Morpeth Harriers Junior Men retained their title for the third consecutive year at the Northern Cross Country Championships in West Yorkshire on Saturday afternoon.
Held at a windswept Pontefract racecourse, where the going was distinctly heavy underfoot after days of continual rain, the Under 20s team of Will de Vere Owen, Bertie Marr and Oliver Tomlinson amassed a team title of 35 points to finish ahead of nearest challengers Rotherham Harriers on 51 after over five miles of racing in some gruelling conditions.
Loughborough University student De Vere Owen also collected an individual Bronze behind Clayton-le-Moors race winner Birak Aduna Kebede, who had also won last year in Cheshire, and second place finisher Jack Sanderson of Settle Harriers.
Sheffield University student Bertie Marr finished in 11th with Ponteland High School sixth former Oliver Tomlinson, in his first U/20s championship for the club, making up the count in 21st.
The club was delighted to retain a historic trophy, the Hardwick Shield, which dates back to the nineteenth century, having been first competed for in the 1890s – although it is also probably the largest and heaviest it has had to handle!
A handful of younger Morpeth Harriers also made the journey down the A1 to take part, although the club will certainly be hopeful of greater numbers for next month’s National fixture, to be held closer to home at Sedgefield.
Charlotte Marshall was the first runner in blue and white to run, finishing 73rd in the U/17 Women, run over 5k.
Heidi Wilkinson and Faye Heatley both ran in the U/15 Girls race over 4.31k, with Heidi 47th and Faye 59th.
Fellow U/15s Mason Gaylor and Jacob Thompson both ran in the Boys race, with Mason 22nd and Jacob 117th.
The club did manage to field a full team in the U/13 Boys however, with Joe Fawcett first back in 74th, brother Will 99th and Luke Thompson 94th.
Final two races of the day featured Senior athletes, with the Women competing over a challenging 8.39k/5.2 miles, or two laps of the race circuit, and the Men going three laps, or 7.5 miles.
Despite having only back in training for a couple of weeks, Morpeth’s Catriona Macdonald finished just outside the top twenty in 21st place, with veteran Morag Stead also running well for 62nd (and 3rd Over 50), some 141 finishing the race.
Senior Women’s winner was Salford Harrier Katie Hawkins, managing a ten second victory over Sale Harrier Alice Wright with Border Harrier Rachel Brown in 3rd. Some 141 finished.
Last race of the day featured some four Morpeth vests, with that redoubtable warrior Carl Avery, a past winner of the race, finishing in the club’s highest place in 14th and Ellis Hetherington 20th. Connor Marshall was just outside the top 100 in 104th and Andrew Lawrence only a few places back in 118th, despite suffering the indignity of a pair of ripped shorts having run too close to the course markers (and in so doing ignoring Club President Jim Alder MBE’s golden rule of cross-country: ‘Pick your line!’).
The race was won for the third time by Gateshead Harrier Calum Johnson, over thirty seconds ahead of City of York’s Angus McMillan with Harrys Wakefield and Johnson of Salford in third and fourth.
With six in the top eleven Salford were massive winners, turning out en masse in a field of just over 300 finishers.
Congratulations to all who turned out in trying conditions on a tough course, although the club’s overall turn out was disappointing. This year is however a bit of an odd one of course, with the National closer to home than the Northern, a rare event. It is very much to be hoped that there will be plenty of Morpeth vests out in all age categories at Sedgefield on Saturday 21  February.
PLEASE NOTE ENTRY FOR THE ABOVE CLOSES ON FRIDAY 6TH, AND LET THE CLUB KNOW IF YOU WISH TO BE ENTERED.
Link to results here: Northern Athletics Cross Country Championships
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Birtley Cross Country Relays
 
Conditions that were the worst ever known at Lord Lawson of Beamish School, Birtley made for some challenging going at the North East Counties Athletics Association Cross Country Relays, incorporating the North East Masters Athletics Association Relays on Sunday 11 January.
 
Heavy overnight snow continued all the way down the A1 for those who travelled south, and although it had thankfully eased when the first race, for Male Veterans Over 35, got under way, it was lying quite thickly in several places with a chilling breeze adding to difficulties around the twisty, turny two lap up-and-down course around the school fields.
 
Good that the club managed to get two teams out then, with Over 45 and Over 65 outfits featuring, both of whom medalled.
 
The O/45s of Dave Stabler, Lee Bennett and Andy Ball did well to pick up a team bronze with a cumulative time of 35 minutes and 52 seconds behind Durham Harriers and Elvet Striders. Dropping down a team age category, Lee was 1st O/55 while Dave picked up an O/45 individual silver.
 
The O/65s of Richard Sill, Stephen Land and Andrew Dippie also medalled, collecting a bronze again, this time behind Ponteland Runners and Sunderland Strollers in a time of 50:22. Richard also picked up an O/70 bronze.
 
Tyne Bridge were fastest on the day, winning the O/35s ahead of Gateshead Harriers and Elvet Striders.
 
Race 2, for Senior and Veteran Women, was won perhaps unsurprisingly by organisers Birtley Harriers, with Darlington in 2nd place, although perhaps sensibly given the conditions Morpeth’s women chose not to travel.
 
Despite having finished in 1st and 2nd last year, Morpeth couldn’t get a complete Senior Men’s team out on this occasion in the day’s final race, with Gateshead winning in 31:41 ahead of Elvet Striders and Birtley.
 
Link to full results here: Birtley Senior XC Relays All Results 2026.xlsx
 
Brass Monkey Half-Marathon

The ever popular (and always difficult to get into) Brass Monkey took place in York on Sunday January 18 with a field of over 1,600 attracted by the historic sights and the flat course.
 
First back was Leeds City AC’s Gavin Taylor in 1 hour 5 minutes and 4 seconds ahead of Aire Centre Pacer George Ravenhill (1:06:13) with Leeds City’s Gavyn Chalmers 3rd (1:06:21).
 
Lindsay Skinner was 1st Female finisher in 1:16:48 ahead of Leeds athlete Rachel Friend (1:17:32) with Jemima Elgood (Nidd Valley) 3rd (1:18:29).
 
There were four Morpeth vests out. New signing Richard Hall was 319th in 1:23:35, Jane Kirby 732nd and 10th O/50 in 1:36:00, Anna Wright 777th and 19th O/45 in 1:37:08 and Laura Mclean 1183rd and 48th O/35 in 1:51:48.
 
Brass Monkey results
 
Newcastle 10k
 
Distinctly chilly early morning conditions greeted the well over 2,000 runners who took part in RunThrough’s latest North East venture at 9am the previous Saturday down on the Quayside.
 
With an elite A race of just short of 250 and a B race of over 2000, there was clearly an appetite for the fast course nonetheless and some speedy times on show, not least from those in blue and white.
 
Won by Kevin Campbell from over the Border in Cambuslang in 29:18, Chris Coulsen got his year off to a flying start with a 2nd place time of 29:35, Cambridge and Coleridge AC’s Dominic Jones 3rd in 29:47.
 
Megan Stenhouse (Rugby and Northampton AC) was 1st woman back in 34:30, with Border Harrier Rachel Brown 2nd (34:39) and Eve Pannone of Hallamshire Harriers 3rd (34:41).
 
Peter Smallcombe was 6th in 30:18, Ryan Mcleod 11th and 1st O/40 in 31:10, James Tilley 14th (31:31), Lee Cuthbertson 31st (33:21), Dave Stabler 83rd and 1st O/45 (35:17), Andrew Mirfield 100th (35:46) and Bobby Hagan 120th (36:12).
 
Kirsty Burville was 1st O/45 in 39:56.
 
Andrew Dippie was the club’s only finisher in the B race, 767th and 9th O/65 in 52:23. The race was won in 34:59 by Chris Townsend with Ellie Reed 1st woman home in 40:06.
 
Newcastle 10k results

The inaugural HogmanHaway 5k took place on New Year’s Eve in Newcastle, with over 1500 taking the chance to post one last performance in 2025 before the New Year celebrations themselves began.
Featuring elite men’s and women’s races over a three lap course round the top end of the city, to be followed thereafter by a mass participation event, distinctly chilly weather compounded by a sharp breeze wasn’t enough to deter the many enthusiastic runners in an event which looks certain to grow in popularity in the future. 
And it was a victorious homecoming for Morpeth Harrier Scott Beattie as he took to the roads once again in his home town after his excellent performance in the European Cross Country Championships in Portugal recently, where he had been narrowly edged out of a medal.
Posting a time of 13 minutes 59.2 seconds, Beattie was in the end a comfortable winner over second placed runner Aron Gebremaria of Birchfield Harriers (14:17.5) and Sheffield and Dearne’s James Gormley, third in 14:27.9.
Three club colleagues also had the distinction of appearing in the elite field, with Peter Smallcombe 8th in 14:44.7, James Tilley 13th in 15:13.1 and Ellis Hetherington one place behind in 15:43.1.
The women’s race was won by Newbury runner Izzy Fry in 15:48.7 with Verity Ockenden of Swansea Harriers 2nd in 16:03.2 and Herne Hill Harrier Lucy Jones 3rd in 16:04.3.
With the elite races over, the ensuing open to all 5k followed a slightly different route round the city centre, with a rather congested start (requiring  some pointy elbows) soon giving to a well strung out field in a twisty and turny course and just over 1500 finishers.
Won in a time of 15:24.7 by Gateshead Harrier Alfie Cook with Birtley Harrier Katie Francis recording the fastest women’s time of 17:56.2, no less than thirteen Morpeth Harriers also ran, with Liam Roche 4th in 15:32.7 and Matthew Walton 7th in 15:46.7.
It was certainly a successful night for the Roches, with Liam’s younger sister Molly 3rd female finisher in 18:44 and brother Thomas 147th in 20:15.8.
Under 15s Mason Gaylor and Heidi Wilkinson were 20th (16:28.9) and 4th Female (18:56) respectively.
Link to full results here: Professional Chip Timing & Event Services in the UK | Titanium Race Timing
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Club subscriptions for 2026 are due from January 1.
 
Fees for this year will rise by £5 largely to take into account the rise in England Athletics affiliation fees, which will rise by £3.  
 
Members are encouraged to pay fees by the end of February at the latest to allow for the smooth processing of EA affiliation fees ahead of the new registration year.
 
Subs can be paid online and should be marked with a reference to subs and the name of the member.
 
Members are also encouraged to accept the EA athlete code of conduct. This can be done by logging into the EA portal with your EA registration number. Athletes should also check that their data and contact details are accurate. 

For full details and to complete your membership renewal please click here.