Harrogate & District Summer Road League 2011

The Harrogate Road League is a series of 10k (ish) road races in and around North/West Yorkshire, even though the final (fantastic) handicap round is predominantly off road.

1st Race Thursday 5th May at Thirsk & Sowerby Harriers

Hello Dragons, I hope everyone is feeling as good as me on the back of a superb HDSRL evening at Thirsk.
It was absolutely fantastic to see so many enthusiastic Dragons make the effort to travel the long, wet and seemingly endless journey to Thirsk.
The buzz from our team was great and it was so nice to see old and new dragons revving up on the start line for a fun night of racing. 
The smiles did disappear for a few moments towards the end of the tough, scenic (the A1 is beautiful at sunset) 6 mile course, with plenty of uneven fields to SAP our leg strength. But we survived, and not only did we survive, we came home with great memories, our tummies full of pork pies and some great notable achievements.
I think it is time the ‘beginners’ were referred to as fully fledged runners having now proved themselves on a recent Speight of tough courses, well done Mark, Jane, Sarah and Alison, I am sure you will all move up the rankings as the weeks progress.
Well done to some of our newest Dragons, Jane T – 9th F Dragon, Helen 7th F Dragon, Gemma 4th  F Dragon, Olivia 3rd F Dragon and Gale 1st F Dragon, great performances.
Well done to Claire Pierce who was 1st FV55 home (you’re in the prizes –how great is that to come 1st?) – Viv 14th FV45, Arlene 16th FV45 –Super Well done to Adela who with a bad cold still managed 2nd Female Dragon and a 4th place FV50.
Well done to Jo and Carron for putting up with Garry C for 6 miles and well done to Garry for turning up ahead of a tough marathon. I think the battle of the evening was won in the final few meters by the speedy Mr Denby; Gary W is out sprint training as we speak in preparation for revenge at Harrogate J
Super well done to our Guest runners Marc Teasey and Dean Dransfield; Marc was only 14 places from winning the race outright and 3rd V40 and Dean put in a sterling performance for an 11th V40 placing. Well done Mr Balshaw our very own elite who was only 18 places from winning outright and a 4th V40 place and still recovering from his marathon exploits...... I think we might finish quite high up in the Males V40 Category!!!
Thanks to our supporters who braved the rain; Andie, Ed and Halina and to Richard W help in the organisation - and a great run too, last but certainly not least well done Mr Tony Rogan – a solid performance!

Tim

2nd Race Thursday 26th May 2011 at Harrogate Harriers & AC

Hey there Dragons
Hopefully we are all refreshed and injury free from our mid week running extravaganza. So how cool was the race at Harrogate? 24 roaring Dragons, a whole bunch of Dragons supporters and some truly sterling performances. I think it‘s safe to say that we are raising a few smiles amongst the league for all the right reasons. It’s also fair and safe to say that some clubs might be feeling a little red faced right now, and certainly if we maintain our current league position - The other clubs are quite literally shaking in their boots as we sit proudly above them. In fact, we are storming ahead in all categories; not only are we whizzing around the course at speeds never seen in the Dragons Green, we are truly showing the league what a great spirited club we are. Let’s keep it up Dragons and show our force in the races to come.  
For those who have not run the Harrogate race previously, apologies if I described the run as a fast, flat, downhill course, perfect for easy summer running; and if you have run it before then not only are you a gluten for punishment, but you will know what a tough uphill challenge this course presents; with near traffic free country roads and scenic Yorkshire countryside; I think the hills and undulation merely added flavour to a super nights racing.
And race we did Dragons with Victories left right and centre, and as our celebrity status increases, so does the calibre of our celebrities; A warm welcome to our latest recruit and congratulations to James Kovacs on an inspirational 3rd place (yes that’s 3rd place) James would of won, but we advised him to hold back; third seemed more appropriate for a 1st attempt! Well done to Marc and Richard 15th and 19th respectively with Marc 3nd V40 and Richard 5th V40 – Super Run Chaps, leaving us with three Dragons in the Top 20. Well done to the very talented Mr Tim Bellwood who came 38th, he is definitely one to watch in 2011!! Well done Dean D 16th V40 (Great running Dean!) and once again another impressive speedy performance from Iain Denby who raced in as 10th V50 – And what can you say about Kevin O who has battled and is still battling injuries, but made a clear statement with a 3rd place V65, 2nd V60, 6th V55 and 11th V50 – That aint too shabby Kevin! Well done Gary W who dragged himself around with a bad cold, but still turned out a top 30 V45 placing – We look forward to you getting back to form with a run-off with Iain D soon! Well done to Dave and Amanda; Amanda 1st F Dragon, (more sprint training Amanda and you’ll take Dave next time! ) Another Super run by Gemma who jumped up the table by over thirty places to post a super 10k time and 2nd F Dragon. 3rd and 4th F Dragon was Vivienne and Arlene who stormed in with a super 10k times on this tough hilly course and 12th, 13th V45 respectively - Good work ladies! Well done again Olivia F, 5th F Dragon and steadily climbing up the table. Tony breezed around the course, although Tony, I’m not sure if you over-used precious energy in the photo shoot?? And a super well done to Simon Brown, it was great to see you out on Thursday! Oh and well done to our very own Champion Clare Pierce, 2 wins out of 2, and now hot favourite for the FV55 Yorkshire title. And over to our other Super Vet/Women -  Andie W who came home in second place FV60, not bad after a few weeks of non running! Very closely following Andie was Jane H who stormed home in 8th place FV50. Great work Rachel and Susan, welcome to HRL 2011 and super running!  A triple super well done to Alison, Sarah and Jane who are progressing amazingly well and never seemingly shying away from these challenging runs.
And finally thanks ever so much to everyone who braved the rain and supported us adventurous Dragons storm Harrogate HDSRL 2011, and pat yourself on the back if you have made it to this point in the email, your marathon training has paid off!!
Ok Dragons, Next Race HDSRL Richmond – Details to follow very shortly.
Once again thanks to everyone who made it a very fun, eventful and memorable evening. The post race food was fab and the banter hilarious. Let’s keep up the summer fun running and see you all soon.

Tim

3rd Race Thursday 2nd June at Richmond & Zetland Harriers

Thursday 2nd June saw the 3rd Harrogate & District Race League held at Catterick Garrison Running track, we had a very depleted squad of a mere 7 runners out of 192 participants, to be fair the actual race was down in numbers by 80 or so.  Maybe this was due to the warm air -b-b-q climate that was off putting, or the fact you had over an hours journey across the A1 (which was relatively quiet) or that fact you wanted to miss this tough 6.2 mile course.
From Catterick's very own running track the race commenced, for the next 2 miles you had a hectic  yoyo situation of up and down hills, with miles 3 to 6 with longer stretches of flat, uphill and downhill challenges .... and as someone kindly informed us from Richmond & Zetland Harriers, what goes up must come down. The 6.2 mile cousre was very challening and added a few more minutes on to previous races times not just with distance alone, but for once  the sun finally played it's part.  The cousre itself after passing the military training area (where we were firmly advised, not to handle any unidentifiable objects which my be hanging around ..... (sorry but too tired out to do any of that) and then country roads, which I must say 100% of the time were traffic free and finally ending on the race track, with only a few muted cries of welcome from the Dragons team.

Well done to Richard Balshaw on his return as 1st Dragon, overall position 16th, followed by a challenged Dean Dransfiled on 59th, a very tired Gary Waite on 113th, a happy and ever achieving Tony Rogan on 159th, a poorly Richard Wysocki on 167th who's still full of cold,  our first Dragon Lady home Susan Carey (who will never forget that honour) on 183rd and finally a happy Rachel Rogan who was  still thinking about 'divorce proceedings' when crossing the finishing line at 191st.

A special mention must be made too Tony & Rachel Rogan who decided (mainly Tony I think) to race the night on their 11th Wedding anniversary - congratulations to you both from all at Dragons Running Club.


Finally our next race, is just next door in Otley -  on Tuesday 21st of June, your team Captain's Tim & Amanda look forward to a large turnout from our fellow Dragon Runners.  For regular and new runners alike, you should be aware this is a new course,  2 laps that's just under 6 miles and is down as mostly a level course ...... so you can forget about that nightmare hill used on previous Otley races.

See you there ....

4th Race Tuesday 21st June at Otley AC

Well, what a fabulous evening we had on Tuesday!
25 Dragons turned out to race and as usual we had a noisy following of travelling fans to wish us well. It’s also great to receive feedback from other clubs on how well turned out and well supported the Dragons club is. It was also interesting to hear everybody’s account on how the Otley race faired up to previous years and how tough we all found this year’s flat course. I have really enjoyed seeing us all come together on these mid-week  race evenings, and full credit to everyone for turning out, especially as most of us Dragons don’t really like the short snappy races, so thanks and well done for making the effort! Once again though I think our super Vets stole the show.
Even better this week was to see more new faces to HDSRL 2011 and some sterling individual performances starting with Mr Balshaw who led Dragons home; I did try to keep up Richard, but you got away!! Well in there with 3rd place, Dean D who has raced all the HDSRL 2011runs and performed superbly in all! Next in was Christian ‘The lightning’ Lewis who bolted home in a pair of blue swimming trunks to finish 4th Dragon homeJ. Well done to Simon and Gary who raced it out for 5th and 6th place and cheers once again to Gary for taking on the role of Club Photographer. Other Dragon battles were between Ultra runner Garry C and Amanda; Garry’s endurance proving too good for Amanda, resulting in Garry storming ahead and Amanda taking 1st F dragon place home, so well done you! Great running by Gayle to take 2nd D lady home followed closely by Halina in 3rd – Great running ladies! Well done Tony for your super race and also flying the flag in all of this year’s HDSRL races. Great running by Olivia and Gemma who are both storming ahead in this years HDSRL series and improving with every race. And.... what can you say about Clare Pierce..... Coming home as 1st place f V55.... again – three times in a row – you will be a series champion in just a few weeks Clare! Great running Viv and Arlene turning out super performance and always with big smiles! Welcome Mel to this year HDSRL, great run and look forward to seeing you at Wetherby. Well done Celia, 8th place V50 and next in was Super Andie with a 1st Place V60 finish, absolutely storming! Welcome Helen B to HDSRL 2011 and super well done, let’s get John B out for Wetherby! Well done Susan and Rachael, great times, great running, big smiles and well done for consistently turning out! Oh and Jane - Otley AC have been in touch and confirmed that you have officially broken the 50mtr dash record; no-one has ever run that fast across Otley Cricket club before! Well done, great running! And can I say how great it is to see you, Alison and  Jane, turning out and giving it your best in these competitive races, especially in your first season of running – you really are a credit to the club! In fact everybody is!

Well Dragons it doesn’t end in Otley because we now need to start limbering up for Wetherby, oh yes! Just five more days to go and we will be off again! So Lets scrape the mud off our trainers, reduce our alcohol intake over this weekend (just a little) and carb up on good quality pizzas to ensure our turbos’ are fully charged. This is the last race in the series before the Handicap, so is a great opportunity for us to all get out and show these clubs that Dragons is a true force to be reckoned with. So let’s do it Dragons, 4.7 m miles of undulating countryside running fun. We have some of our Super Vets in the running for championship prizes, so can we at least make sure we are out in force to support and cheer on our comrades in our final battle.
So here are the details;
Tim

WE WILL BE MEETING AT THE CLUB AT 6.20 AND LEAVING NO LATER THAN 6:30. LET’S TRY, AS USUAL TO TRAVEL IN CONVOY

5th Race Wednesday 29th June at Sicklinghall

Norman Smith Handicap Thursday 14th July

Hey There dragons

Yes! It’s me again!

Sorry for the Mid-day work intrusion but I thought it important to deliver the roundup of last week’s running extravaganza in Ripon.  Once again we had a healthy turnout of 18 Dragons and a roaring crowd line up for one final HRL battle. And once again there were more sterling performances. It’s a funny old race the handicap as many of you will agree, the concept of  chasing and being chased, produces a fairly unusual running experience and in the case of Ripon we all enjoyed five miles of scenic trail running; a fitting end to a great series.

As highlighted in previous reports; our Super Vets really have stolen the show this year and without doubt the glistening performances of Clare Pierce and Andie Willibond, with Claire officially winning the FV55 and making the overall league TOP 100 out of over 400 runners is a blinding achievement; and let’s not forget Mr Balshaw who has consistently delivered super results and is crowned fastest dragon and 14th overall.

So for this week’s race we saw some extraordinary performances and a total of three dragons make the top ten (yes top ten) with Garry C sprint finishing into tenth spot closely followed by Andie with myself propping up the table in last
(I'll have to try harder next time)

Tim