
You may have read in last week’s report that some of our Junior Harriers took part in the ‘Run 4 Louis’ Charity Run at Darlington’s South Park. The event attracted 166 runners of all ages and abilities who were keen to support the charity that helps families through miscarriage, stillbirth and child loss…..a worthy cause we’re sure you’ll agree. There were a few issues with getting the results out, but now that’s sorted, and we have Karen Harland’s excellent photos, we can bring you up to date on how things went.

The run itself was 5k, following Darlington’s Park Run route and there were seven of our juniors lining up at the start; Under 11, Matthew Foster, Under 13’s, Harry Lyons, Elwood Kelley, Tori Buckley, and Libby Hammond and Under 17’s, Millie Grayson and Kyle Atkins.
Our DHAC juniors certainly didn’t hang about. Even though this was a charity run and the pressure was off tonight, they still wanted to do the best they could and definitely surprised many of the adults with their ability. The first boy to cross the line was one of our middle distance specialists, Harry Lyons; he had a tremendous run, finishing an amazing 5th overall in a time of 20:19. Hot on his heels, just a couple of places behind was another of our regular U13 competitors, Elwood Kelley. Another top performance from Elwood, crossing the line in 7th place overall in an excellent time of 20:54.
Next up, another one of our U13’s showing the adults how it’s done! Libby Hammond was all smiles as she was the first girl to cross the finish line today. An impressive 16th overall in an even more impressive time of 22:30……and not far behind, another one of our U13 superstars, Tori Buckley. This was the first proper run out for Tori since a recent chest infection, so to finish the 2nd girl home, 18th overall was an excellent result; and another impressive time of 22:44.
Next we had, perhaps one of the best performances of the day; we’re not sure how old Matthew Foster is exactly, but for an U11 he had a cracking run! He maintained an excellent pace throughout and topped it off with a fabulous sprint finish to cross the line just a couple of seconds behind Tori, to take 19th place in 22:46. Keepyour eye on this young Harrier!
Next it was the turn of our U17’s. Still well ahead of most of today’s runners, Kyle Atkins put in a great effort to complete the circuit in 24:20 to take 31st place…..and not too far behind was our keen cross country runner, Millie Grayson, who finished in 42nd place with an excellent time of 25:37.
Well done to all our juniors taking part today. As always some top performances that certainly impressed many of the adults! But more importantly raised plenty of money for a fantastic cause. Hopefully this charity run will become an annual event.https://www.flickr.com/photos/93609093@N06/sets/72157708888857186/
