Created by : natfred14_6827 On : Mon, 04/27/2026 - 16:29
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This is a long newsletter and rightly so!
This week saw the Notts AAA summer league return, a series of 5-mile-ish races open to all Notts clubs. Match 1 was at Sherwood Pines, and a huge contingent of Harriers turned out on a lovely evening. The men made a great start coming 4th overall, and the women 5th in a strong field, with some fantastic individual runs!
Saturday saw the return of the Notts AAA Mini-league summer season, a series of outdoor track and field competitions open to junior athletes. A special mention to Lauren Townrow, who was awarded the Jack Walters award on the day, for dedication and commitment to competition and attendance. Lauren didn’t miss any events last year, and it’s a well-deserved award for a young athlete always present at training.
On the day our U12 girls were represented by Bethany Hands, Lauren Townrow and Olivia Elliott all taking on the 75m, 600m and long jump.
For U12 boys, Roman Marks (75m, Howler, Long Jump), Oakley Allsop (75m, 600m, Howler), George North (75m, 600m, long jump and relay), Lucas Bonser (75m, 600m and Howler) and Hugo McCarthy (75m, 600m and long jump) made a great start to the season as a squad.
For U14 girls, Eliza De Villers (75m hurdles, 200m, long jump) Sabrina Cupit-Richards (200m, 1500m, long jump) flew the harrier flag with some great individual performances. U14 boy Isaac Beresford took on the 80m hurdles, 200m and high jump continuing a great start to the season. For U16 girls, Summer Johnson (80m hurdles, 100m, high jump – winning- and relay), Holly Bulmer (1500m, 100m, Javelin), Heidi Marks (100m, Javelin, shot) and Emilia Jonczyk (shot, Javelin, 100m) had a great team outing. And last but certainly not least, Henry Marks represented U16 boys in 100m and High jump. Overall individual and team results are yet to be formally confirmed, but these young athletes did their club proud regardless of place or time, turning out in force to represent the Harriers!
Also on Saturday, Sally Staveley, Kerry Dickinson and Sarah Morgan took part in the 10k Bluebell Bimble, a self-navigated trail event around Linacre reservoir on a beautiful day. The ability to navigate is as important as pace on these events and the group had a great morning out.
On Saturday, Freddie North took part in the mini London Marathon as a para-Junior Athlete, an incredible achievement! He came 4th in his category and 2nd for age in a brilliant event, having a fantastic experience for a young athlete.
Sunday saw Tanja Maric kick the racing off, with the Poseidon Half Marathon in Athens. Quickly becoming the Judith Chalmers of half marathon running, this is one of several overseas half-marathons Tanja has done and a 2:10 finish in hot weather was a great result. Partner James is, however, getting suspicious now every time Tanja suggests a holiday, wondering which race is on the cards
And finally, a belter of a day for the club’s marathon runners. We must start with the incredible performance by Hannah Miller, who ran an amazing 2:49 marathon from the championship pen, smashing her own club ladies’ marathon record, achieving club gold standard for age and a championship time for London again next year and coming 75th from 26,000 women! Hannah has gone from strength to strength, and this is so well deserved. Running and pacing alongside Hannah was men’s captain Tom Shaw, who after coming back from injury took his place in the Championship pen, and decided that whilst he couldn’t run the race he wanted after just returning to fitness, he’d support his clubmate and friend by pacing Hannah. What a team and what a club!!
Nia Arthur ran in the club marathon place, awarded every year by lottery to someone who meets various criteria including racing and volunteering. Nia has trained so hard, surprising herself at times. Despite a bout of sickness on the day, Nia was determined to finish and did just that in just over 5 hours with a gutsy run and did herself and the club vest proud.
Matt Daly was 40 seconds in front of Hannah and Tom, running as a Good for Age (GFA) athlete, and got another GFA time for London next year! Another athlete dedicated to training, this was well deserved for Matt.
Gabs Bower ran an incredible race, achieving silver club standard for age and GFA for next year with 3:29:29. After a couple of previous marathons where Gabs was ill, it was brilliant to see this result from Gabs after a block of excellent, dedicated training. Gabs also raised money for RNIB and alongside Rachel Silcock, they raised 10k plus for their charities.
It was a very special run for Rachel Silcock today. Sadly, Rachel lost her husband Tim to cancer last year and was determined to complete the marathon in his memory, raising money for Macmillan Cancer Research. Tim was also a club member and had run the marathon himself, in memory of his friend who also had cancer. Despite some health issues herself which impacted her ability to train, Rachel pulled on her vest, and ran the race of a champion, completing the marathon in 4:48. We are mega proud of Rachel and everyone else today!
Elsewhere, Euan Carrol had a brilliant marathon debut at the Shakespeare Marathon in Stratford-upon-Avon, in 3:18, a great performance from our youngest marathon runner this year. Nat Cunningham scraped a sub 4-hour marathon at Blackpool and would like to announce her retirement from road running, and will next be seen running up a mountain eating a sandwich, a far more sensible use of time.
We also had three athletes complete the London Marathon by way of alternative means. Kate Thorneloe took part in the Reverse London Marathon at midnight, an organised run around the course backwards, and a fantastic experience. Bryan Cherry and David Bulmer did the London Marathon My Way, which offers runners an opportunity to complete the distance in a location of their choosing. They chose 26 miles of North Yorkshire hills, over 3000ft of elevation and the most difficult course of the weekend! Ably supported by family, also club members, they were glad of the brewery at the end for a well-deserved pint!
Huge well done to everyone this weekend, it has been a joy to write this newsletter!