17 April 2009

Apologies for the lack of activity on the web-site recently, the transfer of responsibility is underway – although I’m sure you are aware we are experiencing difficulties with the domain name/email addresses at the moment.  Hopefully this will be sorted as soon as possible.

I’ve done my best to trawl through recent race data to gather information for the club records page as the email address is out of action.  Hopefully I’ve not missed anyone out but if you need to record a PB with me please email Steve Winfield in the short term by replying to one of his weekly updates i.e. steve@belper0.fsnet.co.uk or steve@belperharriers.com  Please see the Club Records page for all the updated records with all 2009’s achievements highlighted for easy reference.

Good Luck to all those competing at the Derwent Dambuster 10 on Saturday and the Derby 10k on Sunday. 

Do you do (or would you like to do) long countryside runs as part of your training? (i.e. 10 to 20 miles).

If so, Krish Mahadevan has been organising a group of Sunday runners for a few months now. They usually meet up out in the Derbyshire countryside on most Sunday mornings for a mixture of steady and/or hard sessions. These runs form part of a training programme based on targeting particular long-distance events (of at least half-marathon distance).

Although the invitation is open to all of our members, it should be noted that the group is currently populated by runners of a reasonably high standard, and that the routes are often run at quite a good pace. However, don't let this put you off...  Krish has suggested dates for some 'taster' sessions, as you will see in his forwarded e-mail below.

Krish will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.  Please reply directly to him at    krishdev@o2.co.uk

24 February 2009

February Handicap

Considering that snow and ice was still lying on parts of the A6 course, the attendance at this month’s Handicap event was higher than I had expected. Along with the 16 Harriers who contested the race, there were a further five who had a steady run along the route (untimed).

Despite the below-zero temperatures and icy conditions, five personal bests were surprisingly achieved on Tuesday evening. These ranged from Dave Cooper’s respectable 33 seconds improvement; through to Helen Skelton and Paul Marval, who knocked over a minute from their previous bests, and Andy Rose with a 1min.30 s reduction. However, the best performance by far was from race winner Andy Fookes, who smashed his previous best (set in last month’s race) by a staggering 2mins.29s to record 46:51!!

Andy has now achieved the unique feat of winning three consecutive Handicap races (December ‘08, January ‘09 and February ’09) and is on his way to possibly becoming a Harriers legend if he keeps this up! I have, of course, increased Andy’s handicap each time (as with all the other PB breakers) to maintain the level playing-field; and will be adding another 2.5 minutes to his start time in March.

Fastest over the 10K course was Simon Merwood (37:20) followed by Paul Marval (38:45).

January Handicap

Equalling November's record turnout, a total out of 29 Harriers ran this month's Handicap race, along with another 3 who ran the route before the main event started - so 32 in all. This was certainly a good night for revising those PBs, with 13 runners beating their previous course bests!!  Three Harriers improved by around 2 minutes or more...Andy Fookes, Andy Horsley and Malcolm Reid will have been well pleased with their performances.  With more of the runners setting off relatively close together this month, many interesting battles ensued out on the course... and ANDY FOOKES repeated his December performance to come home in first place once again and retain the trophy!  Just six minutes covered all 29 finishers on the night.

As for new runners; we had one debut this month...PAUL MARVAL, running off an estimated handicap of 22 minutes (which proved to be exactly right)  finished in 7th position with an excellent time of 39:53!!  (Not quite the 37:35 debut seen from Ben last month - but a great first run all the same). As well as Paul, we had four others under the 40 minute barrier, and a total of nine under 41 minutes. SAUL TAYLOR, in 12th place, was the fastest on the night in 38:12, which knocked 20 seconds off his PB..

Booths Decorators League – Road Race Fixtures 2009

1 January 2008 – New Years Day 5, Whatstandwell

The first race of 2009 took place at Whatstandwell; a tough opener with a steep uphill start to wake the legs into action and an flying downhill finish.  Krish Mahadevan led home the six harriers in 10^th place out of the 76 runners with a time of 33.33 just 19 seconds short of his best on this course set in 2007.  Karl Atton, still sporting a Leicester Roadhogs vest was next over the line finishing 18^th on the day in 35.01. Rob Norman finished a respectable 24^th in 37.38.   The remaining three harriers flew the flag for our female contingent, with Steph Ilsley 38.25 and Helen Skelton 40.01 entering the 5m PB tables as the two fastest Belper Harriers over this distance.  Well done! I’m sure these times will be reduced further over a more PB friendly course.  Rose Sensecall completed the course in 51.07

27 December 2008 - Queens Head 5k, Belper

Five Harriers braved the annual Queens Head 5k the day after Boxing Day in a field of 76 keen runners.  The undulating out and back course over Crich Lane is always a bit of a shock to the system after a few days of festivities coupled with freezing temperatures but a race that is always well organized and supported by local clubs together with some venturing from afar.  Sharon Mellors led the way home for Belper in 20.16, closely followed by the returning Alex Duthie in 20.42.  Steve Meath capped an impressive year with a respectable 21.42.  Newcomers Andy Fookes and Helen Skelton taking part in their first 5k event for the club finished in 21.58 and 22.52 respectively.

*** STOP PRESS *** Belper Harrier Karl Atton running in the guise of a Leicester Roadhog also competed in the Queens Head race, finishing 14^th with a time of 19.18.   Well done Karl.