Simon Shiels was among the 12 men and 5 ladies who travelled to Flint to take part in the first round of the Borders Road Running League. Simon came home second in an excellent time of 27mins 55secs over the 5.1 mile course. Second Harrier, just back from injury, was John Earlston in 30mins 17secs and ninth position. Darren Blazier (31.33, 18th), Sean Mc Cormack (31.41, 21^st), Simon Jones (32.51, 51^st) and Grahame Shone (33.07, 56th) were all close behind, but pride of place on the day went to Ed Reid (34.23, 70th) and Mike Powell (35.55, 100th) both of whom had run the Penmaenmawr 11mile fell race the day before but still managed to turn out for the club’s league match the following day. Between them was Roy Evans (35.34, 95th), with Garry Tann (38.03, 133^rd), John Essery (39.16, 153^rd) and Stevie Ward (43.35, 189th), giving the men an overall score of 555, their best ever, and a very good start to the season. The ladies made their debut in the first division, lead home by Kristy Stephenson in 36.04, with Hillary Roderick (37.02), Michelle Jones (37.37), Eleri Bacon (41.30) and Anna Jones (43.15) completing a very solid first division performance.

Men’s Results;

Total points;555

Ladies Results;  

Total points; 53

Team Results

Round 2 Borders League

Wrecsam Tri (Mold), 30/11/2003 .  

Despite the fact that Number One Runner Simon Shiels was on representative duty for Wales , Abergele Harriers still managed to take their biggest team ever to Mold for the second round of the Borders Road Running league held by Wrecsam Tri. The team of 15 men and 5 ladies competed gallantly to maintain pole position in their respective leagues. For the ladies, Border League debutant, Anna Phillips lead home in an outstanding 32 minutes 27 seconds, 4th lady overall, an extremely respectable time for the difficult 5 mile course. Not far behind, also running excellently, was Kristy Stephenson in 33mins 6secs. Third lady home was Michelle Jones in 34.42, followed closely by Judith Jones in 36.54, and Pam Grant completing the team in 38.51. The men were lead home proudly by John Earlston, whose time of 27 minutes 36 seconds, earning him 9th position  overall. Not far behind was team captain Darren Blazier in 28.30 (19th) pushed all the way by Sean Mc Cormack in 28.55 (28th). Richie Lee (50th), Ed Reid (51^st) and Simon Jones (57th) had an intense battle all the way round with all three managing to come in under 30minutes. Hot on their heels was Grahame Shone in 30.34 earning him 64th position. The team was completed by Mike Hobday (31:52, 95th), Roy Evans (34:03, 127th), Garry Tann (34:13, 130th), Dylan Parry (35:20, 150), Mike Nolan (36:17, 164th), John Essery (36:34, 167th), Alan Lucas (36:38, 168th) and Stevie Ward (40:37, 208th), giving them a total of 630 points and extending their lead at the top of the second division.

Men’s Results;  

Total points;630  

Ladies Results;  

Total points; 40

Team Results
Individual Results
Photos

Round 3 Borders League

Wrecsam Tri (Mold), 30/11/2003 .  

While 2 Harriers travelled to Cardiff for North Wales Cross Country Representative duty, a very strong team of 13 men and 5 women travelled to Tattenhall for the 3^rd round of the Borders Road Running League. Simon Shiels, male Harrier of the Year, ran an outstanding ran an outstanding race in Tattenhall to win his first Border League race for the Harriers in a time of 31minutes 52 seconds, a time that had him home almost 2 minutes before the second placed runner. Also running brilliantly was John Earlston who had his highest finish to date coming home in 34mins 20 seconds to clinch 4^th position overall. Ever improving Richie Lee was next home in his best Border League position for a number of years, in 29^th position (36.49), with Ed Reid just behind in 33^rd (36.56). Another huge improver on the day was Mike Powell 40minutes exactly earned him 79^th position overall. Other times for the men, Darren Blazier 37.16 (36^th), Simon Jones 37.40 (43^rd), Roy Evans 40.18 (88^th), Mike Hobday 40.20 (89^th), Gary Tann 42.44 (124^th), Dylan Parry 43.20 (129^th), Mike Nolan 45.08 (156^th) and ever-present John Essery 46.14 ( 162^nd).      The man’s score of 526, their best ever, stretched their lead at the top of the second division to over 800 points. Meanwhile the ladies stretched their lead at the top of the first division to 26 points with tremendous performances all round. First home was Anna Phillips, 4^th lady overall, running a superb time of 40mins 29secs, with Kristy Stephenson, second in her age category, in 42.10. Third lady was Abergele Female Harrier of the Year, Michelle Jones with an excellent 43.55 (9^th). Hillary Roderick in 44.14 (11^th) and Judith Jones 44.38 (12^th) completed an outstanding team performance to consolidate their dominance of the ladies first division.

Men’s Results;  

Total points;526

Ladies Results;  

Total points; 30

Round 4 Borders League

Wallasey (Birkenhead), 8/2/2004 .  

A 17 strong team of Abergele Harriers travelled to Birkenhead Park for the 4^th round of the Borders Road Running League and, despite very windy conditions, the Harriers produced the overall winner, 3 personal bests, and both ladies and men’s teams  stretching their leads at the top of their respective divisions. First home, with almost a minute and a half to spare, was the in-form Simon Shiels in 25mins 52secs. Over the measured 5 miles course, John Earlston was next Harrier in a personal best time of 27 minutes 43 seconds and 6^th position overall. This resulted in Simon now heading the senior male overall positions and John Earlston the MV40 section. Third home was Sean Mc Cormack, who also achieved a personal best of 28mins 57secs, earning 18^th position, his highest of the season, while the final PB of the day was an outstanding 37minutes 40 seconds from ladies captain, Judith Jones, whose excellent time was achieved despite running with a chest infection. Darren Blazier was 29^th in 29.33, while ever-improving, Simon Jones had an outstanding run for 35^th in 29.54, just 2 seconds outside his PB. First lady of the day was Anna Phillips in a tremendous 33mins 23secs, with Kristy Stephenson hot on her heels in 34mins 37secs. Eleri Bacon completed the ladies team in 39.24 to maintain their position at the top of the first division. Other times; Ed Reid 30.38 (49^th), Grahame Shone 31.52 (73^rd), Mike Hobday 32.49 (89^th), Roy Evans 35.35 (133^rd), Matthew Ashton 35.42 (136^th), Mike Nolan 36.02 (138^th), John Essery (one of only 2 ever-presents in the club since it joined the League 3 seasons ago, Darren Blazier being the other) 37.27 (160^th) and Steve Mc Carten 39.24 (177^th). The overall men’s total of 569 stretched their lead at the top of the second division, and with over half the season gone, hopefully will see the men joining the ladies in the top flight next season.

Men’s Results;  

Total points;569

Ladies Results; 

Total points; 76

Team Results
Individual Results
Photos

Round 5 Borders League

Helsby, 29/2/2004.

 17 Abergele Harriers travelled to Frodsham for the 5^th round of the Borders Road Running League, hosted by Helsby, with excellent performances all round, further extending the men’s team lead in the second division and maintaining the ladies powerful challenge for the first division title. Once again Simon Shiels, who next week travels to Ireland to represent Wales in the Ballycotton 10 mile road race, romped home, leading almost from the start, to finish nearly 2 minutes ahead of his nearest rival, in 31 minutes 39 seconds for the challenging 6 mile course. Second Harrier on the day, gaining his highest ever Borders League position, was Sean Mc Cormack whose 34mins 48secs earned him a very impressive 13^th position. John Earlston, recovering from illness, was next home in 35mins 33secs (21^st), just ahead of Darren Blazier in 35mins 48secs (26^th). Just 2 seconds behind Darren was the club’s newest recruit, Steven Robinson in 39mins 50secs for 29^th position. At only 20 years old, Steven is definitely one to watch out for in the future. Simon Jones, continued his excellent run of form finishing in 36mins 23secs for 35^th, with Ed Reid only 30 seconds behind in 45^th position. The male team was completed by Mike Powell 38.54 (87), Grahame Shone 39.54 (101), Nike Hobday 40.10 (107), Matthew Ashton 42.08 (126), Mike Nolan 43.38 (144) and John Essery 46.51 (175). The men’s overall score of 465 further extended their lead in the second division, all but guaranteeing them promotion, with only 2 races to go.

The ladies team also competed very strongly with Kristy Stephenson first home in 42 minutes 32 seconds to maintain her overall 3^rd position in the individual FV35 category. Next in was Hillary Roderick in an outstanding 43.52 pushed all the way by Debbie Clift, in her first Borders League race, only 4 seconds behind, running superbly. Pam Grant completed the team powering home in 47mins 58secs, keeping the ladies first division title hopes alive.

Men’s Results;  

Total points;465

 Ladies Results; 

Total points;

Team Results
Individual Results
Photos

Round 6 Borders League

Wirral AC (Hoylake), 28/3/2004.

A team of 13 travelled to Hoylake for the penultimate round of the Borders Road Running league on Sunday, but the day belonged to John Essery, who became the only member of the Club to have appeared in every Border League fixture since the club joined the league 3 years ago. John rose to the occasion with an excellent performance gaining one of his highest ever positions, 136^th, in a time of 47mins 8secsThe presence of 3 ladies in the North Wales squad resulted in a depleted ladies Border League team but excellent performances were achieved by Eleri Bacon  in 47:54 and Meinir Huws, running her first race for the club, in a tremendous 55:14 for 179^th. The men maintained their dominance of the second division with Simon Shiels easily winning the 6.1 mile race in 32mins 22secs, an excellent time considering the strength of the wind in the second half of the race. Not far behind, gaining 9^th on the day and extending his lead in the MV40 category overall, was John Earlston in 35mins 2secs. Also beating the 36minute barrier was Sean Mc Cormack in 35:53 for 18^th, with Simon Jones 37:24 (39^th) and Ed Reid 37:38 (43^rd) coming home close. Another outstanding performance came from Mike Hobday, next home in 40:14 for 72^nd position, 35 places better than in his last league race, while Matthew Ashton’s 42:18 for 93^rd was his first sub-100 league finish. Roy Evans in 44:17 (115^th), Mike Nolan 45:43 (129^th) and Steve McCarten 47:20 ( 138^th) completed the team, earning the men’s team an excellent total of 655 points, extending their lead at the top of the second division with only one race left on Friday the 7^th May in Wrexham.

Men’s Results;  

Total points;655

Ladies Results; 

Total points;  272

 Team Results
Individual Results
Photos

Round 7 Borders League

Wrexham, 7/4/2004.
 

Friday night was a proud night for Abergele Harriers when, after only 3 seasons in the Borders Road Running League, the men’s team became runaway winners of the second division, to gain promotion to the top flight, following up last seasons similar achievement by their ladies team. As well as the second division title, the Harriers won several individual prizes including, first senior male, first male overall, first male V40 and second female V35. With so many positions still to be decided in the last race, there was a very large high class turn out in Wrexham for the final race of the season over 4.2 miles in good conditions. Simon Shiels, despite only finishing third on the night, was the easy winner of the senior male and overall individual titles, in and excellent time on the night of 21mins 45secs. John Ealrston also ran excellently, finishing in 23mins 2secs for 15^th on the night , but secured 1^st position in the MV40 category, with Darren Blazier not far behind in 23.20 for 25^th and 8^th Senior male overall. Sean Mc Cormack, with his best Border League season ever, was 8 seconds behind Darren in 23.28 for 25^th on the night and 7^th MV40 overall. Simon Jones, fresh from his track success last weekend, wasn’t far behind in 24mins 10secs for 39^th. Ed Reid was next in 25.17 (72^nd) with Mike Hobday running superbly finishing in 26.06 (92^nd). The men’s team was completed by Roy Evans 27.04 (115), Mathew Ashton 28.56 (146), Steve McCarten 30.08 (165), John Essery 31.13 (178), and Mike Nolan 31.54 (186), who showed his excellent club commitment, running despite being ill. The second division trophy was collected for the Harriers by John Essery, the clubs only ever-present over the 3 seasons.

The ladies also fielded a strong team of 5 runners, with Kristy Stephenson leading them home in a tremendous 28mins 30secs, to secure second FV35 overall, only 5 days after leading the ladies to their memorable Welsh Half Marathon title. Second lady was team captain, Judith Jones in a superb 30mins 36secs, while third lady home for the Harriers, again a member of the championship winning team in Tywyn, was Debbie Clift in 30.43. Delyth Bryant, still recovering from injury, was Delyth Bryant, in 31mins 30secs, while Pam Grant completed an excellent team display in 32mins 4secs.

Men’s Results;  

Total points;691

Ladies Results; 

Total points; 77

Team Results
Individual Results
Photos