Distance Running News
20 June 2016
Graham Rush enjoyed a win at the Hawkshead 10k in the Lake District. Content to run in the lead pack for the first half of the race, Rush decided to pick up the pace in the second half of the race to win by over a minute in 31:54. Meanwhile in Northern Ireland Shona Crombie-Hicks finished as third lady in the Lisburn Half Marathon with a time of 86:34 for the testing course. Later in the week Crombie-Hicks was also the second lady home behind Avon Valley’s Ruth Barnes at the Cirencester Summer 10k in 39:10. Fellow LV45 athlete Debbie Smith was second in the age category as she finished as fifth lady in 45:36 whilst Richard Birch recorded 39:37 and Vet 70 runner Ken Buckle crossed the line in 54:44. The Cheltenham Challenge multi-terrain races saw club members perform well with Alex Lee winning the half marathon event over a challenging course in 90:46 with an eight minute winning margin. Andy Gore took second in the marathon with 3:27.07 whilst in the 10k Jacob Pickering led the Harriers home in fourth place in 39:36 the day after trimming his 1500m personal best to 4:19.47 at the South West Schools Championship in Exeter. Andrew Kaighin (42:18), Simon Critchley (43:29) and Samantha Pickering (54:09) also contested the 10k event. The weekend’s Cheltenham parkrun saw Megan Brinley lower her personal best to 19:13 to finish as the first lady and to move up into ninth place on the women’s all-time list for the event. Steve Hall followed in 19:21, Simon Critchley recorded 20:09 and Tasmin Carpenter was the fifth lady home in a PB of 22:15.