Hambleton Athletics & Running Club

Team HARC Bouncing Around in the Sunshine

12th June 202314th June 2023 By Sara SherwoodNo Comments

A team of eleven HARC members travelled to Harewood House at the weekend for the Leeds Inflatable 5k. The group looked so fabulous in their blue tutus and glittery face paint that the start line marshal declared them the best dressed group of the day. Tackling 32 inflatable obstacles in the glorious sunshine was great fun, especially with the usual HARC team spirit – the runners did turn-backs to stay together and gave each other plenty of help getting back on their feet, plus the occasional gentle nudge to get over some of the hurdles!...

HARC Athletes with a ‘Spring’ in their step

12th June 202314th June 2023 By Sara SherwoodNo Comments

By Ruth Hancock. Since our last report, members of Hambleton Athletics and Running Club have been very busy achieving a variety of personal goals and working hard to raise funds for charity. Phill Heward became HARC’s first recipient of a club place at the London Marathon. Phill was really happy to finish in 4hr 10 min. He said “It was every bit as tough as I expected but even more enjoyable than I’d hoped. Thanks to all for the encouragement and to HARC for the opportunity.” Graham Finlay achieved a huge milestone of 200 Parkruns in April and chose his favourite at Fountains Abbey to host this momentous occasion. As ever, HARC members turned out in force to support him and celebrated with a special cake in the café afterwards. At the Kieran Maxwell Memorial event in Middlesbrough, junior shot putter Harvey Wilkinson secured the top spot with a personal best throw of 11.38m and edges closer to the UK top 20 as a...

Perfect week for running

12th May 202314th June 2023 By Sara SherwoodNo Comments

It was so nice to see the sunshine at our sessions this week! Our Tuesday intervals session saw both our junior and senior sections enjoying their 'pyramid' training in Northallerton. On Thursday, we had our two social runs around Bedale, and despite the Met Office weather warnings, the skies cleared and we had beautiful sunshine to accompany our chatty group runs....

Autumn Awesome at Hambleton Athletics and Running Club

4th December 202214th June 2023 By Sara SherwoodNo Comments

There has been much to celebrate this autumn, with club members taking part in a huge array of races and events. Whilst we put enjoyment at the heart of what we do, often with the mantra “no such thing as too slow”, we also recognise the importance of celebrating the achievements of those who enjoy challenging themselves to go “faster, higher, stronger”. To that end, here are some particularly noteworthy performances for which huge congratulations are extended: Harvey Wilkinson is going from strength to strength, winning the U17 shotput in the Gateshead Indoor Series, having just moved up an age category – outstanding achievement! Joanne Sinnott tackled the Tadcaster 10 Mile and the Yorkshire Marathon, achieved course Personal Bests for both – fantastic! Craig Keedy came 10th overall at the Dalby Dash and finished in 2nd place at the Bridlington Half Marathon. Not satisfied with silver though, he absolutely stormed the course at the Gunpowder Plot 10k and took home the overall winner’s trophy – what a start to the season! Michael Hollinshead smashed his previous course PB at Arrachar 10k, knocking an incredible 7 minutes off his previous time,...

September Successes from Hambleton Athletics and Running Club

3rd October 20223rd October 2022 By Sara SherwoodNo Comments

HUGE congratulations must firstly go to HARC’s junior shot putter, Harvey Wilkinson, who came first in the John Newsome Memorial Open Meeting in Wakefield on 17th September. He threw a brilliant 11.58m, beating the second place athlete by over a whopping two metres, and the distance was almost double that of his next nearest rival! The event was organised by Wakefield District Harriers and Athletics Club and offered a full array of track and field events from U11 to seniors and vets. Harvey was competing with a shot putt weighing in at 4 kilos in the U15 category, and with a throw like that he undoubtedly has a long and illustrious career ahead of him. Snape 10K and 5K ‘Fun Run’ saw a swathe of HARC runners competing this year. Notable performances came from Graham Finlay, who was first in his age category over the 5K distance, and Craig Keedy continues his success with 4th place overall in the 10K. Great efforts from all...

Hambleton Athletics and Running Club Awards Presentation Evening 2022

17th September 202214th June 2023 By Sara SherwoodNo Comments

Friday 9th September saw the very first Presentation Evening for HARC members, this year held at Tom & Nellie’s in Bedale. Gemma Wardle, the Club’s Chair, began the evening with a moving, heart-felt welcome speech. Much laughter and camaraderie followed, as between courses members of the Awards Sub-committee took the opportunity to introduce the awards that would be available for presentation at the end of the forthcoming season, which runs annually from the beginning of September. Members are to be recognised for their achievements based on the club’s founding principles which set out the values and ethos of their members: Caring & Supporting; Coaching-Led; For Everyone; and Enjoying Our Sport. Full details of the criteria used to determine each award can be found on HARC’s website. In future, awards will be presented for the following: ‘Volunteer of the Year’; ‘Mighty Oak’ (for improvement); ‘Greatest of the Year’ (performance awards); ‘The Sinton-Hewitt Trophy’ (based on participation at Parkrun); ‘The Captain Cook Cup’ for...

Latest C25K Success

2nd August 20222nd August 2022 By Sara SherwoodNo Comments

Hambleton Athletics and Running Club’s most recent Couch to 5K programme finished with a superb graduation run set in the stunning grounds of Fountains Abbey on 23 July, at the weekly Parkrun held there. The culmination of the ten week programme offered the newly-fledged runners the chance to run a continuous 5K with the support and encouragement of a number of club members, alongside coaches Alice Inglis and Gemma Wardle - all under the watchful eye of Head Coach, Chris Lees. It was certainly a beautiful morning for it and emotion ran high as a dozen graduates crossed the finishing line, especially so for those who were first-time runners. Chris Williams explained that HARC’s programme had not only turned a complete non-runner into a runner, but also into a person “that actually enjoys it now!” High praise indeed. Chris went on to say “If you are toying with the idea of starting or restarting running for fitness and fun, do it with HARC. You...

Dragon Boat Racing

19th June 202219th June 2022 By Sara SherwoodNo Comments

Team HARC has been out fundraising again. Not running this time – but Dragon Boat Racing! Paddlers headed over to North Yorkshire Water Park last weekend to pit themselves against 24 other teams in an exciting challenge orgainsed by the Rotary Club of Scarborough Cavaliers. Ditching the usual HARC blue running kit for the green and gold of Dementia Forward, the intrepid dragon boaters have managed to raise a fantastic £1,148 so far. Chair Gemma Wardle congratulated everyone involved saying “HARC members, friends of the club, and Dementia Forward volunteers worked so well together to support a great cause. We had a brilliant day of paddling and laughter.” Winning the first heat, Boat 23 continued to better their times across the challenge – no doubt buoyed by the theme tune of Hawaii Five-O - but unfortunately just missed out on a place in the grand finale. Losing didn’t matter, though, at such a friendly, well-organised and safe event, and it is testament...

Congratulations Head Coach

16th June 202215th September 2023 By Sara Sherwood1 Comment

Hearty congratulations to Chris Lees who has now received the final jigsaw piece in a much longer than expected journey to his Athletics Coach license (the 'small' matter of a global pandemic may have delayed things for a time). Still specialist in Endurance, Chris has added Athletics Coach/Throws to his coaching qualifications. Chris says "Massive thanks to Glen Hilton for his support and help throughout, and to the athletes at Hambleton Athletics & Running Club and Allerton Junior Athletics Club without whose help I literally couldn’t have done this."...

Congratulations Craig Keedy!

7th June 20227th June 2022 By Sara SherwoodNo Comments

Sunday 29th May saw the long-awaited return of the Northallerton 10K – a mainly uphill, local race that was well-supported by HARC members with plenty of PBs and personal goals being met. Special mention must go to Craig Keedy, who secured first place for his age category in a time of 37:56. It would seem he’s making a bit of a habit of this now, with it following his 1st in age category at Wakefield 10K on 20th March – another ‘undulating’ course, and again in Bridlington at the 5 Mile Dash in April. Congratulations Craig! Very well deserved recognition for your commitment and resilience in training...