Manchester Harriers and Athletics Club
Established 1886. Track and Field. Road Running. Cross Country.
Quite a few of the juniors competed in this at the weekend. The full results are here.
Grace Decampos (2:29.6) and Alice Stiles (2:30.6) came 1st and 2nd in their heat and Beth Smyth won her heat (2:29.40) in U13G 800m. Beth Barlow won U15G 1500m in 4:48.6
Leg 2: The Cock & Pan Leg – 5.5 miles
Leg 3: The Gosford Leg – 8 miles
Leg 4: The Glory Leg – 4.4 miles
Congratulations to all those competing in the inter county cross country championships at the weekend. A great turn out and great running. Results
Manchester Harriers junior section produced some stunning results at the 2014 Greater Manchester Cross Country Championships held on a flat course at Leigh in early January.
Following on from the exceptional season last year our Junior teams have enjoyed a great start to the season in the road and cross country relays.
NORTH WEST ROAD RELAYS
On a wet and windy day in Lancaster our two under 13s Girls teams came 1st and 2nd in the Greater Manchester Championships with our A team coming in 2nd in the overall competition to a strong Liverpool Harriers team.
The A team comprised Eleanor Kenny, Grace De Campos and Alice Stiles and the B team Beth Smyth, Emily Hughes and Lydia Butt.
On an individual note Eleanor ran the 4th fastest leg of the day with Alice 8th fastest and Beth 10thfastest.
NORTHERN ATHLETICS ROAD RELAYS
The Northern Road relays are open to all athletics clubs in the North of England and were held in Stanley Park Blackpool this year with a strong overall turn out in most races.
Under 13s
Our girls team of Eleanor Kenny, Grace De Campos and Emily Hughes ran superbly to finish 4thoverall losing out for 3rd place to Rotherham in a sprint finish. On an individual note Eleanor ran the 8th fastest leg of the day
In the boys race we did not field a complete team but Connor Fazakerley started the season well running the 6th fastest leg of the day
Under 15s
Our boys team ofSam Tarry, Matty Fox andBen Skertchly finished 11th overall which was a good effort given Matty and Sam are at the lower end of the age range. Sam Tarry ran superbly on leg 1 coming back in 2nd place and recording the 4th fastest leg of the day.
In the girls race only Beth Barlow ran but she recorded the fastest leg of the day by 15 seconds with a stunning performance on leg 1.
The subsequent trip to the Pleasure Beach was equally successful with everybody having a great day.
NORTHERN CROSS COUNTRY RELAYS
The Northern Cross Country Relays as ever were held at Graves Park in Sheffield on a beautiful early autumn day.
Under 13s
Our Under 13s squad ofEleanor Kenny, Grace De Campos, Alice Stiles and Beth Smythtriumphed with Alice Stiles anchoring the team home and overtaking Liverpool Harriers on the final leg. This was a fantastic performance by the girls meaning we retained the title we won last year.
On an individual note Alice ran the 3rd fastest leg of the day with Grace 5th and Eleanor 7th in what was a very strong team performance.
In the boys race only Connor Fazakerley ran and he maintained his good start to the season running the 6th fastest leg of the day.
Under 15s
The boys team of Sam Tarry, Matty Fox and Ben Skertchly again ran well finishing 11th overall in a very strong field. Sam recorded the 9th fastest leg of the day.
In the girls race Beth Barlow and Eve Smyth ran and we were placed 6th after leg 2 but unfortunately we did not have a third runner. Beth maintained her form from the road relays running the 2nd fastest leg of the day only two seconds behind last year’s Inter Counties Champion Katy Whiteoak.
As ever all the children represented the club with great credit and should be congratulated on some great team performances.
Manchester Harriers & A.C: out in force to Support and Volunteer
~ by Debbie Beresford
What a weekend, starting with Saturday 25th May with the City Games taking part in Manchester City Centre, with the Sprints down Deansgate and the Field Events at Albert Square. We were asked to come along by Nova to represent a local club, so 50 Athletes, Volunteers, Parents came along to support the events and show what a great event it is. We all got red wristbands to give us access to the trackside and were next to the athletes and their warm ups. All our members has a great time, especially Caitlin Carroll who was a wished Happy 12th Birthday, along with Molly, Caitlin and Alice who won signed t-shirts signed by the Athletes competing at the Games. The highlight of the day was watching the Long Jump and Pole Vaults, with Greg Rutherford, Chris Tomlinson, Stef Reid to name but a few, all performing outside the Town Hall in Manchester. Next was a Group photo with Brendan Foster with a few of our members and this was the highlight of the Seniors day, especially when he stated to Jane Skertchley – MANCHESTER HARRIERS is a Proper Running Club!!!, we certainly all agree on that one!
Once this area had finished it events we all moved over to Deansgate for the last few Track events with the climax of the 150m, with Christopher Lemaitre winning the final event. All the club has really enjoyed the day and the lovely warm, sunny Manchester weather was ideal. To complete the day the Girls caught up with Dwan Chambers and Greg Rutherford for a quick photo call to end the day.
Some of the athletes competing were: Jonnie Peacock, Stef Reid, Alan Oliveira, Felix Santchez, Allyson Felix, Jodie Williams, Andy Turner, Perri Shakes-Drayton, Greg Rutherford, Chris Tomlinson, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Chris Lamaitre, Dwan Chambers and Mark Lewis Francis, to name only a few.
Next day Sunday 26th May, saw the Manchester Bupa 10K, with 10 volunteers from the Club offering their time to come along and volunteer to marshal for the club. We were positioned on the junction of Portland and Princess Street at the area where the Waves meet. We were up early and at Manchester Central for 8am to collect out Jackets, lunch, ID and very flattering Yellow plastic marshal’s bib, on we went to our marshalling position and deployed to various points nearby with a group of us working the roped area between the waves. Our volunteers were great and especially with such an early start, I want to thank, Lorraine, her sister, Richard, Jeanette, George, Lydia, Caroline, Kes, Jason for their support. We had a number of Athletes running on the day, so hopefully they all had a great race and some good finishing times!!
Again we were very lucky to have such a lovely sunny day and it got very warm as the morning progressed so not ideal for the athletes but a welcome change for the volunteers. Once we had taken care of all five waves and helped clear away, some went off to see the finish, meet friends or in my case pop back home and start stripping wallpaper and dismantling a wardrobe!!
Finally Monday 27th May, this was the Youngsters Mini & Junior Run at Sportcity/MCFC stadium. We had a little lye in as we were not needed until about 9.30am, so the volunteers could get there a little later. We were on the Junior extension route round the outdoor track and approaches so a great viewing section and some competitive runners at this point. Again we got our kit on arrival and those lovely Yellow plastic bibs, as today was a little cooler and windy we welcomed the jackets, but luckily no rain to be seen until after the event. Again a massive thank you to all our volunteers, with 10 in attendance today, so thanks to – Shaz, Kes, Bev, Joan, Stan, George, Dave, Jo and Clare.
It was great to see the youngsters having such a great time, with a lot of them way ahead of their adult runner with them in the younger races. Saw a number of youngsters from the Club with Louise Stiles winning the Younger Junior race and her sister Alice coming 3rd in the older age group.
Again very lucky with the weather a little windy but stayed dry and bright.
All in all a great weekend for the club, enjoy the photos as some great ones.
Manchester Harriers and Athletics Club 