Richmond & Zetland Harriers keep busy in festive period and beyond

Sunday, December 12 saw Josephe Reeve had a fantastic race at the Even Splits 5k in Leeds to finish fourth in 16:37, while Ken Harker, who has been struggling with injury but wanted to get a race in before the year end, finished 39th in 19:55.

On the same day, Rachel Ross Russell completed the Hardmoors Roseberry Topping Trail marathon (30 miles), finishing fifth overall, second female and first in age category in a time of 5:29:53. Kimberley Reeve took part in the shorter 10k distance (8.5 miles) and had an impressive run to finish 22nd overall, fourth female and first in age category in 1:34:08. John Gray finished third in the Darlington Winter Trail Series 5k in 19:29.

Rachel Ross Russell receiving her award for second female finisher at the Hardmoors Roseberry Topping Trail marathon (30 miles)

Steve Sadler travelled further north the following weekend to compete in the Ronnie Walker Saltwell 10k at Gateshead, the oldest road race in England. He finished the 3.5 lap undulating course in 40:25, 58th overall and first in his age category.

Boxing Day saw Jenna McGrevey race at the picturesque course of the Worden Park 10k in Lancashire. Jenna, who was looking for a sub-38 before the end of the year, finished in a tremendous time of 37:07 (PB), seventh overall and third female.

The following day, Carl Jones finished his racing calendar on a high in the Ribble Valley 10k, including the North of England 10k Championships. He had an outstanding race to finish 59th overall, second in age category in 32:08 (PB).

Ripon was the location for the return of the popular Jolly Holly Jog 10k on Tuesday, December 28. Several Harriers tackled the scenic, multi-terrain and undulating course with plenty of mud. Jonathan Gray finished 26th in 42:32, Paul Ellis was 31st in 42:53, Paul Berry 47th in 44:09, Kimberley Reeve 159th in 52:04, Lucy Goundry 202nd in 54:46, Peter Richardson 265th in 57:53, Ian Hepworth 494th in 1:09:28 and Diane Adkins 588th in 1:14:11.

On New Year's Day, Kimberley Reeve competed in the Hardmoors 15 (16 miles) which started and finished at Whitby Abbey, the route taking in the extremely muddy Cleveland Way and Cinder Track to Robins Hood's Bay. Kim had a strong run in tough conditions to finish 20th overall, fourth female and first in age category in 2:57:44.

The next day, John Gray had a fantastic run in the Hamsterley Forest 10k, first finisher in a time of 43:23.

Northallerton and Darlington both held Christmas day parkruns. There was a good turnout of Harriers at Northallerton with Rob Scott finishing first in 17:54, Ian Christon third in 19:01, Jonathan Gray fourth in 19:11, Paul Ellis sixth in 20:27, Steve Middleton seventh in 20:44, Thomas O'Mahoney eighth in 20:52, Ken Harker 18th in 23:24, Elaine Watters 29th in 25:38, Emily Crisp 32nd in 25:58, Elly Robertson 46th in 27:35, Victoria Christon 84th in 33:42 and Fiona Crisp 94th in 35:07. In Darlington, Paul Simpson finished 11th in 19:54, Nicola Simpson 29th in 21:31 and Diane Adkins 202nd in 31:38.

Fast forward a week, and three members took part in the relatively new Cinder Track parkrun in Whitby on New Year's Day. Paul Simpson finished seventh in 20:20, Nicola Simpson 21st in 22:29 and for Nicki Buckett this was her 100th parkrun and her first one since before lockdown 2020. She finished 128th in 33:16. There was a large turnout of runners at Darlington as there wasn't an event on at Northallerton.

For Mark Forrest, this was his first time at Darlington parkrun, and he finished first overall in 17:57 (V55-59), Joseph Reeve third in 18:05, Ken Harker 11th in 19:41, Steve Sadler 12th in 19:54, Leon Reeve 30th 21:14, Henry Wright 33rd in 21:19,Paul Wright 62nd in 23:19, Emily Crisp 69th in 23:53, Joseph Smith 91st in 24:55, Lucy Goundry 92nd in 24:56, Laurence Corbett 93rd in 25:00, Ian Hepworth 219th in 30:08 and Fiona Crisp 265th in 33:21.

Further information on the club and training nights can be found on the website www.richmondzetlandharriers.co.uk