Steve J. asked me to act as team captain on the day, as he had to work, but I was duly relieved of this duty by Helen and Alison, who more or less did everything for me – so thank you very much.

‘A’ Team

The first leg witnessed 106 runners jostling for position. I led the Harriers out in what was a below-par performance, tying up completely with just 600 meters to go and losing some 15-20 seconds and dropping to 41^st position (i.e. well outside the top 25 needed for national qualification). None the less, I fulfilled my captain’s duties by giving it everything I had and doing the best I could on my patchy training of the last 4 months (due to niggles, not laziness). A much more inspiring piece of running followed on the 2^nd leg with Deano storming to a 2 minute 18 second improvement on his previous year’s time (39^th) – and that after a heavy week of miles in preparation for the Stroud ½ marathon in October. There is no deep secret as to why Deano has improved so much, it’s quite simple really and a good lesson for those who also seek to improve: get out and run more! Kev Woodward took over from Deano and, in his own words, ran up the big first hill as if it were a rep. By the top he was ‘slaughtered’ and struggled around the circuit (36^th). Kev is certainly capable of running faster than his 21.06 and if he gets out and runs more, I’m sure he will. Sean was next off for the club. Although improving his own best time for this course by a massive 25 seconds, Sean found his leg ‘flat’ (i.e. ‘going through the motions’). He didn’t look too flat, as he bombed up the final hill though (35^th)! Dave Harte was next to take the baton and he too suggested afterwards that he hadn’t felt all the biscuit, but I put this down to the course, which is just hard! Dave improved his best time from 2005 by some 37 seconds with a solid 22.11 (38^th). Our final man, Mike Berry, justified his inclusion in the ‘A’ team with an excellent 22.24 on his debut at Sutton Park, pulling back 3 places to bring the team home in 35^th.

The A team achieved a new club record of 2:06:56 and their best position of 35^th for the event.

‘B’ Team

Thanks to new member Edwin Hartley for turning up and saving the ‘B’ team, as 1 member had dropped out unannounced.

Daniel Wilson led the team out in the fastest time in the team (22.43), coming home in 77^th on the difficult 1^st leg. Daniel handed over to Ollie Hindle, who is not known for his heavy training load, but who is obviously naturally talented, as he breezed around in 23.06 (73). If Ollie were to do a Deano (i.e. train regularly) he’d be much nearer 20 minutes! Paul F. delivered a solid leg – running predominantly on his own throughout – to record his fastest ever 6 stage time of 23.33 (71). Terry, coming back into form after a few niggles, took 41 secs of his 2004 time again, like Paul, running mostly on his own and producing a good, solid leg of 24.17 (71). Terry handed over to his training partner, Paul D. who proceeded to pull back 2 places before settling down to a lonely run for home in 24.47, 11 seconds faster than his best time from last year (69). The glory leg was left for our last minute replacement, Edwin Hartley, who was able to produce a good, solid 24.49 to bring the team home in the 5^th fastest Bournville team time of all-time for the event. The ‘B’ team were actually faster than the A team in 2006, an indication of our growing strength in depth. The list below, compiled by Steve James, shows the improvement of a number of our members. Our aim as a club has to be to try and qualify next year! Well done everyone.

Name	2007 time	Previous Best Time
Jon Grix	20:00	-
Dean Parker	20:21	22.39
Kevin Woodward	21:06	-
Sean Rose	20:54	21:19 (2005)
Dave Harte	22:11	22:48 (2005)
Mike Berry	22:24	-
Daniel Wilson	22:43	-
Oliver Hindle	23:06	23:12 (2005)
Paul Foot	23:33	23:40 (2004)
Terry Doherty	24:17	24:58 (2004)
Paul Dugmore	24:47	24:56 (2006)
Edwin Hartley	24:49	-

JG

 

35	Bournville Harriers 'A'			02:06:56
	Pos.	Time
Jon Grix	41	20:00
Dean Parker	39	20:21
Kevin Woodward	36	21:06
Sean Rose	35	20:54
Dave Harte	38	22:11
Mike Berry	35	22:24

70	Bournville Harriers 'B'			02:23:15
	Pos.	Time
Daniel Wilson	77	22:43
Oliver Hindle	73	23:06
Paul Foot	71	23:33
Terry Doherty	71	24:17
Paul Dugmore	69	24:47
Edwin Hartley	70	24:49

All photos here.  Bournville Harriers only here.  Full results here.  Last year's report here