Handicap league

Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Leaderboard

Race 4 Race 5 Race 6

Race 7 Race 8 Race 9

Race 10 Race 11 Race 12

Race 3

Good Friday 21st March - 4 miles.

Finishing Position	Name	Handicap Time	Race Time	Rate per Mile	Difference
1st	Tony Carter	27.00	27.10	6.48	+0.10
2nd	Jim Cranwell	40.50	41.04	10.16	+0.14
3rd	Tina Anholm	43.30	43.52	10.58	+0.22
4th	Kevin Anholm	32.10	32.42	8.11	+0.32
5th	Andy Watson	25.00	25.36	6.24	+0.36
6th	Wendy Hadgraft	34.30	35.07	8.47	+0.37
7th	Chris Rawlings	30.10	30.50	7.42	+0.50
8th	Jamie Cousins	25.00	26.03	6.31	+1.03
9th	Matt Anholm	27.00	28.12	7.03	+1.12
10th	Mark Nurse	27.20	28.46	7.11	+1.26
11th	Pauline Steele	41.45	43.38	10.54	+1.53
12th	Vito Verrecchia	25.00	26.59	6.45	+1.59
13th	Jeff Copping	32.00	34.46	8.41	+2.46
14th	Pete Hadgraft	32.00	35.12	8.48	+3.12
15th	Angie Swift	31.15	34.53	8.43	+3.38

Extra Race

2 Miles No Watch - Good Friday

Finishing Position	Name	Handicap Time	Race Time	Rate per Mile	Difference
1st	Tony Carter	13.00	12.58	6.29	-0.02
2nd	Ian Battye	18.30	18.16	9.08	-0.14
3rd	Pauline Steele	23.30	23.12	11.45	-0.18
4th	Mark Nurse	15.00	14.29	7.15	-0.31
5th	Vito Verrecchia	13.30	12.54	6.27	-0.36
6th	Tina Anholm	21.20	22.05	11.03	+0.45
7th	Wendy Hadgraft	18.30	17.43	8.52	-0.47
8th	Pete Hadgraft	18.30	17.43	8.52	-0.47
9th	Jim Cranwell	20.00	20.54	10.27	+0.54
10th	Chris Rawlings	14.00	15.02	7.31	+1.02
11th	Matt Anholm	16.00	14.42	7.21	-1.18
12th	Kevin Anholm	17.30	16.07	8.04	-1.23
13th	Jeff Copping	19.15	17.43	7.52	-1.32
14th	Jamie Cousins	16.00	14.23	7.12	-1.37

Oh our crazy English weather!!! The first race of our season in early February was run in glorious spring like sunshine. Fast forward to the first day of Spring when the 3rd race of the season was held, we had to contend with artic northerly winds and snow. So much for global warming!!

Despite the tough weather conditions, another excellent field assembled for this race. The course was everyone’s favourite, the 4 mile course. Basically the route starts at The Plough Inn, into Withernsea via Hompton Road and back to The Plough via Hollym Road. This is normally a fast course, but on this day the strong winds made it very tough going. In fact it is not an exaggeration to report that when the runners turned left onto Hompton Road to run into Withernsea, it was like running into a brick wall, so strong was the northerly wind.

When the wind is so strong, those runners starting at the front of the field potentially have a slight advantage. This is because the quicker runners at the back have to work even harder to catch the front runners. This makes the performance of Tony Carter all the more remarkable. He started 4th from the back and managed to work his way through the field to snatch victory by overtaking Jim Cranwell, with a sprint finish over the last 50 yards. In fact all the point scoring positions were decided by sprinting to the finishing line. Jim (2nd) had just managed to overtake Tina Anholm (3rd), who in turn had just managed to stay ahead of Kevin Anholm (4th). Kevin had just enough in the tank to hold off Andy Watson (5th), who had just passed Wendy Hadgraft (6th) with few yards to spare.

After the race an analysis of the results revealed that ¾ of the field were only separated by 75 seconds. Credit must be given to the much maligned “Handicap Committee” for setting such accurate handicap times. If the race was either 30 yards longer, or shorter, there would have been a totally different finishing order. This makes for exciting and competitive racing, as everyone providing they run to their potential, have a chance to win the race. That’s what a handicap is all about.

When a league has finished and the swings and roundabouts over a long season are reflected on, there is usually a defining moment in the season when the title is won or lost. Although we are only ¼ of the way through this season, it is just possible we might have had this season’s defining moment. Tony’s excellent run has put him in a commanding position at the top of the table. He has already opened up an 8 point lead over his nearest challenger, Matt Anholm. He is in top form and looks a good bet to improve on last season’s 3rd place finish.

After the 4 mile race, to show we are glutton for punishment, there was a 2 mile no watch run. This was after declining the offer to run instead a wind assisted 1 mile. They are tough these Harriers. The winner and completing a very profitable morning’s work was Tony Carter, who finished just 2 seconds away from his time. In second place and making a welcome return after 2 years of injury problems, was that old war horse and 2 time league winner, Ian Battye. He finished 14 seconds away his handicap time. In third was last year’s double winner, Pauline Steele, who finished 18 seconds outside her handicap time.

Our intrepid London Marathon runners continued their intensive preparations by running the East Hull 20 mile race recently. This race distance is one of 3 training runs which the London runners need to complete, if they are to have a successful marathon. The race times achieved also gives a good indication of what time they are likely to post in the marathon. For the record their times were:

- Lance Harris 2 hrs 26 mins

- Matt Anholm 2 hr 35 mins

- Pete Hadgraft 3 hr 10 mins

Well done to all 3 local runners.