The U13 Girls team won a superb bronze medal in the winter seasons traditional opener the Midland Counties Road Relays with a terrific display which saw them finish just 100m behind the winning team, Wreak & Soar Valley. The traditional 3.88km course had been shortened to just 1.6k for the U13 AG as a trial, and the jury is out as to this continuing in future years with very congested handovers being the main issue. The competition see’s clubs from as far away as Bristol to Shrewsbury and is a great test for the middle distance squads.
Kettering's Brilliant Bronze medal winning U13 G team left to righ, Elsie Bennett, Tiggy Guthrie-Brown & Clara Booth
The team consisting of Elsie Bennett, Clara Booth & Tiggy Guthrie-Brown spear headed a very successful competition for the Harriers with other AG also putting in fantastic performances, including a top 10 placing for the U13 Boys, showing the strength in depth with the latest crop of young talented athletes coming through.
The U13G race saw Elsie Bennett making her KTH debut after transferring across from local rivals R&N and she put in a superb opening leg. From the Gun Bennett was prominent and she maintained this throughout the short course, finishing in a brilliant 6th place in 5:46, the joint 7th fastest time on the day and just ahead of R&N’s Bella Lamb who ran her very close to the line. Bennett handed over to Clara Booth who continued the momentum with a superb run, making up a place to finish in 4th place after 2 legs in 6:02 and bring the team to within 3 seconds of the Bronze medal position. Tiggy Guthrie-Brown ran the anchor leg and reeled in third place Dudley & Stourbridge’s Edie Shakespeare with a terrific run to snatch the team Bronze with a split of 5:54. Guthrie-Brown put in a gutsy performance and had to hold off a late challenge from Mansfield Harriers who finished in 4th place. There were 47 teams from the region competing, and the Harriers finished top Northants County Team.
Elsie Bennett, Harriers highest placed individual position with joint 7th fastest time on the day
The U13 Boys also put in a hugely respectable performance to finish in 7th place overall from the 47 clubs competing and were the top team from the County, with Joshua Spavins running a strong opening leg over the 1.6k course in 5:31 to bring the team home in 10th place. Oliver Smith ran a great race to make up 4 positions with a split of 5:41 leaving the harriers in 6th place, and Rafferty Davey running the anchor bringing the harriers home in 7th place with a split of 5:52 in a very close finish with just 1 second separating the 5th/ 6th & 7th place finishers.
U13 B with a superb 7th place finish left to right Raffert Davey, Oliver Smith, Joshua Spavins
The U17 Men also put in a great performance to finish in 13th place out of the 37 teams competing. Opening leg over the traditional 3.88k course was run by Evan Willis who ran the fastest split of the trio in 12:59 to finish his leg in 18th place, with Joseph Pickering running the second leg in 13:30 making up 5 places and handing to anchor Dylan Ransom who maintained his position in the third leg completed in 13:27.
Fine performance from the U17 M left to right Dylan Ransom, Joseph Pickering & Evan Willis
The U17 women’s team put in a very respectable performance to finish in 17th place out of the 35 teams competing with Maggie Gancheva spearheading the team with a fine performance to finish her opening leg in 15:33 in 12th place, handing over to Lara Turner who completed the 3.88k course in 16:19 (16th) with a solid run and Charlotte Jackson making her club race debut completing the anchor leg in 18:14.
U17W team left to right, Maggie Gancheva, Lara Turner & Charlotte Jackson with a very respectable performance
The U15 B finished in a credible 18th place, Northants top club finish from the 50 teams competing, with opener George Sharp setting a very competitive opening leg over the reduced distance of 2.3km finishing in 22nd place in 8:05, handing over to Finley Brooker who took one place over his leg to finish in 8:15, with Harlee Hooker running a fine leg to take 3 further place with a split of 8:09 to bring the team home.
U15 B team, top Northants finishers in the age group, Harlee Hooker, George Sharp, Finley Brooker
The U15 G also competed over the shorter 2.3k distance but had an incomplete team with Iona Ellwood running a fine opening leg in 9:07 for 21st place, with Freya Allitt making her club completion debut on the 2nd leg finishing her leg in 23rd place in 10:05.
The Senior/ U20 Men also had an incomplete team with Josh Cannell leading the charge and setting the fastest leg over the 5.88k course in the opening leg finishing in 64th in 20:34, with M50 athlete Tony James back competing after a long period off due to illness & injury niggles, completing the 2nd leg in a very respectable 23:07, leaving the third and final leg to Josh Geddes who made up an impressive 11 places to bring the team home on the third leg in 69th position, with just short of 130 teams competing.
This is a fine start for the Harriers to the autumn winter programme, the National Road Relays beckoning in just 2 weeks for a repeat run with clubs represented from the whole of the UK.
Well done to everyone who ran.