A club record 35 runners compete at Keysoe meet

Round four of the Chiltern League cross-country series saw a good attendance from Gade Valley Harriers at the Keysoe Equestrian Centre at the weekend.
The Gade Valley Harriers' ladies at the Kelsoe cross-country meet at the weekend.The Gade Valley Harriers' ladies at the Kelsoe cross-country meet at the weekend.
The Gade Valley Harriers' ladies at the Kelsoe cross-country meet at the weekend.

A total of 35 Harriers, a club record for the fixture, took up the challenge which included a water jump for them to splash through.

Fourteen Harrier ladies kicked off proceedings, taking on the 3.8-mile course. Lisa Newing was home first in 26:48, followed by Laura Sharma in 26:53, Sian Hibbs in 27:33, Kathleen Smith in 27:54 and Claire McDonnell in 28:02.

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Next home were Paulina Boczek in 28:23, Jane Howard in 30:56, Teresa Reason in 30:58, Victoria Crawley-Wise in 31:36, Kim Morgan in 33:14, Angeline Cottrill in 33:36, Jacqui Sampson in 34:48, Jacki Eskdale in 35:54 and Claire Pellett in 40:30.

A fantastic turnout for the Harrier men saw 21 brave souls ready for action, with Michael Ferris first home for the club in 38:46. Hot on his tail was men’s captain Rich Coles who came 12th in the M40 category, in 39:36

Next home were Anthony James in 40:38, Anthony Willcox in 40:56, James Birnie in 41:20, Jon Roberts in 41:33, Guy Woollett in 41:36, Dylan Wendleken in 42:36, Antony Beamish in 43:14, Andy Wells in 43:44, Ed Price in 43:54, Bill Hawes in 44:17, Rob Humphreys in 44:40, Marc Burne in 44:43, Gareth Tucker in 45:20, Simon Geary in 45:38, Steven Newing in 46:31, Paul Reilly in 50:13, Martin Jeffrey in 53:29, Neil Harper in 53:55 and Paul Buxton in 01:06:12.

Also in cross-country action at the weekend was Trevor Normoyle, who took part in the Met XC League at Wormwood Scrubs. Trevor took on the challenging 5.2km course, finishing in 36:46

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The club’s resident marathon queen Anita Berwick took on the challenge of the Country to Capital Ultra 45-mile run between Wendover and London. Now celebrating its 10th year, it is established as the opener to the ‘ultra’ race calendar and is one of the premier single-day ‘ultra’ events in the UK. The race’s start is hosted by the Shoulder of Mutton pub and the route takes in some stunning countryside, finishing at Little Venice.

Anita crossed the line in 10:05:00.

The club’s David Goodman kicked off the year in style by competing in his first marathon of 2018 in Gloucester.

The course started at Waterwells, Quedgeley, and follows a mainly flat course through the villages of Haresfield and Colethrop, finishing at Brunel Court. David powered home in the muti-lap course in an amazing time of 03:40:37, knocking 11 minutes of his personal best (PB) time.

Saturday morning saw 17 Harriers compete in various parkruns. Starting in Bakewell, Paul Mosley took on the five-mile challenge, having not run for quite a while, but showing he’d lost nothing of his determination, finished in 30:39.

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Jenny Barnett was in action at the Anderson parkrun. She crossed the finish line in 38:54.

Rounding off the solo Harriers’ efforts was Andrew Watt at the Cassiobury parkrun. A total of 421 runners took part, with Andrew finishing 39th in a time of 22:28.

Rickmansworth had six Harriers take part with Andy Cook home first in a fine time of 20:34. Next to finish was Nicholas Crowther in 25:58, in a new course PB. First Harrier lady home was Samantha Raffety, who finished in 26:23, followed by Amy Cope Balchin in 26:45, Helen Cook in 27:51 and Emma Coady in 31:23

Finally, in Gadebridge, seven members braved the muddy course and Harrier Trevor Normoyle kindly volunteered as a tail walker. Nikki Crawley was the number one lady to finish and sixth overall in a speedy 22:50.

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Next to finish and coming sixth female overall was Tracey Cotton in 25:11 followed by Rupert Cavenagh-Mainwaring in 25:29, Amy Gostling in 28:15 (course PB), Rich Peters in 35:26, Peter Tucker in 39:49 and Jade Evans in 42:23.

The Harriers kick off their annual Marathon Training Runs on Sunday, January 28. The first one is a 12-mile route starting at 9.30am at Boxmoor Cricket Club.

Entry costs £5 and runners can just turn up on the day and fill out a form to take part.