Round 1 Borders League

Deeside, 23/10/2005 

Fifteen Abergele Harriers travelled to Deeside for the first round of this seasons Borders Road Running League with some outstanding performances. Greatest of these came from Border League Captain, Darren Blazier, who achieved his highest position ever in a league race, by finishing 4^th overall, out of a field of almost 300, in a time of 31 minutes 41 seconds for the 5.8mile course. Second Harrier home, also running very well at present, was Sean McCormack, in 32mins 58secs for 15^th position, his second best ever. Geran Hughes, running his first Borders League race for the club, was next, in an excellent 33mins35secs for 22^nd, with John Earlston hot on his heels, in 33mins 40secs for 26^th. Grahame Shone was next, and like Blazier achieved his highest ever position, 45^th, in a tremendous 35mins 1sec.  Ed Reid followed in, in a time of 36mins 52secs for 84^th, while Roy Evans, who once again led the race early on, finished a very respectful 96^th in 37mins 31secs. Matthew Ashton, who ran despite illness, was only 20seconds further back, in 37mins 51secs for 105^th. The other male finishers, all running very well, were Steve McCarten 43.19 (196^th), John Essary 43.57 (210^th), Alan Lucas 45.05 (224^th) and Stevie Ward 45.15 (228^th). Meanwhile the ladies team also performed superbly with Pam Grant first home in 44mins 24secs. Angie Davidson, running her first Borders League race for the club finished just 21 seconds further back, while club debutante Sheila Jones completed the course in an excellent 51mins 2secs. Overall both teams were well satisfied with their results.

Abergele Men’s Team Results;

 Total Points; 803.

Abergele Ladies Team Results;

Total Points; 163

Individual Results
Team Results
Photos

Round 2 Borders League

Tattenhall, 20/11/2005

A weakened team of ten men, but only 1 lady, travelled to Tannenhall for the second round of the Borders Road Running league. Team Captain Darren Blazier lead by example, once again running an “unofficial” personal best for the 10k course of 33 minutes 51 seconds, to finish in an outstanding 7^th position overall. Second Harrier home, returning to form after his summer lay-off, was John Earlston, finishing in an excellent 35mins 7secs for 18^th position, with Sean McCormack just 16 seconds further back in 23^rd also in an “unofficial” personal best of 35mins 23secs. The club rivalry for the next Harrier home was intense with  three Harriers finishing within eighteen seconds of each other, but the “race” was won by Roy Evans in a fantastic personal best of 37mins 53secs (57^th), four minutes faster than he was running for the distance twelve months ago. Grahame Shone was next in 38mins 8secs (64^th), with Ed Reid just behind, in 38mins 11secs (67^th). In bitterly cold conditions, the male team was completed excellently by Paul Thomas 42mins 35secs (144^th), John Essary  46mins 21secs (197^th), Alan Lucas 46mins 59secs (206^th) and Stevie Ward 48mins 23secs (224^th). What the ladies team lacked in quantity, it certainly didn’t lack in quality, with lone female representative on the day Angie Davidson doing the club proud in a superb 47mins 45secs.

Abergele Men’s Team Results;

 Total Points; 1007.

Abergele Ladies Team Results;

Total Points; 234

Individual Results
Team Results
Overall Team Results
Photos

Round 3 Borders League

Mold, 29/1/2006

Fresh from their exploits in the cross-country championships less than 24 hours earlier, the quartet of Sean McCormack, Grahame Shone, Roy Evans and Alan Lucas were joined by seven other Harriers for the third round of the Borders Road Running League in Mold. All four scored well for the team with McCormack finishing in 29.09 (29^th), Shone in 31.05 (72^nd), Evans in 32.53 (106^th) and Lucas in 38.35 (194^th) for the five mile course. First Harrier of the day was the in-form Darren Blazier in 27mins 47secs for eight position overall, while John Earlston in his first race back from injury, running in borrowed shoes, had an excellent run finishing just fifteen seconds further back in twelfth position. The performance of the day however went to Matthew Ashton, achieving his highest league finish ever (57^th) in a personal best time for the distance of 30mins 18secs. Ed Reid (injured) finished in 33mins 29secs, with ever-present John Essary an excellent 37.19 for 177^th. The team was completed by ever-reliable team runners Steve McCarten and Stevie Ward in 39.10 (203^rd) and 39.21 (206^th) respectively. The overall score of 976 points keeps the team in third position in the second division, just outside the promotion positions. Unfortunately no ladies raced on this occasion.

Abergele Men’s Team Results;

 Total Points; 976.

Individual Results
Team Results
Overall Team Results
Photos

Round 5 Borders League

Wallasey, 26/3/2006

Steven McCormack, only seventeen years old, making his Borders League debut, put in an confidant performance, as part of the ten man team that travelled to Wallasey, finishing as 6^th team counter, and 113^th overall, in a hard earned and well deserved, 31mins 56secs. Steven’s father, Sean, was first Harrier home in an excellent time of 25 minutes 39 seconds for 18^th position overall. Less than two minutes behind, and achieving his best ever position (42^nd) in Borders League, was Matthew Ashton in an inspired 27mins 18secs, just 30 seconds ahead of seasoned campaigner Grahame Shone, who finished 50^th. Ed Reid showed that he may well be on the way back to form with an excellent 28mins 56secs for 74^th, while Paul Thomas also ran superbly, finishing in 30mins 23secs, for 98^th. Club ultra-runner Alan Lucas made the shortened course seem easy, finishing in 33mins 31secs (131^st), with league ever-present John Essary just seven seconds and two positions further back. Stevie McCarten, despite forgetting to put his clocks forward, just managed to get to the race on time, but still managed a very creditable 35mins 5secs for 149^th, while Stevie Ward achieved his highest ever position of 162^nd with a tremendous 36mins 1 sec, giving the team an overall score of 970 points. Unfortunately no ladies raced on this occasion.

Abergele Men’s Team Results;

 Total Points; 970.

Individual Results
Team Results
Overall Team Results
Photos

Round 6 Borders League

Hoylake, 9/4/2006 

Thirteen Harriers travelled to Hoylake for the penultimate round of the Borders Road Running League, with steady performances all round. For the first time all season the ladies fielded more than one runner, with Sara Cassidy making her debut for the club, running her first ever race, and finishing in an excellent 59mins 21secs for the six mile course. Second female Harrier was ever-improving Jaime Ashton who also ran very well finishing in 69mins 27secs. For the men, Borders League Captain Darren Blazier lead by example, leading the team home in 34mins 7secs in 16^th position, just eight seconds and two positions ahead of John Earlston. Sean McCormack, not fully recovered from his exploits for North Wales last weekend, was next in 35mins 5secs (27^th), with Matthew Ashton, continuing his recent excellent form, next Harrier, in 36mins 48secs (48^th). Next was Justin McIlveen in a fantastic 37mins 9secs (53^rd), pushed al the way by Grahame Shone, who finished just five seconds further back in 56^th. Seventeen year old Simon Grant, making his Borders League debut, was next in an extremely respectable 39mins 45secs, bringing him home in 97^th position. Paul Thomas was only 25seconds further back for 107^th, with League ever-present John Essary, again running superbly, finishing in 45minss 43secs. Ever-reliable Steve McCarten and Stevie Ward completed an excellent team performance in 47.05 (178^th) and 52.57 (218^th) respectively, giving an overall score of 767 points, a seasons best score, and keeping the men well in contention for the promotion places, with the final race in Wrexham less than four weeks away.

Abergele Men’s Team Results;

 Total Points; 767.

Abergele Ladies Team Results;

  Total Points; 227

Individual Results
Team Results
Overall Team Results
Photos

Round 7 Borders League

Wrexham, 5/5/2006 

A very strong team of fourteen men, four ladies and several supports represented Abergele Harriers in the final race of the season in the Borders Road Running League in Wrexham on Friday, with three individuals coming home with trophies, but the men just missed out on promotion from the second division and the ladies ended runners-up in the “improvers” competition. Borders League captain Darren Blazier as usual lead by example coming home as first Harrier, despite injury, finishing 14^th on the night in 22mins 1sec to secure 5^th position overall in the Senior Male category. Sean McCormack was next in 22mins 34secs gaining him the 5^th place trophy in the MV40 category, while the highest overall individual position for a Harrier for the season, went to Grahame Shone whose 24mins 56sec on the night secured for him second overall in the highly competitive MV55 category. Tim Cahill had possibly the best run of the night, finishing the four mile course in a superb 22mins 49secs, while Justin McIlveen and Matthew Ashton continued their intense rivalry, with Ashton reversing things from the previous weeks races by finishing twelve seconds ahead in  a time of 23mins 35secs. Grahame Shone, Ed Reid and Simon Grant all finished within 30 seconds of each other in 24:56, 25:02 and 25:25 respectively, while Paul Thomas, Steven McCormack and Roy Evans were even closer together, with only sixteen seconds separating them (26:24, 26:30 and 26:40). Alan Lucas (29:34), John Essary (29:39) and Stevie Ward (31:35) completed the excellent male team giving an overall score of 774, but still some 480 points short of promotion.

The ladies for the first time all season managed to field a full team and all managed outstanding times. First female Harrier on the night was Pam Grant in 29mins 30secs with Melanie Williams also running fantastically at present finishing in 32 minutes exactly. Sara Cassidy ran an excellent 36mins 46secs, while Jaime Ashton completed a superb ladies team performance in 43mins 50secs. Special thanks once again goes to Captain Darren Blazier for his tireless work all season organising the teams and for his constant encouragement to all.

Abergele Men’s Team Results;

Total Points; 774.

Abergele Ladies Team Results;

  Total Points; 137

Individual Results
Team Results
Overall Team Results
Photos