On Sunday Team Harriers made their way to Canterbury for the traditional 10-mile race to kick off the Kent Grand Prix and defend our trophies. 31 deckchairs (22 men and 9 ladies) took to the start line. Impressively Geoff and Gemma had even competed at the Southerns the day before!
This was the first time I’d run Canterbury and luckily I’d studied the course profile in advance, so could ignore Mike King’s advice that the course was pancake flat. For those who haven’t run Canterbury, it’s a fairly pleasant course winding through farmland and villages. There are some notable hills at miles 4 & 7, but the last mile is thankfully downhill. Conditions were perfect for running.. Fairly cool, no rain and not too much wind. The race was well organised with a decent sized HQ and friendly marshals. In total 1,446 runners completed the out-and-back course, with last year’s winner, Abel Tsegay (Invicta East Kent) again coming home first in 52:29, and first lady Helen Gaunt (Tonbridge AC & 2nd claim Harriers) in 01:03:57.
Behind the leaders there were some great runs from the Harriers, including several PBs highlighted in the results below. Special mention to George Harris and Ollie Smeed who managed to obliterate their previous best times . Patrick and I worked together and pushed each other round, but couldn’t quite catch P3 who was rapidly coming back to us in the later half. Behind us it looks like there were some good battles among the Harriers with many finishing close together.
As clubs aren’t included in the results yet, the all important Kent Grand Prix points are currently unknown. Hopefully those will follow soon. Well done to all who ran and a big thanks to everyone who came along to support and also to Bob for compiling the results.
| Firstname | Surname | Age Grp | Time | PB | Position | Comments |
| Alex | Jeffreys | SM | 00:57:39 | PB | 4 | |
| Patrick | Bareham | SM | 00:57:57 | PB | 5 | |
| Mike | King | M40 | 01:03:39 | AGPB | 37 | |
| Alex | Holmes | M40 | 01:06:20 | 76 | ||
| Chris | Potter | M50 | 01:06:34 | 80 | ||
| Martin | Hobbs | M50 | 01:09:39 | 145 | ||
| Jillian | Holford | F45 | 01:11:09 | PB | 175 | |
| George | Harris | M45 | 01:12:06 | AGPB | 195 | AGPB By 7 Minutes |
| Terry | Everest | SM | 01:12:17 | 199 | ||
| Andy | Joad | M55 | 01:12:09 | 204 | ||
| Stewart | McIlwham | M50 | 01:12:47 | 210 | ||
| Simon | Holford | M45 | 01:13:35 | 240 | ||
| Geoff | Turner | M55 | 01:13:46 | 242 | ||
| Michael | Russell | M50 | 01:14:11 | 252 | ||
| Gemma | Stilliard | F40 | 01:15:47 | 301 | ||
| Hayley | Larkin | SL | 01:15:54 | 308 | ||
| Ollie | Smeed | SM | 01:15:57 | PB | 311 | PB By 6 Minutes |
| Steve | Austin | M60 | 01:18:14 | 377 | ||
| Polly | Haywood | F40 | 01:18:14 | 383 | ||
| Peter | Lyus | SM | 01:19:37 | 417 | ||
| Ana-Maria | Green | F50 | 01:20:04 | PB | 424 | |
| Tom | Fox | M55 | 01:20:59 | 440 | ||
| Colin | Timmins | M50 | 01:21:22 | 459 | ||
| Rob | Hill | M50 | 01:22:02 | 481 | ||
| Rose | Sawyer | F45 | 01:23:01 | 486 | ||
| Michelle | Rumsey | F40 | 01:23:06 | PB | 504 | |
| Nicky | White | F50 | 01:31:46 | 799 | ||
| Colin | Ricketts | M55 | 01:32:04 | 800 | ||
| Richard | Quartermaine | M45 | 01:32:45 | 829 | ||
| Janet | Bird | F60 | 01:41:31 | 1051 | ||
| Joy | Croucher | F60 | 01:41:31 | 1052 |