MORPETH HARRIERS


	*JANUARY* Nathan Shrubb repeated his 2004 victory in the Morpeth 11k Road Race and Sarah Heatley won the Womens race making it a double strike for Morpeth Harriers. For the third year in succession Morpeth Harriers took the team title in the combined Under 13 and Under 15 Relay at the Durham Cathedral Relays. Laura Weightman got a good lead on Leg One as Morpeth's Under 15 Girl A runner and passed this on to Alistair Douglass who maintained the lead on Leg Two despite a strong challenge from Sunderland Harriers Under 13 Boy runner. Stevie Goodfellow, Morpeth's Under 13 Girl runner faced a stiff challenge from Sunderland all the way round the third leg, but managed to just hang on to the lead to hand over to Marc Cochrane who managed todraw clear for victory on the final leg. Delyth James clocked the third fastest time of 10m18s to ensure Morpeth got a Silver Medal placing behind Chester Le Street in the Womens Relay. James running on second leg brought them up to second after Danielle Watts clocking of 11m07s had seen them in fourth place on the first leg. Jane Mooney ran a superb 10m37s on the final leg to hold second spot. Morpeth Harriers and their athletes were once again to the forefront of achievements at the Annual Sports Council Awards for the Borough of Castle Morpeth held at The Riverside Leisure Centre in Morpeth on the evening of Thursday 20th January. By securing team victories in five of the eight events on offer, Morpeth Harriers dominated proceedings at the DP Furniture Express North Eastern Harrier League Sherman Cup and Davison Shield meeting held at Temple Park Leisure Centre, South Shields on Saturday 22nd January. However in the Mens competition Morpeth had to fight all the way in a tense battle with Sunderland Harriers to retain their hold on the Sherman Cup for a superb fourth successive year. It took excellent performances from their Under 17 Mens and Under 15 Boys squads to ensure that the Cup was to stay in Northumberland. With three team wins out of four Morpeth Harriers Womens squads comfortably won the Davison Shield for the second time in its three year existance. Absolutely superb weather conditions were experienced by athletes taking part in the North Of England Cross Country Championships held at Berry Edge, Consett. It was an equally superb day for Morpeth Harriers with Aiveen Fox and Delyth James each claiming Northern titles, Laura Weightman picking up a Bronze medal in her first year as an Under 15 Girl, and both the Under 17 Men and the Under 20 Women winning team titles, in the case of the latter they were retaining the title they won in 2004 at St Helens, however on this occasion quite sadly they had no opposition. Morpeth Harriers Under 20 and Senior Men finished in fourth and fifth team places respectively. The Under 20 Men were led home by Nathan Shrubb in 20th place and Steve Platts produced a superb performance to finish in fifteenth spot to lead the Senior Men home. Return To Top Of Page Return To Home Page Archive Page 2007 Archive Page 2006 *FEBRUARY* Morpeth Harriers Senior Men secured an emphatic team victory in the prestigious Alsager 5 Road Race. They were led home by race winner Nick McCormick who crossed the finish line in 23m40s which proved to be eleven seconds clear of his nearest rival Chris Davies of Telford with Dave Mitchinson of Newham and Essex Beagles a further eight seconds adrift. Martin Scaife was Morpeth's second counter in 7th place in a time of 24m27s and having his first outing for some time following a foot injury. Tom Ranger completed Morpeth's winning count by finishing tenth in 24m56s. For the eighth successive year Morpeth Harriers Senior Men won the North Eastern Counties Royal Signals Road Relay title on Saturday 12th February. For the first time it was held on a traffic free course within the grounds of Saltwell Park in Gateshead, and Morpeth held the lead throughout the whole of the six leg event. Return To Top Of Page Return To Home Page Archive Page 2007 Archive Page 2006 *MARCH* Two Morpeth Harriers certainly showed their current racing strengths when they each won respective Road events outside the North East region. Neil Wilkinson in training for the London Marathon made his journey to the West Coast and Lytham St Annes on Sunday 6th March to win the Annual Ultrafit 10mile Road Race being run for the 14th time. The other Morpeth Harrier to achieve success was Martin Scaife who made a slightly shorter journey down the A1 to Doncaster on Sunday 6th March to achieve a stunning victory in the Norton 9 Mile Road Race in a time of 44m43s which put him twenty four seconds clear of Birchfield Harriers former International Julian Moorhouse. Morpeth Harriers took second team place behind Hartlepool Burn Road Harriers at the Redcar Half Marathon on Sunday 13th March. They were led home by David Swinburne who finished third and only forty eight seconds adrift of Newham and Essex Beagles' Steven Hepples, with an excellent clocking of 69m27s. Swinburne was supported in the team effort by Gordon Dixon, who in finishing twelfth in 76m08s was third in the Over 40 Veteran Mens category, and Steve Robertson who finished in 31st place in 79m27s. Martin Scaife of Morpeth Harriers finished fourth in the prestigious Wilmslow Half Marathon on Sunday 20th March in a time of 67m07s which put him just under a minute behind race winner Tomas Abyu of Salford Harriers. Morpeth Harriers Senior Men retained their hold on the major trophy at the annual Elswick Harriers Good Friday Races held on March 25th and supported by One North East and UK Land Estates. Dan Samuels clocked what was to be the second fastest time of the day of 10m36s on the first leg of the 4x2.1mile relay only bettered by one second by his clubmate Tom Ranger on Leg 3 to establish a firm lead over the chasing Gosforth Harriers who were ahead of the host club. Under 20 athlete Andrew Lawrence certainly earned his place in the winning Morpeth squad when he held the lead all till the final bend on the second leg with his clocking of 11m45s. David Swinburne brought the Morpeth squad home to a thirty six second margin victory with his clocking of 11m10s. Ranger was the second recipient of the Alex Burns trophy named after the Elswick Olympian for running the fastest leg. The only other winner being his Morpeth clubmate Ian Hudspith. Morpeth's B team finished in eighth place as first B team with Sean Kirtley clocking their fastest time of 11m54s. Morpeth also had a C team finishing in 20th place with Alistair MacDonald being their fastest finisher in 12m57s. Les Atkinson ran the fastest time of 11m48s for the Morpeth Harriers Veteran Mens squad which placed second to Sunderland Harriers. That clocking earned him the second fastest Veteran time of the day behind Sunderland's Brian Rushworth. Apart from the Senior Men, Morpeth Harriers also carried off team victories in the Under 13 and Under 15 Girls and Under 17 Mens events. Morpeth Harriers provided both the Mens and Womens race winners at the inaugural North Tyneside 10k Race run between the Royal Quays and the entrance to St Mary's Lighthouse in Whitley Bay on a damp and misty Easter Sunday morning. Ivan Hollingsworth having his first outing for some time because of a long term injury, eased himself back into winning form, and hopefully a successful run for his club at this weekends Northern 12 Stage Road Relays in Manchester by winning the Mens Race in 31m54s. Although pleased with his run Hollingsworth felt that if he had been pressured by opposition at the front he would have run a better time. He had dropped his closest rival Stewy Bell of Chester Le Street early on in the event and won with 2m12s to spare. The Womens event was won by Jane Mooney who had a superb run to finish in sixty first place overall in a time of 41m05s. Her Morpeth clubmate Gwenda Cavill was second lady in 88th place in 41m34s and was first Over 40 Lady to finish. Return To Top Of Page Return To Home Page Archive Page 2007 Archive Page 2006 *APRIL* Morpeth Harriers Senior Men made it six in a row when they won the Northern 12 Stage Road Relay Championships held in Heaton Park, Manchester on Saturday 2nd April.. Being the only club to claim the mantle this century, they kept their record intact by claiming an 88 second marginal victory over their closest rivals on the day, Sale Harriers, with National Cross Country Silver Medallist's Leeds City a further eight seconds away in third place. Morpeth Harriers Senior Women also performed excellently when they finished seventh as second from the North East in their 6 Stage Relay. Northern Under 20 Cross Country Champion Aiveen Fox was their fastest performer when she took them from fifteenth to sixth with her clocking of 16m51s which was just outside the top ten fastest times. Mark Hudspith of Morpeth Harriers eased himself gently back into competitive action on Sunday 10th April when he placed third in the annual Wallsend Harriers 10k Road Race. With the London Marathon now very much not an option, Mark needed to test himself following a heavy fall sustained during a training session at Gateshead in March that had left him severely bruised to the extent that he had to miss several days of effort, his sights are very much now set on competing for his club at the National 12 Stage Road Relays. On the glory side Morpeth Harriers had three race winners on the day, Marc Cochrane was a most convincing winner of the Under 15 Boys 1.75k event. He was the only runner to get under 10 minutes, clocking 9m51s. Rachel Adams won the Under 15 Girls 1.75k in 10m51s, Zoe Armstrong won the Under 13 Girls 1.75k event in a time of 11m42s. She is certainly now showing a tremendous amount of strength and promise with every race, and the extra work she is putting in with Morpeth coach Mick Groves is beginning to pay dividends. Morpeth Harriers produced eight known finishers in the Flora London Marathon on Sunday 17th April. First home for the club was Neil Wilkinson who had a superb run to finish in 33rd place overall in a time of 2hrs22m12s. Neil went through the first half in 67m59s which gave him a clear impetus for finishing well. Thankfully he managed to keep going during the second half which was a significant improvement on 2004 where he had failed to finish after a most ambitious start. Gordon Dixon was second home for the Northumbrian club, finishing in 255th place in a time of 2hrs42m44s. He went through 10k in 36m21s and carried on a good pace to the Half Marathon point which he reached in 78m17s. The fact that he only lost around six minutes overall in the second half of the race says that things did go relatively well. Gordon was also 43rd in the Over 40 Mens age group. Third home for Morpeth Harriers was Steve Robertson who finished in 952nd place overall. Steve started well going through 10k in 37m55s, reaching the Half Marathon point in a useful 81m32s, but fell away in the second half of the event, eventually coming home in 2hrs58m05s. Hamish McCallister-Williams will feel a little unlucky in not getting under the three hour barrier. He started steady when reaching 10k in 41m43s, and went through the Half Marathon point in 88m11s. It was in the last quarter of the event where he lost most of his time and eventually crossed the finish line in 3hrs04m12s in 1,397th place. Other Morpeth finishers were Paul Waterston (1,592nd) 3hrs06m44s, Christopher Gray (2,171st) 3hrs12m40s, Gillian Priest (9,287th) 3hrs59m23s and Margaret MacDonald (18,714th) 4hrs35m33s. Despite missing a number of key athletes Morpeth Harriers Senior Men still managed to produce a top class performance to finish tenth at the Nike sponsored English National 12 Stage Road Relays held at Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham. Morpeth Harriers Senior Women produced an excellent performance to place twelfth in their 6 Stage Relay. Athletes from Morpeth Harriers clearly dominated the Northumberland College Run at Ashington. The event was held on a new course of unmeasured distance that incorporated the Riverside area near North Seaton. Morpeth Harriers won the team race being led home by Alan Shepherd who won in 35m13s after overhauling early race leader and clubmate Sean Kirtley who was having his third race in four days. Kirtley finished second in 35m35s. Third place went to clubmate Gareth Driscoll who clocked 36m28s, and the team count was completed by Steve Robertson who finished fourth in 36m54s Return To Top Of Page Return To Home Page Archive Page 2007 Archive Page 2006 *MAY* The youngsters who were drafted into Morpeth Harriers combined Men and Womens team for their first match in their Northern League Division 2 campaign held at Shildon on Sunday 1st May, impressed their Team Managers Mike Bateman and Natalie Roe. Morpeth Harriers win their opening Northern Young Athletes League match held at Monkton Stadium. Jonathan Young finished fourth in a very fast run Mens 1500m in a good 4m06.3s. Sean Kirtley who starred in Morpeth's 12 Stage Relay squad, and finished second in the previous Wednesday's Northumberland College Run ran well in the Mens 3000m Steeplechase where he placed a good second in 10m17.0s. Nathan Shrubb unfortunately sufferred an injury during this event but still managed to win the B race in 10m45.7s. Mark Brown of Morpeth won the Mens 5000m in 15m17.0s and David Swinburne took the B race in 15m53.7s. Dave Walker also began his Track season well by taking victories in the 110m Hurdles (18.4s) and the B race of the 400mHurdles in 62.7s. He also finished a useful second in the 200m in 25.0s. Walker's protege Ian Godwin had two seconds in the 400m (55.9s) and 400m Hurdles (65.8s). One other victory was gained by Stephen Appleby in the B string Discus with 29.17m. Star performers in the Womens events for Morpeth were undoubtedly Rachel Adams and Delyth James. Indeed for Adams it was a dream Senior debut. Having just come into the Under 17 Womens ranks, no one would have expected her to take outright victory in the Womens 3000m. However she did it with all the panache she could muster, and created a new personal best of 11m00s to defeat her more Senior rivals. Another good Morpeth victory was achieved by Northern Under 17 Womens Cross Country Champion Delyth James who crowned her accession to the Junior ranks with a victory in the Womens 1500m in an excellent 4m46.7s, just defeating Middlesbrough Mandale's Maria Stansmore. A field of 131 finishers took part in the Les Allcorn Memorial 10k Road Race held in Hulne Park, Alnwick on Tuesday 17th May. Amongst them were a good number of Morpeth Harriers.Les Atkinson placed third in 33m54s and was first Veteran Man home. Gavin Bayne was second Morpeth Man home in fifth place in 36m12s and he was third Veteran finisher. Gavin finished just ahead of his Morpeth club colleague Gordon Dixon who clocked 36m16s in sixth place. Morpeth's Jane Mooney finished as second Lady in 19th place overall in a time of 39m16s. Two excellent performances brought Morpeth Harrier Nisha Desai Gold Medals from the North Eastern Counties Track and Field Championships held at Gateshead's International Stadium over Saturday 14th May and Sunday 15th May. On the Saturday Desai took the Senior Womens 800m title in a time of 2m20.70s which gave her a margin of two seconds over Gateshead Harrier Sally Youden with another Gateshead Harrier Helen Patton a further two seconds adrift in third place. Desai returned to the track on the Sunday and won her second Gold Medal of the weekend in the Senior Womens 400m in a time of 57.52s. Morpeth actually had another two Gold medallists on the track on Sunday in the form of Nick McCormick and Laura Weightman. McCormick front ran the Senior Mens 800m and at the bell was very much in reach of Jarrow and Hebburn International David Sharpe's Championship record of 1m48.4s which was set in 1990. However on his final run down the back straight he began to tread water a little and the chasing Shaun Moralee of Durham City was beginning to eat into his margin of lead. McCormick rallied to keep his nose in front to the finish line where he clocked 1m52.20s which gave him a one and a half second cushion. North Eastern Under 15 Girls Cross Country Champion Laura Weightman added yet another important victory to her lengthening list of successes when she took the Under 15 Girls 1500m Championship with a gutsy performance. Ivan Hollingsworth led Morpeth Harriers to team victory in the Senior Mens section at the Clive Cookson 10k Road Race at Monkseaton on Wednesday 25th May. Hollingsworth won the race outright in a time of 31m46s, which was his second race victory on North Tyneside this year having won the inaugural North Tyneside 10k a few weeks earlier. The Raby Castle 10k Multi Terrain event held on Sunday 29th May saw excellent runs being produced by Morpeth Harriers Durham University pairing Andrew Lawrence and Aiveen Fox. Andrew was first Junior Man home finishing in fifth place in 34m53s. Aiveen won the Womens race when she finished an excellent twelfth in 37m11s. Fellow Morpeth Harrier Anthony Colwell finished in 25th place in 38m58s. Return To Top Of Page Return To Home Page Archive Page 2007 Archive Page 2006 *JUNE* Morpeth Harriers secure an emphatic victory in their second Northern Young Athletes League match held at Cleckheaton. Morpeth Harrier Mark Hudspith picked up the prize of £500 for first Geordie based athlete home in the 25th Nike Jim Dewar Blaydon Race on Thursday 9th June when he placed sixth behind Kenya's Simon Tanui in a time of 28m36s. Two Morpeth Harriers club records were smashed at the BMC Nike Grand Prix incorporating the UKA Endurance Initiative races at Woodside Stadium, Watford on Saturday 11th June Nick McCormick clocked a new personal best of 1m48.25s when he won the BMC 800m A race and wrote another club record off into the bargain. Terry West held the old record of 1m48.50s which had stood since 1990 which he clocked at Hayes. However McCormick was given a very close race by Liverpool Pembroke youngster Michael Rimmer. The other club record breaker was Nisha Desai who finished first in the C race of the Womens 800m in a time of 2m07.16s. Nishas previous best was 2m08.64s Laura Weightman and Natalie Young of Morpeth Harriers each ran National Standard times of 4m44s and 4m45s respectively when finishing first and second in the Junior Girls 1500m at the Northumberland Schools Track and Field Championships held at Gateshead's International Stadium on Saturday 11th June. Morpeth Harrier Terry Wall made it a hat-trick of victories when he won the Newton Aycliffe 10k for the third consecutive year on Sunday 19th June. Wall won in a time of 32m12s. The Ladies race was also won by a Morpeth Harrier in the form of Aiveen Fox, who on this occasion was running in the colours of Durham University. Fox finished in 35m47s which broke the Womens course record, bettering the old figures by 1m19s. Morpeth Harriers Veteran Les Atkinson almost embarrased a much younger field close behind him when he came within thirty seconds of snatching an outright victory at Elswick Harriers Newburn River Run on Wednesday 22nd June Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes make it three out of three but only just ahead of host club Barnsley at Cudworth. Return To Top Of Page Return To Home Page Archive Page 2007 Archive Page 2006 *JULY* Morpeth Harriers won the Mens Team prize at the annual Northumberland Coastal Run held between Beadnell and Alnmouth on Sunday 10th July. They were led home by Les Atkinson who finished in second place and just over a minute behind race winner Darren Purves of Birtley AC. Team support came from Gordon Dixon who produced a workmanlike performance to finish fourth, and Gavin Bayne who at the halfway point in Craster was lying seventh but faded in the increasing heat to finish a well accomplished tenth. Morpeth Harriers finished third in their third round Northern League Division 2 match at York on Saturday 2nd July, which sees them in fourth place cumulatively. After months of relative inactivity owing to injury, Morpeth Harrier Ian Hudspith got back to winning ways when he came within three seconds of breaking the course record at the Patterson Ford sponsored Tynedale 10k Road Race held at Ovington on Wednesday 6th July. Heaton Harriers Women Only Race held at Jesmond Dene on Monday 11th July saw Aiveen Fox lead a cavalry charge of Morpeth Harriers at the front end of the field and the aforementioned break the course record into the bargain. Fox completed the course in 19m10s coming home 1 minute and 19 seconds ahead of her second placed club colleague Jane Mooney who is also currently in excellent form. Third place went to Sian Ellison in 20m41s. Fourth place went to Morpeth Harriers newest signing Kate Chapman who clocked 20m58s. Sarah Graham, also running in the form of her life, placed fifth in 21m16s. The placings of Fox, Mooney and Ellison guaranteed Morpeth Harriers the team title. It's victory yet again for Morpeth's Young Athletes in their Northern League 1 match held at Monkton Stadium. Strong winds prevented Morpeth Harrier Mark Hudspith from being particularly delighted with his clocking of 31m42s, however the former Commonwealth Games Marathon Bronze medallist will feel somewhat relieved to be back to winning ways after his victory in the Harrogate 10k Road Race on Sunday 31st July. Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes celebrate in style at Cudworth as they win to not only preserve 100% victories for their season in the Northern League 1, but go up to the Premier League as undisputed Champions. Return To Top Of Page Return To Home Page Archive Page 2007 Archive Page 2006 *AUGUST* Morpeth Harriers Senior Men and Womens Track and Field squad brought the curtain down on their 2005 campaign when they placed fourth in their final Northern League Division 2 E match held at Huntingdon Stadium, York on Sunday 7th August. This meant that they achieved a final finishing position of fourth which ensures that they remain in the Division for next season. At long last a North Eastern Championship Gold Medal for an achievement on the road came the way of Morpeth Harrier David Swinburne in his clubs own 10k event held on Tuesday 2nd August. Aiveen Fox of Morpeth Harriers was a superb winner of the Ladies Race finishing in 15th place overall in 36m44s. She took the North Eastern Ladies 10k Gold Medal for her efforts. Morpeth Harriers stole the honours at the seventh Auckland Castle 10km Road Race at Bishop Auckland on Sunday 21st August. In a top quality field, Ian Hudspith led home the Morpeth team in 11th position (30m 15secs) closely followed by Martin Scaife (13th in 30m 16secs) and Mark Hudspith (26th in 31m 53secs). As well as taking the team title, which incorporated the AAA of England Championship, the trio also led the North Eastern Counties' team to victory in the Inter-Counties' event. In the Women's race, Aiveen Fox finished 11th (76th overall)) in a time of 36mins 49secs, leading the North East to the team bronze medals. Martin Scaife of Morpeth was an emphatic winner of the Sherwoods Darlington 10km Road Race on Sunday 14th August. Several Morpeth Harriers were competing at the 11th Tartan Games at Gatesheads International Stadium on Saturday 27th August. Some of the leading performances were as follows. Lori Douglas stole the honours in the Under 17 Triple Jump with a winning leap of 9.76m. Kayleigh Stoker won the Senior Long Jump (4.61m) and Triple Jump (9.42m). Philippa McGregor took third in the Senior 100m in a time of 12.84secs. Natalie Roe finished 7th (13.98). Steven Appleby finished 4th in the Senior Mens Discus (33.84m). Katie Watts (13.79) and Lorna Macdonald (14.13) finished 4th and 5th in the Under 17 100m. Katie also finished 5th in the 200m (28.54). Zoe Armstrong finished 4th in the Under 15 Girls 800m (2:28.96). Thomas Foster-Beattie was 4th in the Under 13 75m Hurdles (15.82). Laura Dixon came home 6th in the Under 17 800m (2:37.85). David Bell finished 4th in the Under 15 High Jump (1.45) and Rachel Moody occupied a similar position in the Under 15 Discus (20.41m). Rachel also finished 5th in the Long Jump (4.46m) and 7th in the Shot (8.14m). A record number of 207 runners took part in the Blyth Links 10K on Tuesday night (30th August) at Blyth. Running conditions were ideal on a bright, warm sunny night although the runners had to run into a slight breeze on the outward journey the wind would aid them on the return. Amongst them were 15 runners from Morpeth Harriers. Morpeth were led home by David Swinburne who finished 2nd in 32m09s, eleven seconds adrift of race winner, Steve Body of Bedford who is based in Cramlington, Les Atkinson was Morpeths second finisher producing an excellent time of 33m24s to finish in 4th and was first veteran home. Third Morpeth finisher was Under 20 athlete, Sean Kirtley who finished 9th in 35m57s. Paul Waterson and Gordon Dixon fought out a close battle to place 10th and 11th in respective times of 36m02s and 36m14s. Morpeths Sarah Graham won the Ladies race finishing 33rd in 39m06s. Club colleague Gwenda Cavill was second Lady home finishing in 55th place with a time of 41m25s Return To Top Of Page Return To Home Page Archive Page 2007 Archive Page 2006 *SEPTEMBER* On Sunday 4th September the 17th running of The Tynedale 10 took place, and with temperatures in the eighties, it wasn`t surprising that times were down a little compared to previous years. Morpeths Senior Men won the team prize, counters were, Andrew Lawrence (5th) 58m08s, Gordon Dixon (7th) 60m04s and Paul Waterston (14th) In the Womens race, Morpeths Jane Mooney, Sarah Graham and Pam Woodcock won 2nd Womens team prize. Jane Mooney finished third in 67m39s and won a Bronze medal in the North East 10 Mile Road Championship which was incorporated in the event.Sarah was 4th in 68m11s and Pam was also 1st Over 50 Womens finisher. In the Bupa Great North Run which runners enjoyed a cool breeze before the race but then got very warm during event. Morpeths Ian Hudspith led North-East runners home, clocking 64:56mins to claim 13th place, Ian ran his fastest time for a number of years. David Swinburne, had a storming run to finish in 25th position, dipping under 70 minutes for the first time clocking 69:15. Alan Shepherd finished in 72m19s crossing the line in 37th place Andrew Lawrence finished 49th 75m12s Anthony Colwell finished in 84m09s Morpeth Womens results.were as follows Kate Chapman clocked 85m16s in the main race and in the Womens Elite race Jane Mooney finished 27th in 86m30s and Sarah Graham finished 32nd in 92m25s. Return To Top Of Page Return To Home Page Archive Page 2007 Archive Page 2006 *OCTOBER* Morpeth Harriers Senior Men retained their hold on the North of England 6 Stage Road Relay Trophy at Stanley Park, Blackpool , winning the title for the second successive year and for the third time in the space of six years. An excellent all round team effort saw Morpeth Women place twelfth in their 4 Stage relay. Morpeth Harrier Martin Scaife was a convincing winner of the Middlesbrough Teespride 10k Road Race held at Acklam. Finishing in eleventh place in 61m15s, Paul Waterston was Morpeth Harriers leading finisher in the twentieth Derwentside 10mile Road Race held at Stanley, Co Durham.Waterston was also third in the Over 40 Mens Veteran category. Morpeth Harriers major successes at the Nicol Hunter Memorial Cross Country Relays held at Blaydon's Shibdon Pond came from their Senior Women and Under 15 Girls. They also scored well in the Under 13 Girls and Under 17 Mens sections where their respective squads placed third. Both Delyth James and Laura Weightman clocked fastest times of the day to ensure respective victories in the Senior Women and Under 15 Girls events. Morpeth Harrier Terry Wall finished second in the Richmond Castle 10k in North Yorkshire in a time of 33m16s. Meanwhile in Lancashire at Lytham St Annes clubmate Ben Harrison placed sixth in the Green Drive 5 mile Road Race in 26m45s. If there is a hard way to win Silver Medals at a major championship, Morpeth Harriers Senior Men certainly chose it at Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham. All three of their early leg runners in the National 6 Stage Road Relays had off days by their own personal standards and the task of restoring some pride and reducing damage limitation fell to the final three. However the situation certainly brought out true feeling of camaraderie, sportsmanship and character within the Morpeth squad as everything apart from outright victory was achieved. As first team from the North, Morpeth Harriers also received the Wilkinson Sword Trophy which Jim Alder has proudly named "Excalibur". A further boost to Morpeth Harriers was seeing their B squad reach 27th place to finish as first B team ahead of Sale Harriers and Bristol. The major disappointment on Morpeth's day was the failure of their Womens team to make it to the venue after Jane Mooney fell ill on the journey down. Jane unfortunately was the driver so the squad were forced to turn round after her condition became worse. It was a bitter blow all round because the squad consisting of Mooney, Aiveen Fox, Sarah Graham and Kate Chapman, who would have been making her National debut for Morpeth Harriers, were poised to do well after their splendid run at the Northern Championships where they placed eleventh. Kate Chapman of Morpeth Harriers was second Lady finisher in the Great Cumbrian Run Half Marathon in a time of 83m24s. Martin Scaife of Morpeth Harriers proved himself worthy of an International call up when he placed twelfth in a classy field at the Rheims Half Marathon in a time of 65m40s. Marcus Cram won the Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Boys Road Championship on Lancaster Park. Cram got round the 1.50mile circuit in 8m49s with his closest rival being Philip Shuttleworth who clocked 8m55s. The Under 13 Girls race was won by Alice Park who clocked 9m17s who just outpaced Hannah Rank (9m18s). North Eastern Under 15 Girls Cross Country Champion Laura Weightman produced an excellent run from the Fast Pack to come through to sixth and was only just edged by the margin of five seconds for the fastest overall time by Shildon starlet Kate Avery at the first North Eastern Harrier League meeting, now sponsored by the Eldon Square Sports Outfitters Start Fitness, at Chester Le Street's Riverside course. Jack Hepple crowned his first night with Morpeth Harriers by winning their Under 11 Boys Road Championship on the Lancaster Park 1.4mile circuit in an excellent 9m48s. He was certainly chased hard all the way by Liam Fox who clocked 9m51s for second place. The Under 11 Girls Championship was won by Rebecca Megwa in 13m19s. A close battle raged however for second place between Francesca Price and Ailidh McCallister-Williams, with the former just getting the nod as both were credited with identical times of 13m23s. Return To Top Of Page Return To Home Page Archive Page 2007 Archive Page 2006 *NOVEMBER* Blackhill Bounders held their annual Fruit Bowl 7mile Multi Terrain Race at Gibside Estate, near Rowlands Gill and several Morpeth Harriers took part. First home for the Northumbrian club was Paul Waterston who finished eleventh in 44m19s and he was seventh in the Male Veterans Over 40 category. Second home for Morpeth was David Steel who finished in fifteenth place and was tenth Over 40 Male Veteran. Chris Dentice of Morpeth won the Over 50 male Veterans section when he finished 25th in 45m45s. Daniel Turnbull and Laura Weightman were convincing winners of their respective Under 15 Road Races in the third in the series of Morpeth Harriers Club Championships held on Lancaster Park.. Turnbull won the Boys event in a very convincing time of 7m35s which was just around fifteen seconds outside the course record set several years ago. In second place was James Saxon who clocked 8m17s. Third place was taken by guesting Blyth Running Club athlete Liam Baister who clocked 8m25s. Therefore the Club Bronze medal went to fourth placed Alistair Douglass who clocked 8m31s. Such was the power of Weightman's run that she won the Under 15 Girls event in 8m08s which would have seen her finish second in the Boys event. Zoe Armstrong's excellent run of 8m40s to finish second would have given her fifth in the Boys event. Third place went to Stevie Goodfellow who took the Bronze medal in 9m04s. The English National Cross Country Relays held at Mansfield's Berry Hill Stadium saw Morpeth Harriers lift the Senior Mens title for the sixth time in its history mainly thanks to a breathtaking performance from AAA's 1500m Champion and World Athletics representative Nick McCormick. McCormick clocked the days fastest time of 14m21s for the 5k distance to bring the Northumbrian club up from sixth to eventually grab the lead on the second of the two laps, thus reducing a forty four second deficit to the then leaders Altrincham, to what would finally become a thirty three second winning margin over the fellow Northerner's who sadly also lost out for Silver Medals to Aldershot in the dying stages. Morpeth Harriers claimed three excellent individual and two team victories at the annual Heaton Harriers Memorial Road Races held in Newcastle's Exhibition Park and Town Moor areas. Morpeth provided the Senior Womens event with the race winner in the form of Kate Chapman. Chapman finished in 43rd place overall in 38m10s, but was nevertheless delighted with her effort despite admitting to be feeling fairly heavy legged following her previous days exertions at Mansfield in her first ever National outing for Morpeth. Morpeth Harriers achieved a superb team victory in the Under 15 Girls 3k event and were led home by a very dominant performer in Zoe Armstrong. Zoe led from gun to tape and in fact in the early stages was very nearly level with the winner of the Under 15 Boys event that was run at the same time. She showed no ill effects from her outing the previous day at Mansfield and crossed the finish line in 11m39s showing a nineteen second margin over her closest rival and clubmate Stevie Goodfellow who ran an excellent race for second managing to shake off the potentially formidable challenge from Jarrow and Hebburn's Stephanie Crowell. It was a poignant moment of victory for Armstrong however, as it was exactly a year to the day that she had finished last in the Under 13 Girls race. Robert Balmbra cast away his disappointing run at Mansfield the day before by convincingly winning the combined Under 17 and Under 20 Mens 5k Race in 16m35s. Raymond Kirkup (4th) 18m56s and Martyn Cairns (8th) 21m45s completed the scoring for Morpeth to take the team title unchallenged. Mariska Simpson of Morpeth Harriers narrowly missed out on individual victory in the Under 13 Girls 3k event by the margin of one second with her clocking of 12m06s. Clubmate Hannah Rank was also unfortunate to just miss out for third place with her clocking of 12m11s. Morpeth finished second in the team race with further support coming from Catriona MacDonald who finished eleventh in 13m59s. Three Morpeth Harriers made the trip across to Keswick to take part in the Derwentwater 10mile Road Race. Bob Sewell finished 44th in 63m34s, Kevin Bray finished 57th in 65m46s and Mike Steven finished 108th in 70m25s. 614 finishers took part in what is arguably the country's oldest 10mile Road Race. The 54th running of the Brampton to Carlisle was blessed with sunshine, but conditions were quite slippery in several parts of the course which unfortunately made fast times a little out of the question. Among the field were a good number of Morpeth Harriers including David Swinburne who bettered his 2004 finishing position by two places when finishing fifth, but nevertheless was nearly a minute down on his finishing time with his clocking of 52m55s. Swinburne put this down to him developing a stitch at three mile which very nearly forced him to withdraw when certainly very much in contention for victory. However he carried on in obvious distress to lead his club to second team place in the Senior Mens section with further support coming from excellent efforts by Gordon Dixon (26th) 57m10s and Paul Waterston (31st) 57m31s. Zoe Armstrong of Morpeth Harriers ran as a guest competitor in the Under 15 Girls event at the North Yorkshire and South Durham Cross Country League meeting held at Windlestone Hall, near Shildon and finished a very creditable fourth in 12m44s behind recent UK Cross Challenge winner Kate Avery who won in 11m32s. Robert Balmbra defied the slightly slippery conditions to comfortably win Morpeth Harriers Under 17 Mens Road Race Championship. He got round the two lap course on Lancaster Park in an excellent 14m52.24s having gone through halfway at around 7m19s, which meant that he'd paced everything well throughout. Second place went to Marc Cochrane who despite a painful stitch completed his effort in 16m01.96s. Martyn Cairns came home in third place in 16m25.02s. The Under 17 Womens Championship run over one lap was won by Angharad Porteous in 8m11.43s. Second place went to Rachel Adams who despite a sore throat and earache managed to finish in 8m17.34s. Laura Dixon ran well to place third in 8m44.08s. Nick McCormick of Morpeth Harriers crowned his debut 10k on the roads of Leeds when he convincingly won the Help the Aged Abbey Dash event and led the North to victory in the integrated team race and his club to second team place behind fellow northerners Altrincham. McCormick clocked an excellent 29m17s which now shows just how much power the Lindsey Dunn coached athlete has in his legs as he carefully prepares for his Commonwealth Games trip in March which sees him compete in the 1500m as AAA's Champion over that distance. The Morpeth Harrier was accompanied in the North's team success by his club colleague Ian Hudspith who also performed excellently to finish seventh in 30m03s. Morpeth's second team place was gained by also having Neil Wilkinson finish in 16th place in 31m04s and Chris Sampson having a superb run to finish 24th in 31m33s. Despite heavy overnight rain which persisted until late morning , the second meeting of the Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Harrier League held at Blaydon's Shibdon Pond went ahead as planned. Zoe Armstrong collected her second individual victory of the month when she used her Slow Pack start to tremendous advantage to win the Under 15 Girls event. The other individual winner for Morpeth on the day was Philip Shuttleworth who held out well in the Slow Pack in the Under 13 Boys event to come home in 10m19s for approx 2k distance putting seventeen seconds between himself and his closest rival. Return To Top Of Page Return To Home Page Archive Page 2007 Archive Page 2006 *DECEMBER* Being led home by Michelle Woodley who finished as fourth Lady in 55th place in a time of 40m18s, Morpeth Harriers clinched the Ladies team title at the Norman Woodcock 10k Road Race held at Gosforth Park. On the Mens side Morpeth finished third to the host club Elswick and South Shields in the team race. They were led home by Les Atkinson who placed sixth in 32m43s and was second Veteran home and won the Over 50 Mens section. Angharad Porteous of Morpeth Harriers won the Blyth Sands 5mile race with just over a minute to spare over club colleague Archie Jenkins. Very fast times were set on handicap by Robert Balmbra, Sean Kirtley and Jonathan Young of Morpeth Harriers who placed fourth twelfth and thirteenth respectively. Ian Godwin of Morpeth Harriers took a brief break from winter training to fly the club flag at the indoor track meet at the EIS in Sheffield last week. He put in a solid performance over 200m and recorded an impressive 600m time of 1:31.75, which we are led to believe is the 20th best time in the country so far this season. Delyth James of Morpeth Harriers finished 20th in the Junior Womens event at the UK Cross Challenge meeting held in Sefton Park Liverpool. Nathan Shrubb finished 27th in the Junior Mens event. Despite surrendering the Senior Mens title that they had won for eight consecutive years, Morpeth Harriers still managed to retain their hold on the overall trophy by producing some fine individual and team performances at the 100th North Eastern Counties Cross Country Championships held at Bishop Auckland College. Eight sets of team and seven individual medals bear testimony to some superb performances and there were some tremendous supporting efforts from within the club. Martin Scaife just missed out on individual Gold in the Senior Mens event by the margin of three seconds to London Irish athlete David Wardle, formerly with Chester Le Street. Scaife led Morpeth to Silver team medals behind Sunderland Harriers. Also in the Senior Mens event Archie Jenkins came home in 49th place to close the Morpeth score which put them sixteen points adrift of the Wearsiders. Jenkins in finishing as sixth counter in the team had made some history for himself however when it was established that he was the only Senior who had claimed a team medal in the Championships in each of the last four decades, a unique and superb achievement in itself. Morpeth Harriers had a superb team victory in the Junior Mens 8k event, albeit a narrow win by two points over Middlesborough Mandale who had J. Taylor finish as Gold medal winner. Nathan Shrubb led Morpeth home when finishing third in a tense battle over the final stages. In fact Nathan very nearly got Silver when he battled hard to overcome Gosforth's Lewis Timmins. Shrubb's Bronze was brightened when team Gold was achieved with Nick Swinburne having a superb run to finish fifth and Ross Floyd coming home in ninth spot just ahead of his clubmate Andrew Lawrence who finished tenth. Lawrence battled hard under pressure after a very enthusiastic start. A superb team victory was achieved by Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Girls squad. They were led home by two times Champion Laura Weightman who unfortunately on this occasion just lost out by the margin of five seconds to her great rival Kate Avery of Shildon. Indeed the Duchess High Schoolgirl gave a great fight and Avery only saw daylight in the last quarter of the race, and it was a tense battle all the way to the finish line with the South Durham girl just depriving her Morpeth rival of a third consecutive Championship victory. For Avery it was her second successive victory, having taken the Under 13 Championship in 2004. Nevertheless Weightman was in buoyant mood and was overjoyed to see her Morpeth club colleagues Natalie Young and Zoe Armstrong finish in fourth and sixth places respectively to ensure an outstanding team victory. One of Morpeth Harriers finest individual performances of the day came in the Under 13 Girls event where Hannah Rank stormed home to claim a well earned individual Bronze medal. Credit must also go to her clubmates Mariska Simpson and the recently unwell Alice Park who despite not being at their best on the day battled to finish eleventh and twenty third respectively to earn a set of Bronze team medals for their club. Bronze team medals also came the way of Morpeth's Under 13 Boys. Marcus Cram was very unfortunate not to claim an individual Bronze when just losing out on the run in. However team Bronze was gained with superb supporting runs from Philip Shuttleworth (10th), Stephen Cochrane (24th) and Thomas Beattie (25th). Morpeth's Northern Under 17 Cross Country Champion Delyth James renewed her rivalry with Gateshead's Mary Ferrier in the combined Under17/Under 20 Womens event but unfortunately found herself beaten a little by Ferrier's pace on the day. Nevertheless James battled to the teams cause and helped add team Silver to her individual effort with excellent support coming from Rebecca Turnbull (11th) (6th U/17) and Angharad Porteous (12th) (7th U/17). Aiveen Fox pushed the disappointments of the National Cross Country Relays behind her to win a well earned individual Bronze medal in the Senior Womens event and led her Morpeth colleagues to Bronze team medals with excellent support coming from Jane Mooney (4th) and Gwenda Cavill (22nd). Marc Cochrane produced a superb individual run to finish seventh in the Under 17 Mens event and Morpeth gained Silver team medals with support coming from Robert Balmbra who paid the penalty for an over enthusiastic start when he faded to twelfth, Martyn Cairns (17th) and Scott Hunter (30th). Ben Harrison of Morpeth Harriers finished fourth in the Christmas Pudding 10k Road Race in South Ulverston, Cumbria in a time of 33m39s. Ian Godwin was joined by Ellen MacFarlane in representing Morpeth Harriers at the second Indoor Open meeting in Sheffield. Ian gained valuable sprint experience over the 60m, but his best performance came over 300m, clocking 40.38 seconds. Coupled with his 600m performance a fortnight ago, he can be pleased with the results of his first phase of winter training. Meanwhile Ellen overcame mock exams and a stomach virus that severely disrupted her training for the last three weeks to compete in both the 300 and 60m events. Her 300m time of 47.53 exceeded all expectations, while she displayed previously unseen form to dominate her 60m heat in a time of 9.03, easing to victory by 1/100th of a second. Zoe Armstrong and Marcus Cram of Morpeth Harriers each produced superb runs to take victory in their respective events at the Saltwell Harriers Annual Road Races. For Armstrong it was her second ever road race victory, having won the Heaton Under 15 Girls event in early November. With a time of 9m31s she also finished well ahead of five boys who were competing in the combined Under 15 Boys event. Her time put her nearly thirty seconds clear of her nearest Under 15 Girl rival Daisy Bell of Gateshead Harriers. For Cram it was his first ever road race victory and an obvious delight for his watching father Steve. However it wasn't an easy victory for Marcus, as he only managed to overhaul the talented Jamie Robson of Gateshead Harriers in the final 100 metres to claim a two second margin victory with his clocking of 8m35s. Marc Cochrane finished fourth in the Under 17 Mens event in 15m38s. Fellow Morpeth Harrier Raymond Kirkup finished seventh in 17m07s. Only four Morpeth Harriers turned out in the Senior Mens 10k event. Archie Jenkins fresh from his excellent run in the North Eastern Cross Country Championships the previous week, finished 29th in 37m00s and was first in the Over 50 Mens category. Other finishers from Morpeth were Alistair MacDonald (36th) (8th O/40) 37m36s, Neil McAnany (83rd) (13th O/40) 41m55s and Chris Offord (195th) (20th O/55) 49m43s. After producing an excellent run in the Junior Mens event at the North Eastern Cross Country Championships, Morpeth Harrier Nick Swinburne donned his spikes the very next day to claim a superb victory in the Simonside Cairns Fell Race in which competitors ran to a height of 1400ft. Nick's time of 78m10s was a good three minutes ahead of his closest rival. Zoe Armstrong received her award for being the clubs Most improved Young Athlete in 2005. Recently she has claimed individual victories in the Heaton Harriers Under 15 Girls event, and at the North Eastern Harrier League, and on Sunday she added the Saltwell Under 15 Girls event to her tally. Quite noteably in 2004 she finished last in the Under 13 Girls race at Heaton so victory this year was quite sweet for her. 462 finishers took part in the Loftus Poultry Run in North Yorkshire, amongst them three Morpeth Harriers. Andrew Lawrence had an excellent run to finish 5th in 45m14s. Craig McBurney finished 24th in 49m45s and David Steel finished 28th in 50m00s. Athletes from Morpeth Harriers were very prominently placed in the annual Woodlawn Christmas Pudding Run held at Whitley Bay on Boxing Day. The event was won by Elswick's Ryan McLeod who had joined early leader Ivan Hollingsworth of Morpeth along with club colleague Michael Morris to form a leading trio who pulled well clear of a 700 strong field. McLeod eventually pulled away from Morris who had headed Hollingsworth with 300 metres remaining, to win by a margin of four seconds with his clocking of 15m53s for the 3.2mile distance. A tired Hollingsworth came home in third place in 16m47s. Fourth place went to the first Veteran in the form of Morpeth's Les Atkinson in 17m13s.R Return To Top Of Page Archive Page 2006 Archive Page 2007 Return To Home Page