Race Reports

Race Reports July 2006 – June 2007

Wednesday 20^th June, Ferry Meadows 5K

Bourne Town Harriers travelled to Ferry Meadows for the opening round of the Peterborough 5K series. With the absence of injured Tim Wigley and Richard Lomas-Brown, and with Mark Botteley competing in a triathlon event at Oundle it was left to Thomas Honniball to inspire the team home, followed not far behind by Mark Thorogood. Then came Matt Grace, Matt Green, Dave Hart, Richard Smithers, Jon Bean, Roland Stevens, Des Adey, Shaun Towell, Peter Swallow, Paul Beland, Neill Draycott, Dave Grace, Carol Draycott and Nicki Asplin.

Sunday 20^th May, Deeping 10K

It was warm, I will vouch for that, but it was also a good flat single lap course and well organised. Tim Wigley was first harrier home in 7^th, followed by Richard Lomas Brown, Dave Hart, Niall Quinlan, Des Adey, Richard Pearson, Andy Matthews, Elizabeth Dixon, Beverley-Ann Francis, Malcolm Scriven, and Nicky Asplin.

Friday 18^th May, Dyke Fun

As always a good turnout, in fact probably the biggest number of BTH club runners running together as we had seniors and juniors running together, at least 36 judging by the results posted. Matthew Grace is in fine form and was first home, followed by Richard Lomas Brown and Mark Botteley. Full results are available here.

Sunday 13^th May, Halstead Marathon (Essex)

Shaun Towell ran this marathon 3 weeks after he had a disappointing run, in this years hot Flora London marathon (4:22), but with good conditions on the day, he was pleased to break the 4 hour mark for the first time, on what turned out to be quite an undulating course and in the process he set a new PB of 3:56:31.

Sunday 6^th May, Kings Lynn and Langtoft.

Whilst Tim went for it in Kings Lynn the rest of us took in the delights of Langtoft Greatford and Barholm. Tim Wigley finished 19th in 35m 21s at The Great East Anglia 10k run meanwhile at Langtoft Chris Rowland was 3rd overall in 35m 52s, followed by Matt Grace in 11th, Mark Botteley 14th, Vaughan Roberts 16th, Richard Lomas-Brown 17th, Dave Smith 44th, Des Adey 61st, Peter Swallow 73rd, Christ Taylor 82nd, Roland Stevens 96th, Lisa Richardson 97th, Richard Pearson 108th, Louise Swallow 110th, Dave Grace 125th, Andy Matthews 129th, Rachel Parker 138th, Carol Draycott 166th, Beverley-Ann Francis 175th, Elizabeth Dixon 176th, Fiona Hart 190th, Malcolm Scriven 208th.

Sunday April 29^th, Bourne Rotary 5

Well not quite 5 actually because they missed out Fox Wood, but it was a fun run and several members of the club turned out, Matt Grace was home first for the club, minus 1 shoe. No official results are published for this event which may or may not have a permit., but we all enjoyed it, and the drink in Smiths in the evening as well.

Sunday April 22^nd, London Marathon

On a very hot day for the time of year 5 club runners took on the best marathon in the world. See results below, although not known to many in the club Michael Weeks was first home, just ahead of Tim, considering the conditions all the runners did well although Shaun was disappointed with his time.

place	pl.age	#	name	age	club	time
451	63	667	» MR WEEKS, MICHAEL R (GBR)	M25	BOURNE TOWN HAR...	2:53:12
482	94	30620	» MR WIGLEY, TIMOTHY J (GBR)	M40	BOURNE TOWN HAR...	2:53:44
1041	276	4999	» MR LOMAS-BROWN, RICHARD E (GBR)	M35	BOURNE TOWN HAR...	3:04:15
11473	2119	25754	» MR TOWELL, SHAUN A (GBR)	M40	BOURNE TOWN HAR...	4:22:46
7511	1378	25753	» MRS ASPLIN, NICOLA L (GBR)	W35	BOURNE TOWN HAR...	5:26:40

On the same day there was a track and field match at Grantham with some notable performances, Ben Hampson won the U13 800m, while Tom Honniball was 2^nd in the SM 800M, Sam Thornburn was 2^nd in the Shot and Roland Stevens won the Pole Vault. Whilst most of the club were content to do 1 or 2 events, Roland and Dave Grace managed to complete 16 events between them, Rolands effort was nearly a full decathlon, except he ran the 800 instead of a 1500.

Sunday April 15^th, Boston Track & Field

The track and field season started at Boston this year with some good performances all round. Chloe Smithers was 4th in the U11G's 600m. Sophie Marsden was 4th in U13G 100m. Hannah Ledger was 4th in U15G 100m. Adam Organ was 7th in U11B 600m. Dan Organ was 12th in U13B 100m and 7th in 200m. Ben Hampson was 3rd in U13B 1500m. Matt Grace was 3rd in U20M 3000m. Thomas Honniball was 3rd in SM 800m and 2nd in SM 1500m. Dave Grace was 3rd in VM 100m, 3rd in 200m, 5th in 800m, 1st in triple jump, 6th in javelin, 2nd in shot. Roland Stevens was 4th in VM 100m, 4th in 200m, 4th in 800m, 2nd in triple jump, 2nd in pole vault, 2nd in javelin, 4th in discuss, 4th in shot. Phil Organ was 3rd in VM 3000m.

Sunday April 1^st, Oakley 20

Tim Wigley ran this 20 miler finishing in 2hrs 13mins in 28th place, with Shaun Towell also finishing in 3hrs 9mins. All part of their London Marathon preparation ahead of the big day on April 22nd.

Sunday March 25^th, Lincoln 10K

Good condition and flat run saw 7 club runners tackle this event; there was a big field of 3263 runners. Richard LB was first home for the club in 34^th in 36.31, followed by Des Adey 377^th in 44.17, Roland Stevens 591 in 46.45, Richard Pearson 641 in 47.17, Beverley-Ann Francis 1461 in 54.19, Elizabeth Dixon 1581 in 55.22, and Jo Kennerley 1597 in 55.27.

Sunday March 18^th, Silverstone Half

That dynamic distance duo, Des Adey and Shaun Towell took to the race track in less than perfect conditions and put in good performances, Des was 756 in 1.39.23 while Shaun was 1244 in 1.44.25. By my calculations that means at that stage of the race runners were finishing at the rate of 100 a minute.

Also on 18th March Tim Wigley was 28th overall and 3rd Vet 40 at the Hillingdon 20 miler finishing in 2 hrs 11 mins.

Sunday March 11th, Grantham

In the Newton’s Fractions half marathon Vaughan Roberts finished in an excellent 11^th place in a time of 1.24.42.

Sunday March 4^th, Huntingdon Frostbite

The final lap of the Frostbite season was held as ever at the BRJ club in Huntingdon, another big turnout for the club and some excellent performances by both seniors and juniors. The Juniors were well represented with eleven club members running in the field of 122. First Harrier home was James Thomas in 24th place, followed by Adam Swallow in 38th and his brother Marcus in 41st. Next was Beth Thomas in 55th, from Zoe Ebbs in 62nd. Jade Carvath-Smith was 66th, Laura O'Brien 77th, Chloe Smithers 86th, Adam Organ 100th, Dan Organ 113th and Sian Botteley 114th.

This result gives Zoe the Junior Frostbite Runner Of The Season Award in winning the Junior Handicap Championship and having completed all six races. Zoe picked up her trophy after the race at the BRJ club in Huntingdon. The team finished seventh on the day and their final league position for this season was a creditable sixth for the young side.

While the juniors had a dry run, the rain started to come down just before 11am as the seniors set off for their race. In a strong field of 389 runners, 24 Harriers made the journey and were led in by Thomas Honniball who finished second. He could see the lead runner but that was all he could do. Ever improving Tim Wigley was next in 13th, followed by back to form Richard Lomas-Brown in 19th. Matt Grace ran well again in 27th, Vaughan Roberts 39th, Alex Grant 51st, Dave Hart 65th, Andy Shackleton 67th, Ben Winter 72nd, Craig Wigley 105th, just in front of Dave Smith 106th, Paul Leeton 122nd, Phil Organ 125th, Dave Grace 187th, leading Harrier ladies came in next with Louise Swallow 209th just ahead of Lisa Richardson 210th, Peter Swallow 211th, Andy Matthews 232nd, Richard Pearson 234th, Peter Honniball 246th, Ayla Smith 291st, Malcolm Scriven 321st, Beverley-Ann Francis 327th and Elizabeth Dixon 330th. The senior team finished fifth and sixth for the overall season.

Sunday February 25th

At Huddersfield, Richard Lomas-Brown took on the very hilly 10K course and was 15th out of 498 runners in 38m 40s.

Meanwhile more locally Shaun Towell and Vaughan Roberts ran at the Sleaford Half Marathon, with Vaughan picking up the prize for 3rd vet over 40 finishing 18^th overall in an impressive 1.25.22.

Saturday February 24^th, Belvoir Challenge.

Despite it being a club championship event just 3 runners did this event, which is a shame as it a marvellous and unusual event, 15 mile of cross country, thick mud and hills, are possible reasons why not to do it, but over 1000 people did and the camaraderie of the event, the cups of tea and cakes on route is unbelievable (note Tim is a past winner of this event as well). Anyway Dave Smith was first home in 2:23, Richard Pearson managed to keep going to finish in 2:43 and Penny Stevens rang an excellent 3:02. We all agreed it was a brilliant event.

On the same day three Harriers ran for Lincolnshire in the Inter Counties Cross Country Championships at Wollaton Park, Nottingham. In the under 20 race, Matt Grace was 164th and Adam Hilless was 168th, while in the senior race Thomas Honniball was 192nd.

Sunday February 11^th, Stamford St Valentines 30K

A small band of hardened runners took on this difficult and lengthy event (30K = 18+ miles) and there is not much flat around Stamford. Vaughan Roberts was our leading runner finishing in 2:07:41, followed by Richard Lomas-Brown 2:17:01, Phil Organ 2:28:09, Des Adey 2:37:51 and Paul Leeton 2:34:12.

Sunday February 4^th, Bourne Frostbite

Mad parking as ever as the Frostbite continues to grow, that aside it was great event, thanks to everyone who helped.

A team of thirteen juniors set off in their race among a field of 81 and were lead in by Ben Hampson 9th, followed by Adam Swallow 13th, Marcus Swallow 26th, Lottie Christie 29th, Beth Thomas 30th, Zoe Ebbs 34th, David Oucliffe 41st, Jade Carvath-Smith 42nd, Hannah Ledger 46th, Adam Organ 52nd, Megan Hannah 63rd, Sian Botteley 68th and Dan Organ 77th. The team were placed a creditable 4th on the day and lie 6th overall.

It was in the senior race of 368 runners that a record 34 Harriers completed the 5 mile course. The team also finished 4th on the day and also lie 6th overall with one round to go, at Huntingdon on 4th March. First Harrier home was Tim Wigley in 14th followed by Matt Grace 26th, Mark Botteley 28th, Richard Lomas-Brown 36th, Vaughan Roberts 51st, Adam Hilless 57th, Richard Smithers 60th, Alex Grant 70th, Dave Hart 73rd, Jon Bean 78th, Andrew Shackleton 81st, Ben Winter 86th, Niall Quinlan 102nd, Paul Leeton 118th, Dave Smith 122nd, Craig Wigley 126th, Phil Organ 139th, Peter Swallow 141st, Roland Stevens 172nd, Des Adey 176th, Shaun Towell 179th, Louise Swallow 206th, Lisa Richardson 211th, Richard Pearson 213th, Dave Grace 217th, Peter Honniball 221st, Andy Matthews 238th, Chris Taylor 242nd, Maria Komorowska 289th, Penny Stevens 291st, Elizabeth Dixon 303rd, Fiona Hart 309th, Beverley-Ann Francis 315th and Nicky Asplin 364th.

Sunday January 21^st, All over the place.

This was a busy day with club members competing at a variety of events, the big local event was the Folksworth 15 miler which saw Des Adey finish this tough course in 1:55:32 and Paul Leeton in 2:3:12.

Tom Honniball was the only runner to brave the Northern XC Champs and came home in an impressive 72^nd.

Shaun Towell did the Canterbury 10 mile in a creditable 1:34:14.

Meanwhile a class team of Tim Wigley, Richard Smithers, Mark Botterley and Andrew Shackleton performed really well in the St Albans 10 mile.

Sunday January 14^th, Ramsey Frostbite

It was cold and windy, but 23 seniors and 11 juniors made the trip down to Ramsey. The seniors were missing a few stars but managed to secure 9^th place just a point behind BRJ, they remain 6^th overall. The juniors did much better coming 5^th overall and they also remain in 6^th overall at this stage.

Sunday January 7^th, 2007 Louth XC Championships.

Windy, hilly and muddy, 10 club members went to the XC championships at Louth, in the U20 men’s event Matt Grace was 4^th and Adam Hilless 7^th, Tom Honniball was 5^th in the seniors and Roland Stevens and Richard Pearson finished 27^th and 33^rd in the vet event. The U13 girls team was 2^nd with Beth Thomas, Abbi Christen and Zoe Ebbs finishing 10^th, 12^th and 15^th respectively. James Thomas was 14^th in the U13 event. Beth Christen was 11^th in the U11.

Sunday December 31st, Christmas Handicap.

In good conditions 27 seniors and 9 juniors contested the annual Christmas Handicap. This year Malcolm Scriven triumphed in the senior event while Marcus Swallow won the junior event. A good time was had by all, even if Richard LB did set me off a minute late.

Certainly a good time was had by all who then entered in the mulled wine and mince pie eating competition at Roland and Penny’s afterwards, thanks for the hospitality.

Meanwhile in a more serious event Vaughan was doing the Ely 10K and came 22^nd.

Sunday December 17^th, Cranwell XC

This was the fourth and last Lincs League match with not only individual places on the day but series places to be decided. Beth, Georgina and Abi all ran well for the junior girls, while Louise and Rachel put in good performances in the ladies event, James and Adam ran well in boys events, but star performance was Tom who was second in the senior mens, followed in by Matt G, Peter and Dave G.

Overall position were as follows:-

Senior Men/Vets Tom 3^rd, Dave G 38^th

U20 Men, Matt G 5^th

U13 Boys, James Thomas 8^th

U11 Girls, Beth Christen 10^th

U13 Girls, Abi Christen 12^th, Beth Thomas 13^th.

Sunday December 10^th, March Frostbite.

The club had another big turnout for this Frostbite, with 29 seniors running, the juniors all ran well in windy and cold conditions, on a difficult course, they finished 6^th on the day and remain 6^th overall. The seniors were 7^th on the day and are in 6^th overall.

Sunday December 3^rd, Nene Valley 10

On a windy day several of the clubs runners ran this 10 miler in Peterborough, with Rich LB leading the men home assisted by Pete Truscott, Des Adey, Roland Stevens, and Richard Pearson, the ladies lead home by Rachael Williams, followed by Penny Stevens, Jo Kennerley, and Elizabeth Dixon.

Meanwhile that hardened veteran trio of Wigley, Smithers and Vaughan ran in the Luton marathon relay, and were the first veteran team, and 9^th overall.

Sunday November 26^th, Woodhall Spa

There was good turn out for this Lincs League XC match, which saw Bourne senior men managing to field 2 teams, well done lads. There were some good performances from the juniors and Louise in the ladies event.

Sunday November 12^th, Bushfields Frostbite.

Record number at this Frostbite, 485 in total, and Bourne fielded an impressive but not quite record 31 runners. Good performances all round on a fast course.

At the same time Gosia Wilkie was across the pond running the New York marathon, well done Gosia.

Saturday 4^th November, National XC Championships

Bourne managed to put out 6 teams for one of the clubs favourite events, 2 senior mens team, a ladies team, an u20 mens teams, and 2 junior teams. Everyone ran well and enjoyed themselves in what is a competitive but fun event. The senior mens B team had the privilege of being the last team to complete the course, but that’s no disgrace in a National event.

Sunday 29^th October, Hubbards Hill Louth

Several Seniors and Juniors competed at the Lincs League match, Thomas Honnibal was first home for the senior men in 6^th position, followed in by Adam Hilless and Matt Grace, Dave Grace was there to round off the team.

Sunday October 15^th, Great Eastern Half Marathon.

On good day for running 15 seniors from the club turned out to run the Great Eastern, celebrating 20 years of the club this was a good turn out, even more turned out for the meal later in Bourne. In a very close finish Richard LB held off Vaughan and Tim as they finished 50^th 51^st and 52^nd with only seconds between then. Richard Smithers was close behind in 61^st followed by Ben Winter who is running really well, then Des Adey, Paul Beland, Richard Pearson, Shaun Towell, Lisa Richardson, Gosia Wilkie, Malcolm Scriven, Lia Clayton and Elizabeth Dixon. There were a total of 2014 finishers in the race. The club is celebrating 20 years and Elizabeth sent the following report having run this event 20 years ago (she just doesn’t look old enough to have done that).

Twenty years ago The Great Eastern Run had it’s 5^th anniversary. Interestingly as the Harriers celebrate their 20^th anniversary - the winner of the Great Eastern in 1986 was a Bourne man Laurence Reilly, a teacher in Stamford, who finished at 1.06.19. The first woman home was Annette Sinclair from Lincoln who came in 124^th at 1.19.21 and the last one home of the running field of 2819 clocked 4.17.52.I

Ian Thompson (36yrs) the Commonwealth and European runner came 3^rd with 1.07.45 and his wife Margaret (31 yrs) was the second woman home with 1.22.13. The fastest veteran (aged 47) came in at 1.08.32.

Compare this with the 2006 Great Eastern. The winner’s time was 1.04.35; the first woman’s 1.12.58 and the first 50 year old came home in 1.18.23.

Weather conditions were ‘blustery’; a stiff breeze was also mentioned in the newspaper reports.

… And I came in 2176^th with 2.00.47 - but remember in those days the clock started when the gun went so it took a while for some of us to even cross the line!

(Note, older members of the club will remember Ian and Margaret running for the club when they lived here in Bourne.)

Sunday October 8^th, Frostbite 1, St Neots.

Bourne Town Harriers travelled to St Neots for the first round of their 06/07 campaign, feeling very positive after their best ever finish in the senior league of fourth place last season. The Juniors, who have won the Junior title on two occasions in recent years, kicked off first at 10.15 on Sunday 8th October. The sun was shining, the wind had dropped and there was no rain in sight. Leading the juniors in was James Thomas in 20th place overall out of a field of 106. Next for the club was Beth Thomas in 46th, followed by Zoe Ebbs 53rd, Hannah Ledger 58th, Chloe Smithers 82nd, Sian Botteley 96th and Dan Organ 98th completing the line up. These results earnt the team a pleasing 6th place overall out of 12 junior teams on the day. And both Zoe and Hannah were awarded trophies for titles that they had respectively won in the summer, Zoe the junior handicap champion at Thurlby, and Hannah the track & field season champion.

Then at 11am, 384 senior men and women took on their three lapped course. Leading them home in style was in form Mark Botteley in 7th place. Not far behind him was Thomas Honniball 11th. Then came Richard Lomas-Brown 26th, Matt Grace 28th, Tim Wigley 30th, Matt Green 32, Dave Hart 55, Ben Winter 67, Jon Bean 116, Dave Smith 119, Phil Organ 145, Richard Pearson 180, Roland Stevens 202, Paul Leeton 206, Dave Grace 214, Shaun Towell 221, Andy Matthews 229, Louise Swallow 232, Peter Honniball 243, Rachel Williams 259, Craig Wigley 299, Jo Kennerley 326, Malcolm Scriven 335 with Elizabeth Dixon 344 completing a great team performance. This solid start earnt the team 5th place overall out of 15 senior squads, behind Riverside, Ely, Cambridge & Coleridge and course winners Nene Valley.

Sunday September 16^th, Pinchbeck 10K.

Richard Smithers was out in the fens again, this time coming 10th in the West Pinchbeck 10K in 40:12. Paul Leeton, a new club member, also ran the 10K and was delighted to cross the line in 49:35, beating his target time by almost half a minute.

Sunday September 9^th, Grunty Fen and Nottingham Half Marathons

While some of us were enjoying a nice social others members were hard at it. Richard Smithers had hit good form coming back from injury, hot on the heels of running the Nene Valley 5K in 19:18, a personal best, Richard sliced a further minute off his half marathon time at Grunty Fen, finishing in 1:28:52.

On the same hot, sunny Sunday Vaughan Roberts ran in the Robin Hood Half Marathon. Also recovering from recent injury, Vaughan enjoyed the race, overtook people all the way round and finished in 1:26:53.

Monday August 28^th, Grimsthorpe 10K

Our big event of the year, it went brilliantly, record numbers, and we won both the ladies and men’s team prizes, shame it rained when they were being presented. Thanks to everyone that helped that day, a fantastic effort. We had 26 Bourne runners in the 10K and some good junior finishers in the 3K. Overall 66 different clubs were represented from as far away as Jersey, Barrow, Holmfirth, Keswick, Norwich, Redhill and Worksop. Runners from most of the Frostbite teams entered as well. There are some good reports on Runners World, why not add one yourself.

Wednesday August 2^nd, Stamford 5K

On a mercifully cool and damp evening 6 runners from Bourne tackled the tough 2 lap 5K from Danish Invader in Stamford. With no results available anywhere at present all I can say is that Adam Hilless, Matt Green, Jon Bean, Richard Smithers and Des Adey all finished ahead Richard Pearson.

Sunday 23^rd July, St. Ives 10k.

The weather was very hot with a slight breeze on the way out to the turning point on RAF Wyton's taxi-ways but dead calm on the way back - moisture sapping. There were three Bourne runners - Vaughan Roberts, 25th in 38.54, Shaun Towell, 219th in 49.55 and Malcolm Scriven, 376th in 59.08. A total of 501 runners completed the course.

Thursday 6^th July, Whissendine 6M.

Condition, Hot.

On a hot evening in Rutland 9 clubs members braved the hills round Whissendine, a tough but very enjoyable event. Richard Lomas Brown lead the team home, followed by Dave Smith, Des Adey, Richard Pearson, (Peter Swallow, not yet a member but it can’t be long), Roland Stevens, Louise Swallow, Ayla Smith, Lisa Richardson and Malcolm Scriven. After such a gruelling event some re-hydration was necessary and the Sun Inn at Cottesmore provided some welcoming refreshment, (cheers Roland, buy you 1 next time).

Sunday 2^nd July 2006, Thurlby 10K, The Club Championships.

Condition, Very Hot.

The club championships were held at Thurlby as usual, it’s always hot for this event, even when it rains the rain is hot, but this year it was dry and blisteringly hot which affected most of the runners. The junior championship was held in the fun run and won by James Thomas who ran exceptionally well to finish second overall, Abbi Christen was first girl home in 7^th place, closely followed by Zoe Ebbs in 8^th, who won the junior handicap event.

In the senior event 17 club members toiled in the heat, Mark Botteley was 3^rd, Vaughan Roberts 5^th and Adam Hilless 6^th, so these 3 picked up the team prize, whilst Vaughan was 1^st vet as well. Mark was deservedly the club champion after a fantastic effort in the heat, and Lisa Richardson picked up the senior handicap prize.