News

by Max Simon Olivia Simon and Hollie Martin-Whymark were the club's only representatives at the South of England Age Group (u13/U15/U17) Championships held at Ashford this year. Delayed by road closures and subsequent heavy traffic on Saturday 17th August , Martin-Whymark was unable to compete the U13 girls 200m and so just had the 100m to contest. Battling a hearty head wind she was able grab herself a slot in the semi final after her fourth place finish in heat three (14.49s -2.4), however the competition was just too strong on this occassion and her competition ended with an... read more

By Paul Young The Final SAL match of the season took place at a blustery but thankfully sunny Garrison track in Colchester on Saturday. The Harriers needed to win the match to have any chance of staying in the top division. First reports are that Harriers have won the match by a single point subject to verification – Reports and publication of the final table on the SAL website now verify that Colchester Harriers will continue to compete in the top division by 7.5 points A massive well done to the athletes competing in the green vests of Colchester, you competed with pride and... read more

by Chris Jeggo The Manchester International took place at the Regional Arena on Wednesday 14th August. This is one of the main events in the national athletics calendar acting as a gateway competition between regional club events and the Commonwealth Games, giving athletes the experience of competing in front of a large crowd against strong opposition. The competition consists of representative teams from each of the four home countries, a GB junior squad, the British leagues and two all-star teams. Selected for her first senior national team event in her final year as a... read more

Colchester Harriers had excellent results recently in various competitions including reaching the final of the Eastern Masters track and field league with a fine win in the last fixture at the garrison track. The men needed to win to reach the Milton Keynes final while the ladies had already qualified. The men had a very strong team which ensured victory with some superb performances. Gavin Sandercock in the pole vault, Rob Earle in the javelin, David Wright in the hurdles and Nate Filer in the mile were some of the best results which were numerous throughout the team. For the ladies... read more

By Rob Earle In ideal conditions, the Harriers throws group held the first of two development meetings during August on Thursday 8th. These are an excellent opportunity for athletes and officials to display and develop their skills. Without the burden of travel and drawn out programmes. Making the most of this, with new club records were Wyatt Larkins and Olivia Simon who returned figures of 39.06m and 31.77m respectively. The latter breaking the long standing Under 15 girls 4k record. With Wyatt now moving to the top of the British rankings for the under 13’s in 2019. Not to be... read more

The final EYAL match of the year took place at the plush Allianz Park, Hendon on Sunday 11 August 2019. Harriers went onto the meet placed ninth in the League and needed to finish the day in fifth or above to confirm their place in the plate final.  However, with athletes dropping like flies, the situation was looking precarious. Despite fielding less than forty athletes in total, most took on three scoring events in order to add to the team tally and averaged an amazing 12.9 points each.  Without the B scorers –often covering events they have very little experience of -... read more

On Sunday 21 July, eight counties including Essex went head to head with their best U17 athletes in the annual Intercounties match, this year held at Chelmsford Athletics Centre. Earning her first ever Essex vest was 15-year-old Josephine Larkin from Braintree, who has been a very lucrative signee for Harriers this season.  Competing in the U17 women’s Hammer, Larkins as B string enjoyed a great competition.  Her very first effort gained her a superb PB, adding a metre to her original best with a heave of 48.53m.  This put her into the final throw off where although she... read more

Colchester Harriers slipped to 15th position in the Southern Athletics League division one; in the relegation zone after a tough day in Bracknell, despite a club record from under 17 athlete Kai Chilvers. Chilvers ran a superb time of 60.1s to take the fourteen year old club record by almost a second and help himself to third place in the A string 400m hurdles race. He was backed up by a superb double victory for sprinter Akin Y Akinboh in the A string 100m and 200m with times of 11.0s and 22.2s. For the women, Milly Presland continued her good form with a super B string victory in... read more

Following on from their 2018 men’s triple whitewash win in the seniors, over 40’s and over 50’s  mens races at the Ekiden 6 leg Marathon relay, the club made it a double treble at Woodbridge school, also busting two existing course records. The Senior men swept to victory for the third consecutive year in a time of 2h 24m 45s thanks to Ramadam Osman, Ermeas Aferwerki, Dean Williamson, Jason Gunn, Nath Filer and Mark McKeown. The veteran 40’s set a new course record in 2h 29m 51s the six man team being Doug MacGilvray, Kevin Higgins, Adrian Mussett, Jon Nears, Paul Rodger and... read more

The 89th English Schools Athletics Championships took place at the Alexander Stadium, Birmingham over Friday 12 and Saturday 13 July. Showcasing some of the best athletes of each county in the country for the honour of being crowned English Schools Champion in their respective age and event, athletes had to have been selected by their County Team Manager in order to compete. Harriers were privileged this year to have three youngsters selected and for senior girl Joy Ogunleye 2019 will be a year to remember.  A veteran of five previous Championships which saw her earn two... read more