Weekly Update - 13th May 2026

Assembly League, Victoria Park, Hackney (Thurs. 7th May)

Twenty-three Cambridge Harriers members managed to cross the Thames and race on Thursday night at the Assembly League, writes James Macdonald. This was a great turnout compared to the seven who ran at Beckenham the previous month.

Bobby Babaker was 6th and our first finisher in a strong field of 323, running 17:16 for the 5.6k course, followed by Liam McLaughlin and Brett Baker, with our three-to-score team finishing 3rd overall.

Hannah Sangan led the way for the women ahead of Rose Baker.

Overall, we finished 3rd in both the A team and B team men’s races, and 6th in the men’s over-50 category. Hopefully at the next event we’ll have enough women competing to score in those categories as well.

As usual, there was a post-run debrief and rehydration session at the Victoria Park Harriers clubhouse.

The next Assembly League fixture is at Crystal Palace Park on Thursday 4 June. Hopefully we can achieve even more great results there.

Kent County Championships, Gillingham (Sat. 9th & Sun. 10th May)

The Kent Track and Field Championships are the first major event of the summer season, writes Mick Bond and can be considered a good “Bellwether” on the progress of the club, covering most age groups and all the Track and Field events. The change to the junior age groups this summer meant a reduction in overall entries to just over 800 compared with close to 1,000 last year, with “Year 8’s” being shifted to their own championships in September. Despite this, club entries were virtually the same at 120 compared to 122 last year. In the medal table we finished runners up to Blackheath  for the second year running, with our highest ever medal count since we started keeping records in the year 2000.

There were many great performances, which are highlighted here in a comprehensive report and analysis by Mick Bond.

Austin Richards U16 1500m Steeplechase

Senior Women's 100m

Obinna Aniebo

Ranelagh Half Marathon, Richmond (Sun. 10th May)

Ranelagh Harriers’ annual half marathon, first held in 1980, is known for its fast and flat course through Richmond and Twickenham, down to Hampton Court Bridge, and back along the Thames towpath to Ham.

Hugh Tibbs was the club’s sole representative and produced an outstanding performance, winning the race in a new course-record time of 1:08:44. His run also bettered his personal best for the half marathon distance.

Maidstone Riverside 10k and 10 Mile, Maidstone (Sun. 10th May)

The Maidstone Riverside is a friendly, low-key event run along the paths beside the River Medway. This year, there were plenty of prizes for the Cambridge Harriers athletes in attendance.

In the 10k race, Liam McLaughlin finished first in 35:59, while Terry Stark took third place in 37:59.

In the 10-mile race, the club also enjoyed strong results: Gavin Hows was third overall in 1:00:09, Chantelle McGinty was third woman in 1:18:32, and Anthony McGinty won the M50 category in 1:09:30. The quartet of Gavin Hows, Chantelle McGinty, Anthony McGinty, and Clem Dixon also claimed first place in the mixed team competition. Clem finished in 1:21:07. Other club finishers included Vincent Bleu (1:21:50) and Fabio Bizzi (1:25:04).

Bideford 10k, Bideford, Devon (Sun. 10th May)

The Bideford 10k incorporated a Home Countries international match on Sunday, where Rose Baker represented the England Masters team. Rose finished 96th in the women’s race with a time of 45:28, placing fourth in the W60 age category.

Darent Valley 10k, Eynsford (Sun. 10th May)

Three club members tackled this rural and undulating multi-terrain road race, which starts and finishes in the beautiful village of Eynsford.

Mark Penny finished as 3rd male veteran 40 and 12th overall in a time of 39:53. Hannah Capey recorded 45:23 for 43rd overall, while Neil Amos completed the course in 49:38, finishing in 89th position.