1st Event – 24th March 2017 – Millhouses Park
Making a come-back after an operation, Rotherham’s Simon Pugh set off 13 seconds ahead of Tony Bell, both racing over 5km, and for the first lap or two stretched the time out by a few more seconds but by 3km Tony had clawed his way back onto equal terms. Lara MacColl had joined this battle after 2km and tenaciously hung on to the back of the pair until well into the final kilometre when stitch slowed her down.
Owen Bradshaw joined in some way behind with 4 laps (2km) to go. Not until the final 200m did he get to the front. It took a PB of 10:33 to take the victory in this first league event of the season.
| Position | Competitor | Club | Time on Clock | Start Time | Actual Time | Distance |
| 1 | Owen Bradshaw U13 | City of Sheffield & Dearne | 30:47 | (20:14) | 10:33 | 2km |
| 2 | Tony Bell M50 | Lancashire WC | 31:01 | (00:13) | 30:48 | 5km |
| 3 | Simon Pugh M55 | Rotherham Harriers | 31:15 | (00:00) | 31:15 | 5km |
| 4 | Lara MacColl | City of Sheffield & Dearne | 31:28 | (12:42) | 18:46 | 3km |
2nd Event – 11th April 2017 – Millhouses Park
A great turnout of 11 walkers. It was very tight at the front of the field in the closing stages. When Imogen Walker stepped onto the road to start her 2 kilometres she was in second place with 9 others chasing her down. As the leaders entered the final lap of 500m, Imogen was still in second place but soon moved into the lead. Lara MacColl was back in 5th at this point but pulled through to 3rd by the end. Fourteen seconds covered the top 4, then a gap, and 30 seconds covered the next 5 walkers.
| Position | Competitor | Club | Time on Clock | Start Time | Actual Time | Distance |
| 1 | Imogen Walker (U11G) | Greenhill School | 30:35 | (16:24) | 14:11 | 2km |
| 2 | Toby Chaplin (U13B) | City of Sheffield & Dearne | 30:38 | (17:42) | 12:56 | 2km |
| 3 | Lara MacColl (U15G) | City of Sheffield & Dearne | 30:42 | (12:34) | 18:08 | 3km |
| 4 | Jake Borrill (U13B) | Bradway School | 30:49 | (24:50) | 05:59 | 1km |
| 5 | Owen Bradshaw (U13B) | City of Sheffield & Dearne | 31:16 | (20:38) | 10:38 | 2km |
| 6 | Luca Cundey (U11B) | Intake School | 31:25 | (19:20) | 12:05 | 2km |
| 7 | Lucy Walker (U13G) | Meadowhead School | 31:31 | (18:46) | 12:45 | 2km |
| 8 | Molly Meleady-Hanley (U15G) | City of Sheffield & Dearne | 31:32 | (13:21) | 18:11 | 3km |
| 9 | Simon Pugh (M55) | Rotherham Harriers | 31:43 | (00:00) | 31:43 | 5km |
| 10 | Natalie Myers (SW) | City of Sheffield & Dearne | 32:26 | (04:10) | 28:16 | 5km |
| 11 | Peter Bilson (M35) | City of Sheffield & Dearne | 33:04 | (10:11) | 22:53 | 2km |
3rd Event – 5th May 2017 – Millhouses Park
Simon Pugh was the first to set off with a 39 second advantage over Tony Bell. It took a few laps before Tony started to pull him back but he was still 6 seconds short as they crossed the line 5km later.
Meanwhile, as Simon approached 3km, Imogen Walker started her 2km race. He caught her inside the last 500m lap. She responded to this challenge and Simon was unable to regain the lead until the last 100m (though he didn’t help his own cause by shouting her on). Imogen split the 5km walkers for second place…first 3 finishes within 6 seconds.
Having been stuck with times just outside 18 minutes, Kai Cundey produced his second sub-18 minutes in 7 days.
| Position | Competitor | Club | Time on Clock | Start Time | Actual Time | Distance |
| 1 | Simon Pugh (M55) | Rotherham Harriers | 31:22 | (00:00) | 31:22 | 5km |
| 2 | Imogen Walker (U11) | Greenhill School | 31:25 | (17:15) | 14:10 | 2km |
| 3 | Tony Bell (M50) | Lancs WC | 31:28 | (00:39) | 30:49 | 5km |
| 4 | Kai Cundey | City of Sheffield & Dearne | 31:39 | (13:46) | 17:53 | 3km |
| 5 | Owen Bradshaw (U13) | City of Sheffield & Dearne | 31:50 | (20:40) | 11:10 | 2km |
| 6 | Lara MacColl (U15) | City of Sheffield & Dearne | 33:13 | (13:10) | 20:03 | 3km |
4th Event – 9th June 2017 – SHU City Stadium, Woodbourn Road
Held as part of a coaching session, this race is over 1,000m for everyone with the handicap result being calculated after the race.
There were three walkers who had very limited experience of walking, all performing very well. At the front, Lara MacColl lead all the way but could not shake off the attention of Simon Pugh.
A handicap win for Neve Manning, beating her target time by 13 seconds.
| Target Position | Competitor | Club | Actual Time | Target Time | Variance | Handicap Position |
| 1 | Lara MacColl U15G | City of Sheffield & Dearne | 5.50 | 5.47 | 3 seconds behind | 3 |
| 2 | Simon Pugh M55 | Rotherham | 5.51 | 5.40 | 11 seconds behind | 4 |
| 3 | Ines Bell U13G | Sheffield High School | 6.46 | 6.27 | 19 seconds behind | 5 |
| 4 | Alice Myers U13G | Meadowhead School | 7.15 | 7.17 | 2 seconds ahead | 2 |
| 5 | Neve Manning U11G | Abbey Lane School | 7.27 | 7.40 | 13 seconds ahead | 1 |
5th Event – 13th June 2017 – Millhouses Park
Once again, the first two away were Simon and then Tony, 34 seconds back, as they both set out on their 5km distance. Kai joining the race for his 3km stint seemed to wake Tony up and enable him to move into another gear, moving him ahead of the field. Likewise, when Lucy entered the race, with a sub 3 minute 500m lap, it woke Lara up from her 3:22 laps and pushed her through into second place. This also pulled Lucy through for a PB. Other PBs came from Kai and Ines. Ines has competed in the primary school races for the past 2 years and is now looking to do more racing.
It was great to have the presence of Andrew Clough (for the second time). Andrew recently became a walks judge and is using us to gain experience. It is useful to have an extra judge and his comments. Andrew was on his way back south from the Leeds races the previous night.
| Position | Competitor | Club | Time on Clock | Start Time | Actual Time | Distance |
| 1 | Tony Bell M50 | Lancashire Walking Club | 30:52 | (00:34) | 30:18 | 5km |
| 2 | Lara MacColl U15G | City of Sheffield & Dearne AC | 30:56 | (11:30) | 19:26 | 3km |
| 3 | Kai Cundey U15B | City of Sheffield & Dearne AC | 31:01 | (13:24) | 17:37 | 3km |
| 4 | Lucy Walker U13G | Meadowhead School | 31:04 | (18:36) | 12:28 | 2km |
| 5 | Ines Bell U13G | Sheffield High School | 31:08 | (24:52) | 06:16 | 1km |
| 6 | Toby Chaplain U13B | Mylnhurst School | 31:52 | (18:07) | 13:45 | 2km |
| 7 | Thomas Davies U11B | Intake School | 32:02 | (25:21) | 6:41 | 1km |
| 8 | Luca Cundey U11B | Hunters Bar | 32:05 | (19:13) | 12:52 | 2km |
| 9 | Simon Pugh M55 | Rotherham Harriers | 32:05 | (00:00) | 32:05 | 5km |
6th Event – 21st July 2017 – Millhouses Park
The two seniors, Simon Pugh (Rotherham Harriers) and Tony Bell (Lancashire WC), who regularly compete over 5km and are therefore first away, started with a larger gap than usual between them. Simon took advantage of this and was only headed by youngsters who joined the race ahead of him as they set off for their shorter distances. These Simon was able to pick off for a 7 second victory to move into the series lead.
For the last four laps, brothers Kai (3km) and Luca (2km) walked together, crossing the line in the same time for 2nd and 3rd places.
| Position | Competitor | Club | Time on Clock | Start Time | Actual Time | Distance |
| 1 | Simon Pugh M55 | Rotherham Harriers | 31:41 | (00:00) | 31:41 | 5km |
| 2 | Kai Cundey U15B | City of Sheffield & Dearne | 31:48 | (14:01) | 17:47 | 3km |
| 3 | Luca Cundey U11B | Intake School | 31:48 | (19:42) | 12:06 | 2km |
| 4 | Alice Myers U13G | Meadowhead School | 31:55 | (24:47) | 07:08 | 1km |
| 5 | Toby Chaplin U13B | Mylnhurst School | 32:18 | (18:30) | 13:48 | 2km |
| 6 | Imogen Walker U11G | Greenhill School | 32:19 | (17:46) | 14:29 | 2km |
| 7 | Thomas Davies U11B | Intake School | 33:16 | (25:40) | 07:36 | 1km |
| 8 | Tony Bell M50 | Lancashire WC | 33:39 | (01:45) | 31:54 | 5km |
7th Event -8th August 2017 – Millhouses Park
Simon Pugh (Rotherham Harriers) walked at a consistent pace doing 3:16 for 6 of his 10 500m laps but he needed to be 5 seconds per lap faster so that when Lara MacColl joined the race with 3km to go she had a minute lead. Lara in turn had Imogen Walker and Toby Chaplin joining ahead of her with 2km to go. Imogen was caught by Lara with 600m to go. Toby hung on for victory by 2 seconda.
Lucy produced the fastest and only sub 3 minute lap of the race with her opening 2.55 lap helping her to a PB of 12:25.
Series positions with two races to go are Simon ahead with a 3 point lead from Lara. Then there are Imogen, Tony & Toby with 7 points covering the top 5 places.
| Position | Competitor | Club | Time on Clock | Start Time | Actual Time | Distance |
| 1 | Toby Chaplin U13B | City of Sheffield & Dearne | 30.:40 | (17:47) | 12:53 | 2km |
| 2 | Lara MacColl U15G | City of Sheffield & Dearne | 30:42 | (11:53) | 18:49 | 3km |
| 3 | Lucy Walker U13G | Meadowhead School | 31:15 | (18:50) | 12:25 | 2km |
| 4 | Imogen Walker U11G | Greenhill School | 31:38 | (17:05) | 14:33 | 2km |
| 5 | Simon Pugh M55 | Rotherham Harriers | 32:21 | (00:00) | 32:21 | 5km |
8th Event – 22nd September 2017 – Millhouses Park
Obviously a bad date to choose with only 2 walkers out of the 17 who have competed this year actually toeing the line. Simon Pugh, who usually does 5km, was suffering from a cold so opted to do 2km at the last minute so Lara MacColl, racing over 3km, started first. More confusion as Simon gets sent off 20 seconds late! As Simon continues to close the gap on Lara, they were both told that Simon needed to get within 20 seconds of Lara to take the winners points. This he did with about a lap to spare.
Series positions, with just the last race to go, Simon increases his score to 77 points. Although any of the next 7 walkers could still place in the medals, none of them can match Simon’s score.
| Position | Competitor | Club | Time on Clock | Start Time | Actual Time | Distance |
| 1 | Lara MacColl U15G | City of Sheffield & Dearne | 19:20 | (00:00) | 19:20 | 3km |
| 2 | Simon Pugh M55 | Rotherham Harriers | 19:29 | (07:28) | 12:01 | 2km |
9th Event – 10th October 2017 – Millhouses Park
Having just moved up to the U15 age group, Lucy Walker took on a 3km race for the first time. With one recent 2km race taking over 13 minutes, giving her a target time of 21 minutes for her first 3km didn’t seem unreasonable but she went through the first 1km in 6:24 then 6:36 and 6:18 looking really sharp all the way to clock a convincing 19:19 victory.
That was not good enough for a SYCAA medal as we finished the 9-race series. Simon Pugh had the trophy won after race 8, to achieve one of his season’s targets, then turned out tonight to complete a second goal by doing all 9 races despite being under the weather.
Lara MacColl only missed 1 race. Her scoring 4 results were all second places putting her level with Tony Bell for second place.
| Position | Competitor | Club | Time on Clock | Start Time | Actual Time | Distance | |
| 1 | Lucy Walker U15 | Meadowhead School | 30:12 | (10:53) | 19:19 | 3km | |
| 2 | Lara MacColl U15 | City of Sheffield & Dearne | 31:47 | (19:23) | 12:24 | 2km | |
| 3 | Tony Bell M50 | Lancashire WC | 32:18 | (00:41) | 31:37 | 5km | |
| 4 | Toby Chaplin U13 | City of Sheffield & Dearne | 32:25 | (18:49) | 13:36 | 2km | |
| 5 | Simon Pugh M55 | Rotherham Harriers | 33:35 | (20:21) | 13:14 | 2km |
Final Positions – S.Y. Race Walking League – 2017
| Position | Name | Points | Position | Name | Points | Position | Name | Points |
| 1 | Simon Pugh | 77 | 7 | Kai Cundey | 51 | 13 | Neve Manning | 20 |
| =2 | Lara MacColl | 72 | 8 | Owen Bradshaw | 50 | 14 | Jake Borrill | 16 |
| =2 | Tony Bell | 72 | 9 | Luca Cundey | 43 | 15 | Molly Meleady-Hanley | 12 |
| 4 | Toby Chaplin | 69 | 10 | Alice Myers | 34 | 16 | Natalie Myers | 10 |
| 5 | Imogen Walker | 68 | 11 | Ines Bell | 30 | 17 | Peter Bilson | 9 |
| 6 | Lucy Walker | 66 | 12 | Thomas Davies | 26 |