HOTM for January and Chair’s Blog

There were certainly no January blues involved for Hyde Park Harriers this month as far as the PBs and activities that you wonderful lot have been up to. From Temple Newsam Ten, to Brass Monkey, to PECO to Calverley Cutter, there have been races galore for you all to kick off 2024 with a bang. We also had a kit swap, physio and headtorch run evening and a few other extra curricular running achievements, too. More on those if you read on below.

Our winners this month are Dan Donnelly and Charlotte Eva. Here’s why:

Charlotte Eva: For showing up with such pride and gusto to club sessions and races and always having a smile in her face. Charlotte has really embraced HPH since she joined and is such fun to run with. She’s an ambassador for HPH and it’s great to see her running go from strength to strength as well as her passion for the club. Thanks for joining Charlotte!!!

Dan Donnelly: Dan was knocked off his bike towards the end of 2023 but, showing true Harrier spirit, he came along to Tuesday sessions anyway – consistently “”leading”” Group Zero for coffee and chats. The community side of HPH is as important (if not more so!) than the running and Dan’s contribution to that side of things deserves to be recognised and celebrated!

Here are the other entries for this month’s Harrier of the Month:

• Steve W and Richard C: For not only doing an Ilkley skyline in January,but putting together the most amazing blog account of it for the club’s records. What a great read of an eventful and adventurous day out. Well done and thanks you two!!
• Dan Stevenson: Huge PB of 17:48 at York parkrun! Well done Dan!
• Mike V
  • For an outstanding performance at Kirkstall Calverley Cutter trial race which resulted in a first place finish.
  • storming run to first place at Calverley Cutter – great to see Mike continuing to set the pace!
• Lucy R: For organising a lovely kit swap evening and using her contacts to subsequently donate lots of great kit to others who will use it. Thanks Lucy!
• Toby: for spending loads of time really diligently writing up the intricacies of how spond works for our participants and leaders. It’s super clear now how it all works and we will be able to update our website and socials easily for everyone to understand. Thanks Toby
• Chris K: Well, turns out Chris is a cracking runner!! He’s finally joined the HPH run club and is contributing to the men’s PECO team scores and also running brilliantly in his own races. Well done Chris, looking forward to seeing how your running progresses.

As always, keep an eye on the weekly email bulletin for more of the news from our members out running at events as well as for info on discounts, races and other running news.

Our next committee meeting is Sunday 18th February where we will cover a number of agenda items. Our email hello@hydeparkharriers.co.uk is always open to receive your suggestions, feedback or blog posts. Our club couldn’t run without you all, so keep it coming.