Magic mile runs from Gade Valley Harriers

The Harriers were asked to guess how fast they could each run one mile on the track and were awarded penalty points for each second they were adrift of their guesses.

At the end of the races the penalty points were added up and were compared men against ladies, with the team with the lowest number of penalty points being awarded The Captains Cup.

There were 26 competitors this year and the men were closest to the mark retaining the Captains Cup for the second year in a row. There were great performances all round on the night, including new club records for Tracey Cotton in the FM35 category (6:26) and Andy Cook in the MV50 group (5:41).

Gade Valley Tri triathletes Dean Kidd, Andy Terry .Jon Roberts and Guy Woollett pushed themselves to the limit on Sunday competing in the gruelling Cotswold Classic Half Iron Man Triathlon.

First back for the team was Jon Roberts posting 37:33 for the swim, 2:35:40 for the bike ride and 1:40:15 for the run. Next home was Wollett in 34:57, 2:41:55 and 1:39:36. Kidd completed the 1.2 mile open water swim in 48:06, the 56 mile bike ride in 2:53:31 and the 13.1 mile run in 2:30:23, giving a total time of 6:17:01, setting a new PB by over 31 minutes. Team mate Terry showed respectable times of 45:21, 3:17:45 and 2:09:57.

The swim section started at Ashton Keynes water park in the heart of the Cotswolds, then the two lap bike section bike section left the water park and headed out of the area on a flat and fast course into some of the Cotswolds’ most beautiful and quiet villages.

For the final run section the athletes were treated to a mixture of tarmac and hard pack pathing for the 13.1 mile route that took in lakeside paths, as well as local village routes before finishing back close to the lakeside transition in the finishers area.

Serena Harrap from GVH took on the infamous Tough Mudder obstacle race on Sunday for the fourth time. Harrup dug deep to get round the 12 mile course and through the 20+ obstacles including mud pits, rope swings and their trademark electric cables.

Competing at the Kimbolton Half Marathon in Cambridgeshire, James Birnie raced around the 13.1 mile course in the beautiful and historic village of Kimbolton, pushing hard to set a time of 1:36:06.

Braving the unseasonal rainy weather 28 Gade Valley Harriers took to eight different parkruns at the weekend

There was a great turnout of 18 Harriers at the St Albans parkrun, with many new PBs and club records being smashed. The first club record was the Senior Ladies 5K record, now held by Ladies Captain Gemma Bitaraf, posting 19:52 (PB) and securing first lady home. Also taking a title was Tracey Cotton, who took top spot in the GVH FV35 category in a time of 22:03 (PB).

The full list of finishers was Anthony James 17:52, Matt Ashby 18:04 (PB), Anthony Willcox 19:14 (PB), Ed Price 19:18, Steve Newing 19:49, Vince Ellerby 19:52, Gemma Bitaraf 19:52 (PB), James Thomson 20:09, Simon Wallis 20:47, Paul Reilly 21:48, Gary Mullery 21:56, Gareth Tucker 21:57, Tracey Cotton 22:03 (PB), Russ Bailey 24:45, Tom Roberts 24:31, Paul Buxton 24:33, Charlie Costin 29:13 and Paul Rumble 29:44.

Scott Dixon took second overall place at the Gadebridge Park parkrun, posting a quick time of 19:27. Dixon was followed by Bill Hawes in 20:29 (PB), Andy Bishop 26:17 and Emma Nash 45:20.

Tilgate in West Sussex saw Peter Tucker from the Harriers set a time of 30:39, while in Oxford, his daughter Sam, clocked 24:40.

There was one Harrier apiece at the Tring, Cassiobury Park, and Burnham parkruns with Tom North setting a time of 21:12, Andy Button 25:51 and Mark Crabtree 18:02 respectively.