Crewe parkrun #265 (September 14th) was the final race of this year’s Cheshire Grand Prix. With individual and team prizes on the line, nine Macclesfield Harriers were chasing vital points at Queen’s Park in Crewe. It was a sunny morning and the park was resplendent. The course consists of three undulating laps going underneath bridges, around ponds, and past a war memorial. This pretty parkrun is certainly worth visiting if you’re ever in the area on a Saturday morning!
South Cheshire Harriers’ men’s team has dominated this year’s Cheshire Grand Prix and they were not going to give up first place in the team standings easily. A blur of blue whizzed away from the start line, leaving other teams in the dust! However, they were no match for Rob Whitby (16:43) and Jordan Cooper (16:57) who both recorded sub-17 times to finish first and second, respectively. An impressive feat on a challenging course! Owain Morris was the third male Macclesfield Harrier in a time of 21:31.
South Cheshire Harriers’ team performance was too strong for us to snatch a series win for the team; however, we should be very proud of our second placed-finish. This is down to the wonderful performances of our men’s team throughout the year. Well done all!
While the men had to settle for second place in this year’s standings, Rob Whitby’s impressive performance saw him climb up to first place and be crowned as this year’s Cheshire Grand Prix champion. Congratulations Rob on a fantastic achievement!
South Cheshire Harriers’ women’s team also dominated the women’s team event; however, our ladies started the day in fourth and had a chance of climbing up to third place. Sue Stockdale put in an impressive performance to finish as the second lady on the day and the first female Macclesfield Harrier in a time of 21:08, while Caroline Gisby (24:32) and Elaine Pettie (25:05) were the 2nd and 3rd Macclesfield Harrier ladies across the line.
Unfortunately, Macclesfield Harriers’ ladies missed out on third place in the series by a mere 105 points. A full team last Saturday or at another event would have been enough to clinch 3rd place. Well done to all for your performances this year as we finished a highly creditable 4th in the ladies’ standings. Let’s go for a podium finish next year! It’d be great to have more ladies attending, and please do not worry about speed, as fielding a full team of four is enough to bag the club vital points.
Sue Stockdale’s fantastic individual performance was enough to see her secure joint 2nd place in the ladies’ standings and outright 2nd place in the ladies’ age-graded standings. Congratulations Sue on another fantastic season!
Full results can be found at this link. Full results from this year’s Cheshire Grand Prix can be found at this link.
| Name | Time |
| Rob Whitby | 16:43 |
| Jordan Cooper | 16:57 |
| Sue Stockdale | 21:08 |
| Owain Morris | 21:31 |
| Tom Shirley | 22:06 |
| Caroline Gisby | 24:32 |
| Elaine Pettie | 25:05 |
| Mike Kemp | 28:05 |
| Harry Newton | 33:34 |
If you’d like to see how this affects the standings in the Club Championships, please follow the link below. This will be updated after every race and could be some great motivation for some friendly competition with your clubmates!
2024 Macclesfield Harriers Road Running Club Championships Standings
That’s it for this year’s Cheshire Grand Prix but there are still plenty of races in our Club Championships to keep you going! The next three races in the Club Championships are:
- Congleton Half Marathon – Sunday, October 6th
- Macclesfield Running Festival – 5k, 10k, or Half Marathon – Sunday, October 27th
- Wilmslow Festive 10k – Sunday, November 24th