Distance Running News, 15-16 December 2018

17 December 2018

Chris Booth enjoyed a successful weekend which included a huge personal best over 5000m. The nineteen-year-old has made consistent progress in the three months since joining the club and the previous weekend proved he was in good form with a pleasing twelfth place in the Gloucestershire Cross Country League. Having never set foot on a running track before September, Booth was keen to try his first track race and confident of breaking the 17 minute barrier for the 5000m distance for the first time as he lined up on the Battersea track. Despite Saturday’s strong wind and rain the Gloucestershire University student ran an impressive race to finish eighth with an excellent time of 16:08.75, a mark that earned him 21^st on the Cheltenham 2018 rankings. The following day, the weather was of no concern to Booth as he travelled to Cardiff Metropolitan University to race over 3000m on their indoor 3000m track. Seeded in the C race, he again ran well to finish fourth in a time of 9:17.96.

Another athlete lining up with confidence was Alex Doherty at the Evesham Festive 10k multi-terrain race. Having posted a 10k road PB of 33:52 the previous weekend, the duathlete proved too good for the opposition as he recorded 36:43 for a 1:48 winning margin. In the same event Leah Hopton clocked 51:45 and Lucy Goode crossed the line in 53:49.

With a quiet weekend on the racing schedule, several Harriers made good use of parkruns with Richard Dare (17:02) claiming a first place finish in Cheltenham where Dan Schofield (19:11) placed sixth and Michael Ede (21:12) was the first V60 runner home. At the Tewkesbury event Kaitlyn Sheppard (20:04) was the first lady home for the 21^st time as she finished sixth overall whilst Laura Smith (19:24) was the second lady home at the Stretford parkrun in Manchester.