​This Friday 5th August marks the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics;
however it also marks the 50th Anniversary of one of the biggest moments
in the life of Morpeth Harriers legend Jim Alder.

Clocking what was then one of the fastest times in the World for the Men’s Marathon, 2hrs22mins08secs,
he was enjoying his finest hour winning the Commonwealth Games title in a hot, humid and very sweaty
Kingston Jamaica, and writing a whole new chapter into both his and the regions athletics history.

Running in the blue vest of Scotland, he very nearly lost the title after being misdirected into the finish,
because of Stadium Staff  being diverted to look after the arrival of the Royal party
just beforehand, and only a more alert Scottish Official helped get him back on track,
only to discover that English rival Bill Adcocks was yards in front of him and hurtling towards the finish line.

Alder sensing defeat accidentally, summoned on all his interior strength,
and eventually swept past Adcocks to take his rightful victory by all of five seconds, and the rest is history.

Even now Alder and Adcocks meet up occasionally on more friendly occasions,
such as the yearly invitation to attend the London Marathon,
and the question is often asked of Adcocks as to whether he let Alder win.

The Coventry man always firmly replies, not likely, with one or two expletives removed.

Hopefully over the next few weeks, although watching from afar,
Alder may be able to cheer on some fine  performances during the forthcoming
Olympics including those by Morpeth athletes Laura Weightman and Serod Batochir,
who are competing respectively in the Women’s 1500m, and Men’s Marathon,
and perhaps take one or two moments to smile, and reflect on his own fine
achievement 50 years previous, and maybe utter his own immortal words “Geronimo.”

​Young Morpeth Harrier Scott Beattie continued to show that he is clearly in the form of his life,
when he produced yet another lifetime personal best over 800m,
as he finished third in a very competitive fastest race of the night,
at the fifth and final BMC Regional Standards meeting,
held at Chester Le Street’s Riverside Track, on Monday 25th July 2016.

Mike Bateman coached Beattie,  knocked another two seconds off his previous best,
which had been achieved at the same venue in May, by clocking an excellent 1m53.5s,
which now sees him ranked as 36th in the UK as an Under 20,
and second in the North East, behind Crook’s Markhim Lonsdale.

Beattie was one of seven personal bests achieved by athletes on the night from Morpeth Harriers,
Joe Armstrong finished seventh in the same race, posting a finishing time of 1m54.2s,
which places him 47th in the UK at Under 20, and fourth regionally.

In the second fastest 800m race of the night, Adam Gibbs of Morpeth
produced a seasons best of 1m56.7s, when finishing second,
and club colleague Kieran Hedley made further progress in his excellent season
by producing a superb new personal best of 1m57.3s, when finishing fourth,
making him 27th in the UK at Under 17 level, and third regionally.
Hedley had taken a whole second off his previous figures.

The third fastest 800m of the night brought new personal bests
for Morpeth Senior Men Jordan Scott and Robert Balmbra.
Scott clocked 2m02.8s, finishing one place ahead of Balmbra who clocked 2m06.3s.

Back to the younger achievers and the fourth fastest 800m of the night
saw a Morpeth winner in the form of Joe Dowd, who also achieved
a new lifetime best of 2m01.9s, which was a good four seconds inside his previous best,
which sees him ranked seventh regionally in the National rankings.
Also having a strong race behind Dowd was club colleague
Matthew Waterfield, who finished third in 2m06.3s.
Another Morpeth Harrier in this event was Karl Taylor,
who finished eighth in a seasons best 2m11.9s.
In a mixed gender G race Morpeth’s Josie Cram finished seventh in 2m22.9s.

It was also an excellent night for the younger of the two Hedley’s,
when Kieran’s sister Rhiannon clocked a new personal best of 2m25.8s,
when finishing third behind fellow Under 13 Girl Anna Mason,
 the Cumbrian Champion of Border Harriers.

For the younger Hedley it saw her knock nearly three seconds off her previous figures,
and it  sees her ranked at 29th in the UK, and also second regionally for her age group.

​It was a distinct change of surface, however it didn’t make the slightest bit of difference
to Morpeth Harrier Carl Avery, as he produced an emphatic victory
in the annual Northumberland Coastal Run on Sunday 24th July 2016.

Five days after winning a 3000m track event at Gateshead Stadium,
the talented Duathlete claimed nearly a four minute margin victory
over his closest rival Marc Fenwick of Tyne Bridge, running over Sand, Trail, and Road.

73m34s after setting off from Beadnell Harbour, Avery was crossing the finish line at Alnmouth,
leading a total field of 977 finishers, that included several Morpeth Harriers,
that included Sam Hancox, who finished third behind Fenwick, a mere three seconds adrift in 77m29s.

Also well to the fore in the field was Morpeth’s Emma Holt,
who when finishing 32nd overall in 88m17s,
was third home in the Women’s race.

​On Sunday 17th July, at Morpeth Harriers final round North East Youth Development League
match at Middlesbrough Athletics Village, they finished second on the day to close rivals Blaydon Harriers.

Since then final results have been fully scrutinised, and unfortunately they revealed
that at the end of the four match campaign, they lost out also to Blaydon cumulatively,
but only by a mere three match points, in over 2,800 points being scored by each club,
with league points being level at 21 each.

What both clubs can take from the overall performance is the totally committed superb
achievement by all their athletes who turned out, and at the end of the day it was only
perhaps the lack of one competing athlete that could have swayed the issue,
and they will eagerly await renewal of their rivalry next year when the league restarts in earnest.

​Morpeth Harrier Jonny Taylor posted a seasons best 7m56.06s,
when winning the 3000m at the annual Morton Games
Athletics Festival in Dublin on Friday 22nd July 2016.
Second place went to Derby’s Richard Weir, who clocked 7m56.66s.