RUNNERS from Barnsley clubs competed around the world this week, including for Great Britain, while there was domestic success at the Yorkshire Schools Championships and the Barnsley Boundary Relay.
Penistone Footpath Runner Graihagh Turner represented England in the Under 18 age category at the Mountain Running Cup in Slovakia.
Held at altitude in alpine terrain, the event featured a brutal 5km course – climbing 1,400 feet after starting at 900 metres above sea level.
Graihagh described the race as ‘the toughest thing I’ve ever done’ and admitted some disappointment with her finishing position of 29th.
But she was still the third of the four-strong England team to cross the line.
Barnsley AC’s Amelie Spicer won the intermediate 200m at the South Yorkshire County Schools Championships in Doncaster. Her personal best of 25.7 qualified her for the English Schools Championships. Amelie also finished first over 300m with a time of 43.2.
Poppy Kaye was fifth over 200m in 27.1 and second in the 100m final, running 13.00 while Sarah Sesay was sixth in 13.6.
Sarah ran a PB of 13.4 in her heat while Poppy set a PB of 12.7 in hers.
Junior boys Riley Hall and Charley Marshall both qualified for the 100m final, finishing third in 12.3 and fifth in a PB of 12.5 respectively. In the 200m, Riley was second in 24.7 and Charley was fifth with a PB of 25.6. Junior girl Chloe Bramall finished her 100m heat in 13.6.
Maya Schofield, who is from Royston but goes to school in Wakefield, won the West Yorkshire Schools under 17 800m in a PB of 2-09.7.
Meanwhile, the annual Barnsley Boundary Relay took place in sunny conditions on Saturday.
A total of 35 teams competed over ten separate legs spread across 73 miles around the perimeter of Barnsley. Legs four and seven were declared void due to medical emergencies in hot weather.
Penistone won the men’s over60, men’s over50, men’s over40 and women’s over50 categories. They also picked up second places in the women’s and mixed categories.
Barnsley AC’s women’s team retained the women’s title, and were third team overall, with a time of 8-15-56.
First-placed female finishes went to Helen Morgan on leg one (40-42) and leg ten (30-03), Vicky Shaw on leg two (74-29), Gemma Thickett on leg eight (51-16) and Gail Colville on leg nine (87-49). The mixed team finished tenth in that category with 10-41-31.
There were three mixed teams out for Barnsley Harriers. They finished 19th, 20th and 21st.
Nic Wilkinson, Paul Broadbent, Jay West, Mark Davies, Gareth Wilkes and Jon Barker all took part in the event for the first time. There was a PB for Jayne Galloway on leg four.
The Bridge Run is a unique Half Marathon that runs over the Øresund Bridge from Tårnby in Denmark to Malmö in Sweden. Barnsley Harrier Rich Spooner finished in 82 minutes, making him 181st out of more than 40,000 runners.
Barnsley AC’s Joy Benson completed the 13.1 miles in 2-35-22.
After finishing first in her age category at Hyrox Glasgow in March, Barnsley AC’s Kerry Storrar qualified for the Hyrox World Championships held at Navy Pier in Chicago.
She finished as 13th over50 woman in a time of one hour and 23 minutes.
Barnsley AC’s Morgan Thompson finished 21st overall at Leeds 10k in a time of 34-18.
At the Tunnels and Trails 10k which runs along the High Peak trail in the Peak District, Barnsley AC’s Lesley Pickersgill was first over50 woman and fifth woman overall with a time of 50-10.
Barnsley AC’s Lee Spensley finished the Wild Deer 10k held in the grounds of Wentworth Castle and Gardens in a time of 56-43. Penistone’s Jade Crosby set a new senior women’s club record at the York 5k in a time of 19-44.
Penistone’s Harriet Drouin dug deep to finish the 108-mile Montane Summer Spine Challenger South Race in just over 49 hours.
It is a non-stop race along the Pennine Way from Edale to Hardraw with a time limit of 60 hours. Barnsley Harrier Dean Goodwin finished in 20th place in just over 35 hours.
Last Thursday, Penistone’s George Parr won the second Higham Hurtle. There were age category wins for Lois Lopez (over50 woman) and Alan Knox (over70 man). Barnsley AC’s Chris McNicholas was first over60 man in a time of 37-41 while Gemma Thickett was second woman in 39-01. Harrier Josh Jordan Clough was the first back for the club with Adele Selwood first female Harrier.