Harriers of the Month and Chair’s Blog – May 2025

What an incredible month May has been – it’s been an effort trying to keep track of all the fantastic Harrier activities, but nowhere near as much amazing effort put in by our runners! Read on for details, but first…

HARRIERS OF THE MONTH – MAY 2025

Congratulations to our Harriers of the Month!

  • Rich Cartwright (multiple nominations):
    • Completing the Ultra Trail Snowdonia 100k race.
    • Being an absolute hero to complete the UTS 100km race battling the heat and a pesky knee injury. Truly phenomenal achievement! 
    • Superhuman effort by Rich to complete the Snowdon 100K ultra – incredible stuff!
  • Steve Worthington (multiple nominations):
    • Steve did brilliantly at the Snowdon 50K – well run mate!
    • Smashing the UTMB Ultra Trail Snowdonia 50k race
    • Completing his first ultra at the UTS 50km. Putting down a brilliant effort in the heat! Steve has been laser focused on this race and putting in some serious consistent training to make it to the start line to bag some UTMB stones. Well done
    • Liaising with a filmmaker Hans Kristian Smedrød and Alpkit in Ilkley to host the UK premiere of The Romsdal Method film – a fun evening for ultra running HPH enthusiasts and others in the local community
  • Curtis Ledger and the Leeds Marathon volunteers – Thanks very much to Curtis for his role as senior marshal of the HPH volunteer crew at the Leeds Marathon, and to everyone who volunteered to help!

Well done to all our nominees, copied below:

  • Alice Houldcroft (multiple nominations):
    • For getting a huge PB at Leeds Marathon and looking upsettingly fresh close to the end considering the disgusting conditions on the day!
    • Completed Leeds marathon on a hot, tough day taking about 48 minutes off her previous PB and looked remarkably fresh with 2 miles to go.
  • Andrew Rolland – A podium finish at the Leeds Half – absolutely phenomenal running!
  • Chris Kemp – Chris raced the 3 peaks race and was aiming for a sub 4 after last years 4:05 time. He came in 4:02 but in true Chris style, he also spend 4 and half minutes using his hands to dig a troubled walker out of a bog after many were running past. Big well done Chris great running and being a good guy.
  • Clare Evans – Clare ran not one but two PBs at 5K distance this month (the first in very challenging hot conditions); a real testament to a very consistent training block!
  • Daisy Wales – A 53 second PB at this month’s York 5K? Quite frankly ludicrous.
  • Dan Donnelly – Continuing his impressive comeback – Dan was back at Tadcaster Triathlon after a 2 year hiatus from triathlon events. Great to see you back on it and enjoying tri again!!!
  • Edward Hale (multiple nominations):
    • Following an impressive Manchester marathon where he set a new PB of 03:04:10, Edward hasn’t stopped racing. Representing HPH at both Piglove By The River 5k and Hampton Court 10k where he achieved personal bests of 18:38 and 38:53. He also recorded a new parkrun PB on his 100th with 18:15 at Rothwell. Hopefully he can keep this momentum going into the Summer League. 
    • 3:04 at Manchester Marathon – a 50 minute PB and 8 minute marathon PB – this is all with suffering from stitches and hot conditions. Edward then backed this up days later with ~18:36 5k PB! Both PBs very deserved after incredible training blocks!
  • Ellie Williams – Not many people can smash out 2 marathons in 2 weeks, but Ellie can! Such an inspiring training block, and to end up with great results racing on 2 very warm days is no mean feat.
  • Emma Brown – Making an incredible come back to running postpartum and smashing a 5km at the KMF
  • Gordon Crawford – 2 years following a nasty injury (which resulted in him losing 1/4 of the calf muscle) Gordon had an incredible comeback run at the Leeds half marathon! His time was within seconds of his pre injury time back in 2023 and enough to finish first v70! What a legend!
  • Jonathan Pryor (multiple nominations):
    • Jonathan set himself an incredible challenge of running seven marathons in 70 days to raise money for the Rob Burrow MND Centre – he smashed every single one (including two on one day in the case of Manchester) and topped it off with a PB at Leeds. Incredibly impressive, well done sir!
    • Jonathan ran 7 marathons in 70 days to fundraise for the new Rob Burrow Centre for MND – I have no idea how he ran 2 of these back-to-back (one to get to the start line of Manchester, then running Manchester marathon!). Just unbelievable stuff – massive well done.
  • Jonny Spain (multiple nominations):
    • Kudos to Jonny for absolutely nailing his job as the 3hr pacer at the Leeds Marathon!
    • Jonny paced the Leeds half marathon for 3 hour to perfection with official time of 2:59:45 – that’s seriously impressive, especially in the conditions! 
    • Smashed his 3hr pacing job at Leeds marathon coming in at 2:59:45!
  • Laura Garratt – Shout-out to Laura for completing the 5K at the Keswick Mountain Festival despite recently having foot surgery – great to see!
  • Lee Taylor – Kudos to Lee on a fantastic new PB at his hometown Sunderland Half!
  • Lesley-Ann Donnell – Congratulations to Lesley-Ann on a brilliant new PB at the Copenhagen Marathon!
  • Lewis Windeatt – Lewis is 2/3rds of the way through running Manchester, Leeds and Edinburgh Marathon, amazing achievement raising money for the British heart foundation 
  • Megan Foster – An excellent PB at Leeds half in very hot conditions
  • Mike Gallagher – Brilliant to see Mike run a PB at the Copenhagen Marathon – very deserved after a very consistent and dedicated training block, well done mate!
  • Mohammed Aslam – Rich and I haven’t been running at HPH for a few weeks due to injuries/surgery. Mo hasn’t been back long himself but noticed we hadn’t been there and sent me a lovely message to check we were both doing OK. Mo I was having a tough day that day fed up with being pretty immobile (again) it was such a lovely supportive thing to notice and do representing the best of HPH, thank you.
  • Nic Harold – Amazing run from Nic at the Leeds Half; a PB despite the hot conditions!
  • Nick Shakhlevich (multiple nominations):
    • For a nicely judged 3hrs at Leeds marathon, in very hot conditions and despite cramp in the final 200m
    • After being thwarted with food poisoning he had an incredible run at Leeds Marathon, comfortably finishing under 3 hours in difficult conditions! Very deserved after a brilliant training block!
  • Nigel Wallis – A fantastic debut marathon 3:22. Battled injuries through training and hot conditions on the day. Not the 3:15 he’d targeted but a superb result regardless!
  • Pete Noren – 2:56 Hamburg marathon. Brilliant training block and still repping HPH out in Germany – legend!
  • Richard Garratt – Congratulations to Rich on a great run at the KMF Skiddaw Mountain Run, finishing in the top 10 despite a rough few weeks with injuries!
  • Sam Tecwyn – 3:09 London marathon! Another inspiring training block! Battled blisters to hold on for a great time
  • Sarah Jewers – Going out on a solo quest to show those Yorkshire 3 peaks who’s boss!
  • Sarah Underwood – Sarah smashed the Keswick Mountain festival 25k only 7months postpartum! Incredible effort getting back to impressive running form whilst juggling new mum duties! 

THANK YOU!

A huge thank you to all our leaders this month – Adam L, Alice H, Amy R-Y, Ben H, Cat M, Charlotte E, George A, Hannah L, Joe L, Jonathan S, Kevin L, Lucy R, Michael G, Mike G, Richard G, Sam T and Sharron N!

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 MAY 2025

  • Seven Harriers took part in the first race of our 25/26 fell championships – Dick Hudson’s race across Ilkley Moor! Well done all, and congratulations to Adam L on his podium finish!
  • We started a new collaboration with Paria cafe in Chapel Allerton, providing leaders for three groups of their new monthly running club! The inaugural session went very well, so keep an eye on our social media for future events!
  • Jason, Alan, Helen and Rick took part in the first YVAA Grand Prix race of the season at Honley – if you’re a veteran (aged 33 or older), why not give the races a go?
  • Phil H took on the Forces March for the seventh time, in support of the Veteran’s Charity. You can catch up on Phil’s exploits via his YouTube channel – www.youtube.com/@philandminiphil
  • The HPH Tri club opened their season with the Tadcaster Triathlon – some fantastic performances, well done everyone! Special mention to Naomi M and Rich S, who both finished second!
  • Thank you to everyone who came along to the club’s annual general meeting – really good to see a strong turnout! Always really good to have discussions and receive views from across the club. If there’s ever anything you’d like to raise, you’re always welcome to email the committee via hello@hydeparkharriers.co.uk
  • We had a small crew of Harriers at June’s York 5K series, with both Clare and Daisy setting new PBs!
  • Several Harriers undertook a reverse Viking raid and headed to Copenhagen for the marathon – some stonking times and PBs were the outcome, well done all!
  • It’s now traditional that the Leeds Marathon and Half must fall on the hottest day of Spring – our huge volunteer crew had a lovely time in the sunshine, but all credit to the runners who ran amazingly despite the tough conditions!
  • Lee T headed back to his hometown of Sunderland for the half and ran a PB! Our incumbent Chair’s Award winner is making a strong start to the 25/26 season!
  • The next race in our Summer League, the Pontefract 10K, saw several Harriers taking on the course – special mention to Clare and Amy, who paced 60 mins and 45 mins respectively!
  • Many club members took part in the Cookridge Community 10K – a fantastic course and all in aid of an excellent cause! Congratulations to Adam L and Doug B, who took first and third places respectively (your not-so-humble scribe was also in the top 10…).
  • A handful of Harriers went to the wrong side of the Pennines for the Greater Manchester runs – nice work folks!
  • Keswick Mountain Festival is always popular with the fell-inclined members of the club – we had representation in virtually every race they hosted this year! Well done everyone; looks like the conditions were pretty hot and tough!
  • We had a couple of brave HPH taking on the Ultra Trail Snowdonia races – massive kudos to Steve W, who completed the 50K, and especially Rich C, who smashed the 100K!
  • Even more ultra-impressive achievements – Steve B completed nigh-on 70 miles of the Flower of Suffolk 100!
  • Well done to those who took on the Edinburgh Marathon and Half – we had a couple of Harriers north of the border, including some excellent fundraising efforts!
  • Who doesn’t like a fell race that requires you to down a pint before you cross the finish line…? Well done to our runners at the Charlesworth Chase for their impressive feats of running and quaffage!
  • Colin T represented the red-and-white at Ilkley Trail Race – nicely done sir!
  • Chloe B completed the Grand Union Canal race (that’s all the way from Birmingham to London!) for the third time… Absolutely incredible stuff!
  • We had a great turn-out at the Kirkstall Abbey edition of the YVAA Grand Prix this month; well done everyone!
  • May’s Leeds 5K series race saw some excellent runs, including several people exceeding their predicted times – great to see!
  • We closed out the month with the ever-popular Apperley Bridge Canter – always a fantastic race, despite the brutal hills! We had nearly 50 Harriers take part, with Sam and Ben taking 2nd and 3rd place on the podium!

What a bonkers month – once again, well done everyone, it’s really inspiring to see all the amazing achievements of the club! As ever, I’m quite I’ve missed a few races and events; sincere apologies if so! It’s looking like a cracking summer of running, can’t wait to see what June brings!