Crunch time has arrived in this year’s Essex Road Championship series with both Harriers men and women ‘in the mix,’ in the team stakes and individually.

Last week was the penultimate round of the league in the form of the Pleshey Half Marathon. Conditions on the day were overcast, eighteen degrees and 92 percent humidity at the start, making it feel quite oppressive in the early miles.

Andy Summers was first Harrier home in twentieth place in 1:18:46. Victoria Primmer continued her stellar season with another superb run and was second Harrier home and female Essex Half Marathon Champion with a two-minute PB of 1:21:33! – this will extend her lead in the individual female standings in the Essex County Championship Grand Prix table.

Closely following Victoria was Lydia Callan who also smashed her PB by a massive three minutes with a time of 1:22:08 and finished second in the women’s race. It is great to see Lydia running so well again, an incredibly talented runner. Emma Burgess finished first V40 female and was seventh overall in 1:27:26, which completed the winning women’s team on the day. Emily Worboys was another to PB with 1:29:24, despite being under the weather this week. Her fortitude to battle through has strengthened her position in the women’s individual Grand Prix table, where she sits fourth overall.

Other notable performances were Jerry Walder who PB’d with a fabulous 1:22:51 to finish third V50. Colin Ridley was first V60 in a time of 1:23:26. Amanda Henry was second V50 female in 1:43:26. Diane Wooller was the V70 champion in 2:01:04.

To summarise, going into the final round, we have a number of ‘irons in the fire’ with regards to possible prize wins:

• The women’s team have sewn up the Grand Prix prize with one round to go after winning five out of the six races this year (and finishing second in the other!) Complete domination!
• The men’s team led from the start of the series but were missing some of our stronger runners at the weekend, meaning we slipped to second in the table, three points behind Braintree.
• In the female ‘Open’ individual standings Victoria Primmer leads, with Emma Burgess second and Emily Worboys fourth. These three have been the spine of the team this year and their consistency and high performances have been the reason for the comfortable league win.
• Age group wise, a number of athletes have a chance of an Essex Gold, Silver, or Bronze medal in the overall stakes. Starting off with the females, Emma Burgess leads the V40 women, although unfortunately cannot attend the final round due to a clash with Chelmsford Marathon. Amanda Henry has had a dominant season and leads the V50 rankings by fifteen points. Sue Begent is joint second in the V60 table, so, all to play for, for her going into the last race. Diane Wooler sits second in the V70 table and is a regular prize winner whenever she competes in the Essex Championships series.
• In the men’s age group tables, Chris Sellens dominated the V40 rankings and has a massive 26-point lead going into the final round. Colin Ridley (who probably has more Essex medals than I have had hot dinners) is cruising the V60 table with a massive 45-point league. He could stay in bed for the final round (I suspect he won’t!).

The final round of the series is the very local Tiptree 10 on the 11^th October. Let us try to finish the league strongly with a good turnout in this race. Please transfer your entry to another Harrier if you cannot attend. Also, remember to select an ‘Essex Championships Entry’ when you enter. Even if you do not think you will contribute to the points, you may be surprised, and could take points off another runner, allowing a team mate to pick up an age group prize.