Championship medals for Mansfield Harriers at the Midland Masters

With age groups every ten years starting at 35 Mansfield Harriers had teams in both the Ladies 45 and Men 55 age groups. Both teams put in exceptional performances as they came away from the event with championship medals.

The ladies put in a superb team performance taking the silver medal in both the National and Midland Championships behind an exceptionally strong Bristol team. Sam Brown went out on the first leg, showing great commitment after her recent marathon efforts she recorded 13.31 to bring the team home in 5th. Louise Rowley moved through the field on leg 2 as she came home in second in 13.08 and the ever reliable Carolyn Hay ran the fastest time on leg 3 and the second fastest of the race with 11.59 as she kept the team in silver medal position.

The men had a solid team performance with Geoff Bottomore coming home 7th on the opening leg in a time of 11.45 handing on to Andy Wetherill who came back in 9th place with 12.38. Paul Castledine came back in 7th on leg 3 recording 12.40 with Mark Burr racing a perfectly timed anchor leg recording 14.18 to bring the team home in 9th. This effort earned the team the bronze medal position in the Midland championships.

Mansfield Harriers young athletes travelled to the Newark Academy to compete in the second fixture of the Notts Mini League Cross Country League. In challenging conditions from Storm Ashley, the young athletes put in another terrific team performance to place second behind Rushcliffe.

Both Under 13 teams put in fantastic performances both winning on the day with the girls in a comfortable lead in the series and the boys a close second overall after taking the win at Newark. Mihnea Radu has been phenomenal in recent competitions and came away with another win with team mate Oliwier Macutkiewicz second and the fast improving James Grovier 6th. Harvey Evans made his debut for the club and came home with a very promising 7th. Olivia Wright was a clear winner of the girls race winning by close to 30 seconds. Maisie Lowe had her best race to date in 4th with the exciting talent Lauren Pate 5th and Maisy Gill in 7th.

In the Under 15 age groups the girls put in another strong team performance as they won on the day and led comfortably after the first two fixtures. Isla Millns continued to put in high quality performances as she placed 2nd, Myannie Westwood had a superb race for 4th, making a welcome rare appearance at cross country Florence Kenney placed 5th, Emily Pares 6th, Lucy Beardsmore 9th and Martha Walker 11th. The boys were second on the day and are in a tie for first in the series with Jack Pares and Oliver McClemens continuing an excellent start to the winter as they placed 1st and 2nd. Showing great commitment to the team Teddy Macintyre raced although struggling with recent illness and he battled round the Newark course to place 12th.

As with the first fixture the Under 11 age groups struggled for numbers which had a big impact on the overall team scores. Esme Evans had a terrific run in the girls race and in a close finish took a well deserved 3rd place. A promising debut run in the boys race saw Yash Vaghela place 13th and Austin Wright crossed the finishing line in 20th place.

Travelling to York to race the Yorkshire Marathon both Neil Halstead and Phil Beardsley were looKING to break the four hour barrier. Both went into the race in great shape however the task was made even more challenging as they had to race during the full force of Storm Ashley. Both ran solidly throughout, going through halfway in 1.56. Neil managed to continue at that pace to come away with a new personal best of 3.50.54 with Phil battling on for a new best of 4.13.27 knowing he has a sub 4 in him with better racing conditions.