Club Handicap 2010

Twenty five Abergele Harriers took part in this years annual Handicap race in Llanfair TH, which for the first year was a team event. Teams were picked out of a hat and one member had to run a “flat” three miles and the other a “hilly” three miles and then answer an observational question that they received at the turning point. Each team had to guess their overall time including penalties for getting the question wrong, and the team whose overall time, including penalties, was closest to their guess was declared the winner. Lucy Jones and David Edwards were clear winners, with an overall time of 56mins 26secs, including a 10 second penalty, only 34 seconds away from their initial estimate of 57 minutes. Only two teams received no penalty points, Christobelle Pownall and Rob Spotswood, who unfortunately ran four and a half minutes slower than expected, and Cheryl Richards and Anthony Howe who were three minutes too fast. Jeni Richard had s unfortunately had no team partner but by doubling her time and penalties to take this into account was actually third “team” overall. The fastest team to complete the course was Haydn Jones and Vernon Pownall but were let down by their observational skills, clearly a result of running too fast! The team who surprised themselves most was Sue Calvert and John Cody who ran almost eight minutes faster than they expected and were also good with their observations. The day was completed with a meal and an excellent day was had by all.

Actual time and penalties

Teams                              Time     P1  P2  Total

Christobelle Pownall / Rob Spotswood   59:32       0        0        59:32

Megan Pownall / Paul Thomas                57:47       10      0        57:57

Haydn Jones / Vernon Pownall                44:40       20      2:10   47:10

Sian Hall / Alan Lucas                            53:47        0        20      54:07 

Dominique Jones / Matthew Ashton       50:38         20      30      51:28

Carol Willgoose / Peter Hardy                52:33        0        10      52:4

Annwen Begley / Mark Mayers               56:53        20      0        57:13

Lucy Jones / David Edwards                  56:16        10      0        56:26

Cheryl Richards / Anthony Howe           51:00        0        0        51:00

Su Calvert / John Cody                          51:24        0        40      52:04

Chris Birch / Jonathan Perry                   52:43        1:20   0        54:03

Darren Blazier / Sonia Wignall                52:42        20      1:10   54:12

Jeni Richards x 2!  (2 x 24:32)               49:04         0        0        49:04

Time Differences

Teams                              Guess    Total    Diff.

Christobelle Pownall / Rob Spotswood    55:00      59:32           4:32

Megan Pownall / Paul Thomas                62:00       57:57           4:03

Haydn Jones / Vernon Pownall                44:00       47:10           3:10

Sian Hall / Alan Lucas                             57:30       54:07           3:23

Dominique Jones / Matthew Ashton        55:01       51:28           3:33

Carol Willgoose / Peter Hardy                 57:00       52:43           4:17

Annwen Begley / Mark Mayers                60:00       57:13           2:47

Lucy Jones / David Edwards                   57:00       56:26             34

Cheryl Richards / Anthony Howe            54:00       51:00           3:00

Su Calvert / John Cody                           59:59       52:04           7:55

Chris Birch / Jonathan Perry                    55:20       54:03           1:17

Darren Blazier / Sonia Wignall                 56:27       54:12           2:15

Jeni Richards x 2!                                   51:00       49:04           1:56

 Champions; Lucy Jones and David Edwards

2009

Abergele Harriers Handicap Race 2009

Nineteen Abergele Harriers took part in this years club Handicap race on Sunday which was run in fantastic conditions in Llanfair TH. The race was over an extremely tough 3.5 mile course where members were asked to guess the difference they would achieve running steeply down hill for 1.75 miles, compared with the same distance up hill. First to the top of the hill in 12mins 34secs, and back down again in a total time of 22mins 50secs, was Darren Blazier, but he ran so fast that he was well off from his guess, in fact 13^th out of the 19 runners. The run of the day came from experienced fell runner Geran Hughes who was second to the top in 13mins 19secs and completed the course in 22mins 50secs, a difference of 3mins 48secs, just six seconds off his guessed time of 3:42. Second closest to their guessed difference, and winner of the ladies competition, was Lucy Jones, who ran 23mins 37secs up, with a total time of 38mins 30secs, for a difference of 8mins 44secs, 14 seconds difference from her guess of 8mins 30secs. Amazingly she won the ladies competition by just one second from Sonia Wignall, whose time were; 24mins 8secs up, total time 40mins 1sec, a difference of 8mins 15secs, with a guess of 8mins for a difference of 15secs. Runner up in the men’s competition was Keith Elliott, 19 seconds off his guessed difference, while four other members managed to be less than a minute off their guess, Paul Edge, 27secs; Jonathan Perry, 35secs; Cheryl Richards, 37secs; and Vernon Pownall, 46secs. Overall the times were all extremely close to the members estimates; Sue Calvert 1min 7secs, Matthew Ashton 1min 12secs, Christobelle Pownall 1min 20secs, Rob Spotswood 1min 35secs, Darren Blazier 1min 44secs, Haydn Jones 1min 56secs, Angie Hughes 1min 57secs, Alan Lucas 2mins 22secs, Mark Mayers 2mins 24secs, Paul Thomas 3mins 4secs, and Dave Edwards 3mins 21secs.

A huge thanks also to Haydn Jones who organised the food for after the race.

PHOTOGRAPHS

2008

A record 26 Abergele Harriers turned out for the club’s annual Handicap race, which this year again had a new format, simply consisting of a five mile out-and-back course, where members were asked to pace themselves evenly to try to run each direction in exactly the same time, without the aid of any timing device; the winners being the man and women who got closest to an exact split. The “race” was run in almost perfect conditions and as a result most members got their split times very close indeed. The “winner” of the men’s section was second claim member Philip Edge who went out in 16mins exactly and home in 15mins 55secs, for a five second difference, with Pete Smith only one second further off, with 19mins 7secs out and 19mins 13secs back. Darren Blazier, who was the first Harrier to complete the course, was third in the Handicap with a seven second difference, 13mins 27secs out and 13mins 34secs back. The winner of the ladies “race” was a “graduate” from Jaime Ashton’s “beginners group” Cheryl Richards, running an excellently paced run, like the men’s winner, finishing with a five second negative split, 23mins 11secs out and 23mins 6secs back home. Second lady, another of Jaime’s “graduates” was Lucy Jones, with an excellent nine second split of 24mins 24secs out and 24mins 33secs back. Sonia Wignall was third with an eighteen second difference (24:26 out, 24:44 back), just ahead of Angie Hughes with a nineteen second negative split (18:24 out, 18:05 back) and Pam Grant with a nineteen positive split (19:30 out, 19:49 back). Angie, although fourth lady in the Handicap, was in fact the first lady home, and ninth home overall, in a tremendous time of 36mins 29secs. Overall twenty members managed to keep their split times within 30 seconds of each other which is a testament to superbly disciplined racing and training. The club would also like to thank the Bee Hotel for providing excellent food after the race.
Results

Photos

More Photos

2007

Abergele Harriers held their annual Handicap Race on Sunday in horrendous weather conditions on the cycle track from Pensarn to Towyn and back. All Harriers had to estimate their own time to complete the 7k course, then run without a watch, with the winners being the male and female that got closest to their own estimate. Eleven men and six women braved the conditions with the male race particularly close, with three men finishing six seconds from their estimate, but the winner, Darren Blazier, proving his superb ability to pace, finishing in a time of 24mins 30secs, just five seconds faster than his estimate. The unlucky trio, that were six seconds out, were Grahame Shone (finishing time 28mins 24secs), John Earlston (25mins 6secs) and Paul Ross (29mins 36secs). Club Captain Geran Hughes was particularly unlucky also, finishing in 26mins 1sec, which in fact was exactly his original estimate, but just at the start line he changed his estimate and ended fourteen seconds out. The male runner that exceeded his own expectations the most was Peter Smith, who beat his estimate by 1min 43secs (31mins 50secs), while Ed Reid (-1min 26secs), Justin McIlveen (-1min 19secs) and Paul Thomas (-55secs) were also all much too fast on the day. On the other hand Robert Spotswood (finishing time 39mins 9secs) and Jonathan Perry (42mins 22secs) miscalculated but in the opposite direction.

The ladies race wasn’t quite as close but Eleri Bacon won for the third time in four years, by running a superb 38mins 34secs, just 34secs over her estimate. Second lady was Pam Grant who’s fantastic time of 34mins 51secs was 44 seconds faster than she expected, while Melanie Williams was third in 35mins43secs, 1min 27secs faster than she predicted. First lady home on the day was Angie Hughes, but unfortunately for her, she arrived in 1min 37secs quicker than expected. The Harrier who surprised themselves the most on the day was Julie Jones, who ran an amazing 43mins 54secs, which was 3mins 36secs faster than her estimate, while Susan Calvert was also pleasantly surprised by beating her time by almost two minutes (finishing time 36mins 42secs). Altogether twelve of the seventeen Harriers finished quicker than their estimated times which bodes very well for the coming season.

 RACE TIMES 

Men’s results;

1)      Darren Blazier (-5 secs)

2)      Grahame Shone (-6 secs)

3)      John Earlston and Paul Ross (+6 secs)

Ladies results;

1)      Eleri Bacon (+34 secs)

2)      Pam Grant (-44 secs)

3)      Melanie Williams (-1min 27secs)

2007 pictures

2006

Twenty seven Abergele Harriers, the biggest ever field, took part in the clubs annual Handicap race on Sunday. The race took on a new format this year with the winners being the runners finishing closest to their own estimated time for the course. Because of the very dangerous road conditions, the race was changed at the last minute to the traffic-free coastal cycle track. Amazingly, Stevie Ward finished in exactly his estimated time of 39 minutes 30 seconds for the 4.7 mile course, winning the male title. The female title was won by Kristy Stephenson, who was also the first lady home, in a time of 34 minutes 18 seconds, missing her estimate by just 18 seconds. First runner home overall was Darren Blazier in a superb time of 27mins 19secs, 13secs faster than his estimate, and second closest to his estimate overall. Next in was Geran Hughes, in 29mis 2secs, 31secs ahead of his estimate and 4^th closest, with Justin McIlveen, in 32mins 39secs, 3^rd closest male, missing out by just 29 seconds. Second closest lady was Pam Grant, finishing in 39mins 31secs, just 28 seconds, with 3^rd closest lady going to Susan Calvert, in 40mins 27secs, 67 seconds out. Twenty Harriers were within two minutes of their estimate, while the runner who surprised himself most was Dave Edwards, who beat his own estimate by over eight minutes, finishing in 39mins 19secs. Other finishing times were; Matthew Ashton 30.31, Ed Reid 30.58, Grahame Shone 31.11, Simon Grant 32.42, Roy Evans 32.57, Jeramy Bright 34.09, John Essary 36.06, John Humphries 36.36, Stevie Salt 36.47, Judith Jones 36.49, Hilary Jaques 36.51, Rob Spotswood 39.59, Melanie Williams 40.06, Eleri Bacon 41.30, Meinir Hughes 41.30, Alan Lucas 43.36, Alison Guillemin 43.51, Garry Tann 43.51, Jamie Ashton 56.35. Abergele Harriers wish to express their sincere sympathy to all involved with Rhyl Cycling Club following the tragic accident that took place that same morning.

2006 Photos
Results