Harriers of the Month and Chair’s Blog – February 2026

It finally stopped raining this month! It’s been a long, soggy winter, but the sun is starting to return, shining down on some very muddy Hyde Park Harriers! We’ve had another cracking month – read on below, but firstly congratulations to our…

HARRIERS OF THE MONTH – FEBRUARY 2026

  • Cat McGuire (multiple nominations):
    • Cat paced the Dewsbury 10k perfectly *and* stopped to help a runner who’d had a pretty nasty fall. Really awesome support for the running community
    • Over the last few years Cat has quietly built a group of athletes who have extended their achievements through planning and coaching. Cat has remained quiet about what her PT, strength and training plans have achieved within and without the club. She has achieved this whilst leading club runs, hills sessions and maintaining a teaching career. Whilst still achieving her own running achievements Cat has been able to coach runners to achieve PB’s regardless of age and abilities whilst still being an active parent and all round good egg. Cat is a regular and popular pacer at many events and epitomises what is good about our club!
    • After a runner at Dewsbury 10k fell over into a brick wall, Cat immediately rushed to help him, and waited to make sure assistance arrived. She did all this while also pacing 75 minutes – which she managed perfectly, arriving in just over 74.5! A morning everyone at HPH should be proud of.
    • Not only did Cat do a great job of pacing at Dewsbury 10K, she also stepped into help an injured runner mid-race!
  • Laura Garratt (multiple nominations):
    • Brilliant to see Laura take on the Rombolds Stride – well over 20 miles across Ilkley Moor and back, on a truly atrocious day of drizzle and mist. Laura’s dedication to her training and overall effort has been really inspiring; really pleased to see it all pay off!
    • Overcoming repeated injury and following a very disciplined training plan to complete her longest ever race (just 21k longer than any other race she has done) at Rombald’s Stride in horrendous conditions. 
    • Smashing Rombalds! Laura has had a rubbish time with injuries, she’d been unable to run at times, but she was determined to train for and complete the mudfest that was Rombalds Stride as a run/walk. It was 23 gruelling miles in rubbish weather, but she did it, even managing to smile for the camera on the way. An inspiration to us all!

Well done to all our nominees, copied below:

  • Adam Lomas – Breaking the club record 10K by 50 seconds – that’s such an insane amount at speeds where every second is a marginal gain…
  • Ben Douglas (multiple nominations):
    • Ben’s return to running form has been great to see – at Dewsbury he ran well under 32mins (and would have had the club record if not for a certain Mr Lomas…). Hats off to an incredible runner!
    • Putting in a shift and breaking the club 10k record, despite the crown being taken by Adam on the same morning. It’s great to see Ben back racing in such great form though 
  • Ciaran Tracey – Thanks for inspiring the men’s PECO team to a clean sweep this season
  • Claire Hougham – Claire has been run every Peco, even though she didn’t intend to! She was going to volunteer for Middleton, but was persuaded to run when she found out she was the only veteran in her age category. She ran the rest, including one when she was full of cold.  What a great team member!
  • Emma Knowles (multiple nominations):
    • A podium finish for Emma at Roundhay PECO capping a brilliant season!
    • Absolutely epic performance at PECO. Mega inspirational and insanely speedy! Lots of love, Charlotte!
  • Jonny Spain – I want to give Jonny props for leading a track session on probably the worst day of weather of 2026 so far, and having had his appendix out less than two weeks before. Above and beyond!
  • Julie Robson (multiple nominations):
    • Julie beat her PB at Dewsbury 10k after a committed training programme! Hard work pays off – well done Julie!!!
    • Julie Robson – Congratulations on another fantastic PB at Dewsbury!
  • Lara Chapman – A 10k PB at Dewsbury 
  • Raymond Holohan – he has such a positive attitude and has had a fantastic debut PECO season. He’s always cheering and supporting and is an asset to the club. 
  • Rick Pullan – Rick has been an absolute stalwart at Peco this season, making sure we had VM65 representation. He was delighted to score at Middleton. He also stayed to help take down the gazebo afterwards. What a great team member!
  • Sam Tecwyn – Nominating Sam Tecwyn for her outstanding performance at the Brass Monkey Half Marathon,  finishing comfortably in under 1 hr 24, more than a 4-minute PB!
  • The PECO Women’s Team HPH’s women have had a brilliant PECO season (despite narrowly being pipped to the post in the league). We had four women in the top 10 across the whole season, and we’ve had so many great performances, with several people scoring for the first time! Well done all!

THANK YOU!

A huge thank you to all our leaders this month – Adam L, Alice H, Andy B, Bethan M, Cara G, Cat M, Chris W, Clare E, Eliza T-F, Ellie W, Grace R, Hannah L, Helen N, Honor B, Jenny C, Jonathan S, Josh S, Lisa B, Lucy R, Mike G, Naomi A, Sam T and Will D!

If you’d like to give leading a go, speak to any of our existing leaders or committee members and we’ll give you all the support and help you need.

HIGHLIGHTS OF FEBRUARY 2026

  • As part of our 20th anniversary celebrations, we’re undertaking a club-wide year long relay! As of the end of this month, the baton has travelled 453km; in February it was carried by Grace, Amy, Josh, Cat, Laura, Paul, Pip, Pablo, Sarah, Clare, Alan, Beccy and your humble scribe, and it visited Spain, Dubai and Hong Kong! If you’d like to get involved, there’s a specific chat in the club’s WhatsApp community to co-ordinate handovers.
  • Dewsbury 10K saw 33 Harriers take on the out-and-back route; there were incredible performances throughout the club, with lots of PBs! We saw Adam L take 50 seconds off the club’s all-time 10K record (special mention to Ben D, who was only four seconds behind Adam…), and Gordon broke his own MV70 club record too!
  • Our roving correspondent Pete N represented the red-and-white at Watford Half Marathon!
  • Near-freezing temperatures, very poor visibility and constant drizzle? No problem for the six Harriers who strode across Ilkley Moor this month! The Rombolds Stride is a killer of a race in even the best conditions, so massive kudos to everyone who took part this year!
  • We had a cracking turnout for the Winter Beast at St Aidan’s – 6.66 miles of puddles, mud and trails! Well done to the ten who completed the race, including the sluice which looked more like a swimming event than a run!
  • Cat M completed the IGUN Leodis 20 Mile (re-routed due to the high waters in the river)!
  • Alex B smashed out a fantastic 16:29 5K at York this month; well done sir!
  • Well done to the Harriers who headed in search of winter sun in Seville, taking on the marathon whilst they were there! Sounds like a great time was had, with some cracking new PBs!
  • We closed out the regular PECO season with the fifth race at Rounday – the mud was deep, the hills were steep but we still had loads of fun! The women came agonisingly close to winning their league, finishing in a highly creditable second overall, whilst the men completed a clean sweep of five wins out of five this season. As ever, thank you to everyone who ran, supported, baked or gazebo-wrangled, especially our captains!
  • Colin T ran the Flower Scar fell race in Todmorden – more than 600m of climbing over 8 miles in the Calderdale Valley!
  • Clare E took the 20th anniversary baton to Alicante for the half marathon, and ran her fastest time since May 2018 – well done Clare!
  • Rob B also went abroad for a half, running his fastest time since 2019 in Malta – kudos sir!
  • Julie R and Will S represented HPH at the Snake Lane 10, with Julie continuing her excellent run of form!
  • This month saw the first 5K race at Brownlee of 2026, with five Harriers taking part – congratulations to Chris K on a shiny new PB!

Well done to everyone, and as ever apologies to any races and achievements I’ve missed. Here’s to more sunshine and great running in March!