Congleton Harriers - Press Reports

Press Report May 14th 2023 from Nick Budd

Fell, Trail and Road races for Harriers in the second week of May.

The last Shining Tor fell race was back in 2019 before Covid trashed the racing calendar, so it was nice to see the return of this tough little fell race. Previous incarnations have been run in balmy warm spring conditions with runners just in shorts, t-shirts and sunglasses. This year’s race last Wednesday was a reminder that the hills can be an inhospitable environment – whilst not cold, the rain was lashing down, the clouds were low and it was dark and muddy, so the debate amongst the three Congleton Harriers prior to the start was whether to put the waterproofs on or keep them in the backpack and just run in vests. Harriers are hardy folk, so the latter won out, admittedly comforted by the fact that the Buxton Mountain Rescue Team was out in force (the race being a fundraiser for them).

Out of the 200 runners Char Wood was the first Harrier back making it back in just under an hour in 59:08 in 124^th place and taking 1^st place in the F40 category. An impressive run given the slippery conditions and the fact that this was her first time out at this race so not familiar with the challenging up and down sections. Sarah Proudmore was 170^th in 66:29 and Nick Budd was 2 seconds behind in 171^st place in 66:31.

Read more … May 14th 2023 Press Report

Press Report May 7th 2023 from Nick Budd

Fell and Road races for Harriers in the first week of May.

*Harriers at Alderley Edge Photo: Hannah Harding*

There were six Congleton Harriers in attendance at Macc Harriers’ Rainow 5 Fell race. For the uninitiated, this popular charity trail/fell race follows a hilly (750ft/230m ascent) but very scenic 5 mile route from Rainow, incorporating a short but sharp lung-busting climb up the White Nancy and along the Kerridge Ridge. This year’s event attracted 285 runners who had the benefit of a lovely warm spring evening with dry conditions underfoot.

*Nick Budd and Sarah Proudmore Photo N. Budd*

Bryan Lomas was the first Harrier home finishing 51^st in 40:25 followed by Char Wood, 142^nd in 47:55, Graham Cooper, 182^nd in 50:39, Sarah Proudmore, 229^th in 54:58, Nick Budd 231^st in 55:19 and Josie Galbraith, 274^th in 1:02:22.

Read more … May 7th 2023 Press Report

Press Report April 30th 2023 from Nick Budd

Final report for April on Harriers racing.

Thursday saw the final race in the Stone Master Marathoners Spring Treble; The Barlaston Ups and Downs trail race. It was a somewhat damp drizzly affair but there were five Congleton Harriers amongst the 110 runners. This race has an interesting start – a mad one mile dash downhill with a prize for the fastest runner (the winner was 4 minutes something, so clearly in a hurry). The downside is that same one mile has to be paid back at the end of the race (good training for the upcoming Mow Cop Killer mile I suppose). Bryan Lomas had a top-ten finish coming in 7^th on the day in 34.50 and 1^st in the M50 category. Dean Windsor was 34^th in 41:10, Graham Cooper was 37^th in 41:24, Sarah Proudmore was 13^th in 44:01 and 3^rd in the F50 category and Nick Budd 49^th, hanging onto Sarah’s coattails in 44:36. Sarah, Dean, Graham and Nick completed all three races and in the overall standings Sarah was 11^th out of 22 women and 3^rd F50, Graham, Dean and Nick were 25^th, 27^th and 40^th out of 56 men respectively.

Press Report April 23rd 2023 from Nick Budd

Following on from the previous week’s Manchester Marathon it was a second weekend of marathon running for the Harriers with nine of the club participating amongst the 45,000 in the London Marathon and there were some fine performances from the club’s runners with five of the runners setting new personal bests.

The standout performance goes to Jack Schofield who romped home in an impressive 2:31:37, finishing 169^th in 2:31:37, achieving a new PB and setting a new club record. We had a second runner in the top 1000 with Tom Howarth who was 853^rd in 2:43:34 and was the second person to set a new PB.

There were another two runners who smashed the four hour marker: Jessica Knowles, was 11,184^th in 3:39:30, Graham Cooper, was 15,537^th in 3:53:22. The next three back all set new PBs: Roy Cochran-Patel took 15 minutes off his previous best crossing the line in 20,975^th place in in 4:09:24, Louise Roberts, was 26, 438^th in 4:27:38 and Will Roberts, was 26,746^th in 4:28:37. The final two Harriers to finish were Jess Jardine, 28,425^th in 4:34:37 and Rob Parkin, 2649^th in 4:35:27. Well done to all.

A few days earlier in the week it was the second race of the Stone Master Marathoners Spring Treble Series. The Kibblestone Klamber is aptly named as the near 5 mile run includes 2 short but brutal scrambles up through the trees . Unfortunately for the runners the route is a circuit so the participants had to endure the lung busting climbs three times. There were seven Harriers competing in amongst a field of 116 runners. Chris Moss, was 10^th in 39:45 and, on the day, was 1^st in the M50 category. Bryan Lomas, was 19^th in 40:50, Graham Cooper, was 50^th in 47:01, Melanie Worthington, was 52^nd in 47:36, Dean Windsor, was 55^th in 47:44, Sarah-Louise Proudmore, was 66^th in 50:13 and Nick Budd, was 77^th in 52:53.

*Will and Louise Roberts Photo: Roberts*

If interested in joining us, there are club runs on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday with most runs setting off from the Congleton Tennis Club. The club is always keen to see new members whether you are a speedy racer or more of a social runner. So, if you are thinking of thinking of joining then just come along to one of the regular/ club runs for a few weeks and try us out for size; you will be made to feel more than welcome with no obligation to join. You can find full details on our Congleton Harriers website: Congleton-harriers.co.uk. You can also connect with the club on Facebook where details of club activities are posted regularly.

Press Report April 16th 2023 from Nick Budd

There were over 18,000 taking part in the Manchester Marathon on Sunday and the occasion, coupled with all the hard work training had a big impact on the seven Congleton Harriers who were taking part as they all achieved new Personal Bests.

Emily Nott, was 1192^nd in 2:59:45, Paul Hoban, was 3234^th in 3:24:11, Kelly Marshall, was 4618^th in 3:34:29, Tracy Welch, was 5723^rd in 3:42:41, Bethany Cliff, was 6770^th in 3:49:15, Michael Stanley, was 6796^th in 3:49:26, Clare Flint, was 10363^rd in 4:12:10. Topping the PBs Emily also managed to set a new club record for the marathon.

Not to be outdone on the PB front Ellie Hunter also managed to get in on the act at the Tatton Park 5k finishing 20^th out of 54 runners in 30:1.

Earlier in the week a group of Harriers took a long trek down to Cannock Chase to take part in the first of three races in the Stone Master Marathoners Spring Treble Series. Despite the host club’s name, these are a lot shorter trail runs over 4 -5 miles. Being more of a social race with half a mind on future race conditioning, none of the Harriers were out for glory on this one and were in the main content to pootle round the Milford Mayhem. Graham Cooper was 49^th out of 114 racers in 34:20, Dean Windsor was 52^nd in 34:58, Sarah-Louise Proudmore was 65^th in 37:28, Nick Budd was 78^th in 39:54 and Trish Ryan was 88^th in 41:49.

It was also a welcome back to Ian Prime representing the Harriers as he took part in the mid-week Chester Spring 5 miles race and out of the 374 runners, he came in 218^th in 39:52

Going back to the weekend before there were Harriers in three separate races.The first was a somewhat unusual ultra-event; a virtually flat run 50 mile run between Liverpool and Manchester on Friday 7^th April. Out of the 351 competitors James Barlow was 111^th in 9:20:44, Suzie Roscoe was 152^nd in 9:43:04 and Lois Axson was 191^st in 10:05:00.

Char Wood was in solo action at the Teifi 10 mile road race, a flat, fast and scenic route along the River Teifi in Wales around the university town of Lampeter, finishing 40th out of 115 runners in 72:50.

The final race of the 2^nd weekend of April was the Crewe 10k which attracted 315 runners. Chris Moss was 32^nd in 38:33, Ian Stanway was 74^th in 42:00, Kelly Marshall, was 106^th in 45:15, Dean Windsor, was 126^th in 47:14 and Ellie Dick, was 140^th in 48:45.