Last Sunday, in glorious sunshine, 4 Preston Harriers put themselves up against their local club rivals at the second staging of the Run the Lanes 10 miler, taking in a 2 lap course around the undulating roads of Lea Town. Rob Affleck and David Rigby really put it on the line right from the starting gun by leading it out over the early miles. The racing spirit between them was clearly evident with the lead continually changing due to Rigby pushing hard in an attempt to dominate proceedings. Affleck’s consistent pacing however paid dividends as he surmounted Rigby’s gutsy challenge to take outright victory in a PB and course record time of 53.35 with Rigby storming the line in 53.42.  A resurgent Neil Mc Donald found the closing stages difficult and had to dig deep to maintain his cadence which was rewarded with 1st MV45 and 10th overall in 61.59. Next in was Peter Cowling who put in a sterling effort with 67.09 to ensure a Preston Harrier team victory over their local rivals, Wesham Road Runners, by just 4 points.

Preston Harriers’ Jason Parker had a real tussle over the 5k course at the Catforth Canter last Saturday. Parker pushed the eventual winner, Daniel Ashworth of Edinburgh University, all the way to the line in a creditable 16.48 for 2nd place. Next to storm the line was David Watson in 17.27  and 4th place overall, and he was followed in by Andrew Duffy in 19.56 to complete the Preston Harrier entry.

As the Track and Field season reaches its busiest period, Preston Harriers had both the younger under 15 and under 13 team competing at Doncaster and the older age groups (under 20 and under 17) making the trip to Manchester. Both teams are in the top northern leagues and finding the competition very strong.

A 4th position for the younger age group at Doncaster was an improvement on the previous match. Edward Jean’s impressive throw of 45.06 metres won the under 15 Boys Hammer and he followed it with a winning discus throw of 35.38 metres. Jordan Cooper’s throw of 22.00 metres won the ‘B’ Hammer competition. There was another double success in the 800 metres under 15 boys  event with an impressive run from Paul Blezard recording 2.06.5 in the ‘A’ Event and Andrew Moffatt 2.13.6 in the ‘B’. In the under 13s Tom Bebbington is developing into a very promising thrower, putting the Shot 9.94 metres, a personal best which ranks him 7th in the country. He also won the Javelin with 24.72 metres. Debutant William Lancaster won both ‘B’ events in the Shot and Long Jump to show his all round ability. Dependable Harvey Noble won the ‘B’ Javelin.

Preston Harriers’ Star Track, a 3 day introduction to Athletics, was a resounding success. Over 30 youngsters from the age of 7 to 10 years old were introduced to the same events that Olympic Champion Jessica Ennis competed in when she won her Heptathlon gold medal  last year. Nine coaches were on hand to inspire the stars of tomorrow and youngsters came from Chorley, Lytham and the area around Preston. Parents of the participants commented that the event was an experience that the youngsters thoroughly enjoyed.

Bank Holiday Monday saw 4 Proud Preston Harriers take to the streets of London for the Bupa 10km road race, starting outside Buckingham Palace. In glorious sunshine David Rigby got a flying start amongst the top tier of athletes to establish a strong cadence and dispatch some of the country’s best club runners,  placing 36^th overall with a season’s best time in 31.56. Negotiating the masses, David Watson didn’t have a clear run but concentrated on the task in hand to attain a creditable 37.05 with Neil Mc Donald next in with 39.11 to build on his Lancaster Marathon training.  Mick Brennand enjoyed his capital experience to cross the line in 42.34.

Thanks to Graham Vickers last Wednesday (22 May) saw the Fishwick 5 mile race take place around the challenging but very scenic footpaths near the River Ribble. Numbers were low but the high spirit of competition was very evident with Robert Affleck tapping into his rich vein of consistent form to take outright victory in 27.51. Next in for Preston Harriers was Jason Parker who came under pressure from Karl Lee, (Wesham Road Runners), but was strong enough to hold him off to claim 2nd overall in 29.16. Felicity Cross completed the course in a creditable 42.53 1st FV55 and was followed in by Phil Lakeland with 43.30 to complete the Preston Harriers team.

After his stunning performance at the  Master Relays the previous day, Rob Affleck proved that his present strong form is certainly consistent with an emphatic victory at the Worden Park 10K last Sunday in33.34, 2 minutes clear of his nearest rival. Strong runs were also seen from Paul Lightfoot 37.47, David Watson 38.36, Peter Cowling 40.28, Kevin Curran 40.54, Stephen Needham 41.24, Kingsley Judd 41.30, Stephen Mort 43.50, Graham Bailey 44.11 and the ever youthful Maureen Whitman 68.16 to complete the Preston Harrier entry.

Preston Harriers teamed up with Bowkers to stage the inaugural under 12s Medal Meeting which saw over 100 athletes from the Preston District compete for medals in 32 events. The  weather conditions couldn’t dampen the athletes’ spirits with many athletes winning multiple medals.

Three were triple Gold medallists: Tom Durney and Ellie Lewis, both 9 years old,  and 10-year-old Liam Blackwell. They all won their respective events in the 80 metres, 600 metres and Long Jump. In the youngest (8 years old) age group, 8 different athletes won the gold medals in the 8 events. They were Jason Jackson, Charlie Lochhead, Conor Kyriakou, George Lowe, Kayleigh Welfare, Molly Parkinson, Imogen Blackwell and Rebecca Swann.

FULL RESULTS HERE

The event was staged to cater for the demand that Harriers have had since the London Olympics. Harriers still has a long waiting list for the under 11 age group. A second event, Star Track, which is for any youngsters who are not club members happens on May 28th, 29th and 30th at the UCLan Sports Arena. A few places are available. Details from Bob Welfare at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   or phone 01772 653926.

Last Saturday a determined Preston Harrier contingency challenged the best of the country’s  masters athletes. 8 legs of 3 miles saw David Watson take on the mass leg 1 start which proved physically brutal with everyone hustling for a dominant early position.
This resulted with Watson hitting the ground hard, knocking the wind out of him and being covered in Sutton Park’s earth. Strong-spirited Watson showed his true grit, got straight up and  got stuck into it to hand over in 41st overall in 17.38 to Stephen Smith.
Stalwart Smith proved yet again what a strong athlete he is by gaining 12 places overall with  a leg time of 16.36 to hand over to a resilient Jason Parker who maintained the Preston Harrier momentum to gain a further 8 places with 16.38, in 16th MV 35 place.