Leading national veteran Ian Hudspith of Morpeth Harriers established himself
at the very top of the British Over 45 all-time road race rankings for 5 kilometres on the paths along Newcastle’s quayside on Wednesday evening (31st August 2016). Although Husdpith was only 4th in the race itself, his time of 14 minutes and 50 seconds narrowly beat the longstanding record of Martin Rees of Swansea by a margin of 1 second – which he later jokingly attributed to his dip over the line. Hudspith had in fact previously won the race in 2014 on the only previous occasion it was run, but this year’s field was certainly of a high class, attracted no doubt by the generous prize money on offer from the race sponsors CheekyTrip.com. A leading group of some six athletes, headed by Matty Hynes of host club Gateshead Harriers, established themselves from the off as the route headed west under the bridges of the River Tyne from its start on the North side of the Millenium Bridge. This group included Hudspith and two other club colleagues, Carl Avery and Nick Swinburne, as well as Calum Johnson of Gateshead and Abraham Tewelde of Saltwell Harriers. With all three of the Morpeth runners focused on next weekend’s Great North Run and as a result running high weekly mileages in training, perhaps it was inevitable that the brisk pace would leave them at disadvantage in such a short race, and so it proved, with Hynes able to slip away, cross the Millenium Bridge and finish in front of the Baltic to win in a time of 14 minutes 41 seconds. He was closely followed by leading young triathlete Johnson in 14m 45s and Tewelde 3rd in 14m 51s. Although Hudspith’s chip time was one second faster, Tewelde was credited with 3rd place. Morpeth did have the consolation, however, of winning the team prize, with Nick Swinburn 5th in 14m 52s and Avery 7th some three seconds behind. Ross Floyd, another runner with his sights on the GNR, was 8th in 15m 18s. The pace of the race was such that it was later announced that all six of the first finishers had broken the previous course record held by Hudspith himself. The women’s race was won by Tracey Milmore of Birtley AC in 17m 34s with Over 35 athlete Michelle Nolan of Gateshead 2nd in 17m 44s. Behind the lead athletes there were a string of fast times on what is perhaps now established as among the fastest 5k courses in the region. Chris Smith was first O/35 in 15m 44s and 14th overall, with Lewis Timmins just behind him in 15th place in 15m 57s. Other Morpeth athletes competing included: Steve Patterson, 48th in 17m 27s; Paul Bellingham, 83rd and 3rd O/55 in 19m21s; Peter Scaife, 90th and 4th O/55 in 19m 51s and Steve Garret, 197th in 25m 24s. With the satisfaction of taking the all-time 5k record behind him – which Hudspith has had his eyes on at least since he narrowly failed to take it at Wallsend in May – the Morpeth Harrier can now focus on other targets clearly within his grasp beginning with the half-marathon and culminating, perhaps, in the Abbey Dash 10k at Leeds in November. Report by Peter Scaife Morpeth Harriers were among the prize winners at the Tartan Games
at Gateshead International Stadium on Sunday 28th August 2016. Hannah Brown started the Meeting with victory in the Under 17 300m Hurdles with a time of 52.89secs. She later won the 100m Hurdles in 13.43secs from clubmate Becky Foster (13.66secs). In the same age-group Bobbie Griffiths won the Javelin with a throw of 35.99m. She also competed in the Senior event and threw the heavier impliment 32.58m to finish second. David Thomas won the Under 17 Triple Jump with a leap of 12.33m and finished second in the Long Jump (5.90m). Ruaridh Lang was successful in the Under 17 Discus with a throw of 40.59m and was second in the Shot (11.67m). Andrew Knight gained another victory in the Under 15 Shot throwing 13.08m. Former Morpeth Harrier, Nisha Desai won the Senior Women's 400m Hurdles clocking 60.22secs. Claire Reid finished second in the Senior Womens' Shot and Discus with throws of 9.87m and 32.68m respectively. She was also fifth in the Javelin (19.31m). Steven Appleby had to settle for second in the Senior Discus with a throw of 33.00m. Ethan Stephenson gained two second places in the Under 15 High Jump and Long Jump with leaps of 1.65m and 5.60m respectively. Adam Willoughby finished second in the Under 13 High Jump with a leap of 1.35m. Matthew Waterfield won the B race in the Under 17 Mens' 400m with a time of 52.98secs. He was second fastest overall. He later ran the 800m finishing fifth in 2mins 10.88secs. Clubmate Joe Dowd finishing third in 2mins 8.26secs. Jordan Scott finishing third in the Senior 800m clocking 2mins 2.28secs. Third places were also gained by Jacob Clayton in the Under 13 Long Jump (3.88m) and Koffi Avornyo in the Under 13 High Jump (1.30m). Report by Les Venmore A handful of Morpeth Harriers took part in the midweek Watergate 5k Trail Race
hosted by Low Fell Running Club on Thursday 25th August 2016 which also incorporated the North East Masters Championships. In a race won by leading Over 40 veteran Terry Scott of Tyne Bridge in a time of 16 minutes 14 seconds, Morpeth Harrier Fergus Bates was 6th overall and first Over 45 in 16m 59s and Dave Nicholson first Over 60 in 19m 51s. Archie Jenkins was 6th O/60 in 23m 33s. In the women’s race, won by Kate Waugh of Birtley AC in 17m 50s, Lorna Macdonald was 3rd woman home in 19m 12s. Report by Peter Scaife Morpeth Harriers had a total of seventeen athletes in action at the sixth
and final Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Grand Prix Meeting, held at Gateshead Stadium on the evening of Wednesday 24th August 2016. Five of those athletes competed in the 3000m Graded event, which brought the evening and the long seasons programme o a close, and all of them set new figures for the distance. After an early lead was established by Morpeth’s Under 20 athlete Joe Armstrong, he eventually saw himself passed by club colleague Carl Avery, who won in 8m42.56s, a very marginal new personal best. Armstrong did manage to take thirteen seconds off his time, when finishing third in 8m43.98s. One place behind Armstrong was club colleague Jonnie Nisbet, who also set new figures of 8m58.41s. Morpeth’s Taylor Glover knocked seven seconds off his personal best when clocking 9m11.64s, and was first Under 17 Man in fifth place overall. Connor Marshall knocked eleven seconds off his personal best time, when finishing ninth in 10m02.38s. Morpeth’s Phil Winkler was an early leader in the Graded 800m A race until Gosforth’s Zack Wylie took up the gauntlet at the bell. Winkler was not to be outdone however, and eventually regained the lead in the closing stages, to record an excellent victory in 2m02.86s. Another strong Morpeth performer in the event was Joe Dowd, who finished fourth in 2m04.93s. In the 800m B race, Morpeth newcomer Lewis Middleton finished ninth in 2m56.51s. Neil McAnany of Morpeth finished fourth in the D race of the Graded 400m events in 62.44s. Jacob Clayton certainly continues to progress, as the Morpeth youngster finished second in the Under 13 Boys 200m, setting new figures of 29.24s. In the Under 13 Boys 800m, Morpeth’s Dylan Davies also produced new figures of 2m36.0s, when finishing fifth. David Thomas of Morpeth showed a marginal improvement on his personal best, when finishing fifth in his heat of the Graded 200m, posting a time of 25.79s. In the event following, Morpeth’s Lewis Middleton posted a time of 28.19s when finishing seventh. On to the Field events, where Morpeth Harriers had three on the night winners. Andrew Knight comfortably won the Under 15 Boys Shot Putt, with his best effort in a series of 13.73m. David Thomas won the Long Jump with 6.11m, and Bobbie Griffiths won the Javelin with 38.38m. Morpeth’s Hannah Brown, produced a new personal best of 4.25m, when finishing as second Under 17 Woman in the Long Jump. Jacob Clayton of Morpeth Harriers finished as third Under 13 Boy in the Long Jump, with his best effort of 4.31m, and Luke Haxell finished as fourth Under 15 Boy in the Javelin, with his best throw of 25.24m. Posting a finishing time of 33m05s, Morpeth Harrier Ross Floyd, proved to be an emphatic winner of the annual Blyth Links 10k, organised by Blyth Running Club, on the evening of Tuesday 23rd August 2016. Floyd managed to eventually shake off the close attentions of his Morpeth club colleague Chris Smith, who finished second in 33m58s, ahead of third placed Scott Ellis of North Shields Poly (34m33s). Next Morpeth finisher was former Blyth runner Jake Masterman, who was twelfth in 37m49s. Finishing 25th, and as second Over 45 Man was Morpeth’s Paul Banks, who posted a finishing time of 40m22s. Other Morpeth Harriers finishers on the night were, Clare Walker (198th) 54m57s, and Sue Smith (203rd) 55m18s. The event had a total of 294 finishers. |
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