UP COMING EVENTS

APRIL

6/4 Throws Festival Chelmsford

6/4 Bungay 10k

7/4 Chelmsford Open Mtg

15/4 Bungay Marathon

21/4 SAL Ipswich

22/4 EAL Braintree

22/4 London Marathon

29/4 NJL Eton

29/4 EYAL Norwich

MAY

13/5 Suffolk Track and Field

Championships Bury

19/5 SAL Woodford Green

20/5 EAL Ipswich

25/5 Ipswich Jaffa Friday 5

26/5 SEAA U15/20 Inter-

Counties Champs Bedford

27/5 EYAL Thurrock

JUNE

1/6 Kirton Friday 5

2/6 Eastern AA Champs

Cambridge

SAL - Suffolk Athletics League

EYAL - Eastern Young Athletics League

EAL - East Anglian League

NJL - National Junior League

World Champ!‘Duathlon’ not a word most of us are familiar with but one young Harrier Ross Fawcett is currently

a full GB athlete in the discipline. Not only that but at the recent World Championships held in Gijon Spain he took the U20 mens world title.

Essentially a triathlon without the swimming! Ross won the title with a 10k run, followed by a 38.4k cycle ride and finishing with a 5k run in 1:57:28.

It’s finally here ‘2012’ the year that every athlete and athletics fan has been waiting for. London and the Olympics are sure to be the two most overstated words expressed in excitement up and down the country for next few months. Hopefully some of you more fortunate folk will have tickets to the main event. If not like millions of others, I’m sure you’ll be glued to the television supporting our GB athletes and dreaming of one day emulating them for yourself ! Though you might not be up to Olympic standards just yet, you can still throw yourselves into competing for the Harriers. So lets capture some of that fantastic Olympic spirit and carry it with us into our own season. Go Team Harriers!!!

With the Track and Field season fast approaching, here’s a reminder of two very important dates for your diary. The County Championships are being held in Bury on Saturday 13th May. Whilst on June 2nd the Eastern AA Championships will take

place at the Wilberforce Track in Cambridge. These are competitions which you must enter for yourself but as a Harrier you still compete in your club vest. All track and field events from U13 to Seniors are included with medals awarded for the first 3 places in each age group. Anyone can enter you just need to meet the qualifying conditions. Both events provide good competition and a chance to gain experience, have fun and maybe come away with a championship win! It would be great to see the club well represented at both events. Entry forms for the County Champs are available in the clubhouse (along with a box to post them) closing date for entry to the County Champs is the 27th April so get your skates on and get those entries in! For more details on both events visit www.suffolkathletics.org.uk (the official web site for suffolk athletics).

Good Luck for the new season and enjoy your athletics!

Hello everyone and welcome to the first Newsletter of 2012,

After a short break in publication we’re back for the start of a brand new track season, to keep you up to date with everything ‘Ipswich Harriers’. In this issue we catch up with news and events from the past winter, including a review of the cross country season, results from indoor competitions and we include a guide to league participation for the coming T&F season. If you have anything you’d like to tell us about training, competing or athletics in general please email ipswichh@ipswich-harriers.co.uk fao Maria

CLUB NEWS

Ipswich Harriers Issue 11 April 2012 www.ipswich-harriers.co.uk

The sun is shining, Easters almost here and the winter season, in all its muddy glory has come to an end. Now is the time to congratulate all those hardy soles who competed for club, county and country while the rest of us were still in bed dreaming of winning the 100m at the London Olympics (or is that just me?). From October through the chilly days of winter, their weekends were given over to grassy hillocks and muddy bends in an exhausting race for individual and team honours. Here’s a reminder of some of the highlights from the 2011/2012 season.

October saw the first race in the Suffolk Winter League take place on the undulating course at Framlingham. It was a great start to the season with good conditions, a good turnout and some wonderful performances, especially from our younger athletes. There was a one, two, three for Chloe Godbold, Ella Hughes and Ella Gooderham and top ten finishes for Henry Milldown (2nd), Chris Jones (3rd) and Daniel Robinson (8th) in the U13s section. For the U15s Alice Goodwin (5th), Lauren Ramsey (8th), Josh Sugars (5th), Joshua Thompson (8th) and George Williams (9th) all had good steady runs. The U17 age group saw all of our athletes finish in the top six - Charlotte Bones (3rd), Emily Robinson (4th), Connor Whiting (2nd) and Toby Upson (6th). Our older runners proved equally successful with wins for Lucy Barnes and Ross Fawcett in the junior races with Emma Burroughs also coming home a creditable second. Simon Gardiner rounded off a superb meeting with 8th place in the senior mens race.

The EAA XC Champs were held at RHS in Holbrook on 27th November and the Harriers had a whole host of young representatives who finished in the top twenty. For the U13 boys Henry Milldown finished 2nd, Chris Jones 6th and Joshua Richards 16th with Chloe Godbold coming home 11th in the girls equivalent. Richard Ling finished 6th and George Williams 14th in the U15 boys race with our best placed girl Olivia Mair coming home 20th. Our best U17 result came from Ross Tennant who ran strongly to finish 2nd followed by Tobias Rankin in 14th.

Unlike last year, December gave us perfect cross country weather and a full schedule to follow. Beginning on the 4th with the second round of the Suffolk Winter League which took place at Woodbridge, turnout was good for Harriers with a strong junior team in attendance. Several individual performances stood out on the day including Henry Milldown who finished 1st in U13 boys race with Chris Jones coming in 3rd and Chloe Godbold followed by Rachel Collett emulating them in the girls equivalent. For the U15s Theo Passmore (3rd), Richard Ling (5th), Joshua Sugars (6th) and Joshua Thompson (7th) put on a fine display of team running along with the girls Alice Goodwin (4th), Lauren Ramsey (7th) and Gabriella Hartfield (8th). Connor Whiting came home 2nd ahead of Jason Duah (4th) and Toby Upson (6th) for the U17 boys, while Maddy Harris and Emily Robinson finished 3rd and 4th in the girls race. In the Junior section, Emma Burroughs and Ross Fawcett won their individual races with Lucy Barnes 2nd and Simon Gardiner finished 3rd in the Senior mens event. On the 10th a young group of athletes journeyed to Croydon as part of the Suffolk team for the SEAA Inter-counties XC Champs. Chloe Godbold was our best placed female finishing in 58th in the U13 girls race, our best placed male athlete was Henry Milldown who came home 61st for the U13 boys. The following day far away in Velenje Slovenia, Kieran Clements donned a GB vest to compete in the European XC Championships. Kieran finished in ninth position, the third placed brit across the line, claiming a well deserved GOLD medal as part of the winning team! On the 18th some of Stephen Benson’s group faced international competition at the Lotto Cross Cup in Brussels. In a repeat of last years result Kieran Clements won the U20 mens 6k race with Patrick Gravett-Curl following in 38th place. In the U17 section Ross Tennant finished in 28th just ahead of Tobias Rankin in 33rd position.

Our athletes raced into the New Year literally as they took part in the Suffolk XC Championships held at Ickworth Park. Most notable results on the day were a first place team finish for U15 girls, comprising Charlotte Wickens(2nd), Olivia Mair(6th) and Alice Goodwin(7th). There was also a win for the U13 boys who were led home by Louis Breyer(4th) followed by Harry Archer(6th) and Chris Jones(7th). The third team to take the title were the U17 boys with Ross Tennant in 3rd, Connor Whiting 4th and Tobias Rankin 5th. Individual results came in the U17girls race with a win for Susannah Reid and in the womens U20 event with Charlotte Christensen home first closely followed by Hannah Pettersson in 2nd. James Powley also took the win in the U20 mens race, whilst in the Senior mens race it was a one-two for the Rooke brothers with Andrew narrowly beating Chris into second place. The previous day had seen another amazing performance from Kieran Clements, competing at U20 level against quality international competition he collected a silver medal finishing 2nd at the BUPA Great Edinburgh XC Champs. The 22nd of January saw the third round of the SWL at Bury and first place finishes for Henry Milldown(U13boys), Lucy Barnes(jun.woman)and Laura Odell(sen. women). The final event on the January calendar was the Southern XC Championships held in Brighton, Kieran once again acquitted himself very well finishing 2nd in the U20 mens race, James Powley followed in a creditable 36th place. Others competing on the day were Ross Tennant with a fantastic 26th place in the U17 boys event, Susannah Reid 47th (U17w), Charlotte Wickens 63rd (U15g), Ross Fawcett 58th (U20m) and Chris Rooke 71st in the senior mens 15k race. All achieved great performances against top class fields.

Cross Country Round-up

February got off to a great start with the Anglian Schools Championships held locally this year at RHS in Holbrook. Several Harriers athletes were chosen to represent the county including Charlotte Wickens who came home 8th in the Junior girls race and Theo Passmore who finished 11th in the boys race helping the team claim the boys trophy. Louis Breyer crossed the line in 20th position in the Minor boys event and Susannah Reid came home in 15th place in the Inter girls race. Ross Tennant and Connor Whiting helped the Inter boys take the team trophy with 4th and 9th place finishes while Hannah Pettersson and Claire Caiger crossed the line in 5th and 14th places competing in the Senior girls race. Performance of the day must go to Kieran Clements and the Senior boys team, Kieran crossed the line first to lead the team consisting of James Powley (4th) and Patrick Gravett-Curl (19th) home to the overall team trophy. Bungay on the 19th saw the next leg of the SWL and several made the journey to North Suffolk including U13 girls Chloe Godbold and Rachel Collett who had a great race coming home in 1st and 3rd place. In the boys race Henry Milldown finished 4th closely followed by Chris Jones in 6th and Matthew Snowdon in 7th. Theo Passmore finished 3rd with Richard Ling 4th, Antonio Capasso 8th and Joshua Sugars 9th for the U15 boys. The U15 girls saw Alice Goodwin finish 5th followed by Hannah Hine 6th and Lauren Ramsey 7th. For the Under 17s Emily Robinson came home 3rd for the girls and Jason Duah 4th for the boys. The juniors also had a good day with Lucy Barnes and Emma Burroughs finishing 1st and 2nd for the women and Ross Fawcett winning the mens race. Simon Gardiner came home 6th in the Senior mens event. The 25th saw another event in the packed XC calendar of Kieran Clements as he travelled to London for the National Championships at Parliament Hill. Another great race saw him come away with 4th place in the U20 mens section. Susannah Reid(U17w) and Chris Rooke(sm) also competed placing a respectable 63rd and 111th.

March the final month of the season saw the last leg of the SWL take place at Stowmarket on the 4th. With league trophies up for grabs the Harriers had a good turnout of athletes looking for a win. Henry Milldown came home 1st for U13 boys with Matthew Snowdon 5th, and Chris Jones 12th. The girls had a great competition with Lottie Summers finishing 1st, Chloe Godbold 2nd, Rachel Collett 4th and Hannah Grubb 6th. Emily Robinson and Maddy Harris competed well for the U17 girls coming home in 2nd and 3rd places and Hannah Hine had another good run to finish 5th in the U15s race. Theo Passmore came home in 3rd for the U15 boys closely followed by Richard Ling in 6th, Joshua Sugars in 7th and Joshua Thompson in 8th. For the U17s Connor Whiting finished 3rd with Jason Duah 5th and Toby Upson 6th. Lucy Barnes and Ross Fawcett continued their winning ways in the junior sections with Emma Burroughs also finishing 4th in the womens race. Simon Gardiner maintained his good league form to come home in 2nd place in the senior mens race with Tom Tica just behind in third.

Overall Results for Suffolk Winter League 2011/12

Team Results Junior Boys Team 2nd place behind Bungay Black Dog.

Junior Girls Team 2nd place behind St Edmunds Pacers.

Senior Men 7th place & Senior Women 5th place

Individual Results U13 Girls: Chloe Godbold 1st, Rachel Collett 3rd

U13 Boys: Henry Milldown 1st, Chris Jones 3rd

U15 Boys: Theo Passmore 3rd, Richard Ling 4th U15 Girls: Hannah Hine 5th

U17 Girls: Emily Robinson 3rd U17 Boys: Connor Whiting 3rd, Toby Upson 5th

Junior Female: Lucy Barnes 1st, Emma Burroughs 2nd Junior Male: Ross Fawcett 1st

Senior Male: Simon Gardiner 3rd

This years Inter-counties XC Champs were held at Birmingham on the 10th. The best result on the day came from Kieran Clements, who fought a tough race finally crossing the line in third place in the U20mens event. Other performances of note included Chris Rooke 81st in the senior mens, James Powley 67th in the U20 mens, and Charlotte Christensen 58th in the U20w race. Ending on a high note the final event of the season was the English Schools XC Championships held this year in IIton on the 17th. A small contingent from Harriers represented Suffolk at this prestigious schools event, against many of the best young athletes in the country. After a fantastic winter season for the club Kieran Clements claimed a silver medal in the U20 category followed by team mates James Powley in 86th and Patrick Gravett-Curl in 152nd. In the other age groups Ross Tennant finished 68th and Connor Whiting 195th (U17boys), Theo Passmore was 106th and Richard Ling 245th (U15boys) and Charlotte Wickens finished 100th and Chloe Godbold 320th for the Under15 Girls.

After such a hugely successful Cross Country season, we must congratulate everyone of our hardworking athletes, who turned out in all weathers and represented the club at every level on their terrific achievements. WELL DONE!!!

Track and FieldSummer League Details

With the new Track and Field season just a few weeks away its time to update you with details of the clubs league participation for 2012. One major competition change for Harriers athletes this year will see senior male and female athletes joining forces to compete in the restructured Southern Athletics League. Below is a quick guide to all of the Leagues we participate in during the summer months.

The Southern Athletics League (SAL)

This competition is open to Senior, Junior and U17 men and women (except that the latter may not compete in events in excess of 3000m and are restricted to competing in three events and one relay). The league structure consists of a first division of 16 clubs and four regional second divisions. Harriers have been placed in the North East section of Division Two along with local rivals Colchester Harriers, CATs and West Suffolk as well as several of the countries top clubs including, Newham and Essex Beagles and Woodford Green and Essex Ladies providing us with extremely tough opposition again this summer. In all there are a total of sixteen teams in this division for 2012, competing in five matches held on Saturdays over the season.

Womens Team Managers:

Elizabeth Welbourn & Leanne Thorndyke

Mens Team Manager:

Colleen Fuller

First Meeting: Saturday 21st April home at Northgate

The National Junior League (NJL)

The National Junior Athletic League provides athletics competition for the best young athletes in the under 20 age group (under 17’s with potential are also allowed to compete to gain experience).

The League is divided into three Regions Northern, Midland and Southern which are then sub-divided into area divisions topped by a Premier Division. Club teams that finish in top place in the Area Divisions are invited to a promotion match along with the team finishing second from bottom of the Premier Division. The teams finishing in first and second place at this match gain promotion to their Premier Division for the following season.

Ipswich Harriers compete in a joint team with Chelmsford AC under the name of “The Saxons”. Club vests are not worn instead a purple Saxons Vest is loaned for each meeting. This season will again see us competing in the Southern Premier Division the top division for this region!

Team Managers: Graeme Crissell & Keith Moore

First Meeting: Sunday 29th April away at Eton

The East Anglian League (EAL)

We are currently 2011 Overall League Champions for the EAL. It is an Eastern region league which sees us competing against teams from Essex and Cambridgeshire as well as local rivals such as West Suffolk, Diss and Colchester at various venues throughout the region. The League has a real team focus with events for all age groups from U13 to Seniors. A league final is held at Bury in September for the top six teams in each individual age group.

Team Managers: Megan Day (women), Maria Thompson (boys) & Colleen Fuller (senior men)

First Meeting: Sunday 22nd April away at Braintree

The Eastern Young Athletes League (EYAL)

The EYAL is a league for our younger athletes from U13 to U17. It is a highly competitive league where we regularly compete against some of the best young athletes in the region. Two League finals are held in September the top six teams in the league compete in the main final with the next six teams contesting a plate final on the same day. Last season we reached the plate final held at Ipswich where a fantastic team effort, saw us win the overall trophy.

Team Managers: Yvonne Holmes & Mandy Godbold (girls) Maria Thompson (boys)

First Meeting: Sunday 29th April away at Norwich

General Information

In all leagues two competitors per event, per club.( 'A' and 'B' ) plus relays are allowed to score points for the team. However sometimes we are also able to field some non-scoring participants allowing others to take part. If you aren’t competing in the maximum number of events allowed for your age, your team manger may ask you to compete for extra points in events where there are no entrants from the club. This will support the team as participation usually means points but it can also mean you’ll find a new event your great at!

Competitors taking part in all leagues (except NJL) will be required to wear a club vest when participating in their events, these can be purchased from the clubhouse on training nights.

Transport to away league matches is included in your membership fee as an athlete, however parents traveling in support on the team bus will be charged £5 per person for each away match attended.

Finally and most importantly don’t forget that we're a competitive club and as a member you have agreed to represent us in league and open competitions throughout the season. Remember competing is the ultimate reward for all your hard work and training - you can’t be a winner either individually or as part of the team if you don’t take part!

Results RoundupIndoor Season 2011/12As a forerunner to the to the outdoor track season and a chance to test out their winter strength and endurance training, several of our young athletes have attended indoor meetings over the last few months. Matt Constable was our most prolific athlete kicking off his year with 23.36 in the 200m at Lee Valley on the 2nd of January, he then broke his pb in the 400m lowering it to 50.28 at the Birmingham Games on February 5th. Later the same month at the England U20 Champs also held in Birmingham, he qualified for the final with a time of 50.16 in the semis and finished 5th in the final taking his pb down to 49.66. Other athletes attending the England Championships were Charlotte Shelley who finished 10th in the U20w Triple Jump with a leap of 10.54m and Benson Craven who sprinted to a creditable pb of 7.91 in the U15b 60m. Under 15 athlete Christopher Jones competed at the Eastern Counties Champs held at Lee Valley in February, gaining a pb in the 400m of 66.43 and finishing 6th in the High Jump with another pb of 1.45m. Two of our young sprinters attended the SEAA Indoor Champs in January at Lee Valley both attaining new pbs in the 60m for their efforts. Tom Powell with 7.37 in the U20s event and George Johnson with 7.54 in the U17 age group. Other attendees were Benson Craven who finished 6th in the U15b 60m semis, Beth Clarke who came 11th in the U17w Long Jump with 4.70m and Under 20 Charlotte Shelley who finished 4th in the Long Jump and 3rd in the Triple Jump with a sb of 10.60m. Finally young athlete Georgia Harrold gained a fantastic pb of 9.1 in the U13 girls 60m race at Chelmsford’s Young Athletes Open in March.

Winter Throws Results

Our throwers have also been busy this winter, lead by Malcolm Fenton who competed in the British Masters Athletic Federations 2012 Winter Throws Competition on the 18th March. Competing for East Anglian Veteran Athletes he won the M55 weight throw with 17.82m and the M55 Hammer with a whopping 50.31m. At the Cambridge Open Throws Meeting the following weekend Malcolm threw a seasons best of 51.28m to win the M55 Hammer. Some of our younger athletes were also in attendance, Theo Moore threw a sb of 25.60m in the U20m Hammer. Helena Coe competed well to finish 2nd in the U17g Shot with 9.39m and 3rd in the Discus, team mate Ellie Bloomfield won the Discus with 29.54m and then finished 3rd in the Hammer. On the 25th of March the Thetford Winter throws comp saw U20 athlete Georgina Howe throw a pb of 44.60m in the Hammer and 29.67m in the Discus with Ellie Bloomfield throwing a sb of 33.26m in the U17g Hammer and 27.67m in the Discus.

Road Running News

In Feb Neil Gillingham our ever busy road running secretary, finished 42nd in the Tarpley 20m race in a time of 2:30:04. he then completed the Cambridge 1/2 marathon on 11th of March in 127th with a pb of 89:23. The Great Bentley 1/2 Marathon saw Neil finish 46th again lowering his pb to 87:46, Daniel Jones also entered finishing 249th in a sb of 1:54:24. Meanwhile Kirsty Thorndyke who just missed out on a place for London this year, took part in the Blackpool Marathon on 11th of March finishing 20th with an impressive pb of 3:53:26.

TRACK ETIQUETTEJust a reminder to coaches and athletes to be vigilant when using the track for training. Sometimes the track can be crowded with groups training at different points around the track. Sometimes it can be more dangerous than crossing a road! Always try to be aware of what is going on around you and in what direction everyone is running. If you need to leave the track for a recovery period, do so by the nearest point to you either the inside or the outside, rather than crossing lanes from lane 1 to lane 8. Similarly, if you walk back on the track to recover, beware of other athletes who may be sprinting or using the inside lane for longer runs. Safety is the Club's priority for all its members but it is up to all of us to ensure the safety of each other to avoid a serious accident.

TRAINING HURDLESWhen using the training hurdles, would the last person to use them in a session please make sure that the hurdles are put back in the hurdles store even if you were not the person to originally get them out.

News Extra

TESCOS VOUCHERS

Great News!! The club has been selected by the Copdock store in Ipswich as its nominated Sports club for this years promotion. This means that anyone can donate their vouchers to the club in the specially designated box in the store’s entrance. Last year we obtained several vital pieces of training equipment and it would be great if we could do even better this time. There will be the usual collection box available for your donations in the clubhouse until the end of May, so tell everyone and get collecting WE NEED YOUR VOUCHERS.......