Milton Keynes was the 7th race of 8 grand prix with Silverstone being ran on Wednesday 4th September. However, this was the last of the scoring races this year and, as usual, the venue for the presentation night. Another great turnout of 21 saw KTH again putting in some stellar performances against the larger clubs in the region.
It was nice to see the Harriers supporting each other in the late-night presentation. The drama of contested results and VAR decisions on finishing positions added to the excitement!
In the team events, the senior women were 8th and the consistent vet women were 4th on the night. The vets finishing a fantastic 3rd overall. The senior men were 4th on the night and veterans, 2nd. Both men’s teams finished runners up with the vets competition going to the wire.
Matt Fowler (36:01 and 3rd M40) has been first Harrier throughout the series and picked up the 2nd M40 prize for the series. Steve Thompson (3rd M50 in 36:24) has enjoyed his first full EMGP and finished on the podium as 3rd M50 overall. Luke Myers continues to improve with a PB (36:40 and 24thSM). Phil West (36:54 and 3rd M45) defended his M45 seriescrown by one point. Will Howells clung on for 28th SM in 37:04 to round off a great debut series. Rafal Busuk ran another PB (38:12 and 10th M40). Rafal has competed in all events. Kemal Mehmet has been in good form and finished 8thM50 in 39:28 ahead of Ady King (40:04 and 9th M50), who has competed in all events. Just a second behind in 40:05 wasParkrun specialist, Michael Jones (56th SM). It was a welcome return to the EMGP for Tom Shepherd, finishing in 41:09 and 23rd M40. Jason English completed his 5 races with a 41:47 and 13th M40. It was a blanket finish in the middle of the pack for fierce rivals, Bill Robinson (42:25 and 8th M55), Bruce Whitehead (42:32 and 9th M55) and Steve Chester (42:41 and 18th M50). Speedy Kerry Munn (45:02) was first female Harrier home and first F55 having already made it two series wins in a row. Elaine Fairbrother (45:19 and 2nd F45) is not far from her first podium if she continues to improve. Ant Poncia has competed in all GPs and organised photos. Ant ran his best 10K for a few years in 48:04 and 38th M40. Yvonne Mehmet came an impressive 2nd in the F50 group and not far off her PB in 48:15. Natasha Martin (49:34 and 19th FS) finished her five races as our loan senior female. Babs Poncia (51:39 and 3rd F50) was delighted to finish the series as 2ndF50. Jackie King (57:04 and 14th F55), competing in all races, rounded off a fabulous evening.
The final positions for Harriers completing five or more racesare as follows:
6th FSNatasha Martin
3rd F45Elaine Fairbrother
2nd F50Babs Poncia
1st F55Kerry Munn
9th F55Jackie King
10th SMWill Howells
15th SMLuke Myers
40th SMSean Gallagher
2nd M40Matt Fowler
7th M40Rafal Busuk
16th M40Ant Poncia
1st M45Phil West
3rd M50Steve Thompson
6th M50Ady King
11th M50Jason English
4th M55Bruce Whitehead
5th M55Bill Robinson
Well done to everyone who took part. You have been part of a special Kettering team that has achieved so much. We should all be proud of ourselves. There is still the small matter of Silverstone and it would be good to see as many of us there. If not, more!
See you at Silverstone!