Athletes from Richmond and Zetland Harriers have been in action during the month of December, both locally and not-so-locally.

Andrea Woodvine journeyed south to Poole, Dorset on Saturday 13 to compete in a 5K road race at Boscombe Pier and finished second to England Junior international Charlotte Moore in a time of 17:37.

On Sunday 21, Ken Harker competed at Loftus in the annual Poultry Run, a multi-terrain race over "something-more-than-seven-miles", finishing 7th in 47:16. Stephen Hepples of Loftus AC won the race in 42:27, a time that reflected both the terrain and the bitter cold conditions.

The Harriers held their Boxing Day Handicap Race along the short 2 miles of Sedbury Back Lane from Gilling West towards Skeeby. The day was fine but cold and only eight runners felt the need to stretch their legs and work-off some Christmas pudding. A blustery north wind, blowing across the lane, put paid to any attempt on Jon Orange's 9:07 course record but individual PBs were always "up-for-grabs". Handicaps were based on recent performances in the NYSD X-C League and although they caused the usual controversy, they proved reasonably accurate. Newcomer, Sarah Gregory was first away and led all the way past the last bend. Her boyfriend, Mark, and Fitz were timekeepers for the day, said afterwards that when Sarah came into sight, they checked the stopwatch, and when they looked-up again, all eight runners were in sight. Twenty four seconds separated first from last: Ken Harker won the race; Jon Orange was fastest on the day and 16-year-old Philip Fitzpatrick was most-improved runner, knocking a massive 1:20 off his previous best.

Results: 1st Ken Harker 12:47 (-2:40=10:07), 2nd Philip Fitzpatrick 12:49 (-2:30=10:19), 3rd Jon Orange 12:54 (-3:15=9:39), 4th Edd Richards 12:58 (-2:15=10:43), 5th Taff Rogers 13:01 (-1:30=11:31), 6th Sarah Gregory 13:05 (-0=13:05), 7th Louise Jackson 13:10 (-1:40=11:30) & 8th Mike Brooks 13:11 (-1:50=11:21).

Sunday 28 was equally cold but didn't deter the sell-out crowd for the Jolly Holly Jog and Fun Run. The 1 mile Fun Run got the day started and 1st of 74 to pass the post was 14-year-old Daniel Phillips in 8:02. The Harriers had four Junior members in competition and they finished fourth Chris Andrade 8:48, 6th Douglas Roberts 8:57, 8th (& 1st girl) Jessie Roberts 9:33 and 11th Fergus Roberts (aged 9) in 9:54. The Jog is something of a misnomer; advertised as a scenic multi-terrain course when in truth it is a serious 10K, hilly and muddy in many places, but very well-liked by all as another full-house with 270 finishers showed. This year's winner, Martin Grainger of Darlington, recorded a time of 35:03, just 11 seconds slower than last year's winning time by Rickie Wilson of Scarborough. Paul Roberts of RZH was 31 seconds slower and three places down on his 2003 efforts due to an excess of cycling and gym-work. Conversely, Colin Sewell was 26th in 40:41, bettering both last year's Jog and this year's Leeds Abbey Dash. Sarah Gregory was the third Harrier in the race and she commented - "the course is really good and I enjoyed it, even if I was slipping and sliding in the muddy bits going uphill, and I finished 87th overall and second Senior Lady, behind Erika Johnson, in a time of 46:12...although this isn't a PB, I was pleased because of the conditions, and I'm looking forward to a nice flat race to see how much I can take off my PB very soon!"

This weekend's fixtures include race five in the Reebok Challenge Series at Stormont Castle, Belfast on Saturday and on Sunday there is the Morpeth to Newcastle Half Marathon at 11am and the fourth fixture in the NYSD X-C League at Caedmon School, Whitby with the first race at 1pm.

* www.rzh.org.uk