News

Following yesterday's announcement by the Government that a new national lockdown will come into force from Thursday 5th November, today, we have been informed by Sodexo ( who manage the facilities) that the club's last night of training on the track will be Tuesday 3rd November with the facilities closing from Thursday with a view to reopening from Monday 7 December. This is obviously very disappointing having had so little time back at the facilities. Any further news will be shared through the clubs website and facebook... read more

In the recent Ipswich Jaffa junior virtual relays Colchester Harriers entered a small team of athletes competing in a number of age groups. With some Strong teams entered including a number from Australia the young Harriers total points meant a 3rd place finish of 13 clubs. The U13G team of Lyla Belshaw, Isla Widdowson and Ella Licence posted some amazing times for the 2k distance, Lyla led the way with 7.03 this was well supported with Isla 7.48 and Ella 8.18 placing them a clear 1st. The U11G team consisted of 3 young siblings of club members, Rebecca Walder, Audrey Butler and... read more

Tuesday 20 October will see some lucky members of Harriers return to the track for training after almost seven months. As not all coaches are able to return at present, sadly this means not all our Junior members in particular are able to make a return to their chosen activities. All coaches have been sent the action plan and guidelines for use of the track and facilities - please refer to your coach if you have not already seen them. In order to ensure we are complying with UKA guidelines and the Government it is imperative that all members abide by the rules. Prior to... read more

Colchester Harriers endurance athletes enjoyed a busy week of competition, racing in a variety of events up and down the country. Tina Southgate and Mark McKeown led the way, both posting remarkable performances at the Bedford Grand Prix with Southgate taking almost an hour off her Personal Best (PB) to clock 3:39:18 in the marathon and McKeown extending his recent fine run of form to finish 5th in the half marathon in an incredible time of 1:14:19 (PB). Not to be outdone, three Harriers were competing in an endurance event called the Medal Chaser in Finchingfield, attempting to... read more

Colchester Harriers endurance athletes defied the wet and windy conditions to tackle a variety of long distance events over the weekend. The Abbey Fields based club fielded a number of runners in the Virtual Virgin London Marathon.  Veteran Clive Thomas recorded the fastest time, completing the distance in 3:07:09 whilst Steve Wilkins ran a beautifully judged race to record a Personal Best (PB) 3:30:52.  Michelle Lock posted 4:13:14, Darren Ferrugia 4:13:22 with Louise Yates recording 4:40:27 despite having been able to complete very little training.  Cheryl Appleby ran... read more

On Saturday 27 September Jakub Walecki made the gruelling journey to Poland to compete in the Under 16 National Championships held this year in Slupsk – some six hour drive from Warsaw. In a field of twenty athletes including the reigning age group number one, Walecki  - who had hardly slept the night before due to nerves and excitement – executed a mature and confident competition. Last to enter at 1.75m and wearing his Polish Club Vest, WLKS Nowe Iganie Siedlce, he was forced to take a second attempt before getting into a steady, confident rhythm, which saw him clear the next... read more

Colchester Development Invitational Meet, 27th September - By Rob Earle At the latest throw’s development meeting Colchester Harriers Hammer throwers competed in wet and cold conditions. However, this did not detract from some excellent displays of throwing. On only his second throwing session since February Billy Praim-Singh threw an excellent 54.34m in the senior competition. Won by his training partner and friend Oliver Graham, who threw a massive 62.03m to take him to number one in the UK rankings for under 20’s this year . More impressively this takes him to 21st on the world... read more

Several athletes travelled to Norwich to compete in an afternoon of 1500’s, and one sprinter, unfortunately for those that made the journey to a very wet and windy Sports park PB’s were going to be hard to come by. First up Emily McGill in driving rain. Emily took off with too much enthusiasm passing the first 400 in 69 seconds, which would have been a decent first lap of an 800. She ran a brave race to finish 4th in 5.56 just outside her PB, a time we are sure would be reduced by several seconds in better conditions and a slightly slower first lap. Next up were four Harriers in... read more

A small group of youngsters and one senior took the trip to Norwich on a cool and windy Friday evening to take part in the Athletics Norwich series of open meetings. First up was Maisy Wood running in her first ever track race for the club she showed her tenacity going out with the leaders in a fast pace she held her form well to finish in an excellent time of 2.42, Maisy is a first year under 15 so we hope to see a lot more from her in the future. Then we had two Harriers in the same race, U13 Henry Rutland, this was Henry’s first race on a track for the club, and U17 Emily Swan... read more

Colchester Harrier Ella Neale has a top podium finish at the Madrid Cross Duathlon championships Having gone through a strict lockdown in Madrid, Ella took part in the rescheduled Madrid Duathlon Championships. The competition consisted of a 5k run, followed by a 15km off road mountain bike ride, this was followed by a 2.5km run. Ella found few problems with her favoured element the runs but the mountain bike course looked like a desert in the heat of the summer sun, with the ride consisting of several tight turns, steep inclines and ditches making going very difficult. On one occasion... read more