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 7th on the day in 34.50 and 1st in the M50 category. Dean Windsor was 34th in 41:10, Graham Cooper was 37th in 41:24, Sarah Proudmore was 13th in 44:01 and 3rd in the F50 category and Nick Budd 49th, hanging onto Sarah’s coattails in 44:36. Sarah, Dean, Graham and Nick completed all three races and in the overall standings Sarah was 11th out of 22 women and 3rd F50, Graham, Dean and Nick were 25th, 27th and 40th out of 56 men respectively.
On the Friday it was Personal Bests all round for the three Harriers in the Mid Cheshire 5k. This was a fast race with around 600 of the 697 who race posting times of under 23 minutes. Chris Moss 380th in 18:06, Emily Nott was 410th in 18:24 and Beth Ambler was 658th in 25:04.
On Saturday Danny Jackson participated in the “It’s a piece of Cake” 10k; a community-focused 10 km road race through one of Manchester’s loveliest parks, Boggart Hole Clough in North Manchester, one of the region’s largest and most beautiful parks. Out of the 343 runners Danny finished 73rd in 47.17.
Also on Saturday Graham Cooper was the sweeper on the Holcombe Howle, an ULTRA 37miler. This low-key, back to basics event set in the Holcombe Moors followed an unmarked course which incorporated a climb up Heracles Hill with the iconic Peel Tower before following the Rossendale way in the West Pennines. Graham marshalled the last of the 20 runners home in 11:48:22.
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.