Competitions 4/7 - 18/7

19 July 2021

Whenever Beth Hawling competes you know she will give it everything, having suffered with dizzy spells in her last two races and still run incredible times, something big was surely round the corner. At the Finsbury Park 5000m Hawling was at her best, lowering her own senior club record by 0.77 to run an amazing 16:57.12. This is the 2nd time Hawling has run below 17 minutes on the track and who knows what more she is capable of. 

At the England Senior Championships in Bedford Sam Griffiths competed in the 100m. Griffiths ran well into a strong -3.4 headwind to finish 5th in her heat in 12.65. Unfortunately the other heats were held into much more favourable winds which sadly resulted in Griffiths missing a final spot by just one place, but still a good performance nonetheless. 

At the Nuneaton Summer Open Jamie Harper continued his impressive 2021 form with a win in the 800m in a time of 1:56.20. Rebecca Hoadley has been a welcome addition to the Harriers this year and she ran well in the 400m finishing 3rd in 59.58.

Elliot Prince competed in his first ever Ultra Marathon. The Chiltern Ultra is 50km across the undulating Chiltern hills and makes for a very demanding race. Prince finished 21st in the event finishing in under 5 hours. A brilliant achievement and what we assume will be the first of many.

The One Mile Challenge is a flat fast road mile race through the picturesque village of Bourton on the Water. The course is ideal for fast times so always attracts a high quality field of local athletes. Russell Forsbrook was the first Harriers home in exactly 5minutes finishing as 2nd M45 and 12th overall. Next in was Martin Foster with a big PB of 5:06 for 15th and 3rd M45. Andy Gore wasn’t far behind in 5:10 for 17th and 2nd M50. Coming home as 3rd U20, 7th female overall, in 5:42 was Taya Dee. Running well Ellis Woolley and Milly Foster finished 4th and 5th U15 in 5:56 and 6:01, the latter being a PB for Foster. Paul Barnes was 6th M60 in 6:06 and Mel Schofield was 2nd SW in 6:28.

Andy Gore finished 4th in the Stroud Beer race, battling hot conditions to finish as 1st M50 in 44:11. Dave Rantell was 4th M50 and 18th overall in 50:15. Also finishing 4th in his age category, Kev Spilman ran 52:58.

(Photo: Andy Gore on his way to 4th at the Stroud Beer Race)

Returning to competition after her English Schools victory Kaitlyn Sheppard took part in the Birmingham Uni Open. Sheppard committed from the gun taking on senior GB international Kate Avery and making all the field work hard to keep up. Despite fading in the later stages Sheppard ran well to finish 5th in 9:47.10. Alfie Wood also made the trip to Birmingham where he finished 2nd in a best of 6.64.