Back at the scene of his sensational half marathon victory last year, Harry Smith was once again going for glory in The Shere 21k. Given the recent form he’s been showing, he was going to take some beating as well.
Held on a tough trail route, The Shere Half Marathon features a couple of very testing climbs and incorporates 1,400ft of elevation, making it right up Harry’s street. He thrives on a hilly, off-road course where he can really make his strength tell.
The event is organised by Surrey Trek and Run and also includes a 10k, which Harry won in 2019 and usually a 42k as well. That race was cancelled this time round though due to the intense heat and the fact that the village had run out of water!! That took away the possibility of completing The Shere treble for Harry, although he’s more interested in doing shorter races at the moment. Even a half marathon is a bit of a stretch for his liking.
Harry Smith (black top and black cap) gets his race underway
Since it was such a hot day, Harry didn’t attack the race with quite the same vigour that he did last year. He took it quite steady for the first two thirds of the run, then began to push on from there. He was still way too quick for anyone else in the field though, even without going full throttle.
It was a roasting hot day so Harry had to control his pacing
The first mile features a massive climb which sees the elevation quota reach close to 400ft already. The next few miles are mildly undulating before a big downhill stretch on the fifth mile enabled Harry to slip into top gear for a bit without over exerting himself.
Harry was looking to repeat his heroics of the previous year
The next testing climb arrived on the seventh mile, with the upward curve continuing for most of the eighth mile. Then it was three more mildly undulating miles before a fast downhill mile into the finish.
Going through the 11th and 12th miles in 5:43 and 5:01, it was a really strong finish from Harry and he got to the line in 1:19:39. That was almost four minutes quicker than Alex Gibb of RAF Athletics who was runner up in 1:23:22. Harry’s average pace for the run was 6:29 minutes per mile.
It was another very strong performance from Harry
Callum Job worked hard to complete the course in 1:24:14 which put him in third place. No else finished inside 1 hour 30 minutes.
Kimberley Adams was first female, crossing the line in 1:46:10 which put her 23rd overall. Christine Sutcliffe of Billericay Striders was 2nd female in 1:47:56, which put her 26th overall. She was followed by Francesca Cox who was 3rd female in 1:48:30 which put her in 28th in the overall standings.
With the speed he has in his arsenal, it’s hard from anyone to contend with Harry
It was another victorious entry in a string of successes that Harry has had over recent months and throughout the year really. He secured a PB of 31:41 on the track at the Night of the 10,000m PBs at Highgate and then followed it up with a 10k PB of 31:21 at Kempton Park Running Festival. Then he won the Round the Lakes 10k in the Dorset Road Race League, leaving the likes of Rob McTaggart and Rob Spencer trailing in his wake.
He also recorded a lightening quick 14:45 at the Avon Valley Runners Westbury 5k Series and broke the Salisbury parkrun course record, racing to an incredible 14:55 finish. The weekend after The Shere Half Marathon he went on to finish 3rd in the NAL 3000m at Bedford in 8:39.92 which was enough to win the B race he was in.
Harry will be looking to compete in some of the Hampshire Road Race League and Cross Country League fixtures when they start up again and it will be exciting to see what sort of performances he can produce in those competitions as his running continues to flourish.