Beating his 2015 winning time by all of three seconds,
Morpeth Harrier Karl Taylor successfully defended his title
at the Druridge Bay 10k Road Race on Sunday 29th May.

Taylor’s winning time of 33m38s was identical to his time clocked
in April’s Blyth Valley 10k, when he had finished sixth,
but was around 71 seconds adrift of his lifetime best,
which was again at Blyth in 2015, when he had finished third.

Nevertheless his excellent run at Druridge on Sunday,
saw him win by a margin of nine seconds from fellow
Morpeth Harrier Jonny Nisbet, with Robert Balmbra
and Jordan Scott, also of Morpeth taking third and fourth
places in respective times of 33m53s and 34m58s.

In only this third ever 10k event, it was a
lifetime personal best for Nisbet, as it was also for Balmbra.

Morpeth Harriers also dominated the Women’s race by having the first three home.
Race winner was Catriona MacDonald, who finished thirtieth overall in 40m50s,
and one place ahead of club colleague Jane Hodgson, who clocked 41m04s.

Third place in the Women’s event went to Catriona’s older sister Lorna,
who finished in 56th place overall in a time of 43m36s.

Other Morpeth Harriers in action in the 456 finishing field were as follows
Mark Snowball (12th) 38m22s,
Steve Patterson (15th) 38m42s,
Paul Banks (19th) 39m38s,
Peter Scaife (47th) 42m55s,
Richard Sill (77th) 45m51s,
Damian Foster (85th) 46m36s,
Carol Parry (165th) 53m23s,
Sue Smith (166th) 53m24s,
Victoria Stuart (238th) 56m45s,
and Josie Goodfellow (400th) 70m55s.

Morpeths Ross Floyd made a long trip to Merseyside very worthwhile on Saturday 28th May, 
when he won the Rock and Roll Liverpool 5k in 15m42s, winning by a margin of 20 seconds
​from Liverpool Harrier Ryan Whiston.
Third place went to Menai’s Ryan Roberts, who clocked 16m05s.

Accompanying Ross on the trip was fellow Morpeth Harrier Michael Thomsen,
who was one of the top Veteran Men, finishing 13th overall in 17m14s,
which was nine seconds faster than the time that he had clocked in the event twelve months previously.

​92 finishers took part in the Run, Sleep, Eat 5k Race on
Friday 27th May, and they were led home by Morpeths
Carl Avery, who was making a competitive comeback
​after a short layoff with a troublesome leg injury.

There was certainly no signs of a problem for Avery,
as he got round the winding undulating course at Temple Park,
South Shields in an excellent 14m52s, which for him was a new personal best, and he won by a comfortable margin
of 21 seconds from club colleague Chris Smith,
who finished second, also in a personal best time,
and seventeen seconds ahead of third placed Sam Hancox,
also of Morpeth.

Morpeth Harriers dominance was clearly shown when Thomas Straughan came home in fourth place in 15m33s.

Adding to the club dominance was Gemma Floyd, who finished as first Woman
in 29th place overall in 18m36s, also a new personal best time.

Other Morpeth finishers were Fergus Bates and Rob Hancox,
who placed 14th and 24th overall in respective times of 16m29s, and 17m37s,
both times just slightly adrift of their personal bests.

The next race in this short series is again at Temple Park, on Friday 29th July 2016.

​



​Slightly over 100 people gathered at Morpeth Rugby Club on Thursday 26th May, to honour sporting achievements during 2015-16, at the annual Morpeth Sports Awards, organised by Morpeth Sports Council.

Secretary and organiser Derek Thompson got proceedings underway
​by introducing the recently installed Mayor of Morpeth, Coun Andrew Tebbutt, who was to make all the presentations throughout the evening,
including several to members of Morpeth Harriers and Athletic Club.

First awards of the evening were Trophies and Medals,
of which the latter were permanent mementos of their respective achievements.

Morpeth Harriers awards in the order that they were presented were as follows

JUNIOR FEMALE AWARD (UNDER 18) – HILDER CUP & MEDAL
Holly Peck

TEAM AWARD (UNDER 13 – DALTON HUTCHINSON TROPHY & MEDAL
Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Girls Road & Cross Country Squad
(Holly Peck, Lily Heaton, Rhiannon Hedley, and Lauren Cummings)

SERVICES TO SPORT – ULGHAM PARISH COUNCIL SALVER & MEDAL
George Patterson (Morpeth Harriers Press Officer)

Following on from the Trophy and Medal awards,
the following club members received well earned
Certificates of Achievements for their respective efforts.
Ross Charlton,
Daniel Dixon,
Ruaridh Lang,
Scott Beattie,
Ian Hudspith,

Morpeth Harriers Senior Women’s Road and Cross Country Squad,

Morpeth Harriers Senior Men’s Road and Cross Country Squad,

Bobbie Griffiths,

Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes Track and Field Squad,

Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Boys Road and Cross Country Squad,

Carl Avery.

The night was very much highlighted by the added presence of representatives
of Morpeth Town Football Club following their recent Wembley Stadium success
in winning the FA Vase, and they very kindly brought along their most prized Trophy
​to be viewed by all those present.

Many thanks go to Coun Andrew Tebbutt, the Mayor of Morpeth for honouring everyone with his presence,
and telling tales of his personal sporting prowess, mainly within the sport of Cricket.

Finally much thanks and appreciation to Derek Thompson and his
Sports Council Committee for the organisation of a truly splendid evening.

In honour of his devoted service to the Sports Council,
Derek received a carriage clock from Coun Tebbutt to mark his recent retirement,
and as thanks for his continued service to the organisation.

​In her second track outing of the season, Morpeths Laura Weightman
managed to finish sixth in a talent filled 1500m,
at the IAAF Diamond League Prefontaine Classic Meeting,
held in Eugene, USA on Saturday 28th May 2016.

It was Laura’s first attempt at her specialised distance this year,
and her clocking of 4m03.04, although around three seconds adrift of her lifetime best,
still suggests that she is still on course to target a much prized second Olympic place later this summer.

The event was won by Kenya’s Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon, in a time of 3m56.41s,
with Ethiopia’s Dawit Seyaum finishing second in 3m58.10s,
and another Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay finishing third in 4m00.18s.

Laura was certainly not too far adrift of the leading protagonist’s,
and her run certainly proves there is more to come from the Steve Cram coached athlete
as the season progresses, providing she can remain injury free in the run up to August’s big test in Rio.

In that itself, it is hoped that the next trip West that Laura makes,
will be to Brazil to compete for Olympic glory, and inevitably will be
up against some of the opposition that she faced on Saturday.

Under Cram’s guidance, there is no doubt that the Commonwealth Silver,
and European Bronze medallist, will be very suitably prepared.