Harriers of the Month and Chair’s Blog – October 2024

The nights are drawing in, but we’ve been up to all sorts! Check out the Highlights section below for overseas excursions, tough races and lots more!

Firstly though, congratulations to our Harriers of the Month for October 2024:

  • Sam Tecwyn (multiple nominations):
    • A brilliant 3hrs for her first marathon, amazing
    • Sam deserves this award without any hesitation. Probably the most humble runner I’ve met, in terms of over-achievements. Never a winner of this award before as far as I’m aware despite some of her amazing achievements. The last 4 months she has been quietly going about training for the Yorkshire Marathon. Those that follow her on Strava will have seen just what that has entailed, higher intensity than I think is normal, some truly unbelievable training sessions. I know how hard she has worked, whilst juggling many other life commitments, and on the day, she ran an astonishing race in 3hrs and 8seconds, to complete her very first marathon, despite the horrendous conditions. An amazing example of what can be achieved through hard work and determination. Hat goes off to her.
    • Sam ran a phenomenal first marathon in really tough conditions – well done Sam!
  • Phil Lindsay (multiple nominations):
    • He’s been a keen runner (and type 1 diabetic) all his life, and great supporter of the club. Despite injury, he’s persevered, even when he could hardly move. He’s led our Group 0.5, which has helped others stay involved and keep moving. He’s also a regular parkwalker and each week works to improve his time. He’s a great encouragement.
    • Just wanted to say a huge thank you to Phil for turning up, rain or shine, to lead Group 0.5 – he’s been a real stalwart of the club for years and it’s really appreciated that he’s attending and organising the social walks despite some frustrating injuries. Thank you Phil!
  • John Pratt (multiple nominations):
    • John had 2 brilliant performances in an incredible week that he had worked towards for over a year. He ran a 10K PB at the Abbey Dash only a few days before representing HPH (and doing us proud!) by competing for GB at the Age Group Triathlon World Championships. 
    • JP not only ran a PB at Abbey Dash, he also did a brilliant job representing HPH and Great Britain at the Triathlon World Championships – well done sir!

Well done to all our nominees, copied below:

  • Alice Houldcroft – Congratulations to Alice on completing the grueling 5 Valleys Ultra in the Lakes – brilliant effort!
  • All the HPH pacers at the Yorkshire Marathon and 10 Mile races – Huge thanks to everyone who paced at either of these races – the conditions were atrocious and certainly not kind to anyone attempting to run with a large flag on their back!
  • Amy Ramsden-Young – For an excellent sub-40 at Abbey Dash and comeback in general from pregnancy
  • Andy Judd – Andy has really smashed his return to running after surgey on his back. Very inspiring to see him taking his recovery at a responsible pace up to absolutely smashing the Abbey Dash today. Congratulations Andy!
  • Cara Gates (multiple nominations):
    • Congratulations to Cara on running a brilliant time at Chester Marathon!
    • A terrific marathon PB and then donating her legs to being a Yorkshire marathon pacer two weeks later (and bossing that too!)
  • Daisy Wales – A fantastic new PB at Abbey Dash
  • Ed Shakespeare – Ed is always supporting and taking fabulous photos of runners at local races – they’re really great photos Ed! Thanks for the support.
  • Emily Martinson – Emily completed her first half marathon in Lisbon and got an amazing time despite the terrible race organisation and windy conditions. Huge congratulations!
  • Everyone who ran a PB at Abbey Dash! – There were so many PBs at Abbey Dash, I can’t track them all – if you ran one, well done and congratulations!
  • Grace Roberts (multiple nominations):
    • Not everything the committee gets up to is super exciting and glamorous – sometimes we have to do quite a lot behind the scenes to make sure the club keeps up with England Athletics’s requirements. We recently had to undertake a major review and update of all our coaches and leaders, verifying our own records and then updating our portal with EA. It was a big, admin-heavy job and Grace did every bit of it. Thank you Grace – it’s really appreciated how much effort you put in to making sure the club fulfils its regulatory requirements!
    • For all her hard work in ensuring all leaders and coaches are correctly registered on the EA portal to ensure we continue to meet club standards
  • James Tarbit: Massive kudos to James Tarbit, who completed the Ultra Trail Whistler in Canada – huge elevation, huge achievement!
  • Kate Solomon: Congratulations on completing the Lisbon Marathon in a fantastic time!
  • Lee Taylor: For an absolutely outstanding 18.12 5km pb at the York 5km series.  Lee just keeps getting better and better
  • Lou Graham and James Tarbit – Successfully completing the Due North 50km
  • Matt Barton (multiple nominations):
    • Matt completed the Lakes in a Day – a really tough challenge
    • For completing Lakes in a Day
  • Oliver Isaac: A fantastic first triathlon, finished off with a speedy run. Congrats Ollie!
  • Paul Sawyer and George Anderson (multiple nominations):
    • Paul and George (but not John or Ringo) organised yet another brilliant HPH trip – Lisbon was fantastic, with a real mix of Harriers running and hanging out together. Huge thanks to both of them for all their hard work in making the trip a success.
    • Organising a fantastic club trip
  • Rosie Dang: Congratulations to Rosie on a huge PB at the Amsterdam marathon – great to see a lot of hard work paying off!
  • Sam Hadfield: Sam has taken on the role of club communications lead this year and has done an excellent job so far! His survey of the club’s communications preferences has generated lots of food for thought and will lead to improvements in how we provide information and receive feedback from our members. Really appreciate all his hard work so far!

THANK YOU!

A huge thank you to all our leaders this month – Adam L, Alice R, Anne A, Ben H, Caite B, Cat M, Charlotte E, Chris H, Clare E, Daisy W, Dan D, Ed S, Eleanor B, Ellie W, Grace R, Hannah L, Honor B, Jane P, Jonathan S, Joseph E, Laura G, Lorraine B, Lucy R, Matthew B, Mike G, Richard G, Richard K, Sam T, Samantha T, Sharron N, Victoria S, Will D and Zoe B!

Thanks also to those who led the North Running Club runs from Springwell!

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 OCTOBER 2024

  • An obvious early highlight of the month was the Lisbon trip! George and Paul organised fantastic overseas excursion for the club – Portugal was beautiful (except for the race route itself…) and we had a great time exploring, not-parkrunning, eating, drinking and having fun! Thanks to everyone who came along and played a part in making the trip such a success – as someone may have sung (badly), it’s all the small things…
  • Cara and Joe took on the Chester Marathon and both did splendidly – congratulations to Joe on completing his first, and to Cara for a brilliant PB!
  • Morley 10K saw several Harriers take on the hilly local course – kudos to those who were taking on the distance for the first time!
  • We had several Harriers braving some… inclement… conditions in the Lakes, with Richard C and Steve R taking on the Langdale Horseshoe and Rich G leading a recce of Leg 3 of the Bob Graham round in preparation for our Billy Bland attempt next year. The weather was horrendous, but it looks like everyone had (type 2) fun!
  • In even more impressive Lakes running, Matt B completed the Lakes in a Day – a gruelling 50 mile run, with more than 4,000m of ascent, across the Lake District in under 24 hours – well done Matt!
  • More than 60 Harriers decided that they’d not quite had enough of Kirkstall Road and took part in the Abbey Dash! Perfect conditions led to some fantastic running, including many PBs – congratulations everyone, and massive thank you to everyone who came out to support along the way!
  • A small HPH corps of elite fell-runners decided they HAD had enough of Kirkstall Road and instead took on the Withins Skyline; 10km of bogs, hills and more bogs! Well done Lou, Steve, Alice and Colin!
  • Grace and Vicente went a little bit hipster and eschewed both of the above Yorkshire-based races and crossed to the wrong side of the Pennines for the Manchester Half Marathon!
  • Honor was even more of a hipster and took on the Oxford Half Marathon and ran a cracking time – it’s brilliant to see our lead coach running so strongly!
  • Steve W and Rich C took on the Charlesworth Chase – not only a gruelling fell race, but also a test of the stomach, with participants required to down a pint of beer or tonic water before crossing the line! Nice work chaps!
  • The Yorkshire Marathon and 10 Mile races saw lots of Harriers take on not only the races themselves, but also some horrendous weather! There were some incredible debut marathon performances (including Sam, Dan S and Rich K) and some fantastic times all round. Special thanks to the HPH pacers – not an easy day to keep locked into a specific tempo!
  • Several Harriers headed back to mainland Europe for the Amsterdam marathon – congratulations to Rosie and Jonathan on their shiny new PBs!
  • JP did the club proud, representing Team GB in his age category at the World Triathlon Championships in Torremolinos – sounds like it was a hot day to race, but JP competed like a champ!
  • Four speedy Harriers ran the Brownlee 5K series race this month – congratulations to Adam (who finished second overall), Dan, Dan and Jason!
  • We had a contingent of HPH head to the theatre for a performance of Run Rebel – sounds like a good time was had by all!
  • Our annual Light Night run was very popular, with more than 30 Harriers snaking across the city centre led by Anne! Thank you to everyone who joined us – it’s always a great way to participate in a highlight of the Leeds calendar!
  • A dozen or so took part in our annual trip to Saltaire for pizza and beers – we had a beautiful autumnal day for it and some excellent company throughout!
  • James T and Lou G braved the fearsome Ultra Tour Yorkshire Dales 50km race – the weather was kind, the hills were not!

If I’ve missed anything or anyone, please accept my apologies – we’re always keen to hear what you lot have been up to, so drop us a line via the hello@hydeparkharriers.co.uk email!