PETER CARMICHAEL
The Funeral Service for Peter Carmichael, former President of Morpeth Harriers & AC, is being held on Thursday 19th May 2022 at 11.00am at St John’s Church in Ulgham. This will be followed by Interment in Ulgham Churchyard. Donations if desired to Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) or Northumberland Wildlife Trust. Donation Boxes will be at the Church, or can be sent c/o J W Peters, Funeral Directors, 35a Oldgate, Morpeth, NE61 1QF. JOHN STEPHENSON The Funeral Service for John Stephenson, former athlete and coach to Gateshead Harriers, and a friend to many at Morpeth Harriers, is being held on Thursday 19th May 2022 at 2.30pm at Saltwell Crematorium. We are very sad and sorry to learn of the passing of former Morpeth Harriers President, and Club Life Member Norman Peter Carmichael, following a tough battle through a sustained period of illness.
Peter sadly passed away on Easter Monday at the age of 89 just a few weeks short of what would have been his 90th Birthday. He was very much the consummate gentleman in whatever he did, whether it be on his Farm at Linton, in the community at Morpeth, and even on the athletics circuit. However he was also always the toughest of competitors, whether on the athletics track, the road, the cross country, or on the Fells where he excelled particularly throughout Northumberland, Durham, Cumbria, Yorkshire, and sometimes in other parts of the land. Peter produced a best Marathon time of 2hrs29mins in the 60’s, which saw him place just behind some of the top Brits at the time, which included of course his well-known Morpeth Harriers colleague, the legendary Jim Alder. Along with Alder, in 1961-62, Peter helped bring the North Eastern Counties Senior Men’s Cross Country title to the club for the first time by finishing a strong sixth, where Alder placed third, to lead the triumphant squad home. Further assistance came from other well-known Morpeth names of the time including Roy Bell, Tom Horne, Tot Aisbett, and Jimmy Jones, who also got on the scoresheet at Redcar. On the same day, Morpeth Harriers also took the Boys title for the first time, with well-known names such as Doug Cockburn and Bob Appleby in their squad. Morpeth Harriers Senior Men also managed to finish fourteenth in the English National Cross Country at Blackpool that year, with Carmichael finishing 49th in a top-class field. Alder himself was very close to Peter Carmichael, and he remembers being ferried to events in his legendary VW Beetle, very much a status symbol of him at the time. In conversation with Peter several years ago, the writer learnt of a trip up to Oxford from Reading on the morning of May 6, 1954, where he was studying at the University, to witness another athletics legend, Sir Roger Bannister, break the four-minute barrier for the mile. Bannister clocked 3mins59.4secs on the Iffley Road track, and the generally unflappable Carmichael could not resist being caught up in the throng of the pandemonium that followed such a feat, he would not have missed that occasion for the world. Carmichael’s own athletics prowess was not to be denied however, and he appeared in many Morpeth to Newcastle New Year's Day Road Races, usually giving weighty support to the many achievements of Alder, who refers to his departed clubmate as being 'Very Good County Class'. At this time, Morpeth Harriers & AC would wish to send Deepest Condolences to Peter’s loving and grieving family, his Wife Margaret, Son Andrew, and Daughter Ann. We still await funeral arrangements. A number of Morpeth Harriers were in action in 5 kilometre races at the weekend.
Friday night saw Finn Brodie 5th overall in the Mid Cheshire 5k. In a closely contested race finally won by Liverpudlian David Rennie in 14 minutes and 19 seconds, Brodie recorded a personal best of 14:23. Not far behind, Sam Hancox clocked 14:43 in 14th and Phil Winkler dipped under the 15 minute barrier for the first time with 14:56 in 23rd. (Remarkably, evergreen Olympian and one time Morpeth Harrier Nick McCormick, now with Blackburn Harriers, also ran 14:26 in the same race.) Sam’s Dad Rob also had a good run to come home in 18:25 in the later mass start, and was 6th Over 55. On Sunday Alex Brown represented the North of England at the Cardiff 5k. Held in the leafy suburb of Whitchurch Village, the fast course saw Brown only beaten by local lad Jake Smith of Cardiff Athletics (13:59), with Brown recording 14:17 in a fine 2nd place. Across the water meanwhile, University of Tulsa student Scott Beattie had another outstanding performance on the track. Competing in the Payton Jordan Invitational 5000m at the Cobb Track and Angell Field Stadium in Stanford, California, Beattie clocked a new pb of 13:31:34 when finishing in 10th place. It was a busy night for Morpeth Harriers at the annual North East Harrier League presentation, with the club picking up no less than five of the nine team trophies available, along with some four individual golds, one silver and one bronze medal in the various age group categories.
Presented by NECAA chairman Bill McGuirk, the awards ceremony was again held at the home of the league sponsors, Start Fitness on Market Street in Newcastle, who continue to support the grassroots of the sport generously. Team trophies were won by the club’s Under 13 girls, Under 15 and Under 17 boys and the Senior Men’s squads, with the club also collecting the Sherman Cup, awarded at South Shields in February for the club with the strongest boys and men’s performances combined. There was also a second place for Morpeth’s Senior Women’s squad and a third for the U17/20 Women. Individual medals also went to the first three in each of the age categories, with some six Morpeth winners here. There were golds for Oli Calvert (Under 15 boys), Millie Breese (U/17 and 20 women), Cat Macdonald (Senior Women) and Jane Hodgson (Veteran Women), with a silver for U/17 Bertie Marr and a bronze for U/15 Joe Close. A most satisfying evening for the club overall then, after another long and hard-fought cross-country season, with special congratulations to all individual and team winners. |
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