News

Hambleton Athletics and Running Club (HARC) member Phill Howard took on the challenge of the mighty Middlesbrough 10k. Starting and finishing in the town centre, the course took him past local landmarks including Albert Park, the Dorman Museum, Teesside University, the Riverside Stadium and the Transporter Bridge. Phill absolutely smashed this 10k, setting himself a new PB and finishing the race in an amazing time of 00:46:21. He was rewarded with a t-shirt, medal and goodie bag. Phill said, “ The race started at 9:00am and the conditions were good – cool with a slight breeze. The course was fairly flat and there were lots of running clubs represented. I really enjoyed the run and it was great to get a 10K PB. The HARC training sessions are really helping with my fitness and stamina.” HARC are very proud and say a massive well done to Phill! ...

The Yorkshire Marathon and the Yorkshire 10 Miler have quickly established themselves as highlights of the UK’s sporting year. Beginning at York University’s Heslington campus, these popular and picturesque runs head through the city centre to take in some of York’s historic sights before following scenic country lanes around surrounding towns and villages, and returning to the university site for a grandstand finish. Hambleton Athletics and Running Club (HARC) members Nick Wilson and Joanne Sinnott took on the huge challenge of the marathon, while Anna Bonner and Sara Sherwood took on the 10 mile challenge, the longest race in which either of them have competed. The event, part of the ‘Jane Tomlinson Run for All’ series, was extremely well-organised with masses of support from marshals, spectators and other runners the whole way around the two courses. All four of HARC’s runners successfully completed their challenges and were rewarded at the finish line with fantastic medals, t-shirts and goodie bags. In the marathon, Nick finished in 04:26:07 and Joanne’s time was 05:24:48. Anna crossed the line 01:56:51, closely followed by Sara with...

The 2021 Richmond Castle 10k started and finished in the Batts Riverside Park area and was mainly on the roads. The route took the runners past the spectacular River Swale Waterfalls before crossing the river at Green Bridge and climbing Sleegill, offering a fine view of the castle. From there, the runners followed a short circuit around Catterick Garrison and returned into Richmond, where they circled Richmond Castle on Castle Walk before enjoying a fast downhill finish into Batts Park. Hambleton Athletics and Running Club (HARC) had three members take part in this event: Craig Keedy, Nick Wilson and Dave Oldacres. Craig completed the 10k in an impressive time of 00:39:41, coming in 6th overall and 2nd in his age category. Nick crossed the line in 00:53:47 placing him 23rd in his age category, and Dave finished in 01:04:02 (very nearly a PB!) coming 32nd in his age category. Craig said, “Richmond 10k, what can I say? Excuse my poetic injustice. This is a ‘must do’ event in my view! Three amigos from our fab club embarked on this fabulously brutally hilly course from the beautiful riverside area beneath the shadow of Richmond Castle. Moving swiftly on, which we did, the race went up and thankfully down several...

On Sunday 3rd October Hambleton Athletics and Running Club (HARC) member Charlie Villers took on the 41st annual London Marathon that was postponed from April to Octoberto maximise the chances of a mass participation event. The marathon distance is officially 42.195 km (26.219 miles) and is run over a mainly flat course. The 2021 race was run on the traditional London Marathon course starting in Blackheath. At about 10km into the race, the runners reach the 19th century clipper Cutty Sark docked in Greenwich and at about half way into the race, the runners cross Tower Bridge before heading east into Canary Wharf. The runners then pass through Tower Hill and enter the underpass in Blackfriars and run along the Thames Embankment past Westminster and onto Birdcage Walk. The course then runs parallel to St James’s Park before turning onto The Mall and finishing in front of Buckingham Palace. Charlie was delighted to find the last available space for I CAN which is a children’s speech and language charity, to run in The London Marathon. This meant a huge amount to Charlie as he has a personal...

The cross country season is finally upon us and Hambleton Athletics and Running Club (HARC) couldn’t wait to get stuck in to their first ever competitive league, joining the North Yorkshire and South Durham Harrier League which caters for all ages from 8 to 80+. Individual and team points are awarded at each fixture and awards are made to the top teams and individuals at the end of the season. The weather was kind for the first meet at Acklam Grange School in Middlesbrough – not much mud to be seen but the course was tough and undulating. A number of runners couldn’t quite believe they were running a cross country raceat a school, having spent years avoiding them during their own school days. HARC had seven members taking part in a number ofcategories which covered different distances: Elsa Styles​Women U17​31:39 (6th in category) Ruth Hancock​Women V50​37:01 (15th in category) Hugh Jenyns​Men V70​37:44 (8th in category) Diego Segura​Men Senior​41:04 (13th in category) Craig Keedy​Men V50​41:05 (4th in category) Phill Heward​Men V45​51:01 (27th in category) Dave Oldacres​Men V45​1:03:15 (32nd in category) Dave Oldacres said, “I took part in my first cross countryseries race. It was quite a competitive event and I was one of the...

Alasdair McWilliam, a member of Hambleton Athletics and Running Club, recently took the long road trip (via a whisky distillery or two) to take part in the Loch Ness Marathon, which he completed fortified with a double homemade cheeseburger, loaded fries and a thick vanilla milkshake from Inverness’s trip-advisor-topping burger bar “Coyotes”! Saturday (supposedly a relaxing day before race day), started with the obligatory highland breakfast in readiness for the Torvean Parkrun. Parkruns in Scotland start 30 mins later – so there was time for a “wee” lie-in! There were international visitors there wearing vests from places as far afield as South Africa. Saturday afternoon was spent picking up race numbers at the Expo, and Alasdair accidentally buying a new pair of Hoka shoes. He said, “Well, with the 15% discount and a marathon to run the next day, it would be rude not to!” Sunday came soon enough and the athletes (all 2,500 of them) boarded a series of coaches at...