This week's web report concentrates on the start of the Track and Field season with the annual Spring Open at Yeovil giving all the opportunity to get their season underway, achieve good marks, and maybe catch the eye of our Team managers at Yeovil Olympiads.
We also have a brief report from the Shapwick multi-Terrain race held on Easter Monday which saw a small group of senior Harriers racing to gain their Cider!
See also the last call for pre-entries to the Harrier supported Butleigh10k multi-terrain race and an announcement on the entry procedures for the Somerset County Track & Field Championships to be held next month.
Outdoor Track & Field Season starts
There was some great track & field action over the Easter weekend by the Harrier junior members that attend our Monday evening training sessions at the MIllfield track. Once again our partner Club, Yeovil Olympiads, hosted the Spring Open on Easter Saturday and Easter Monday, and as usual it was very well organised. There were inevitably a good number of our Olympiad team mates taking part but this report concentrates on the Harrier side of the Club.
From our Monday group we had 15 junior Harriers competing, with a sprinkling of older juniors and seniors also there. One or two of the juniors tried different events but all achieved new season marks to try and improve on in the weeks ahead. Due to the poor weather during March the Monday coaches have had little opportunity to coach some of the Field events so well done to the juniors who gave these events a go despite the lack of practise. There's definitely some multi-eventers in the Harrier group. Below u11 Aneri Tanna won the u11 Quadkids event - 75m sprint; 600m race; Long Jump; & Turbo-jav.
A few managed to achieve big personal bests. The Monday Middle Distance group are working hard towards achieving their potential by the end of the season. The Sprints group are thinking about their starts & pick up. The Horizontal Jumpers hope to get more practise once the Long Jump beds at Millfield School are re-freshed!
Saturday 30th March 2024
100m:
u17 Lara Cook 13.99
u15 Elspeth Perkins 14.74
u17 Amelie Cook 16.04
u15 Dominic Cook 17.31
u11 Milo Cook 17.90
800m:
u15 Oskar Beck 2.11
SM Laurence Badman 2.16
u15 Dominic Cook 3.05
u11 Milo Cook 3.21
1500m s/ch:
u17 Amelie Cook 6.09
High Jump:
u15 Elspeth Perkins 1.15m
Shot Put 3kg
u15 Elspeth Perkins 7.22m
(Below: Harrison having a go at the Long Jump)
Monday 1st April 2024
75m:
u11 Rowan Kelly 11.69
u11 Aneri Tnna 12.64
u11 Florence Perkins 12.65
u11 Alfie Beck 13.01
u11 Milo Cook 13.05
100m:
u17 Lara Cook 13.82
u15 Elspeth Perkins 14.43
u13 Harrison Skuse 14.99
200m:
u17 Lara Cook 28.92
u15 Elspeth Perkins 29.62
300m:
u17 Amelie Cook 48.84
600m:
u11 Rowan Kelly 2.03
u11 Aneri Tanna 2.13
u11 Alfie Beck 2.15
u11 Florence Perkins 2.19
u11 Milo Cook 2.28
800m:
u13 Toby Hirst 2.34
u15 Jack Barker 2.35
u13 Ruby Shaw 2.41
1500m:
u15 Oskar Beck 4.37
u20 Jack Harvey 4.38
SM Lawrence Badman 4.44
u17 Amelie Cook 5.27
u15 Dominic Cook 6.01
3000m:
u17 Tom Webb 8.39
SM Alex Coombs 9.31
u15 Addie Butcher 11.00
Long Jump
u13 Harrison Skuse 3.62m
u11 Rowan Kelly 3.04m
u11 Aneri Tanna 2.99m
u11 Milo Cook 2.47m
u11 Florence Perkins 2.31m
Turbo Javelin/Howler
u11 Aneri Tanna 21.18m
u11 Florence Perkins 10.83m
u11 Milo Cook 10.08m
(Below: Oskar Beck running a pb in the 800m)
EARLY NOTICE: Somerset County Track & Field Championships, Yeovil, weekend of May 11 & 12. Entries are now open for these Championships -minimum age 9; Enter early to ensure you get on the start list! See here
Links for the Southern Championships and South-West Championships will appear when available on the Track & Field webpage here. Also see the information about the South West League & National League and contact YOAC Team managers as early as you can to express an interest in competing and the dates you are available for.
Any senior Harrier or parent of a junior Harrier who can help Team manage or help at these Track & Field matches, or at the end of the month Yeovil Opens (last Thursday of the month May-August) should contact YOAC to offer help.
Shapwick Easter Bunny Hop 7.5m multi-terrain - Monday 1st April
Organised this year by the Shapwick Runners in conjunction with the Street Striders, this well organised event offered a little bit of mud, flat sections, and a few hills for the sell-out entry of 150 runners all desperate to get their hands on the Bunny Hop Cider (as made by our friends at Hecks).
Well done to the 7 Harriers who toed the start line and finished: 19th Andrew Piper 59.01; 54th Mark Pople 68.40; 75th Kim Clark 76.28; 80th Paul Chadwick 80.31; 107th Chris Clark 88.23 (1st V70); 116th Karen Shears 90.28
(Below - Paul on the Shapwick run as the Race Adjudicator - if any senior Harrier would like to take on a voluntary role of race Adjudicator please talk to me, there is a growing shortage of folk who like to race and volunteer at the same time!)
Coming Up:
Harrier supported Butleigh 10km multi-terrain race - last call for online entries here (entries also available on the day).
Yeovilton 5km Series starts next Wednesday 10th April (7.15pm start).
Somerset Race Series - support the local Athletic & Running Clubs in Somerset who organise races - see the Series website here for latest on the Series
MEMBERSHIP UPDATE - Existing members will soon receive an email for them to pay for their 2024/25 Memberships using the online link.
We are advised by England Athletics that due to the volume of payments currently being requested and paid that there may be some delays. Anyone now wishing to resign membership, or change their status from 2nd Claim to 1st Claim should contact the Membership Secretary. Current membership as of 1st April stands at 220 members of all ages from 8 to 80. All membership payments online please...
New Members are welcome to complete the new members form, and submit it for processing. Full information about what you are signing up to, and the costs, appears on the dedicated webpage here.
& Finally, below, Oskar Beck sees his name on the Yeovil Record Board for breaking the u13 800m Club record time - well done Oskar!
