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| Date | 25-07-23 |
| Event | Harwich 5k Series |
| Results | https://www.harwichrunners.co.uk/1_5k/5k2023/race5.php |
| Report | |
| Date | 04-07-23 |
| Event | Harwich 5k Series |
| Results | https://www.harwichrunners.co.uk/1_5k/5k2023/race4.php |
| Report | |
| Date | 18-06-23 |
| Event | Weekend races |
| Results | |
| Report | The 2023 Sprint triathlon hosted by Harwich Runners took place on a warm June morning last Sunday. There were 163 competitors tackling the 300-metre swim in Dovercourt pool followed by a 24km bike ride and a 5km run. The race was won for the third staging in succession by Gavin Race. He had a strong swim, completing the distance in exactly 5 minutes before being the fastest of all entrants on the bike leg (36 minutes 34 seconds) and then followed that with the second quickest 5km run of the day in 17m 12s. With a couple of quick transitions, his time of 60 minutes and 25 seconds was a 4-second improvement on last year. Sam Gooding Matthews put in three solid stages to finish 10th overall in 70m 11s whilst there were category wins for Archie Barrington, Ian Cannons, Tim Brand, Jeff Higgon, Elspeth Knott and Martha Spooner. Katie Holmes was the quickest of all athletes in the pool with a remarkable time of just 4m 14s to complete the stage. Two days later, Harwich Runners hosted the third race in the popular 5km series with runners trying to beat their by now fairly accurate predicted times. Nivalda Dines of Boxted was the overall winner beating her previous series best by over 2 minutes. 60 of the 165 runners came from the host club and despite the omnipresent wind and warm weather, a good number of runners improved their previous quickest times. Holly Gooding, fresh from her efforts at the triathlon, improved her previous best 5km time by 25 seconds to post 26m 10s. There were also new personal best times recorded by Jack Howlett (18m 9s), Keith Bretton (18m 42s) and Julie Manning (30m 17s). It was a good evening for the youngsters with Harry Tilley (17m 39s), Tom Richardson (18m 55s) and Oliver Semple (21m 40s) all posting best times for the course. Several runners were performing well after the triathlon with good performances by Karl Eastwell, Ruby Francis, Elspeth Knott, Tim Brand, Martha Spooner, and Jeff Higgon. Owen Goldsmith just missed out on a new best time following his exertions at an Ultramarathon and a half marathon over the preceding weekend. The fastest runs on the night were by Jason Gunn of Colchester (17m 2s) and Helen Davies of Ipswich (17m 38s) In the accompanying Junior race, run over a one-mile distance, again with runners trying to beat predicted times, there was a series best 43 finishers. The quickest mile time was posted by James Clarke of Colchester with a time of 6m 1s. Of the Harwich juniors, there were a few new best times, including Poppy Tilley, Oliver Scrivener, Isaac Tovey, Darcy Smith and Indigo Morrison. The next race in the series will take place on July 4th. Then, on Friday the 4th race in the Friday Five series took place with four runners from Harwich making the journey up to Bury St Edmunds. Jeff Higgon was in action again, posting 41m 40s on the hilly course to finish first in his age category (MV70). Both Kim Pretty (MV65) and Christina Pretty (FV60) were 4th in their respective categories whilst there was another strong run by Katie Holmes (41m 36s). There are two more races in this series at Stowmarket and Great Bentley. |
| Date | 13-06-23 |
| Event | Harwich 5k Series |
| Results | https://www.harwichrunners.co.uk/1_5k/5k2023/race3.php |
| Report | |
| Date | 11-06-23 |
| Event | Weekend races |
| Results | |
| Report | Whilst most of the attention was on the Harwich triathlon on Sunday, a few members of Harwich Runners ventured off to take part in other events. Firstly, on Friday night at the third race in the Friday 5-mile series at Framlingham, Kim Pretty recorded his fastest time of the three races so far crossing the line in exactly 37 minutes which placed him 5th in his MV65 age group. Christina Pretty has posted similar times in all three races and placed 3rd in the FV60 category with a time of 44m 53s. On Sunday there were 2k, 5k and 10k races on offer at Boxted and the four runners from Harwich all opted for the longer of the three distances. In form, Valentina Burley was the first in a black and white vest to reach the finish line as the temperatures rose. Her time of 57m 2s also took 3rd place in the Fv50 age category. One place behind was Ian Bolton whilst Shaun Tye and Olyver Meddings were also amongst the 266 runners. Owen Goldsmith continued his gruelling schedule of ultra-distance races. On Saturday he supported a friend in the Greensand Country Ultra Trail race a single loop 50km ultra-marathon through Bedfordshires countryside. They completed the 31-mile route in 7h 10m 37s. The 32-degree heat meant that whilst 119 runners did finish another 19 pulled out due to the conditions. The next day Goldsmith was in Southend for the half marathon, 13.1 miles, again the high temperatures made conditions far from ideal for fast running. The event, now in its 27th year has raised over £1.3 million for Havens Hospices. The two-lap course takes runners along the scenic coast with views over the Thames Estuary, on roads closed to traffic. Tired legs from the previous day and the weather conditions meant it was sensible to opt for a steady run. Finishing 173rd out of 1510 in a time of 1h 40m 19s was a good result considering some finished in over 3 hours. |
| Date | 28-05-23 |
| Event | various |
| Results | |
| Report | Last weekend was a warm one for running but Tom Hancock travelled up to Scotland to take on the Edinburgh marathon. Coming just one month after he had managed to duck just inside the 3-hour mark at London, Hancock still managed a very impressive time of 3 hours 8 minutes 37 seconds at Edinburgh on a day that was getting continuously warmer. On Friday evening, the first in the hugely popular Friday 5 series took place at Kirton near Felixstowe. The fast 5-mile course attracted 448 finishers and saw some very fast times. Five of the runners were from the Harwich club and there were some great achievements amongst them. Kim Pretty’s time of 37m 2s was not his quickest but it did place him 3rd in the MV65 category. In contrast, Katie Holmes did record a new personal best time of 38m 59s, beating her previous best time set in 2018. Jeff Higgon managed to win his category (MV70) with a time of 39m 54s in what was his quickest time for this distance since 2017. Both Christina Pretty and Alison Evans placed well inside the top 10 in their FV60 group. Pretty ran her quickest 5-mile time since Wix in 2021 whilst Evans posted a good competitive time of 44m 15s. The next event in the 6-race series is at Sudbury on June 2nd. On Saturday Owen Goldsmith continued his Ultra distance running. This time his challenge was The Fox Ultra, 62k, (38.5 miles). The race circumnavigated Guildford, clockwise (via Godalming, Puttenham, Worplesdon, Send, Clandon and Blackheath). Goldsmith finished 38th out of 198 competitors in 6h 35m. |
| Date | 23-05-23 |
| Event | Harwich 5k Series |
| Results | https://www.harwichrunners.co.uk/1_5k/5k2023/race2.php |
| Report | Harwich Runners hosted the second race in their 5km series on the promenade. 163 runners were in attendance all trying to beat their predicted times, which was achieved by an incredible 124 of them. The overall winner is classed as the runner who beats their estimated time by the largest amount. On this occasion the accolades went to two members of the local club with Deborah Smith being first back, beating her time by nearly 3 minutes to post 28 minutes 51 seconds followed by Karl Eastwell who ran a new personal best time of 20m 17s. The quickest runners overall were Jason Gunn of Colchester with a time of 16m 41s and clubmate Ellie Cumner was the fastest lady in 20m 23s. With most runners improving on their times from the first race there were several personal best times posted from Harwich Runners members. Alistair Davidson improved by almost 30 seconds to finish here in 18m 47s. In form Katie Holmes time of 23m 28s was 20 seconds quicker than she’d managed before with prolific runner Owen Goldsmith reducing his best time to 20m 21s. Oliver Semple now boasts a personal best time of 21m 43s, fellow Junior member Thomas Richardson hit 19 minutes exactly and new member Owen Wynne Jones improved 40 seconds from race 1 to record 22m 56s. Last years overall winner Lil O Dea continues to improve with another best-time set of 24m 47s. Valentina Burley has taken part in this series for several years and has also run over 250 parkruns so for her to run a new best time of 24m 10s was particularly impressive. Meanwhile, there were encouraging debut series runs from Jack Koppenaal (22m 36s) and Meredith Scanlon (33m 40s). Others impressing on the night were Trevor Lewis, Clare Fraser Hopewell, Holly Gooding and big improvers between the two races Ann Piercy (28m 33s), Jon Burls (27m 7s) A special mention to Tom Hancock who stopped mid-race to assist club mate Kim Pretty who had fallen. Hancock then accompanied his fellow runner to the finish in a hugely selfless act of compassion. In the accompanying Junior race run over a one mile distance, an impressive 39 youngsters were also trying to beat their predicted times. The race winner was Jaxon Arden on his first appearance but similar to the adult race, many runners showed an improvement from the first race. Jemima Garner was the quickest girl in a new course quickest time of 5m 59s with big improvements shown by Abigail Race, Indigo Morrison, Caitlin Harrison, Georgia Coyles, Meabh O Dea and Isabelle Race. Not to be outdone, the boys impressed too with Charlie Roxby Clarke, Harry Almond, Jude Lynch, Ralphy Raffle and Max Harrison all taking big strides forward in their performances. The fastest mile of the day was the 5m 41s recorded by James Clarke of Colchester. More recently was the second race in the Friday 5-mile series with the latest edition being held at Sudbury. Of the 305 runners, two were from Harwich. It was good to see Kim Pretty back in action so soon; he posted a good time of 37m 47s to place 4th in his MV65 age group whilst Christina Pretty was also 4th in her age category (FV60) completing the course in 44m 57s. |
| Date | 21-05-23 |
| Event | Colchester Half Marathon |
| Results | |
| Report | Last weekend saw the 11th running of the Colchester Half Marathon. Starting and finishing at the football ground, the course takes in the town centre before heading out through Lanham and Boxted. This year a total of 1404 runners completed the course in conditions that were warm but helped by a cooling breeze. The overall race winner was Kurtis Swan of Braintree who completed the 13.1-mile distance in just 1 hour 10 minutes 40 seconds. Also in the field were 13 members of Harwich Runners. Quickest of those, in 13th place overall was Chris Barker whose time of 1h 20m 53s was just over three and a half minutes quicker than his previous best at the Harwich half last year. There were another couple of new personal best times posted; Keith Bretton improved on his time, also at Harwich last year by almost 6 minutes to record 1h 31m 22s and finished in 80th place. Valentina Burley also managed a new best time, improving by over a minute from her time at Great Bentley in 2019 to 1h 53m 16s. Fresh from a marathon, Nick Lawrie still posted a very competitive 1h 27m 49 to place 41st, whilst Simon Harrison continued his record of having completed this race each year since it began with a time of 1h 28m 46s. There were a few other runners returning after the much hotter conditions that greeted the runners at this race last May although Stuart Raffle, Kim Pretty, Jo Maasz and Christina Pretty were all quicker on that day in 2022. Helen Benham managed her quickest time for the distance since 2020 with a good 1h 58m 15s whilst Sarah Cross ran the route alongside Jo Maasz, both finishing together in 1h 59m 44s. Ruth Benham managed a good 2h 11m 29s and the final runner to finish for Harwich was ultra specialist Owen Goldsmith who accompanied a friend around the course. |
| Date | 14-05-23 |
| Event | various |
| Results | |
| Report | It was a relatively quiet weekend for the members of Harwich Runners with only seven runners in action. Ian Cannons completed the quiet and scenic Halstead Marathon in a time of 3 hours 54 minutes, his first try at the distance. He finished 95th out of 221 runners. At the Colchester Zoo 10km stampede race, where entrants start and finish in the zoo heading out into the undulating countryside in between, there was a big field of 1347 finishers. Among them, Holly Gooding ran her fourth 10km race since joining the club and recording her quickest time yet of 55m 26s. Also in the field was Oly Meddings who managed a time of 58m 38s in his third 10km race in the last year. Sophie Southgate posted a time of 51m 37s in her first 10km race since joining the club. Also, in Colchester on Sunday, it was the annual Colchester 10k Race organised by “Rotary in Colchester” – a partnership of the town’s 3 Rotary Service Clubs. The event has been a regular event in the race calendar since 2011, always on the second Sunday in May. The race starts and finishes at Abbeyfields, on the relatively flat Circular Road North and continues on pavements and tracks around the garrison area. Most of the course is flat, with some gentle slopes near the finish, resulting in some good finish times. The first finisher was Ash Harrell of Highgate Harriers in 31m 7s and the first female was a local member of Colchester Harriers, Lydia Callan in 37m 27s. Harwich runners were represented by two members, Jeff Higgon who was fourth in the over 65 age category, 51m 7s and Matt Doran, 52m 11s who improved on his recent, Little Bromley 10k time. Harwich Runners Ultra distance competitor, Owen Goldsmith, completed another distance on Saturday, the Jurassic Coast Ultra Challenge, 100km, (62 miles). Following the spectacular World Heritage coastline, starting in Corfe Castle, the route heads down to Swanage, and along through Lulworth Cove, past Durdle Door, with ups & downs to Weymouth halfway. Then on past Portland Bill, Chesil Beach, and on to West Bay’s cliffs (of TV’s Broadchurch) – before a finish line celebration in Bridport. Goldsmith originally signed up to do this over two days but decided to push it and get it done in one continuous go. He completed the distance in 16h 20m and was the first male finisher. |
| Date | 02-05-23 |
| Event | Harwich 5k Series |
| Results | https://www.harwichrunners.co.uk/1_5k/5k2023/race1.php |
| Report | |
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