Colchester Harriers’ athletes enjoyed another successful weekend of competition as they chalked up wins in local half marathons in Harwich and Debden as well as a host of good performances further afield in London, Manchester and Shropshire.

The Mayflower 400 Harwich Half Marathon, the first time the town has hosted such an event for 30 years, saw Harriers men fill eight of the top twenty places.  Enjoying perfect conditions and watched by a good crowd Jordan Middlemist broke the finishing tape to come home first in 1:12:40, a Personal Best (PB) by over 7 minutes.  He was closely followed by club captain Tom Cresswell who clocked 1:16:16 to take third place with Chris Sellens (1:16:47) and John Scaife (1:16:48 – PB) just missing out on the podium in fourth and fifth respectively.  Colin Ridley was first V60 across the line in 1:19:28, Kevin Higgins first V50 in 1:21:37 (PB), and there were also PBs for Louis Davey (1:21:37) and Seb Eaton (1:28:46).  Colchester also tasted success in the women’s race as Heidi Hogan-Steele finished in 1:23:27 to carry off the first place prize money, Victoria Primmer posted 1:28:24 to finish fifth and Tina Southgate ran a PB of 1:43:48.

Across the county in Debden, in form Jennifer Lovelock ran a superbly paced race to finish first woman in the Essex Half Marathon in a time of 1:27:09 (PB) with husband Andrew recording his own PB of 1:23:10 to finish in eight place overall, whist in the capital Steve Wilkins continued his own great vein of form to clock 1:26:40 (PB) at the London Landmarks Half.

Meanwhile a group of Harriers runners made their way up to the North West to compete in the Manchester marathon.  Andrew Jobling was first home for the club finishing his first ever road marathon in a time of 2:45:17.  Mark Howard came home in 2:53:16, to take nearly 15 minutes off his previous best, Jerry Walder ran a well controlled 3:04:15 (PB) closely followed by Jay Waite who clocked 3:04:26, another PB.  Stuart Ashworth ran 3:08:59 (PB), Chris Stevenson 3:28:25 (PB) and Ian Rattray finished in 3:49:51 in his first marathon, despite suffering from cramp in the latter stages.

In trail running veteran Allen Smalls capped off a successful weekend for the Colchester club by  completing the Mammathon marathon in Shropshire, including over 4,500 feet of climbing, in 4:18:56 to finish second overall.

Mayflower 400 Harwich Half Marathon – full results: 

Men:  Jordan Middlemist 1:12:40 (1^st, PB), Thomas Cresswell 1:16:16 (3^rd, PB), Chris Sellens 1:16:48 (4^th), John Scaife 1:16:49 (5^th, PB), 9. Colin Ridley 1:19:28 (9^th, 1^st V60), Jason Gunn 1:20:25 (15^th), Kevin Higgins 1:21:37 (17^th, PB, 1^st V50), Louis Davey 1:21:37 (19^th, PB), Wayne Cook 1:25:05, Keith Marley 1:26:50, Seb Eaton 1:28:46 (PB), Paul Dellar 1:29:29, Robert Smith 1:31:54, Tim Holden 1:33:05, Sean Duffett 1:40:45

Women:  Heidi Hogan-Steele 1:23:27 (1^st), Victoria Primmer 1:28:24 (5^th), Tina Southgate 1:43:48 (PB).