A fab turnout from GVH at the St Albans Summer Solstice 10k on 21 Jun, which was the GVH club league race for June. Runners were rewarded with an excellent medal and a BBQ after their 10k performances.
St Albans has been the focal point of the longest day of the year for the last few years as it holds its annual Summer Solstice 10k and on Friday Harriers went in huge numbers to beat the sunset on a route which largely follows the Alban Way – a disused railway line that goes from the ancient city’s suburbs towards Hatfield.
Anthony James kept his fine recent form on track, after the previous weekend’s half marathon win, by being first club athlete to cross the line – and sixth overall – steaming round in 37:04, followed three places later by Al Flowers (37:52) who finished just ahead of Jon Roberts (37:58) to make it three Harriers in the top ten.
Chris Dowling (38:31) and Simon Geary (38:34) both picked up personal bests (PB) ahead of Antony Beamish (39:14) and Michael Linden (39:13) – who also managed a PB – and Anthony Willcox (39:35). Bill Hawes (39:35) was first Male Vet over 50 (MV50) and wrapped up an impressive sub-40 field from the club, meaning nine Harriers finished in the top 26.
David Goodman (40:08) held off Gareth Tucker (40:46), Andy Cook (40:45), Ross Deacon (41:04) and Phil Mercer (41:28) who all collected PBs.
Lisa Newing (42:17) was second FV35 – and fourth overall lady – ahead of Teresa Reason (42:46) and Edward Price (42:53) who was running for the first time after a long injury lay-off. Kathleen Smith (43:28) was eighth overall lady but third in her age category, with Gwyn Pritchard (43:45) crossing the line one place ahead of Lozza-tm Sharma-Smith (43:47) who made it four GVH ladies in the top ten and Andrew Watt (45:52), Tracey Cotton (47:05), Victoria Crawley Wise (48:29) and Sam Raffety (49:47) all put in great performances.
Kirstie Hardiman (50:42), Kim Morgan (51:01), Mel Hardy (51:07) and Andrew Terry (51:15) all finished within about 30 seconds of each other, and Helen Cook (51:25) picked up a PB in what was her second race in three days. Isabel Wilson (52:02) and Bethan Heaton (53:05) crossed the line ahead of Mary McCluskey (53:48) who nabbed a PB.
Angeline Cottrill (54:55) ran despite picking up a chest infection in the days leading up to the race, and finished ahead of Joanna Kidd (55:54), David Wilson (56:40) and Helen Terry (56:44). Leona Flaherty (Teresa Maryland) (57:23) was another club athlete racing for the second time in three days and was the penultimate member to cross the line in under an hour, ahead of Thomas Colligan (59:42), with Paula Cook (1:00:00) just missing out.
Gemma Tucker (1:02:11), Claire Pellett (1:03:45), Lisa Pinder (1:04:53), Paul Mosley (1:09:07) and Peter Tucker (1:12:17) completed the line-up.
Results as follows:
| Pos | Name | Net Time | Category | Cat Pos | Gender | Gen Pos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Anthony James | 00:37:04 | M40 | 4 | Male | 6 |
| 9 | Alistair Flowers | 00:37:52 | Senior | 5 | Male | 9 |
| 10 | Jonathan Roberts | 00:37:58 | M40 | 5 | Male | 10 |
| 14 | Chris Dowling | 00:38:31 | M40 | 6 | Male | 13 |
| 15 | Simon Geary | 00:38:34 | M40 | 7 | Male | 14 |
| 20 | Antony Beamish | 00:39:14 | M40 | 9 | Male | 18 |
| 21 | michael linden | 00:39:13 | M40 | 10 | Male | 19 |
| 24 | Anthony Willcox | 00:39:35 | Senior | 11 | Male | 22 |
| 26 | Bill Hawes | 00:39:35 | M50 | 1 | Male | 24 |
| 31 | David Goodman | 00:40:08 | M40 | 14 | Male | 29 |
| 36 | Gareth Tucker | 00:40:46 | M40 | 16 | Male | 33 |
| 37 | Andrew Cook | 00:40:45 | M50 | 5 | Male | 34 |
| 43 | Ross Deacon | 00:41:04 | M40 | 20 | Male | 40 |
| 45 | Phil Mercer | 00:41:28 | M40 | 21 | Male | 42 |
| 52 | Lisa Newing | 00:42:17 | W35 | 2 | Female | 4 |
| 60 | Theresa Reason | 00:42:46 | W35 | 4 | Female | 7 |
| 61 | Edward Price | 00:42:53 | M40 | 24 | Male | 54 |
| 67 | Kathleen Smith | 00:43:28 | Lady | 3 | Female | 8 |
| 71 | Gwyn Pritchard | 00:43:45 | Senior | 25 | Male | 63 |
| 72 | Laura Sharma-Smith | 00:43:47 | Lady | 4 | Female | 9 |
| 100 | Andrew Watt | 00:45:52 | M40 | 39 | Male | 86 |
| 119 | Tracey Cotton | 00:47:05 | W35 | 11 | Female | 23 |
| 149 | Victoria Crawley-Wise | 00:48:29 | W35 | 14 | Female | 29 |
| 179 | Samantha Raffety | 00:49:47 | W35 | 17 | Female | 40 |
| 194 | Kirstie Hardiman | 00:50:42 | W35 | 22 | Female | 48 |
| 203 | Kim Morgan | 00:51:01 | W35 | 23 | Female | 55 |
| 213 | Mel Hardy | 00:51:07 | Lady | 25 | Female | 61 |
| 217 | Andrew Terry | 00:51:15 | Senior | 56 | Male | 155 |
| 218 | Helen Cook | 00:51:25 | W45 | 11 | Female | 63 |
| 232 | isabel wilson | 00:52:02 | W55 | 3 | Female | 70 |
| 252 | Bethan Heaton | 00:53:05 | Lady | 31 | Female | 83 |
| 270 | Mary McCluskey | 00:53:48 | Lady | 35 | Female | 93 |
| 294 | Angeline Cottrill | 00:54:55 | W35 | 40 | Female | 108 |
| 305 | Joanna Kidd | 00:55:54 | W35 | 41 | Female | 114 |
| 311 | David Wilson | 00:56:40 | M40 | 78 | Male | 195 |
| 324 | Helen Terry | 00:56:44 | W35 | 42 | Female | 127 |
| 337 | LEONA FLAHERTY | 00:57:23 | W45 | 34 | Female | 136 |
| 375 | Thomas Colligan | 00:59:42 | M60 | 11 | Male | 216 |
| 382 | PAULA COOK | 01:00:00 | W55 | 9 | Female | 164 |
| 416 | Gemma Tucker | 01:02:11 | Lady | 62 | Female | 193 |
| 432 | Claire Pellett | 01:03:45 | Lady | 65 | Female | 207 |
| 455 | Lisa Pinder | 01:04:53 | W45 | 63 | Female | 226 |
| 501 | Paul Mosley | 01:09:07 | M60 | 15 | Male | 243 |
| 517 | Peter Tucker | 01:12:17 | M60 | 16 | Male | 248 |