August - September 2008
Holiday time for me at the end of July and I had only just finished the last newsletter there did not seem much to report, so I have combined 2 months of News. Having said that everyone else had been on holiday and there seemed to be a bit of a lull in the road racing calendar with few races being competed in by Hoad Hill members.
The Lancaster 10k was on the Wednesday night that I went on Holiday. On my return I found out Dave Fulford had run an incredible time of 33mins 43s to finish in second place. This was Dave’s 5th successive personal best and shows he is just going faster and faster. It also shows his overall training program really suits him, I hope he soon wins his first race.
Other competitors from the club were Jeff Chadwick in 5th place, Chris Howie in 9th place. Mike Fawcett was 3rd Vet 55 and Mike Lavery 5th Vet 55. Our female members were represented by Bethan Burke who finished in a time of 52.41. Rumour had it that Dave’s time did come with a price, he was knackered for days afterwards, just like the rest of us mortals would have been.
After speaking with Mike Fawcett it seems I missed another race during my holiday, the Wagon and Horses 10m at Lancaster, A number of Hoad hill Harriers competed in this race, with Tony Clarke coming home first for Hoad Hill. Mike Fawcett was second man home with Sylvia Gittins and Penny Moreton first and second home for the ladies. Apparently Mike Lavery, who went along to spectate, was looking forward to a post event pint and meal at the Wagon and Horses after Mike Fawcett had recommended it. Having left their packed lunches at home they arrived at the pub to find it was boarded up and the start was at another location, looks like the race will have to be renamed next time.
Summer 10K
Of course the main event this month was our own summer 10k. You could argue, what summer, as it is close to being the wettest on record, however the sun was shining on us that night with a record entry of 227 finishers and the ladies record finally falling. Louis Gardner broke the woman’s record by 30 secs completing the course in 35m .12s. Although not awarded on the night, Louis was awarded a cheque for £50 for this achievement. Dave Fulford was first home for Hoad Hill with Jeff Chadwick second and Steve Young third, they were rewarded with a team prize in the post event prize giving. Also winning a Team Prize were Hoad Hill ladies comprising of Sharon Dixon, Julie Hunter, and Jackie Bragg.
Prior to the start of the 10k we had a good line up for the fun run with an entry of 20 Youngsters running our measured mile. Sam Jones of Sleaford Harriers won the event with some good results from our own junior section members.
As with all race organisation a thanks must go out to all the members who did not run but gave their time to make sure the race ran smoothly, and to the odd person here and there who thought they were running but were caught by the press gang and ended up Marshalling.
Junior Section
About 3 months ago we started Hoadhill Harriers Juniors, we started with 4 children on the first evening and I was a little worried as to whether it would take off or not, but my worries were unfounded as we now have 10 children.
We had our first competition this week, Hoadhill junior mini Olympics. There were 8 events, of which each child had to do a minimum of 4 events. Most of them chose to do more, and some chose to do all 8.There were 2 competitions, one to determine an overall champion, and an age classification(under 9,under11,under13).The events were as follows, 800m, 50m, Shot put, 200m, Long jump, 400m, 100m, and finally Cross country (700m approx).
It was a great competition to hold, the overall champion was Jason Lamb, with Emily Dorricot the girl’s champion. In the age categories, under 9s champion was Emily Lockhart, under11s champion Thomas James, and under 13s was Jason lamb. There were some fine performances, but the performance of the evening came from Laura Gibbons who knocked 20seconds off her 800m time.
We also aim to have our own handicap event over 1 mile, which we hope to hold in late September. We will be having a prize giving at the club in December.
Ken.
Sounds like an excellent event Ken hope you continue to get the support you need and the section grows.
Training News
We seem to have attracted a fair number of new runners recently and I hope that they continue running with us, and if not already with a club, eventually become members of Hoad Hill. For newcomers turning up on Thursday nights things may be a bit daunting, so there are plans for a start up group with not so much emphasis on speed. This will allow runners to ease into this type of running without the, too much too soon feeling.
I have missed the last of Penny’s training sessions and now Damian has taken over for a spell, this rotation seems to work well, keeps the ideas fresh and the training as enjoyable as this type of running can be, the group is large enough to accommodate all abilities, so if you are a newcomer come and join us on Thursday evenings, you may surprise yourself.
General News
Most information is usually on the notice board but it is worth mentioning the Christmas social at Hill Foot on Friday December 12th, tickets will be available soon.
Mike Johnson is always thinking of new ideas for our website and has created a photo album page on the website but needs pictures to put on it. If you take your camera to events and would like to share the photos with the world please get them to him either by email or by CD. There will be a link to the photo album on the left hand menu when there are photos to have a look at.
That’s about it for this month. If any member has a race report or news for the next News Letter please e mail it to me. I don’t mind what format it is in but a word document is preferable.
Graham