great performances were achieved on the fast course.
Ben Butler was 3rd overall and 2nd in the M40 category, with an excellent new PB time of 53:58. Another with a big PB was Stewart Knowles, who was 17th overall and winner of the M45 category in 56:57, and he was followed home by Ashley Crow in 22nd place, in a new PB of 57:59. Darren Hewitt was 4th in the M50 category in 61:34, Ryan Williams ran 61:46, and Philip Ambler was 9th M50 to finish in 64:23.
Helen Beck was 6th lady home, and 2nd in the F40 category, in a good time of 65:40, and Angela Dales had a great run, finishing 3rd in the F50 category in a New Club F50 10 Mile Record of 71:49, breaking Pat Wood's previous record from 2008.
Results Link.
In the Wakefield Harriers Senior Runners Distance League the overall winner was Stewart Knowles, by a clear margin. In 2nd place was Darren Hewitt, and in 3rd place was Philip Ambler, who just pipped Helen Beck to the final podium spot by a handful of points. Ashley Crow finished 5th, and Paul Gilbert 6th.
Link to Distance League page containing League Table and links to all fixtures and results.

19th Nov 2022. South Yorkshire CAA Indoor Series Meeting 1.
The club had a good number of young athletes competing in the first fixture of the South Yorkshire CAA Indoor Series at Sheffield. The top performer was Ethan Ford, who won the U11B 60m in 8.96s, just 2/100ths of a second away from the club record. He also finished 2nd in the 600m in a fast 1m 56.11s, and Romy Fagan won the U13G 200m in 29.23s. Download Results Link.

13th Nov 2022. West Yorkshire Cross Country League Meeting 3 at Cleckheaton.
At the third meeting of the West Yorkshire Cross Country League at Cleckheaton the club again had some good results. There were no individual winners this time, but Euan Gaskin came very close with his 2nd place finish in the U17 Men's race, just 2 seconds behind the winner.
The Senior Men's team had another 3rd place finish, the team scorers being Daniel Franks 7th, Ben Butler 13th, Andrew Cartwright 30th, Steve Lowe 33rd, U20 Elliot Prentice 34th & Ashley Crowe 46th. The Senior Ladies team were 4th this time, and they were led home again by Charlotte Knowles, who finished 6th. She was well supported by Helen Beck in 20th, Angela Dales 36th & U20 Holly Walker in 48th.
In the U15 Girl's race the scoring trio of Rosie Thistlewood 3rd, Jessica Watson 8th & Evie Tunney 17th finished 3rd.
There was another great turnout of 10 runners from the club in the U11 Boy's race, and the scoring trio of Sydney Swan 5th, Cade McAndrew 11th & Ethan Ford 13th did well to finish 2nd team. The 'B' team of Lochlan Ruddock 16th, Tommy Rudd 19th & Harry Beck 20th weren't that far behind them. The U11 Girl's team were 5th, the scorers being Eirian Clark 17th, Isobel Powell 30th & Hannah Adam 33rd.
In the other age groups where we had incomplete teams, running well individually and competing well for the club were Millie Powell (17th U17 Ladies), Samuel Bona (7th U13 Boys) & Thomas Hastings (17th U13 Boys).
Results Link.

7th Nov 2022. Wakefield Harriers October Athlete of the Month - Ella Bickerdyke.

6th Nov 2022. North of England Track & Field League Dates for 2023.
The North of England Track & Field League provisional structure for 2023 has been announced, and after finishing 3rd this year, Wakefield Harriers will once again be competing in the "East Premier" division. The other teams in this division will be City of Sheffield & Dearne AC, City of York AC, Kingston-Upon-Hull AC, Lincoln Wellington AC & Rotherham Harriers & AC.
The provisional meeting dates are Saturday 20th May at Sheffield, Sunday 18th June at York, Sunday 9th July at Hull & Saturday 19th August at Lincoln.
This league is open to senior, U20 and U17 athletes (in most events) and the club's team managers for 2023 are Lucy Holmes (ladies) and Liam O'Flaherty (men).
League website link.

5th Nov 2022. English National Cross Country Relays at Mansfield.
At the prestigious English National Cross Country Relay Championships at Mansfield many of England's leading middle distance and long distance runners were competing, including several well known internationals. Wakefield Harriers had several teams competing, and they all did well.

4th Nov 2022. Wakefield Harriers Senior Runners Distance League.
We had a good turnout of 21 senior Wakefield Harriers competing in the West Yorkshire Cross Country League meeting at Wakefield, which was the penultimate event in the Wakefield Harriers Senior Runners Distance League.
With just the Tadcaster 10 Mile race remaining, the top 6 runners are :- Stew Knowles 5659, Daz Hewitt 5217, Helen Beck 5086, Phil Ambler 5040, Ashley Crow 4816 & Paul Gilbert 4814.
Link to Distance League page containing League Table and links to all fixtures and results.

30th Oct 2022. Wakefield Harriers Cross Country Championships.
The club successfully hosted the second meeting of the West Yorkshire Cross Country League at Thornes Park, with the meeting incorporating the 2022 Club Cross Country Championships. There will be trophies and medals for the first 3 finishers from the club in each race, and these will be presented at the Club Presentation Evening, which is being held on Saturday 3rd December.
Many thanks to all the marshals and helpers who made the event possible.
List of medal winners in all races.

30th Oct 2022. West Yorkshire Cross Country League Meeting 2 at Thornes Park.

23rd Oct 2022. Some Fast Times at the Abbey Dash 10K.
There were some fast times recorded at the Abbey Dash 10K road race, which as usual was one of the highest standard 10k races in the country. It was also the 13th event in the Wakefield Harriers Senior Runners Distance League.
Mark Bostock was close to his best with the superb time of 30:42, topping the club rankings for 2022, and Daniel Franks was just 3 seconds off his PB with his fast time of 31:43. M45 Stewart Knowles became the 11th Harrier this year to break the 35 minutes barrier, with his time of 34:43, and his extended family all did well too! Sister Angela was close to her club F50 record with 42:20, and niece Charlotte broke 40 minutes for the first time with 39:22. Another to run a fine new PB was M50 Phil Ambler with 38:31, and Ashley Crow had a good run to record 35:33. Results Link.

22nd Oct 2022. Northern Athletics Cross Country Relays at Sheffield.

16th Oct 2022. New F60 Half Marathon Club Record for Diane Simmons.
Diane Simmons is the latest veteran runner to record a club age group best on the roads. She ran a new F60 Half Marathon Club Record of 2 hrs 6 mins 29 secs in the Great Eastern Run Half Marathon at Peterborough. Results Link.

9th Oct 2022. Yorkshire Indoor Open Meeting.
There were quite a few Harriers competing at the Yorkshire Indoor Open Meeting at Sheffield, with some good performances. Results Link.

8th Oct 2022. West Yorkshire Cross Country League Meeting 1 at Nunroyd Park.

3rd Oct 2022. Wakefield Harriers September Athlete of the Month - Ethan Ford.

3rd Oct 2022. Club Committee Changes at the AGM
At the Annual General Meeting held at Thornes Park Stadium there were a few changes to the Club Committee. Most committee members agreed to continue in their positions for another year, but Alyce McCurdie has now taken over as General Secretary. Welcome additions to the team are Rebecca Siddall as Schools Liaison Officer and Coaching Coordinator, and Liam O'Flaherty as Senior Men's Northern T&F League Team Manager.
It was also agreed that due to the increase in England Athletics affiliation fees, and other cost increases, the annual club membership fees would rise by £5.
Here's the latest list of Club Committee members on the Club Contacts page.

2nd Oct 2022. New Masters Club Road Running Records for Nicky Steel & Angie Dales.
There were two new Masters Club Road Running Records today.