PECO Round 2 – Middleton Woods

Round 2 of the PECO series and again not too much mud, saw the runners taking on the fields, paths and woods of Middleton Park.

Again there was new faces and returning runners including Paul Whitehurst who was running 2nd claim for us.  There was only 16 Harrier men in a field of 393 but it was Alec Francis who again lead them home in an excellent 9th overall.

Angus Milne came home 2nd in 47th place after a storming run with Tom Thomas next in 57th.  Adam Lomas in 90th, Michael Taylor 109th Scott Watson 121st, Aron Hinds 130th and James Booth 132nd were our point scorers.

Unfortunately with the standard so high the men came 7th out of 7 in the premier division but still plenty to play for.

Again it was the ladies who shone getting there 2nd class win out of 2 events. 14 Harriers in a field of 284.  They were again lead home brilliantly by 7th place Meghan Bentley.  Next was Rebecca Gray in 19th, then it was close between 45th Reena Mistry and 48th Claire Booth.  The final point scorer was Lois Gardner who was only 9 seconds ahead of Harriet Shaw.

 

Lets be honest though, this round wasn’t about the result.  This was our round to organise and run.  We have a team of people who look after our mile event each year but for the PECO it was to be a new team.

I (Richard) went to the AGM with a criteria to take one of the later rounds so what did I do….Came back with round 2!!

Phil Goose stepped forward to lead on this but wasn’t going to be able to be there on the day.  He did all the hard work, sorting out the paperwork, route, venue and food etc.  I’m sure you will all agree that it was a successful event.

The route took a few changes along the way, at first there was to be a water jump but the park came back and said we couldn’t use it and a couple of recce’s saw us taking different routes but the 4.5 miles of twists, turns and a few hills did come together.

On the day set up of signing on and the course started at 8am, and we relied on a lot of people who gave up there time to help set up.  1st priority was the junior course and by the time of the start for the senior race people were still rushing around getting the final marshal’s in place. All though there was a lot of stress behind the scenes we hope everyone enjoyed the event.

We are very grateful to everyone who helped on the day be it set up, marshal or even supply cakes.  I know of a few people who came to run and gave this up to help out.  Thank you all.

The next round is on the 22nd Jan and is on our doorstep at West Park.  No excuses, lets get everyone out there.  The ladies can extend there class lead and lets get the men off the bottom of the division.  Kirkstall Harriers are only 1 place ahead and are the host club so will lose some runners.  Last year we were 4th at this round and we have the potential to be even better.

Have a great Christmas and New Year everyone.

Photos thanks to Philip Bland.

After 2 rounds –

Mens Premier division –

5th – Wetherby Runners on 9 points,   6th – Kirkstall Harriers on 12 points,  7th Hyde Park Harriers on 13 points.

Ladies 1st division –

1st – Hyde Park Harriers on 2 points,  2nd – St Theresa on 5 points,  3rd – Chapel Allerton on 7 points.

Peco 2 Men	Pos	Time			Peco 2 Ladies	Pos	Time
Alec Francis	9th	28.01	A		Meghan Bentley	7th	34.26	A
Angus Milne	47th	31.14	A		Rebecca Gray	19th	36.00	A
Tom Thomas	57th	31.33	A		Reena Mistry	45th	37.47	A
Adam Lomas	90th	32.32	A		Claire Geeson	48th	37.52	A
Michael Taylor	109th	33.21	A		Lois Gardner	67th	39.11	A
Scott Watson	121st	33.47	A		Harriet Shaw	69th	39.20	B
Aron Hinds	130th	34.03	A		Laura Arendsen	157th	44.58	B
James Booth	132nd	34.05	A		Ciara Crossan	238th	52.03	B
Curtis Parker-Milnes	265th	39.39	B		Victoria Taylor	258th	55.05	B
John Hayes	288th	40.30	B		Eleanor Parkhill	259th	55.15	B
Jason Newell	308th	41.21	B		Samantha Scarlett	260th	55.15
Paul Whitehurst – 2nd Claim	316th	41.42	B		Sara Scholes	262nd	55.28
Ralph Kidner	319th	41.50	B		Hannah Roberts	263rd	55.31
Bartosz Lewandowski	351st	44.15	B		Laura Edwards	284th	1.12.39
Richard Edwards	380th	49.38	B
Matthew Gray	393rd	1.09.27	B