Last Sunday, 12th August, saw a good turnout of Harriers at the ever popular, tough and challenging Mount Ephraim 10K.  It was a mild and overcast morning which provided excellent running conditions.  Coming in at first place, overall, was Robbie Higgins in 37.29, closely followed by the debut of Matthew Slark at an impressive 42.20, who was just ahead of Jethro Kimber at 42.58 which meant the guys picked up the men’s team prize for the Harriers.

For the ladies Emma Greatrix was the second lady and also the first Vet45 at 46.58 and Steph Bancroft at 52.48.

There were other impressive times for Jon Vann and Matthew Northover who have both been battling long injuries and have worked hard to come in at 52.28 and 53.40 respectively.

Well done to all who ran in a challenging and hilly race.

A full list of results can be found on the Canterbury Harriers website.

Friday 30^th March saw 14 Harriers turn out for the 35^th Folkestone 10 mile.There were 673 runners in total on the day and all Harriers came back in the top half of the finishers.   Extremely wet and windy conditions  made the race tough going on the way out, into the wind, but the rain came down hard in the second half.  Despite the weather there were 5 PB’s, including Yiannis, 1.00.13, Mark Baker, 1.08.12, Mark Duffy, 1.10.16, Daren Parris, 1.17.31 and Stephanie Bancroft, 1.21.18.  We had one debut from Lidia Hill at 1.27.01.  Well done to all those who PB’s as these challenging conditions.

Full results can be found in the results section of the website

Mike Denson battles the weather

Twenty nine Harriers braved the cold and damp conditions in Sunday`s Canterbury 10 Mile Race producing a range of great performances with impressive PB times and debut runs over the undulating course.In a field of 1390 runners Peter Hogben underpinned his recent good form finishing in 3rd place in a time of 54 minutes and 10 seconds( a PB of over three and a half minutes). Rhys Goddard finished strongly just behind him in 5th place in a time of 54.39(PB over 1 minute) and Paul Knight finished in 23rd place  recording  a time of 59.41 (PB  3 minutes)his first sub 60 minute run. The Harriers lost out narrowly to a strong Tonbridge AC squad in the mens team award. Gemma Jeffrey was first home for the Harriers` ladies recording a PB of 1hr .16.35 closely followed by Emma Greatrix in 1.16.40 (debut 10 mile) and Sian Smith – Keary in 1.18.26 (debut).Full results can be viewed via the link on  the Website.

Canterbury Harriers would like to wish all of it’s members and associates a happy new year!

We have had an excellent running year in 2017 and we are looking forward to plenty more debuts and PB’s in 2018.

Don’t forget training starts back on 2nd January, please check Facebook for updates on sessions.

Peter Hogben  running  his debut race over the distance won October`s Chelmsford Marathon in an impressive time of 2hrs 34 mins and 35 seconds. He took the lead with just over a mile to go and moved clear  to finish over a  minute ahead of the second placed runner. Having qualified for a championship place he is now looking forward to taking part in next year`s London Marathon

Sunday 8th October saw us going back to the 31st Givaudan Ashford 10K, in near perfect conditions,  for the club championship race for the 3rd year in a row.

There was a record turnout of 58 members, which is the most we have had over the 3 years, not only that, but the biggest turnout for a race in our racing history. Overall 18 PB’s were recorded and 7 debuts.

Notable performances came from Jenny Benson, who was 3rd lady overall with 39.28, Wim Van Vuuren who dipped under the 40 mark for the first time, coming in at 39.47 and there were 2 PB’s for the husband and wife team of Debbie and Daren Parris, with Debbie once again beating Daren, posting times of 45.05 and 45.29.

The debuts came from Henry Cox, 39.34, Fuse Campbell, 40.49, Claire Pluckrose, 41.44, Simon Cox, 45.12, Tewodros Negash, 46.12,  Karen Thorne, 51.45 and Lidia Hill at 52.32.

In the PB’s Fiona Craig went 55.33, Stephanie Bancroft and Tom Jessup both came in at 50.43 for their PB’s and Caroline Wetherill in 45.10.

In the overall race standings we had 3 men come in the top 10, new member Rhys Goddard, 3rd, Simon Jones, 4th, and Robbie Higgins 7th, as above Jenny Benson 3rd lady and both the men and women tok the team prizes.   As for the club awards, these will be announced on our AGM on Thursday 12th October

For a full list of results please check the results page on our website.

The summer season has come to close and the Canterbury Harriers have had an excellent time with plenty of trophies, race wins and PB’s.

Both Nicola Charlton and Fiona Tester have had come consistently within the top 3 of any races they have participated in, including the Stelling Minnis 10k where they placed 2nd and 3rd respectively.  Nicola and Fiona along with Gemma Jeffrey also placed first in the summer relay season to retain the Vet 35 A team trophy.  There have been plenty of other triumphs including the East Kent and Aylesham 5k in which Sarah Maguire, Melanie Christodoulou and Wendy Smith came 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively.  At the Canterbury Half marathon, which not only is a tough, hilly course, was also one of the hottest days of the year with temperatures close to 30 degrees, Emma Greatrix, not only placed 4th female but was first in her Vet 45 age category and then a week later in slightly cooler conditions, the ladies pulled it out of the bag again, with Hannah Pilbeam on her debut run for the club coming 1st senior female, Fiona Tester not only getting a PB but coming 3rd female and alongside Deborah Paris and Leisa Foad winning the Ladies team prize.  Deborah Paris on that day also clocked a huge PB by over 30 minutes, Debbie has consistently been getting PB’s across pretty much every race she has participated in.

The men have also had a good season; Peter Hogben won the Canterbury Half Marathon for the second time in 3 years.  Yiannis Christodoulou, Simon Jones and Alex Horsley  along with Peter Hogben have consistently placed high in all races they have participated in.  Alex placing high in the Mount Ephraim 10k in 2nd, Yiannis came 2nd in the East Kent and Aylesham 5k, Simon Jones winning the University of Kent at Canterbury 10k.  Mark Peacock raced all 4 of the PodPlus Ashford Summer 10k series and came 1st or 2nd in all of the races.

Harriers have raced all over the world during the summer in lots of different disciplines and distances, from 5k to 50k, from open water swimming to cycling.

We also had 4 members compete for Great Britain, Peter Hogben, came 3rd at the National Championships today for the middle triathlon distance, Yiannis Christodoulou, ITU Aquathlon World Championships came 6th in age group, Simon Jones, ITU Aquathlon World Championships came 10th in age group, Dave Bowden, ITU Long distance Triathlon placed 23rd, all of whom have qualified for next year.

Well done to everyone who has competed over the summer, there have been team prizes, trophies and PB’s galore for us, a full list of all of these can be found on the Canterbury Harriers website.

The Harriers were out in large numbers not only in the U.K. but also in Le Touquet in France.

There were 6 runners in the tough and hilly Mount Ephraim 10k, there were no PB’s but some good performances, notably Alex Horsley at 38.04 and Stephanie Bancroft in a good time of 56.16.

In the ever popular Aylesham and East Kent 5k and 10k there were 11 Harriers out in the warm conditions. 1st, 2nd and 3rd lady, in the 5k, was an all Harrier affair with Sarah Maguire, Melanie Christodoulou and Wendy Smith taking the places respectively. Nicola Charlton also took the 1st place lady in the 10k.

Over in France a small group went out to Le Touquet 10K, including Roy Gooderson who was out there for his 26th year in a row!

This was a bumper weekend with plenty of medals for the Harriers and all results can be found on the Canterbury Harriers website.

“The Harriers hosted the final event in the East Kent Inter Club Relays Series on Tuesday 4th July 2017 at the Victoria Recreation Ground in Canterbury with a record turnout for the club on a warm and humid evening. 

Once again we finished on a high note with victories on the evening and series victories for the Ladies v35 A Team,Mens V40A and Men`s V60A teams and excellent competitive runs and times for all of the Harriers taking part including our identical twins Kieran and Tom Jessup running in a Mens Senior Team !”

Tuesday 23rd May saw the start of the relay season on a lovely evening down on the Folkestone seafront.  There was a great turnout for both the men’s and the women’s events. The women’s vet 35 A and B teams made a good start on defending their current titles finishing top of the standings. There were some lightning performances on the slightly shortened route along the promenade including Simon Jones in 12.54 and Alex Horsley in 14.09 for the men and Nicola Charlton for the ladies in 16.09. Also in the ladies races new member Hannah Pilbeam and Fiona Tester both recorded  quick times of 16.36.

The second race at Minnis Bay on 30th May came along on another warm and sunny evening. There was a good turnout for both the men and women with  some stand out performances from Sian Smith-Keary, 15.44, and Caroline Wetherill in 15.40 and for the men Mark Peacock in 13.30 and Jethro Kimber in 14.13

After the second round of the series  the ladies Vet 35 A and B teams are still top along with the Men’s Vet 45 and the men’s vet 60 A and B teams.

Well done to all those who have run over the two races. Let’s hope we can keep up the momentum, and the  turnout, for the upcoming events.