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19/11/08 International Medals for 7 Veteran Harriers!
On 15th November, 7 Bingley Harriers made the long trip to Swansea to run for England in the UK and Ireland International Masters Cross Country Race; all returned with team medals and 3 with individual awards which represented an amazing achievement for one athletic club. Full results are available on the BMAF website but the headlines for the Harriers were made by club cross country captain Stewart Macdonald who won a silver team prize in the 0/35 race having 'dropped down' from his own age group in the 0/40's! Stewart made a few points for the selectors by beating some of the England 0/40's.
John Convery had an excellent run in the 0/45's finishing in third place (team gold too) and Jon Cordingly also picked up gold with his 0/50 team.
The only club lady running on the day, Sue Becconsall, won team gold in the ladies 0/45 race but was outsprinted at the finish by club colleague, Mike Smith, who won individual silver in the 0/65 category closely followed home by Bob Dover in third place; the two won 0/65 team gold in the process.
It was left to Fred Gibbs in the 0/70's, however, to show everyone how to win individual gold. Fred made light work of the hilly and wet conditions to lead England to gold position in the team race too.
A day to remember for the club and those involved and a reminder of the depth of talent around in the ranks.
Well done to all involved.
19/11/08 - THE Complete Runner Cross Country League Race 3 - Wetherby
With plenty of runners missing it was always going to be tough to beat Leeds
city, but Bingley gave them a close run, with only 8 points separating
the clubs at the end. It will come down to the final fixture at
Wakefield.
It was nice to see a return to the country for the Brownlee brothers,
and they both impressed once again with Alistair claiming 3rd in
33.26, and Jonathan 5th in 33.57. Bingley then had to wait until 14th
spot with Tim Midgely winning a close run battle with 4 other
Harriers, where only 20 seconds separated the four. Tim 35.45, Martin
Peace 16th 35.54, Lee Athersmith 17th, 36.03 and Andy Brown 18th,
36.05. The other three Harriers to run were: 48th Stephen Fry 38.11, 50th
Jamie Robinson 38.15 and 60th Dave Potter 39.04.
Stewary MacDonald
15/11/08 - Yorkshire Vets AA Grand Prix
This weekend brought the final race in the Yorkshire vets AA grand prix.
Bingley were represented by several runners.
John Smithurst 1st m/v 70
Les Haynes 1st m/v 65
Gerry Bell 3rd m/v 55
Paul Mitchell 8th m/v 45
Johns son Michael a very credible 10th m/v 40
Perhaps the best and most consistent performance came from new runner Marisol Carrera Vivar, 4th f/v 35.
Well done all.
Adrian Rushworth
10/11/08 - Yorkshire Vets Fell Championships
In conjunction with the Cop Hill Fell race at Meltham on 2nd November, the Yorkshire veterans fell championships were held.
Bingley Harriers had several runners in attendance, with the following achieving good results;
Paul Mitchell (0/45)2nd
Richard Scott (040)4th
Marisol Carrera Vivar (F0/35)3rd
Mark Westman (0/50)6th
Credible runs also came from Phil Knight and Adrian Rushworth
Here is a personal perpective from Marisol Carrera
Cop Hill Fell Race (A novice fell runner’s perspective)
Every morning when I wake up, I open the curtains and look to at the sky to what type of weather the day will bring. On the Sunday of the Cop Hill Race, in Meltham, I did the same thing, hoping for a dry clear sky.
I was happy to see we could have a nice morning, without rain for the race. (At least for a few hours, you know about Yorkshire’s weather).
I was a bit nervous about the race, as I don’t have much fell racing experience and 9 miles with 900 feet of climbing would be a test. However, I have learned from previous mistakes that the right shoes are critical. So I took trail shoes and a lot of positive thinking.
As the race started I took it steady, making sure that I enough energy for the climb to come. I did not know how hard it would be to reach the top of the hill. However I felt I was running strongly enough to keep going at that steady pace, even through the slippery mud.
It was good to see the runners ahead, as this helped me to carry on with energy and a competitive attitude. At one point I saw a lady’s running shoe stuck in a particularly muddy patch. I pulled it out and gave it to a marshal; wondering why the person left the shoe and how did she finish the race!
Running downhill was fantastic and I felt great all the way to the end, thinking “Yess!!” done it. Then a marshal reminded me that it was a two-lap race! However, at least I knew what was to come, so I used my mind to run it and left my legs to keep on moving to the end of the race.
I was a great experience and I will definitely run it again next year. I have learned another lesson, keep your laces tight, you don’t want to lose a shoe.
Marisol Carrera
10/11/08 - National Cross Country Relays
A cold windy day greeted the athletes at Mansfields Berry Hill Park, the home of the national cross country relays. It was once again a fiercely fought battle at the sharp end with Bedford and county holding on to win from the fast finishing Newham & Essex Beagles with Morpeth Harriers in third.
Bingley had 3 teams this year which was great to see. Up until a Friday withdrawl from the 'A' team there was nothing to choose between our 'A' and 'B' teams, which made team selection very difficult. With so many factors to take into consideration i.e. current form, horses for courses, distance, underfoot conditions, age (give the youngsters a chance) and there are more, which I wont go into. Anyway a bit of a re-shuffle and we had 3 teams of willing athletes and also a reserve in Neil Robson who travelled down just in case we needed him.
It was Aidan Johnson yet again who posted Bingleys fastest time on the first leg. You can see from the results below there wasn't a lot to choose between the 'A' team and the 'B' team.
'A' team 34th
Aidan Johnson 16.36
Lee Athersmith 16.49
Andy Peace 16.38
S. MacDonald 16.50
'B' team 57th
Tim Midgley 17.11
J. Cordingley 17.08
Steve Brooks 16.54
Simon Johnson 17.52
'C' team 100th
James Senior 18.07
Dave Potter 18.38
J. Willingham 19.55
Stephen Fry 18.17
01/11/08 - The Complete Runner Cross Country League - Race 2 - Senior Men
Underfoot conditions for this the second race in the series were at the
least testing! 15mm spikes were the order of the day, and anyone training for a marathon would have an advantage, as the race was run over four laps and not the advertised three and a half. The confusion in the crowd as well as on the course became apparent as we were getting told to sprint for the finish after three laps, which we all did only to find we had another lap to go. Anyway it worked in Bingleys favour as we ran out easy winners with 53 points compared to Leeds City on 109. Our strength in depth showed as our 'B' team came in third.
Andy Peace showed us all a clean pair of heels with a brilliant 3rd place (43.09). Behind Andy a real battle was being fought between 4 Bingley men Stewart, Lee, Tom and John and it was only in the last third of the race that the placings unfolded with Stewart MacDonald
holding out to record 7th place (44.08). Then John Convery managed to overhaul the two youngsters to finish 8th (44.33). Lee Athersmith came 10th (44.51). A great senior cross country debut saw Tom Crowley finish a brilliant 11th (44.59), then he left the contents
of his breakfast down the finish funnel, such were his efforts.Bringing the team home, even after working the night shift was Aidan Johnson in 14th (45.09).
'B' team 'C' team
17. Martin Peace 45.42 70. Stephen Fry 50.40
18. Andy Brown 45.44 72. Andrew Jebb 50.51
22. Tim Midgley 46.05 97. Richard Scott 52.46
30. Steve Brooks 47.22 143. Gerry Bell 57.14
50. James Senior 48.46 160. Bob Dover 57.14
64. Dave Potter 49.55 193. Fred Gibbs 1.01.12
01/11/08 A "Grand Day Out" in Langdale.
 Langdale Horseshoe Fell Race, 14th October 2008.
It was a crisp and sunny Saturday morning that greeted the field of 400 runners for the Langdale Horseshoe race. Blue and white vests peppered the field including a band of "Langdale Novices" who had set themselves the task of completing this revered, classic fell race.
The weather behaved itself throughout the course of the race; the main problem (apart from hills and terrain) seemed to be BOG! With the heavy rainfall the night before, "the race trod" became the "race bog", with three Bingley men running into chest high mire!
Rob Jebb won the race in 2:05:07 and Ali Raw ran a good race to finish 2nd women and first LV40. The first woman was Jane Reedy of Ambleside AC in 2:36:46.
Pies and pints in the Old Dungeon Ghyll ended what had been a rare, bright, great October day. As for the "Langdale Novices" they all finished the race and only one said "Never again!"
Mary Webb
 For the full results check out Ambleside AC website .
22/10/08 - British FRA Relay championships
 The Bingley mens team regained the British Fell Relay title on Sunday with a close victory over local rivals Pudsey and Bramley in North Wales. Jonny Brownlee finished 3rd on the opening leg, Andy Peace and Matthew Whitfield moved Bingley into the lead on the 2nd leg with the 3rd fastest time on the leg, Ian Holmes and Rob Jebb kept Bingley in front on the navigation leg with 7th fastest time and Olmpian Alistair Brownlee brought Bingley home despite being chased down by Pudsey. Alistair was 3rd fastest on the last leg and Bingley finished just 25 seconds in front of Pudsey after 3 and half hours of racing.
 The ladies won the event with a convincing winning margin of 9 minutes in a total time of 4h 27m 4s. Ruth Whitehead ran the opening leg, followed by Natalie White & Mary Wilkinson on leg 2 (Fastest), Kirstin Bailey & Sharon Taylor (+bump!) ran Leg 3 leaving Aly Raw on the last leg to take the honours for the team.
Sharon Taylor
Martin Peace
See the full results here
Check out all the club team titles here
22/10/08 - National 6 Stage Road Relay Championships
The day was dry, bright and breezy for this years national 6 stage road relays held once again at Sutton Park, Birmingham. Aidan Johnson lead the team off once again and produced our fastest time of the day (18.55) coming home in 54th position. Another solid run from John Convery gained us a place (19.25). Then came Steve Brooks on the third leg, gaining a couple of places in (19.34). Tom Crowley brought us into the top 50 in a time of 19.41, followed by Stewart MacDonald gaining five places in 19.30. It was then left to Andy Brown to bring the team home on the final leg, finishing 44th in a time of 19.49. The three medalists were: Belgrave, Notts AC and Newham & Essex Beagles.
Stewart MacDonald
22/10/08 - The Complete Runner Cross Country League - Race 1 - Senior Men
Otley played hosts for the first race in this seasons Complete Runner Cross Country League . The weather was more spring like as opposed to autumnal, and a toughish course to suit both the tough guys and the fast boys. Bingley went into the race as defending league champions, so were keen to get off to a good start in the competition, but Leeds City were having none of it and ran out winners by 20 points, 57 to 77. Pudsey were back in third on 160 points. Early on in the race it looked as though Bingley had the better of Leeds, but as the race unfolded Leeds had runners coming through which gave them the advantage. Bingleys strength in depth was apparent as the 'B' team were first home. The next fixture is at Guiseley on 26th October.
BINGLEY 'A' TEAM: 5.A.Peace 32.08, 7.S.MacDonald 32.11, 13.J.Convery 32.28, 15.S.Brooks 32.38, 18.A.Brown 32.45, 19.L.Athersmith 32.55.
BINGLEY 'B' TEAM: 21.T.Midgely 33.03, 27.A.johnson 33.48, 44.J.Senior
35.01, 47.J.Robinson 35.10, 49.S.Fry 35.25, 58. P.Carey 35.47. Not forgetting Fred Gibbs who finished 197th 44.38.
Stewart MacDonald
19/10/08 Yorkshire Vets Relays
Bingley Harriers vet ladies won the Yorkshire veterans relays on Sunday 12th October with Andrea Dennison recording the fastest time of the day and Ruth Whitehead the second fastest time
The men won silver in the v40, v50 and v60.
John Cordingley posted the fastest time of the day.
Considering the amount of races on that weekend and the fact many of our vets were injured on the day a very credible performance by all.
19/10/08 WMRA GRAND PRIX 2008.
 The 7th and final race in the World Mountain Running Association series was the Smarno Goro race, run in Slovenia on the 4th October. In this event Bingley's Victoria Wilkinson produced another great run to take second place behind Andrea Mayr of Austria; the recently crowned World Trophy winner.
To emphasize what a fantastic run this was, Victoria finished over two minutes ahead of the European champion and 3 Peaks winner Anna Pichrtova and was over 4 minutes ahead of Anna Frost of New Zealand the overall winner of the Grand Prix series.
This result secured Victoria 3rd place, in the overall rankings for the Grand Prix series. In what has been an eventful season, Victoria finished 5th in the European Mountain championships and was the first Briton home in the World Trophy race.
Fellow Harrier Anne Buckley also ran in the Samarno Goro finishing 14th. With this result Anne finished 8th in the Grand Prix. An outstanding performance in this world class series.
19/10/08 Mary Wilkinson Wins in Scarborough
Mary Wilkinson broke the women's course record in an outstanding time of 61.43 en route to winning the Scarbrough AC Carewatch 10 mile race (and 2nd Overall), the third fastest this year by a Yorkshire Athlete.
The race also incorported the North Yorkshire 10 mile road race championships, Mary Wilkinson was folowed home by Erica Johnson of Swaledale Runners, whilst Scarborough AC's Jane Hamp collected the bronze medal.
19/10/08 Bingley Harriers’ International Masters Selection Success
Fine runs by Bingley Harriers’ veteran men at the recently held British Masters’ Cross Country Relay races at Mansfield, backed-up by other good performances during preceding months, were enough to secure six Harriers’ men selection to England’s Veteran Cross Country Team by the England Veterans’ Athletic Association.
Bingley’s ‘call-up’ success is not just restricted to their men, as also selected on merit for England national team honours, is one of the Harriers’ lady veteran runners too.
All will compete next month against their age-group counterparts from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland in the prestigious annual British & Irish Masters’ Cross Country International, this year being contested at Singleton Park, Swansea.
Those selected as England team members are:
Ladies:
For age-group team 45 - 49 yrs: Sue Becconsall
Men:
For age-group team 35 - 39 yrs: Stewart Macdonald, 45 - 49 yrs: John Convery, 50 - 54 yrs: Jon Cordingley, 65 - 69 yrs: Mike Smith and Bob Dover, 70+yrs: Fred Gibbs
12/10/08 English Schools Fell Running Championships
 Bingley Harriers Juniors represented their school Bingley Grammar recently at the English Schools Fell Running Championships at Sedbergh School on Sunday 28th September 2008. James Hall, Gordon Weight and Ben Marriot joined over 400 of the best fell and cross country runners in England, from over 25 schools. Fellow Yr8 pupil (U13) Ben Costello made up a Yr 8 team.
Sedbergh School has a long tradition of fell running and is ideally placed with Winder (hill) and the Howgills rising steeply above the village. A bright sunny day and superb organisation completed the perfect setting for this event.
The Yr 8 & 9 race was over 2.5miles and 950 feet of ascent. The route climbed across fields and traversed along the base of Winder before a long punishing climb and a very steep and short, but equally punishing, descent. Much of the route could be viewed from the event field in the village. The Bingley team came 10th out of 20 teams which was especially notable as they were running against Yr 9 also. On an individual basis out of 98 runners James Hall was 9th in 24.04 against a winning time of 22.11. Gordon was 50th in 29.43 and Ben 88th in 35.35.
When asked for their strongest impressions of the race both Ben and Gordon immediately replied "It was steep", and even James, a regular fell runner, admitted to stiff legs after the event.
Ben Marriot's race (Yr 10 & 11) was a longer and higher circuit of 3.6ms and 1300' of ascent. Ben was 24th out of 76 in 35.00
Roger Hall, the Bingley Harriers Junior Fell co-ordinator helped arrange the event for Bingley Grammar School.
In the photo are the Year 8 team (Ben Costello 258, James Hall 169 and Gordon Weight 170)
Alan Weight
10/10/08 Under 13 Boys Northern and Yorkshire road relays
 Croxteth 5 October
A fantastic team effort saw Bingley finish 2nd in the Yorkshires and a brilliant sixth place in the Northerns. The team consisted of James Hall (Leg 1 - 11.38 - 4th), Sam Convery (Leg 2 - 12.31 - 5th) and Thomas Potter (Leg 3 - 12.43 -6th). Well done boys.
John Convery
10/10/08 Womens YORKSHIRE 4 Stage relay
 The sun shone on Bingley Harriers medal winning senior ladies team of (l to r) Anne Buckley, Mary Wilkinson, Victoria Wilkinson and Jo Buckley (Buckley x 2 and Wilkinson x 2) who retained the gold medal in the Yorkshire 4 stage Road Relay Championships. This event was run alongside the Northern 4 stage Road Relay Championships (where they finished 4th in a very high-class race) at Hartlepool on Saturday 27th September.
Sue Cariss
03/10/08 Northern men’s 6 stage road relays
The same venue as 2006 saw this years northern 6 stage road relays at Hartlepool. The course was 3.35 miles of flat promenade. The weather was kind too with blue skies. This years race also included the Yorkshire road relay championships, which added a little more incentive.
Leg 1 saw Matthew Whitfield run a blinder to come home in 6th place in a time of 16.10. It was a big ask for Tim midgley to try maintain that position, but he dug deep dropping 8 places to come home in 14th (17.43). An over enthusiastic first mile saw Lee Athersmith struggle a little from the turn to record 17.57 and drop 4 places to 18th. Running his debut for the senior men was Tom Crowley, who like Lee would have benefited from a more cautious first mile, but he did gain 2 places and valuable experience (17.47). The oldest man in the team John Convery showed his experience by running the second half of the race 20 seconds faster than the first, giving him a very respectable 17.41, and holding on to 16th. Bingley saved the best for the last leg in Chris Cariss, after struggling with an injury for a couple of weeks and being unable to train much, Chris stormed round to record the third equal fastest time of the day (15.52). He also gained Bingley 3 places bringing us home in 13th position behind Leeds City, Altrincham and Morpeth.
Leeds City 'B' team went on to just pip us by 11 seconds to the Yorkshire title, with Bingley taking silver and Hallamshire bronze. The Bingley 'B' team finished 43rd out of the 70 or so teams. An effort worth noting was that of Steven Carney, who in his first road relay stepped in at the last minute to record the 3rd fastest leg in the 'B' team. The 'B' team times were: A. Brown 18.03, J.Willingham 21.43, S.Carney 18.39, S. Fry 18.50, C.Bartle 20.10, S.MacDonald 17.49.
Stewart MacDonald
28/09/08 A Tough Yorkshire Man
This years Yorkshire Man Off-Road Marathon was exceptionally tough, due to mud! Mud in glorious variety, thick mud, peaty mud, deep mud, slippery mud and slurry. However it could have been worse, it didn’t rain on the day and the bogs of Rocking Stone Flat had dried out a bit. With a new course and mud no records were broken, but all the finishers agreed it had been worth it.
Becky Weight did exceptionally well in her second off-road marathon this year ( second ever marathon). In the solo race Becky was second woman, first FV50 and 31st overall in 4:28:26.
Adrian Rushworth and Dave Stephenson ran as a pair; finishing as 6th pair and first vets pair in 4:20:20.
Gordon Kaye finished 91st overall in 5:34.
As usual the K&C AC organisation was top class, especially the marshals and food at the checkpoints.
Gordon Kaye
20/09/08 Triumphant Trio of Fell Champions
Now that the championship races are over and all the results are in and the calculations done:
Ian Holmes is 2008 British and English Fell Vet 40 Champion. This is third year running that Ian has won the English Vet 40 and the second time he has been British Vet 40 Champion (2006).
Rob Jebb is 2008 English Fell Champion. This is the second time Rob has been the English Champion (2006).
Natalie White is 2008 English Fell Champion. This is the second time Natalie has been the English Champion (2006).
Congratulations to all three for maintaining their outstanding performance at the pinnacle of English fell racing.
Check out all the club champions here
Simon Wright
Barbara Carney
14/09/08 - Nothern Knock Out Cup Final - Sport City Manchester
The team sheet was filled with familiar names (sometimes in unfamiliar events) and the day got off to a good start: the sun was shining and the blue sky looked set for the day.
Early performances also looked good with a win on the track for Oliver Robinson in the 400m hurdles, in a new club record time of 53.95s and a personal best for Adanna in the Hammer (36.92m).
At the first announcement of team scores we were in second place, and this spurred on our already keen group of athletes to bigger and better performances as the day wore on.
Matthew Cottam came second in the 100m in a very close run race with a time of 11.26, Josh Allan broke his personal best in the 400m winning the event by over half a second (49.23), he then stepped up in the 200m and ran another personal best of 22.74 finishing 3rd. John Convery came 5th in a good quality 5000m race running 16:15.06. Lee Athersmith ran a very good 3000m steeplechase just missing out on first place with a time of 9:52.92 (0.3 seconds behind the winner).
Carly Robertson came 3rd in the 800m (2:21.9), Janine Crosby came 2nd in the discus throwing 35.53m and Sarah Benson threw 10.10m in the shot to finish 6th.
The rest of the team contributed well and the team finished a very respectable 5th in a competition that included City of Manchester (Sale), Kingston Upon Hull, Leeds, Trafford, Blackpool, Rotherham and Scunthorpe.
Our Officials worked very hard all day ensuring maximum points from their contribution and also by officiating on more than their required events ensuring the meeting ran smoothly and finished on time.
Keith Daniel
14/09/08 - Ben Nevis
Saturday 6th September saw 16 Harriers compete in the Ben Nevis Race which this year incorporated the penultimate race in the Sky Buff series. The sun was cracking the flags and was perfect for the race which saw Rob Jebb narrowly beaten (13 seconds) into 2nd place by Augusti Roc who is widely regarded as the worlds best altitude runner this year. The team prize was won by Rob, Robin Lawrence and Paul Mitchell. Aly Raw won the Lady's Vets prize. Bill Hargreaves collected his Plaque for completing his 21st Ben Nevis Race.
Bruce Duncan
01/09/08 Holmes makes it three out of four at Burnsall.
Burnsall Classic, Sat 23rd August
Ian Holmes won this year's Burnsall Classic 1.5m/900 fell race in 14:39. This win makes it the third time Ian has won this event in four years. In 2007 he came second to fellow Bingley Harrier Rob Jebb.
Gordon Kaye
01/09/08 Womens Fell Team Impressive in National Championships
The 2008 fell season came to a close yesterday with the Dufton show fell race. Natalie White finished the season, as started, with an impressive win to retain her English Fell Champion Title from 2007, with Aly Raw taking 2nd V45 & 3rd V40 in the championship. Despite a mixture of illness & injury over the year we still finished 2nd team overall with Natalie, Aly, Sharon Taylor, Helen Johnson & Ruth Whitehead all counting in the teams.
The British Championship had been decided back in June with Angela Mudge (Carnethy) winning the first 4 races of the series to be British Champion. Natalie secured 2nd place and Aly 3rd V40. Again the team had a mixed year but finished 3rd overall with Natalie, Aly, Sharon, Beverly Whitfield & Mandy Clarke counting in the teams.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to the team performances this year.
Sharon Taylor
19/08/08 - Agony and Ecstasy for brownlee in beijing
Bingley Harrier Alistair Brownlee had the race of his life in the extremely hot conditions in the Olympic Triathlon in Beijing. The U23 World Champion went into the race as the 2nd youngest competitor in the 55 strong field and ranked 84th in the world.
After a strong showing in the 1.5km swim and a great transition to the bike Alistair was lying in the Silver medal position. He pushed on and at one stage was in the Gold medal position.
Following the 40km cycle race Alistair was in the pack that chased down and passed the leaders during the 10km run. He was in strong contention for a medal with the leading pack going into the final 3km but he could not keep up with the eventual medallists finishing in 12th place, only 86 seconds behind.
"I tried to pick it up with three kilometres to go, but the wings came off. I just had nothing there."
"I gave it everything I had," said an exhausted Alistair afterwards. "Basically I had a choice of either going out there and having a go or hanging back and trying to pick up places on the run. I opted for the former."
"What was it like being in front? Fantastic, I was loving every minute of it. Now I’m looking towards London 2012 when I’ll have four years of extra maturity behind me."
Jan Frodeno of Germany won the thrilling race and took the Gold medal in 1:48:53, Simon Whitfield of Canada the Silver in 1:48:58 and Bevan Docherty of New Zealand the Bronze in 1:49:05. Fellow Team GB member Will Clarke was 14th in 1:50:32 and unfortunately Tim Don was forced to withdraw suffering from illness.
19/08/08 - Northern knock out cup
Sunday 17th August 08, Blackpool
We took a team of 22 athletes to sunny Blackpool (Yes it was sunny!) to attempt to gain a place in the plate final at the City of Manchester stadium in September. Little did we know that following on from our unbeaten record in the league matches we were to take many teams by surprise! At one stage of the match we were actually within one point of the City of Manchester team, we had excellent performances and it was great to see both Sharon Taylor and Lee Athersmith competing in the 3k and 10k respectively. Our male 4x400m team are unbeaten this season so things are looking good for the 2009 season. The match result was as follows: -
1st City of Manchester 206 points
2nd Bingley 175 points
3rd Holmfirth 150 points
4th Liverpool Harriers 149 points
5th Pudsey & Bramley 124 points
6th Oldham & Royton 100 points
7th Skyrac 29 points
The amazing result means that Bingley Harriers will now be in the main final on September 13th. Well done to everyone who took part and thanks also to our officials on the day. Good luck in the final.
Christine Oates
06/08/08 - Mike SMITH WINS EUROPEAN 800m GOLD
European Veterans Track & Field Championships. 25th July to 3rd August
Bingley Harriers Mike Smith added the European M65 800 metres title to his British 5000m title at the 16th European Veterans T&F Championships held in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Mike finished strongly with a time of 2:30.65 beating the challenges of Norway's Arne Mjelde and Germany's Helmut Schulhauser.
Check out all the club champions here
06/08/08 - Bingley Promoted as Champions!
Northern League Track and field meeting 03-08-08 - Leigh
The final league match of the season was held at a brand new athletic stadium, this following on from Wigan and Preston all great new facilities all of them have us feeling very envious and wondering if we will ever have anything closer to home. Although we were fairly sure of promotion we were hoping to go up as undefeated champions, but with the usual crop of holidays, a few injuries and road delays on the motorway etc. we were kept guessing for quite a while. Once again the men’s team was missing the long distance athletes but the ladies were able to welcome our hon treasurer! Well done Becky we hope you enjoyed yourself we needed the points. All the team rose to the occasion and quite a few entered events they are not really known for, well done to Larry who is on the way back from injury and entered the high jump and completely changed take off legs for the first time and achieved a height of 1.9metres so we are looking forward to him getting back on his good leg! Relay races are the final events of the afternoon and usually exciting, this was no exception the men won the 4x400 and were 2nd in the 4x100, but the ladies put the icing on the cake by winning both the 4x100 and the 4x400 an excellent result which ensured we won the match and promotion as Champions of Division 3WC.
Colin Daniel Men’s Team Manager
Christine Oates Ladies Team Manager
31/07/08 Round Hill Fell Race
8 Bingley boys and girls set out on the 9 mile Round Hill Fell Race from the small village of Timble near Otley. The day started out with a warm but overcast day and all involved hoped it would stay that way. Typically it didn’t and the sun shone from the moment the race started. OK, everybody thought there’d be a breeze on top, wrong again! Overall 91 people toiled and sweat the 9 miles, although personally I did manage to end waist high with both feet in a bog. The overall winner, Paul Stevenson of Pudsey & Bramley, completed the course in 57:48. First Bingley runner home was Becky Weight in 1:19:55, also 2nd lady and first F50, not bad going as she and Gordon missed the start by about 3 minutes.
Bingley results as follows:
43 Becky Weight Bingley F50 01:19:55
51 Mark Latham Bingley M40 01:22:17
52 Phil Roleth Bingley M40 01:22:44
57 Stephen Firth Bingley 01:23:57
59 Sue Fulton Bingley L40 01:24:15
74 Lisa Spencer Bingley L 01:32:31
81 Faye Firth Bingley F 01:39:59
85 Gordon Kaye Bingley M50 01:47:37
Stephen Firth
Full Results
19/07/08 Younger Brownlee gets Olympic boost
Bingley Harrier Jonathan Brownlee is to join his elder brother Alistair in
Beijing.
However, the younger sibling isn't competing in the triathlon, as Alistair will be.
Jonathan is part of "Britain's Olympic Ambition 2012" programme, which is designed to enhance the country's medal prospects for London in four years' time.
Athletes from 33 Olympic disciplines will be spending seven days in Macau and Beijing during the 2008 Olympics.
In Macau, Brownlee and co will visit the Team GB preparation camp, while in Beijing they will see the Olympic Village and the Athletes' Lodge, as well as having a press conference fronted by their mentors - Olympians such as Denise Lewis, Ed Coode and Alison Mowbray.
In addition, the participants in "Britain's Olympic Ambition 2012" programme will be given the opportunity to watch two competition sessions for their specific discipline.
Alan Oates
15/07/08 The Danefield Relay
On 2nd July 2008
Bingley and friends made up 5 teams out of the 30 entered. Muddy patches and a long... hill at the end made for a challenging but enjoyable 3 mile course. In a competitve field, the Bingley Ladies were the 3rd ladies team (Alison Marks 24.55, Sharron Smith 23.47, Mandy Clarke 25.02), followed very closely by the Bingley Ladies Vets in 4th (Becky Weight 24.35, Sue Fulton 25.42, Mary Green 23.49). The 2.5 Amigos mixed team, the Bingley Belles and the Bingley Random men’s team also finished in good times. The evening was nicely finished by a HUGE and delicious meal at the Cheerful Chilli. Thanks go to Mary Green for organising.
Lisa Spencer
12/07/08 Northern League Track and Field and more records broken
06 July 2008 - Bury
This was the 3rd meeting this season and it turned out to be quite an eventful day although the weather conditions were reasonable for most of the events and the results reflected the conditions, sadly Emma had an unfortunate accident landing on the pole vault bar giving us all a fright but she should be in action again when the bruising disappears! The ladies team welcomed some young new members all of them putting in good performances and hopefully they enjoyed the experience and will continue to join us in the future. Both the Men’s and Women’s teams are still looking for athletes to cover distance events.
Oliver Robinson broke his own Club record for the 400 hurdles with a time of 54.1s
The Men’s team of Tom Crowley, Chris Cox, Oliver Robinson and Josh Allan broke the 400m relay record of 3m 26.9s, beating the old time by over 5 seconds and which had stood for 6 years.
Check out all the club records here
Alan Oates
12/07/08 Bingley Masters Successes in Birmingham
 British Masters Championships, Alexander Stadium, Birmingham. 05-06/07/2008
Bingley Harriers enjoyed some success at the British Masters in Birmingham. On the Saturday Mike Smith won the O/65 1500m in 5:04:01. Mike did it again the following day by winning the O/65 5000m, by a narrow margin, in 18:45.
Stewart Macdonald was also in the medals on the Sunday, taking Silver in the O/40 5000m in 15:58.
Check out all the club champions here
Gordon Kaye
07/07/08 British Masters’ Athletic Federation
10km - Loughbrough
A fair-sized contingent of our veteran runners once again took to the roads to take part in this, the second British Masters’ championships to be held in as many weeks.
Once again, as at Horwich, we came away with age-group individual and team awards.
Most significant of these was Jon Cordingley’s gold, achieved by not only beating some high class opposition in the M50 category (1min 20secs in front of his nearest M50 rival) but also by getting well ‘stuck-in’ to the M35-49s, finishing 5th overall veteran in a time of 32m 57s.
Not too far adrift from Jon, Stew Macdonald also had a good run, finishing 10th overall in 33m 31s. Unfortunately, because of the way the results have been presented, Stewart’s age-group position isn’t known.
Unfortunately, John Convery had to pull out, injured, after about 400 yards.
This was particularly disappointing since two M50s; Jon Cordingley and a now rehabilitated Peter Pyrah (36m 49s), had ‘dropped-down’ an age group in order to make up a team of four in the 40-49 age band. Had the team completed, with John running as well as he has been recently, another gold may have been in the offing.
The M60s turned up trumps again confirming their consistency. Les Haynes dominated the M65s, winning gold (39m 04s) and, in the process, led in our team of three for the M60 team gold (unconfirmed) which included our ‘Pres’ Bob Dover and a much surprised Fred Gibbs who had managed to overhaul the other usual M60 team member Mike Smith, who admitted later to having had ‘a bad day at the office’!
Other club members taking part on the day were M55 Gerry Bell, who finished just 5secs. behind Les in 39m 09s, and our one and only lady representative W45 Andrea Dennison, who finished 4th in her age-group, clocking a very respectable 40m 21s
All in all, a very successful days’ outing for our veteran athletes.
Fred Gibbs.
01/07/08 - Lucy breaks Steeplechase record again!
Lucy Mayho has broken the club 3000m Steeplechase record at the St Mary’ s Classic Invitation at Twickenham on the 4th June with a time of 10.55.89, a further 17 seconds off her previous record. Well done Lucy.
Check out all the club records here
Alan Oates
28/06/08 - Beijing Joy for Brownlee
Bingley Harrier Alistair Brownlee is to join the British Olympic Team for the games in Beijing.
At an announcement in Hyde Park, London, the British Olympic Association named the triathlon competitors to represent Great Britain.
The men’s team will consist of Alistair, Will Clarke and Tim Don whilst the women’s team is Hollie Avil and Helen Tucker
Team GB 2008 Chef de Mission, Simon Clegg, was delighted to welcome the athletes in to Team GB. "The squad has a great mix of experience and talent; not least, every one of the five athletes is a World Champion. I wish them well in their final preparations for the Olympic Games and look forward to some exciting performances in Beijing."
The club would like to congratulate Alistair on this fantastic achievement.
Alan Oates
28/06/08 - Bingley Success at British Masters
Strong winds did not help times at the British Masters 5k Championships at Horwich last Sunday,but did not stop Bingley vets winning the team event with Jon Cordingley 7th, Stewart Macdonald 9th, John Convery 10th and Simon Johnson 34th.
Jon Cordingley took silver in the M50 category and John Convery took the Bronze in the M45 category.
Jon, Stewart, John & Simon were also 1st M40 team.
In the M60's Mike Smith, Les Haynes and Bob Dover won silver in the team event. Mike and Les were 2nd and 3rd.
John Smithhurst
28/06/08 - New Club Record Oliver & Lucy UK CHAMPION
In the Under20/Under23 UK Championships at Bedford on the weekend of 21st June Oliver Robinson lowered his own 400m Hurdles Club record to 54.56sec. At the same event Lucy Mayho became UK Champion in the Under 23 3000m Steeplechase with a time of of 11:05.02. Oliver Robinson lowered his own 400m Hurdles Club record to 54.56sec.
Check out all the club records here
Alan Oates
28/06/08 Eight Juniors selected for English School Championships
After her record breaking shot putt Sarah Benson has been selected to represent West Yorkshire at the forthcoming English School Championships. She is joined by fellow Bingley Harriers Adanna Okeahialam in the Hammer, Matthew Chambers in the Long Jump, Jo Bullock in the Long Jump, Carly Robertson in the 800m, Larry Animashaun in the High Jump, Thomas Crowley in the Steeplechase and Josh Allan in the 400m.
It is quite a while since Bingley had 8 athletes at the English School Championships - congratulations to all of you.
The event is to be held in Gateshead in July.
Alan Oates
21/06/08 Five go to Scotland and Win.
Durisdeer 14th June 2008
Three Bingley women made the trip up to Scotland for the British Fell Championship counter, Durisdeer (10.5m/3800’). Natalie White had a great run to finish second and with Sharon Taylor & Aly Raw in support they won the team prize by two points from Calder Valley. The next championship race is Blackstone Edge on Saturday 28th June - pre-entry by 22nd June. Only two men made the trip, but what a pair. Rob Jebb won the race and Ian Holmes was sixth. Unfortunately with no third runner there was no possibility of a team prize.
Sharon Taylor
21/06/08 New Club Record for Sarah Benson
Sarah Benson was competing in the West Yorkshire Schools Championships at Wakefield and with her put of 10.92m. Sarah not only set a new club record but has qualified to join the elite group to attend the All England Schools Championships in Gateshead in July when she can look to improve the record even further.
Check out all the club records here
Alan Oates
21/06/08 Yorkshire Fell Championships Victories.
This years Pen y Ghent Race was also the Senior Yorkshire Championship race. This was an excellent year for Bingley Harriers; with Harriers winning the Men’s, Women’s and Men’s Team Gold medals.
Ian Holmes won the Yorkshire Championships Gold for the 7th time. Is this a record? In any case it’s an impressive string of victories.
Victoria Wilkinson won Gold in this her first Yorkshire Championship.
The Championship Gold men’s team medal went to Ian Holmes, Andy Peace and Lee Athersmith. Andy Peace also won the individual Silver medal.
Karl Gray of Calder Valley won the men’s Bronze medal. Calder Valley also won the women’s Team Gold (Jo Waites, Sharon Godsman, Linda Crabtree).
Gordon Kaye
16/06/08 Meanwhile in Wharfedale
Wharfedale Off- Road Marathon and Half Marathon, 7th June 2008
While Ian Holmes et al were doing great things on Pen Y Ghent, a handful of Harriers were refuelling and relaxing at Grassington Rugby Club after running in these races in aid of St Gemma’s Hospice.
Becky Weight was our sole representative in the Marathon. Becky was 4th woman and 2nd FV 50 in her first Marathon in a time of 4:01 - an excellent performance on a warm and humid day.
Mary Green also had a good run in the Half Marathon, coming in 4th women and first FV50, in a time of 1:52:14. Mary nearly missed out on her prize due to a mix up over race numbers, or maybe nobody believed she was 50.
Mark Latham, Rhys North and Gordon Kaye made up the handful of harriers, coming in 59th, 87th and 111th respectively.
The great scenery and fast sections on short-cropped grass make these races well worth doing. The pie and peas, various puddings and very nice T-shirts are also very welcome at the finish.
Gordon Kaye
12/06/08 More Medal success for the Brownlee Brothers
Bingley Harriers Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee both won medals at the Internation Triathlon Union World Championships in Vancouver, Canada.
Alistair won the men’s under-23 race, taking Gold in 1h 54m 38s. In winning this race Alistair added the under-23 world title to the junior world title he won in Switzerland two years ago. Only one other competitor has done this before.
Jonathan came third in the men’s junior race in 57m 43.08s. This is the second bronze medal for Jonathan this year. He was third in the junior world championships on 10th May in Lisbon.
Gordon Kaye
12/06/08 A good day on Pen y Ghent for Bingley
Horton Gala Pen Y Ghent Fell Race 7th June 2008
Ian Holmes and Victoria Willkinson were first man and first women in the Horton Gala fell race. Ian won this 5.9 mile/1650’ race in 46:26. Victoria came in 15th overall, in 52:12.
Ian, Andy Peace (2nd) and Lee Athersmith (13th) won the team prize. In all 11 Harriers turned out for this race and the delights of Horton Gala.
Meybe the hardest part of this race is not stopping for a pint in the Crown, ½ a mile from the finish!
Gordon Kaye
12/06/08 Clean Sweep for Bingley at Harewood.
Judith & Keith Firm Harewood Chase, 8th June 2008.
29 Harriers braved the hot and sunny conditions to race around the scenic route, in the grounds of Harewood House. It was an excellent day for Bingley with a clean sweep in both races.
In the women’s race Bingley took the first four places and the team prize with Pauline Munro, Lisa Mawer and Sue Becconsall in 1st,2nd and 3rd places respectively. Ruth Whitehead was 4th.
Not to be outdone the Bingley men took the first three places and team prize in the men’s race. Tim Midgeley took 1st followed by Jon Cordingley and Martin Peace. Tim, Jon and Martin put in exceptional times considering the very hot conditions. Jon was also 1st MV50!
Gordon Kaye
Results are available here
05/06/08 Bingley One & Two Twos on Jura
Rob Jebb had a great run in the Isle of Jura race on the 24th May. He was only 50 seconds outside the record set in 1994. Rob won this gruelling 16 mile, 7500 ft fell race in 3:07:49. Ian Holmes came second (1st M40) in 3:15:23. Ian was involved in a sprint finish, beating Jethro Lennox by 4 seconds. There were several excellent performances from fellow Harriers Robin Lawrence (16th), Colin Moses (26th), Ian Goodyear (136th), Mick Ford (157th) and Adrian Netherwood (166th)
Sharon Taylor was second female and 34th overall in 4:04:22.
Gordon Kaye
04/06/08 Medal Winners at Northern Athletics Championships
Bingley Harriers juniors certainly did the club proud at the quality Championships held in very blustery conditions at Robin Park, Wigan. Josh Allan was outstanding in the Under 17 men’s 400m running a personal best in the heat and then broke it again winning the final with a time of 49.51sec. The senior club record is 49.03sec, so Josh is looking to break this record during the forthcoming season.
Matthew Chambers (U15 Boy) came home with 2 medals. He was 3rd in the Long Jump and he took silver in the Triple Jump with a personal best of 11.51m.
Well done boys a very creditable performance
Christine Oates
01/06/08 Ian Hill out "Walking" Again
The weekend 24th to 26th May 2008 saw Bingley's Ian Hill winning the 100 mile Yoredale in a PB (by 4mins) of 21 hrs 46 mins. Rachel Sharples was 2nd Lady and 33rd overall in 27:36. A total of 489 "walkers/runners" started the course with 376 completing the 100mile course which took in Ingelborough Summit and included a staggering 12000 feet of descent with 44% of the climbing in the first 33 miles.
Bruce Duncan
Full report here
01/06/08 Bronze for Jonathan Brownlee in Lisbon
Bingley Harrier Jonathan Brownlee finished 3rd in the European Junior Triathlon Championships held in Lisbon on 10th May.
Jonathan finished just 18 seconds behind the leading pair, after passing ten athletes during the run.
Jonathan’s brother Alistair finished 15th in the senior race.
Gordon Kaye
Full report here
27/05/2008 - Beijing boost for Brownlee?
Bingley Harrier Alistair Brownlee has put himself in line for a place in the Beijing Olympics.
The former Bradford Grammar School pupil finished third in the men's elite race today at the Madrid BG Triathlon World Cup.
In order to meet British Triathlon's selection criteria for the Games, Brownlee had to finish in the top eight, national colleagues Tim Don finishing fourth and Will Clarke sixth.
Horsforth-based Brownlee said: "I'm totally over the moon. I had a really bad start to the year with injury so when I hit the run here I just gave everything I had and surprisingly I felt easy and relaxed."
"To finish on the podium is a great result."
Helen Tucker (second) and Hollie Avil (fourth) fulfilled the women's criteria for British Triathlon in Madrid.
The Olympic team is announced on 26th June - watch this space!
Bill Marshall
Full report and video clips here
27/05/08 Two Golds for Bingley
Bingley Harriers had two gold medallists in the BMAF 10K track Championships, at Oxford on Sunday 29th May.
Andrea Dennison won the women’s O45, in difficult weather conditions, in 41.07. Mike Smith won the O65 category in 38.39. A very successful day for Bingley.
Mike Smith
25/05/08 Multiple Successes for Bingley in John Carr Series.
The final race in the John Carr Series was run this week. As usual Bingley Harriers, young and not so young, were out in force. Here are some of the outstanding performances:
Victoria Wilkinson was first woman in races 1 & 2 and 10th overall in the 2nd race. Victoria set a new record time of 16:45 in the first race of the series, beating the old record by 7 seconds and set a time of 16:47 in the second race. In the third race Sue Beconsall took up the baton and was second woman home and first FV45.
Tim Midgley came second overall in the series with 5th, 2nd & 3rd places in races 1, 2 & 3 respectively. Tim was ably backed up by Stuart Macdonald who came third overall with 8th, 4th & 4th places. In race 2 Bingley came in 2nd, 3rd & 4th place with John Convery coming between Tim and Stuart.
Jenney Vessey was first FV55 overall and in all three races.
Mary Green was first FV50 in races 1 & 2
Jon Cordingley came 2nd overall and first MV50 in race 1.
Other veterans were first in their catagories, in various races - Bob Dover, Les Haynes and Mike Smith to name but a few. Les Haynes was also first MV65 overall and Gerry Bell was first MV55 overall. John Smithhurst 1st MV70 in race 1 in a time of 22:42
Congratulations to all of the above and well done to all Harriers who took part - especially to those who ran in all three races.
Gordon Kaye
See the full list of results here
20/05/08 New Club Record for Lucy MayHo
Lucy Mayho running for British Universities at the Loughborough International meeting on 18th May set a new Club record of 11:12.91 in the 3000m Steeplechase.
The 5th place in the race puts Lucy 8th in the Power of 10 rankings which looks to achieve the feat of having 10 GB athletes under the target of 10:20.00. A fine start for Lucy as we keep an eye on her season to see if she can reach this target.
Alan Oates
Check out all the club records here
19/05/08 Meanwood Valley Trail Race, Saturday 17th May
There was plenty of blue and white to seen at the fantastically well organised and scenic Meanwood Valley Trail race.
Avoiding the slight rain, over 300 runners ran in this popular, 7.5 mile, undulating trail race, starting in Adel, Leeds.
Bingley’s Tim Midgley came 2nd in 42:42, followed by Paul Mitchell in 8th place in 45:21.
Alison Marks was 6th lady overall in 56:12. Sue Fulton and Jenny Vessey won category prizes in 56:25 and 60:50 respectively.
Ruth North completed the race in 59:03, followed by Mary Webb in 59:29, Lisa Spencer in 64:20 and Sally Harding in 73:08.
All finishers were given a well deserved, commemorative bottle of beer.
Mary Webb
17/05/08 YORKSHIRE TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
DON VALLEY STADIUM SHEFFIELD 10/11TH MAY 2008
27 Bingley Harriers put in some excellent performances at the Don Valley Stadium and came home with 11 medals and 5 Yorkshire Champions.
In the U20 High Jump Larry Animshaun was 1st with a leap of 1.80m, Matthew Chambers won the U15 Boys 200m final in 24.46sec and Josh Allen won the U17 Men’s 400m final with a grade 1 performance of 50.46sec. Thomas Crowley won the 2000k Steeplechase in a grade 2 performance of 6:15.49. Brother of Josh Sam Allen was 2nd in the U13 Boys 100m final in 14.01sec.
The Girls had a winner with Jo Bullock 1st in the 300m Hurdles with 49.58sec; Phillipa Medley was 3rd in the High Jump 1.55m and also 3rd in the 80m Hurdles in 13.35sec. Laura Pitts was 2nd in the U20 400m Hurdles with 68.60sec. Amy Howard was 3rd in the Hammer with 43.09m and 2nd in the Discuss with 33.75m.
There were plenty of good performances with athletes reaching finals and finishing just outside the medals. These Championships are very early in the season so we can expect many more medals at the later Championships in the season.
A word of warning to our future medal prospects, a couple of our team qualified for the 100m final with good medal prospects but missed it by not reporting to the assembly point. Not only that, the rules say if you miss a subsequent round or final for whatever reason you are not allowed to take part in any further events. So they missed out of the Long Jump competition as well! Please let everyone learn from this and do not rely on the tanoy system. Report to the assembly point 15-20 minutes before the programme time. Also double check the results, which are displayed, as you might have sneaked into the final in one of the fastest runners up spots.
15/05/08 Joint first & record for Rob Jebb
On Sunday 11th May Rob rode in the Fred Whitton Challenge. He was joint first in 5:40:40, a new course record. He shared first place with James Dobbin, the National Hill Climb Champion.
The challenge is described as a "gruelling 112 mile sportive bike ride around the Lake District". The ride starts and finishes in Coniston, climbing over Kirkstone, Honister, Newlands, Whinlatter, Hardknott and Wrynose passes on route!
Full details here
10/05/08 LUCY 2nd and Amy 3rd in BUSA Championships
Bingley harriers had two representatives at this years British University Championships held over the May Day Bank Holiday in Bedford.
Oliver Robinson ran the 400m Hurdles in a time of 55.17 making him 9th overall and just missing out on a place in the final. Amy Howard had a podium position coming 3rd in her favourite event of the Hammer with a throw of 46.97m and finishing in 2nd place Lucy Mayho with 7:08.51 in the 2000m Steeplechase. Lucy’s result will have to be checked with club results but it looks like a new Club record as we have not had this event listed before for Women.
10/05/08 Track and field league - Preston
This season started off at Preston on a sunny but very windy day on a good but exposed track with 28 athletes competing, many of whom are in the under 17 age group and as usual we had a good support from more seasoned athletes. Having a larger squad than usual makes for a good atmosphere within the team and new members being helped by the rest of the team.
Note worthy performances were achieved in the ladies team by Janine Crosby in the hammer and discus, Philipa Medley in the high jump and the team in the 4x 400 relay, and in the men’s team by sprinters Matthew Cottam and James Caine, also John Convery and Stewart Macdonald in the 5000.
We were also pleased to welcome back Emma Jones (Lilly) club record holder for javelin, lets hope she returns to her old form and is able to share her skills with the newer members.
Competing also for the first time at senior level were Tom Crowley, Phil Jones, Philipa Medley, Vicky Harris, Carly Robertson, and Jo Bullock all of whom put in good performances gaining those valuable points, we welcome them and look forward to watching them progress with their new team.
Emma Ogden also picked up valuable points in the pole vault and Tim Midgley in the steeplechase these are usually events where we do not gain any points so well done to them.
All in all it was a very good start to the season especially as we were over all winners of the match, well done to all of the team.
Full results are available on the North of England web site, we are Div 3WC
Next match is again at Preston on Saturday 7th of June, we still have gaps in the squad so if any other club athletes would like join in the fun please contact your team manager.
10/05/08 Bob Smith Handicap 2008
The cool, sunny and above all dry weather was ideal for this years' Bob Smith Handicap. Although the boggy state of the lower part of the course was not so good.
Around 50 runners, juniors and seniors took part in the race. 25 seniors, 12 Under 14s and 8 Under 11s finished their respective courses.
Stephen Firth won the senior race in 37.44(27:54) closely followed by Alan Wright in 37.47(22:42). Paul Mitchel was the fastest, finishing 15th in 21:49 with a handicap of 19.20. Catherine Holden was 3rd in 37.55(27.55)
The Under 14 race was won by James Fady in 16:15(15:45) James Hall came in second in 16:47, with the fastest time of 12:12. Owen Whelan was third in 16.54(16:54).
Luca Zenti won the Under 11 race in 11.13, followed by Katy Boden in 11:26. Charlie Handby was third in 12:40.
Bob Dover made the presentations in the St Ives tearooms over tea and cakes etc. This was followed by the usual quibbles over handicaps and route finding among the seniors.
Overall a good evening; with hearty congratulations to all who took part and a big thank you to the organisers, officials and marshals.
Full results here
09/05/08 Victoria 2nd in the Ballon WMRA race
Bingley Harrier Victoria Wilkinson, representing Great Britain, came second (48:41) in the first race of the 2008 WMRA Grand Prix series. A good start to the season for Victoria, who was runner up in 2007 Grand Prix series. The 6km women’s race was won by Martina Sraehl (Switzerland) in a new course record time of 46:42. Victoria’s team mates Sarah Tunstal and fellow Bingley Harrier Anne Buckley came in 3rd and 5th places respectively, a very impressive performance from the British girls.
Steve Vernon, a British cross-country international, came second in the men’s 13 km race 21 seconds behind Emmanuel Meyssat of France, who won in 61:34.
Full report and results here
08/05/08 Bingley runs rings in bunny run relay
The Bunny Runs ended on a busy note with 84 teams of three all crowding around Dave Woodhead to be given their baton - an unboiled egg to be carried around the hilly, craggy course in tact! Teams were of three, with the first leg being 2.75 miles, followed by two legs of 2 miles. The naming of teams made it hard to decipher how many Harriers were actually in the field but a few names gave it away:
Spoonful of the Wright Stuff
Which consisted of Martha Wright and her dad Alan won the mixed category in 39.47 and the team staggered away from the pub with armfuls of chocolate
Bingley Weights Family:
47 min 20 secs (Becky 18.23, Vincent 16.02, Gordon 12.05)
The Bingley Bunny Girls:
48 min 52 secs (Sue Fulton 19.59, Mary Webb 14.50, Jenny Vasey 14.03)
The Bingley 'Z' team:
49min 50 secs (Stephen Firth 18.33, Lisa Spencer 15.41, Faye Robinson 15.36)
Anymore Harriers team? Please let us know!
07/05/08 National Young Athletes League Northern 1 Chester le Street
Sunday May 4th
Despite the Bank Holiday weekend and gaps in the team Bingley Harriers did well and finished 2nd in the first match in 2008. Chesterfield ran out clear winners with 418 points, Bingley had 276.5 points, Cleethorpes 228.5 points and Birtley 223.5 points.
Winning performances were registered by Ben Marriott in the U17 1500m, Phil Jones in the U17 Discus, Matthew Chambers U15 100m, Ayrton Aldridge U15 Long Jump’B’ , Andrew Russell U13 High Jump, Catherine Walker U17 200m ‘B’, Holly Craig U17 300m ‘B’, Leanne Jennings U17 800m, Holly Craig U17 1500m, Philipa Medley U17 High Jump, Alex Pringle U15 Javelin and Shot, Katie Ingham U15 Javelin ‘B’, Amelia Jeavons U13 Shot. The Shots are heavier than Amelia so well done and well done to all who took part and gained valuable points.
01/05/08 Blackpool Half Marathon
A day out at the seaside saw Bingley trio Stew Macdonald (2nd in 71:44), Tim Midgley (3rd in 72:11) and John Convery (6th in 72:44) mix it with the best.
01/05/08 Redcar Half Marathon.
On the 25th April in Redcar, Zac Kihara of Kenya led home a field of over 1,000 finishers. Kihara, along with his compatriot Raymond Tonni, took the lead almost from the start. Khira eventually pulled clear of the field and crossed the line in exactly 67 minutes, with Tonni 150m adrift.
Matthew Watson of Bingley claimed third spot in a time just under 68 minutes,
01/05/08 Epilepsy Action Bradford 10k
In the inaugural Epilepsy Bradford 10K Bingley had some fine performances with Stewart Macdonald finishing 3rd (1st M40), Jon Dawson 5th, Richard Scott 10th (3rd M40), Majid Ali 14th, Peter Pyrah 26th, John Firth 62nd (2nd M65), James Brass 75th, Oliver Downing 76th (3rd M65) Michael Long (1st M55) Terence Green 95th , Marisol Brown 2nd (F35) and Sally Harding 9th (F40).
The winning time was 31:48 by Will Smith of Keighley & Craven.
01/05/08 COURSE RECORDS SMASHED AT HAWKSHEAD
BOTH the men’s and women’s course records were smashed in the third PUMA Hawkshead Trail Race on Saturday. Competitors in the trail race – the highlight of the day – were paraded to the start line to the thumping beat of internationally renowned Brazilian drumming band Batala Liverpool. Andy Jones (Salford Harriers) led from the gun, breaking Steve Vernon’s 15km course record by 50 seconds. Jones is regarded as one of the UK’s leading distance runners, and beat James Walsh (Leeds City AC) by three minutes to collect the £200 winner’s prize. Last year’s British fell running champion Rob Hope (Pudsey & Bramley AC) was third. The performance of the day came from Victoria Wilkinson (Bingley Harriers). She broke her own course record by four minutes, finishing 11th overall in a high-quality field. Sarah Tunstall (Kendal AC) was runner-up, with Olivia Walwyn (Altrincham & District AC) third.
01/05/08 First Places for Bingley in Woldsman and AT WHITWORTH
Whilst a number of Harriers were having a tiring time on the 24 miles of the 3 Peaks, Ian Hill was joint 1st in the 50 mile Woldsman at Driffield. He completed the course in 8 hours 11 minutes. According to those who used GPS, the distance was 52 miles, with 5000 ft of climbing.
Also taking part was Andy Elwood of Skipton, an ex-Harrier, who finished 8th in 9 hours 57 minutes. Ian says “He owes it all to Adrian’s Sunday Runs finally taking effect!” The last runner/walker finished in 19 hours 6 minutes; 114 out of 124 starters finished the race.
Three days earlier another Harrier, Jon Cordingley was 1st in the Colin Robinson, a 4.2 mile race at Whitworth, in 23 minutes 11 seconds.
27/04/08 Three Peaks
The 2008 Three Peaks race was, as usual, well supported by Bingley athletes. Unfortunately Rob Jebb was unable to repeat the success he has seen in this event in recent years finishing in 4th position, some 6 minutes adrift of race winner Jethro Lennox of Shettleston Harriers. Three Peaks record holder Andy Peace was the next Harrier to finish in 10th place ahead of Ian Holmes (23rd) and Robin Lawrence (24th). Bingley’s Sharon Taylor finished 100th overall in 3:34:15.
A full list of Bingley positions can be found here.
21/04/08 Q. How many "firsts" can there be in one race? A. Five!
At the Rothwell 10k on the 20th April 2008, 10 Bingley Harriers competed against 658 other runners, resulting in 5 getting 1st in their age group, 2 getting 2nd and 2 getting 3rd! As you can see, they also recorded 2nd and 3rd overall. They were 2nd John Convery M45(001/049) in 32:50, 3rd Tim Midgley M(001/075) in 32:53, 20th Chris Gibbins M35(003/080) in 34:49, 53rd Sue Becconsall F45(001/040) in 37:10, 66th Gerry Bell M55(003/038) in 37:44, 73rd Les Haynes M65(001/012) in 37:52, 96th Andrea Dennison F40(002/060) in 38:55, 97th Bob Dover M60(001/021) in 38:55, 118th Michael Smith M65(002/012) in 39:58 and 406th Ian Bland M45(033/049) in 50:27.
21/04/08 - Vic(toriOus) Wilkinson 1st again!
Victoria Wilkinson broke her own 2007 record in Saturdays (19th April) 15km Puma Hawkshead Trail Race. She was 1st Lady and 11th overall, in a field of 591 runners, in a time of 62:45 and just 2:45 behind 4th placed Harrier, Matt Whitfield. She broke her record by 4:02
19/04/08 Medals for Harriers in the BMAF Cross Country.
On 29th March in Banbury nine of our stalwarts braved the long journey, strong winds and heavy rain to turn out in this highly competitive event on a genuine course. Club cross country captain, Stewart MacDonald, led by example and recorded the fastest time for our athletes completing the 'youngsters' race (over 35-49) in 12th place (30.33) closely followed by John Convery - 17th in 30.57 then Carey Gray (34.27). Unfortunately, due to the injury of veteran captain Steve Fry, we were unable to field a complete team unlike the 'pensioners' squad who came away with bronze finishing only 20 seconds behind the accumulated time of the winners. Our counters were 0/65 gold medalist Les Haynes(36.00), Neil Robson (36.46) and Bob Dover (37.17) ably supported by Mike Smith who was recovering from injury (37.47). Gerry Bell had a good run and clocked 35.58 in the 0/55's but our stars were undoubtedly Sue Becconsall (W O/45) 6th in the women's race in 27.02, on the shorter course, and Les Haynes who both won their age groups.
A big vote of thanks goes to Fred Gibbs who could not turn out, due to injury, but came along to encourage the others.
Unfortunately, there was great confusion with the results which were not all available on the day and which still needed amendment afterwards; nevertheless, another successful day for our veterans!
15/04/08 London Marathon 2008
Congratulations to all the Club members who took part in the London Marathon - the club results were:
Ladies:
Andrea Dennison 3:01:02
Lisa Mawer 3:04:06
Both stars of television on more than one occasion.
Mary Webb 3:45:38
Helen Peace 4:27:83
Catherine Baran 6:08:45
Sue Clarke 6:08:45
Sue Whiteley 6:08:46
Men:
Richard Scott 3:07:26
David Norfolk 3:37:44
Gerard Biggs 6:17:38
David Norfolk thanked the Club for giving him the opportunity to run :
“I had a great time & ran in 3:37:44 which was better than I expected. It was fun despite the downpours. It was a great experience & it enabled me to raise over £1,000 for the Candlelighters Children’s Cancer charity based at St James' hospital Leeds. My son Michael died of cancer aged 10 just 4 years ago & they gave us great support”.
There are some photos of Andrea and Lisa in the photo gallery
14/04/08 Two Recent Firsts!
Tim Midgley 1st in 34:42 at Arkendale 10K, North Yorkshire 30th March. (320Runners). Shaun Jordan 1st V55 and 28th overall in 38:22 at Bolton 10K on 13th April 2008. (547 Runners)
11/04/08 The Bunny Runs Just Keep on Coming!!
31 Bingley girls and boys turned up for the second of 4 individual races. Weather conditions were better than last week, for the 272 strong field, with the winning time some 30 seconds faster. A great run by Jonathan Brownlee (15:37) to finish second by only 4 seconds from Willy Smith of Keighley. Sharon Taylor won for the second week on the trot with a time of 18:45 and also secured the ladies egg stage prize to boot! Bunny Run veteran Ian Holmes finished first V40 and third overall in 15:45 closely followed by Tim Midgley in 5th in a time of 16:13.
Full results at the Woodentops site.
10/04/08 Peacy, Peaking, Peaks?
At Pendle Fell Race on 5th April 2008, Andy Peace was 1st in 32:41, closely followed by Victoria Wilkinson 5th overall and 1st lady in 34:38. They were supported by Andy Wood 117th in 47:41, Dave Merritt V60 148th in 51:50 and Roger Hall V60 178th in 56:00. There were 197 runners. James Hall 2nd from 16 in the U12s also supported by Emily and Lucinda Peacock who both came 13th in their respective races.
09/04/08 5th Place in Northern 12-Stage Relays
Catterick Garrison was the venue for this year’s Northern 12 stage road relays, comprising 4 long legs of 5.5 miles and 8 short legs of 3 miles.
The weather forecast wasn't a good one and it looked like the later runners were going to suffer, and that they did.
Before the event a top 6 finish was forecast and the possibility of a medal, and that's just how it panned out. Never lower than 7th, and only 1 minute 4 seconds shy of the bronze medal, behind Leeds city, Liverpool, Trafford and Sale.
Matthew Watson started the ball rolling with a fine first leg coming home 4th (28.03) within half a minute of the lead. John Convery was next on the first of the short legs, keeping us in touch in 7th (16.04). A super run on leg 3 by Tim Midgeley was our fastest short leg bringing us back into 4th spot (15.41). Matthew Whitfield kept it tight on long leg 4 coming home in 5th position (28.55). Road relay debutantes Lee Athersmith and Patrick Carey were the next to cover the 2 short legs 5 & 6. They showed no signs of nerves with Lee gaining a place and Patrick losing a couple to leave us in 6th place at the halfway stage (15.58)&(16.38). It was at this point the weather really did take a turn for the worse, with snowflakes the size of saucers battering the runners. It didn't affect Ian Holmes though, as he maintained 5th position on long leg 7 (29.09). With nothing to choose between Andy Brown and Stewart Macdonald on legs 8 & 9 (16.23)&(16.20) we were in 5th, but still 3 minutes off the medals. Then came Chris Cariss on long leg 10, with conditions for running still atrocious, he gained some time on the medal teams, despite taking a tumble in the slippery conditions (28.24). It was left to Jon Cordingly (15.50) and Aidan Johnson (16.14) to bring us home a very cold but satisfied 5th.
09/04/08 Yorkshire Sportshall Athletics Festival
Following the successful eliminator match held at Richard Dunn Sports centre on 19th January the City of Bradford Under 11 Girls Team and the Under 11 Boys team travelled to the English Institute of sport in Sheffield for the Yorkshire & Humberside Finals.
The match at Sheffield featured 12 teams from North, West, South and Humberside and the East Riding all keen and raring to go. Both the Boys and Girls soon found out that even teams they beat in the eliminator match were keen to make amends and all were keen to finish as champions. Passing through the events it looked very close with all teams picking up wins on the track and on the field events.
In the end the City of Bradford Girls team finished in 7th place still only a few points outside the top 3 teams with Sheffield winning the competition. Looking at the Girls scores a few more points in the 4 relays would have meant them challenging for a top spot, It just shows one slip in the relay can cost points. In the individual events Alex Walsh was ranked joint first in the Balance Test, Haiqa Faroog was 3rd in the Chest Push Phoebe Foster was 4th in the Chest Push and Lucy Hemsley 4th in the Standing Triple Jump. The rest of the team did very well in their individual events which are scored together with their team mates for the team positions. Nerves go to some team members but they are all young and can do it all again next year.
The City of Bradford Boys team were pipped by Leeds in the Eliminator match and found in Sheffield could not find that extra to overall them in the final. Leeds were first with City of Bradford finishing in 2nd place by just 12 points. The Bradford Boys had a star with Samuel Afari winning the Chest push with 9.25m and Standing Long with a leap of 2.28m. Samuel also featured in the well in the relay but the Boys did drop points in these events. Other top ranked Boys included William Giles winning the Balance Test, Sam Holdsworth was joint 2nd in the Target Throw and Kyle Leighton-Bingham was 2nd in the Vertical Jump.
The day was an excellent experience for the youngsters with all teams and competitors being cheered on in an excellent facility that caters for excellence in all sports. It should not be too log before some of these athletes are using the facilities in the top talent coaching squads and indoor athletics competitions.
It is now the turn of selected Under 13 & Under 15 Boys and Girls who will represent West Yorkshire in the UK Finals at the NEC in Birmingham on 12th April.
01/04/08 Bingley Bunny successes
22 Bingley Harriers turned out amongst the 251 runners for the first Penistone Hill Bunny run of 2008. Sharon Taylor was first lady in 19.05 (24th overall). Ian Holmes was first V40 in 16.28, and second overall. With a waterlogged course and strong wind Ian’s 15m record from 2007 was safe from this year’s winner Andi Jones of Salford who, fresh from running for Great Britain in the World XC Championships at Edinburgh, won in 16.05.
After Ian another 4 Bingley runners were in the top 20 – Tim Midgely (4th, 16.59), Robin Lawrence (7th, 17.16), Martin Peace (12th, 17.57) and James Senior (17th, 18.32), with Ian, Tim and Robin taking the men’s team prize.
Amongst the rest Stephen Firth (112th, 23.21) won a Bingley Harrier challenge by beating Becky Weight (132nd, 23.58); Becky’s excuse was a bad back so watch out Stephen the challenge is still on. Despite `trotting round’ Becky picked up the first FV50 in her first event in the category.
Bingley Harriers juniors (age 12 minimum for this event) were represented by Gordon Weight (116th overall and 5th BU14, 23.31) and Nicole Narey (187th, 26.55, GU14) with mums Becky and Sue Narey (225th, 31.11) running in support. Well done to Gordon and Nicole who both beat their mums!
The next four Tuesdays see another 3 Bunny runs followed by the relay event (age 10 minimum for the relay) so let’s see what Bingley can do for the rest.
26/03/08 Causey Pike win for Natalie
Natalie White Does it again. At the 4.5 mile Causey Pike fell race in the company of 114 runners, Natalie was 1st Female and 23rd overall, supported by Sharon Taylor, 3rd Lady and 34th overall. Rob Jebb was 6th and Pete Jagan was 84th.
24/03/08 Guiseley Gallop
Bingley Harriers had 2 firsts and a third in their respective age categories. Seven Harriers turned out for the popular Guiseley Gallop 10K on Sunday 23rd March, which saw 406 runners tackle the snow covered course. Richard Scott was 3rd runner overall, 1st male O45 in a time of 36:53 which was an excellent result after completing the Haworth Hobble 8 days earlier in 5:17:28. Tim Midgley 21st in 39:06 (raced 2 days earlier at Salford 10K in 33:52), Paul Mitchell 33rd in 40:04, Alice Fulton 114th and 1st FJ in 45:20, chased by mum Sue 165th and 3rd F045 in 48:14, Sally Harding 285th in 54:56 and Louise Akeroyd 305th in 56:47.
20/03/08 Cross Country News
Inter Counties Cross Country Championships.
On 15th March several Bingley athletes represented Yorkshire at the Inter Counties Cross Country at Nottingham which was also the Trials for the World Cross Country Championships.
Senior Women: Victoria Wilkinson 7th,
Lucy Mayho 75th
Under 15 Girls:
Holly Shreeve 35th, Carly Robertson 49th
Senior Men:
Matthew Watson 15th
Under 20:
Jonathan Brownlee 10th (Second Team award)
Under 17:
Thomas Crowley 30th (First Team Award)
Victoria was hopeful that 7th place would give her a reserve spot on the GB & NI Team for the World Championships. However a couple of pre-selections put her just out of the 8 places.
Northern Schools XC Championships 1st March Manchester
Intermediate Girl Winner Carly Robertson.
UK Cross Challenge
Over the Cross Country season the usual Northern and National Championships are these days over shadowed by the UK Cross Challenge Series in which the elite athletes of the UK are pitched in against top world athletes with a view to development and gaining momentum against the best in the world. The series includes trials for the European Cross Country Championships and recently in conjunction with the Inter Counties Championships the World Trials. Bingley had three contenders in the Challenge with the final overall rankings showing Matthew Watson in a brilliant 3rd place, Victoria Wilkinson in a fantastic 6th place and young Holly Shreeve in a wonderful 3rd place in the Under 15 Girls series.
Bingley Harriers Club Cross Country Champions
The Cross Country Champions are selected by the Cross Country Team managers on performances in Championship events over the season.
Men 1st Alistair Brownlee, 2nd Matthew Watson, 3rd Chris Cariss
Women 1st Sharon Taylor, 2nd Victoria Wilkinson, 3rd Mary Wilkinson
18/03/08 6th for Aiden in Spen 20
The lack of published results so far made it difficult to see exactly how many Bingley Harriers had entered the Spen 20 - a hilly 20 mile road race ideal for pre-marathon training. Only two blue and white vests could be spotted amid the 220 or so runners; Aidan Johnson was 6th male overall in 2hrs 01mins and Mary Webb 9th female in 2hrs 43 min. 2nd claim Bingley Harrier Margaret Firth completed in 3hrs 1 minutes.
09/03/08 Women Victorious at Black Combe
Bingley ladies have made a great start to defending their 2007 English Fell Running Team Championship title with a win at the first championship race, Black Combe. Natalie White continued her great form to comfortably win the race in 1.22.00, backed up by Sharon, who after a slow start pulled through to 3rd (1.25.30) and Aly Raw whose sprint finish for 9th place (1.29.47) sealed the win by 1 point from Calder Valley. It looks as though individual medals could be on the cards in the veteran categories, Aly was 2nd V40 and Sue Becconsall 2nd V45 in 14th position overall (1.33.36). As always, the team was backed up by Mandy Clarke in 1.57.51.
07/03/08 Yorkshire Sportshall Finals
Four teams representing West Yorkshire travelled the short distance to Halifax on Sunday to compete in the annual Yorkshire Regional Final for places in the United Kingdom Finals to be held at the NEC in Birmingham on 12th April. This was the second round of a highly competitive series of events, which is designed to keep young athletes interested in the sport through the long winter months of training. It was held at the North Bridge Leisure Centre, on Sunday, between all the four Yorkshire Areas – North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Humberside and West Yorkshire. The performances on the day were outstanding with 3 of the 4 teams winning and qualifying on the day for the UK Finals.
In this years competition the Under 13 Girls team beat the nearest rivals North Yorkshire by 96 points. All the 15 Under 13 Girls in the team came home with at least one medal and had a total tally of 24 medals and winning 3 of the 4 relay races. They now look forward to the trip to the National Exhibition Centre.
In the Girls under 15 Individual All-Rounder competition West Yorkshire members Athene Idiabor Moses was overall Champion with 140 points and Phillipa Medley and Jessica Mayho joint second place just 2 points behind.
The West Yorkshire Under 15 Girls team came first beating North Yorkshire into second by a margin of 32 points and beating Humberside into third and South Yorkshire into 4th and came home with came home with a haul of 16 medals.
The under 13 Boys team just about every team member out of the 15 Boys came home with at least one medal and beat the Humberside team into 2nd place by a margin of 172 points with North Yorkshire in 3rd place and South Yorkshire in 4th. The Under 13 Boys did come home with 27 medals.
The Under 15 Boys team were just beaten in the final relay and had to settle for 2nd place overall with North Yorkshire scoring 680 to 675 points with Humberside in 3rd place. In the Under 15 Individual All-Rounder competition Matthew Chambers had to settle for 2nd place. The Under 15 Boys had a total of 10 medals to take home. There is a chance of them still qualifying for the UK finals but they will have to wait to see if they are the highest scoring 2nd place in all of the regional finals.
CD Trackstar Competition 2008
The competition was held on Tuesday 26th February with 72 young athletes taking part. Bradford City were at home and many of our regular athletes were not able to compete. On the same evening there were 12 juniors out pack running so it can be said that all is quite rosy in the junior section. Thanks to all that helped on the night as we could not hold this competition without officials. The results of the CD Trackstar are as follows:-
Under 9 Girls 1st Amy Clayton
Under 9 Boys 1st Ben Padley
Under 11 Girls 1st Natalie Angus
Under 11 Boys 1st George Bairstow
Under 13 Girls 1st Hollie Postlethwaite
Under 13 Boys 1st Ayrton Aldridge
Under 15 Girls 1st Alex Pringle
Under 15 Boys 1st Matthew Chambers
Under 17 Boy 1st Danny Elliott
The overall winner of the Junior CD Trackstar award is Amy Clayton. The joint winners of the CD Trackstar award are Hollie Postlethwaite and Matthew Chambers. The engraving could be a problem!
25/02/08 Nation Cross Country - Alton Towers
Alton Towers provided the runners with a roller coaster of a course, with testing hills and clinging mud in places. In the junior race Alistair Brownlee had a storming run to claim second spot in his final year as a junior, in a time of 27.49. Younger brother Jonathan in his first year in the age group also had a fine run to claim 14th spot. Good luck to you both in the coming triathlon season. In the senior mens race Matthew Watson once again showed terrific consistency with 11th place in 33.05. Comeback king Chris Cariss ran a blinder in 18th 33.37. It is so good to see him racing again and we wish him all the best in his marathon exploits. A massive improvement on his Northern performance gave Lee Athersmith 121st position (36.22). Next came Stewart Macdonald 141st (36.42). Another Athlete on the way back is Steve Brooks, who managed 167th in his first race for many years, (37.09). Pushing Steve hard was John Convery who completed the team in 169th (37.11). Our points total was 627 placing us 11th team, a couple of places up on last year, behind Leeds City, Notts and Bristol. Other Bingley finishers were: T. midgeley 193rd (37.32), A.Johnson 277th (38.38), O.Brewer 363 (39.55), S.Fry 398 (40.26), C.Gray 664 (44.07).
In the Women’s event the team finished in 17th place and considering the 4th counter was Sue Cariss donning her running shoes to help out, probably against doctors orders, was a good place. Victoria Wilkinson had an excellent 11th place, Ann Buckley 46th and Sharonn Taylor 50th. Had there been another of our top forty runners available then Bingley could have been pushing for medals.
In the Juniors Lucy Mayho had a good run at 19th in the Under 20’s backed up by Holly Ramsden who always turns out and finished in 123rd spot. Thomas Crowley was a very creditable 33rd, Ben Marriott 114th and young Thomas Potter a sterling 211th.
12/02/08 Mandy's long weekend
Not content with a sterling effort at Wadsworth Trog where she divided Bingley's 12 male runners by coming 7th, Mandy Clarke decide to race again the following day at Winter Hill. Not unusual, you think? Well that means she raced another 11 miles with 2750ft of climb less than 20hrs after finishing the Trog. She was disappointed with her position of 176 out of 196 runners in a time of 2:39:31. Bingley's other Winter Hill runner, Sue Becconsall was 69th and 2nd F45 in a time of 02:05:55.
11/02/08 Harriers tackle Hills from Hell
Seven Bingley Harriers took to the aptly termed 'hills from hell' Liversedge Half Marathon on this glorious sunny Sunday - some getting in some sneaky mileage in for pre-London Marathon training. After a fast start, this 13.1 mile road race turned out to be a treacherously hilly yet well organised, friendly and scenic event. The event was won by James Kovacs from Salford Harriers in 1hr 13.14 and the first lady was Amy Green from Keighley & Craven AC in 1hr 23.44.
Long sleeved T-shirts and water greeted all finishers with the world’s biggest pasties and cakes on sale in the well-stocked community centre!
11/02/08 Lee sets new record at Half Trog
The first race in Bingley’s Fell Champs, the Wadsworth Trog, got off to a cracking start with wall to wall sunshine. Conditions could be described as near perfect as it gets on Wadsworth moor with 122 runners completing the course and 7 DNFs.
Ian Holmes was 2nd overall and 1st vet 40 in a time of 02:47:44 (1st placed Karl Gray finished in a new record time of 2:38:15). Robin Lawrence was 6th in 3:02:42 and Andy Nichol in 11th in 3:18:27 which gave Bingley the team prize. Other notable performance was our only lady from 13 Bingley runners, Mandy Clarke who finished in 75th place, and 5th lady in a time of 4:07:51.
The Half Trog saw winning Bingley runner Lee Athersmith finish in a new record of 1:09:57 supported by Paul Mitchell in 4th place and 1st V40 in a time of 1:16:46.
05/02/08 Yorkshire Vets Grand prix
The first Yorkshire Vets Grand Prix race of 2008 took place on Sunday with 14 Bingley athletes taking part. Strong winds and an undulating course around Rawdon woods made for a challenging race, and the free buffet afterwards was very welcome. A good race and great value for the £2.00 entry fee. Well done to all who took part. Full resutls are available on the Yorkshire Vets website but the leading placed Bingley runners were as follows MEN: John Convery 2nd, Jon Cordingley 5th, Stewart MacDondald 6th, Paul Mitchell 12th LADIES: Aly Raw 1st, Andrea Dennison 2nd, and Newcomer Marisol Carrera Vivar 22nd (6th F35)
27/01/08 Silver medals in Northern XC Champs
 Yesterday the women's team won the silver medal (pipped only by 1 point to the gold) at the Northern Cross Country Championships at Roundhay Park,Leeds. The team was Victoria Wilkinson 5th place ((27.47), Mary Wilkinson 13th (28.48), Sharon Taylor 26th (29.37) and Pauline Munro 29th (29.50)
In the senior men’s race Matthew Watson was Bingley’s' first scorer in 5th (38.12), this despite taking a tumble. Next came Andy Peace with a solid run in 39th (40.33). Tim Midgeley produced his best Northern performance with 75th (42.15), just out kicking John Convery in 78th (42.17. Lee Athersmith made a welcome return following injury to finish 81st (42.30). Bringing the team home in 90th (42.54) was Aidan Johnson who had a great final lap to appear in the scoring six at the finish. A sixth place for the Bingley team was a very creditable performance on an afternoon which once again saw Leeds city take the title, from sale Harriers in second and Liverpool Harriers in third. Next year we'll have Alistair to come into the team who easily won the junior race, and brother Jonathan came third running for Bradford Grammar. Two great performances. Other Bingley finishers: 100 M.Peace (43.03), 103 S.MacDonald (43.07), 141 O.Brewer (44.47), 157 C.Gibbins (45.15), 231 S.Fry (47.13), 256 D.Potter.
Alistair Brownlee led the way in the U20 men’s race, winning the title convincingly. Younger brother Jonathon running for Bradford Grammar School was not too far away and claimed 3rd place.
In the U20 women’s race Lucy Mayho ran well and was rewarded with a 7th place, she was followed home by Alice Fulton in 34th place and Holly Ramsden in 49th place.
Holly Shreeve having a fantastic season earned a silver medal in the U15 girl’s race only missing out on the title by 1 second; she was supported by Carly Robertson who was 10th and Emily Peacock in 178th.
Ben Marriott ran well to finish in 22nd place out of 200 runners in the U15 boys event. He was followed home by James Oxford who was 127th.
Tom Crowley coming back from illness battled hard and achieved 36th place in the U17 men’s race, followed by Matthew Parker in 115th place.
In a field of 223 Alicia Jeavons was the first Bingley Harrier home, she ran well to achieve a 62nd place, followed by Jenna Killock in 130th.
It was nice to see a full team in the U13 boys race, who managed 19th place overall. Leading the team home was James Hall in 66th place, Thomas Potter 92nd, George Bairstow 99th, Thomas Dickens 157th and David Peacock 189th.
15/01/08 Matthew in the running again
The English Cross Country Association’s policy of sending ‘development teams’ to carefully selected major international meetings paid-off inspirationally
Leaders and ECCA representatives in Elgoibar, Spain:
Men (10.68km): 1 Leonard Patrick Komon (Kenya) 31:54; 2 Bernard Kiprop Kypyego (Kenya) 32:07; 3 Cuthbert Nyasango (Zimbabwe) 32:14; 9 Tom Humphries (England / Cannock and Stafford AC) 33:16; 12 Matthew Watson (England / Bingley Harriers) 34:10; 15 Mark Hood (England / Sunderland Harriers) 34:44; 21 Andy Livingstone (England / Thurrock Harriers) 36:08.
Women (6.47km): 1 Priscah Jepleting (Kenya) 21:19; 2 Wude Ayalew Yimer (Ethiopia) 21:19; 3 Mariya Konovalova (Russia) 21:39; 5 Rachel Townend (England / Woodford Green with Essex Ladies) 22:35; 14 Charlene Thomas (England / Wakefield Harriers) 24:39
15/01/08 YORKS VETS CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
At the Yorkshire Vets Cross Coountry Championships on 13th January at Cliffe Castle Sue Becconsall and Ian Holmes showed the competition a clean pair of heels.
Our fell running internationals, Sue and Ian stamped their authority over the rest in their respective races on Sunday to record comfortable victories.
Sue, running in the F45 age group was giving over 10 years to many of the field and despite this won the race outright by 18 seconds.
Ian, now in his third year as a vet 40 was also running against younger blood but was in a class of his own, winning by 30 seconds. Well done to both of you.
It was great to see old faces making a return to racing after long absences. In some cases after surgery: notably Neil Robson, and Steve Frazer; nice to see they got among the prizes; Simon Johnson too had had he paint brush removed, and was another one making a comeback who went home with a team medal (Simon: Glad the investment in the new spikes was not wasted.)
Bingley Prize winners are as follows:
Age Category Winners: Les Haynes M65 - John Convery M45
Runners Up: Jenny Vesey F55 - John Smithurst M70 - Gerry Bell M 55 - Mike Smith M65
Category 3rd Place: Fred Gibbs M65 - Neil Robson M60 - Andy Brown M35
Team Awards:
Men
1st team M40 Ian Holmes, John Convery, Steve Frazer, Simon Johnson.
1st team M60 Neil Robson, Les Haynes, Mike Smith
Ladies:
F35–44 3rd Team: Ruth Whitehead; Denise Wright; Lisa Spencer.
F45+ 2nd Team: Sue Becconsall, Mary Green, Becky Weight
08/01/08 Matthew runs for England
Matthew Watson was in action for England at Stormont castle, Northern Ireland on the country at the weekend. This meant he had to miss the Yorkshires. His England selection however was more than justified as he finished in 8th position behind three Africans, and second of the England scorers.
Also running was Victoria Wilkinson, representing Northern Athletics, who finished in a very creditable 14th place just behind a host of well know names
07/01/08 Women win silver in Yorkshire Champs
 Holmfirth harriers hosted the Yorkshire cross country championships at Fartown High school, Huddersfield on 5th January. The weather was blustery but dry, and a mainly football pitch type of a lap with a little mud, had to be negotiated five times for the seniors. The ladies team of Mary Wilkinson, Lucy Mayho and Sharon Taylor won silver finishing in 5th, 10th and 14th places respectively in a very high class field indeed.
In the men's race it was clear early on that Alistair Brownlee running as a first year senior was going to figure in the medals, as he led a group of four athletes around the first lap. At halfway four became three and Kim Critchley moved to the front, but not for long, as Alistair wasn't for giving an inch. With a lap to Critchley had dropped off the back leaving John Henegan and Alistair to battle it out. Up the hill for the last time Henegan made a move, but never got more than a couple of yards away and Alistair was able to push on at the top of the course and get a twenty metre lead which he maintained to the finish. A brilliant performance, and not to be out done Jonathan also triumphed in the juniors race. With Alistair winning it gave Bingley a great start in the team race, but Leeds city were too strong and we had to settle for second with Holmfirth third. All the Bingley team ran well especially Ian Holmes finishing in eighth place. The Bingley scorers: 1st A Brownlee 35.20, 8th I Holmes 36.52, 20th A Peace 37.51, 28th J Convery 38.42, 30th T Midgeley 38.54, 43rd A Brown 40.12. Bingley 'B' team: 49th O Brewer 40.44, 58th M Peace 41.24, 72nd P Carey, 93rd S Fry 44.19, 128th M Smith 47.28, 149 F Gibbs 50.01.
The junior athletes of Bingley produced some excellent results, even though the team was under strength due to illness and injuries.
Natalie Brown was the only Bingley finisher in the U13 girl’s race coming 32nd out of a field of 69.
Best turnout of the day was in the under 13 boy’s race where James Hall lead the team home in 13th lace, followed by George Bairstow 26th, Thomas Potter 36th, James Wilson 57th, Thomas Dickens 58th and David Peacock 63rd which placed the team in 7th which was a great effort as most of the boys are at the lower end of the age group.
Holly Shreeve had a great run in the U15 girl’s race. Her silver medal position was supported well by Carly Robertson 5th, Kate Ogelsby 55th, Ellie English 56th and Emily peacock 57th. The team finished in a creditable 5th place out of 13.
The u15 boys had just two Harriers entered but Ben Mariott 30th and James oxford 47th both gave good runs in the churned up and muddy conditions.
In the u17 women’s race, Holly Craig ran and achieved 17th place for Bingley. |
