Under unexpectedly inclement skies, and with problematic parking issues from the off, the cross country season got under way with the first of the North East Harrier League fixtures at Wrekenton.
 
There were only two Under 11s out in the first of the day’s two races, both in the U/11 Girls, where Emily Hodgson was 23rd and Erin Burns 31st.
 
With four of the club’s U/17s in action the following day in the Northern Relays, putting out a team was always going to be a challenge here, but it was nonetheless disappointing to see only Stephen Craske flying the flag for the club in the U/17s here, Stephen coming home 22nd from Slow Pack.
 
It was however good to see Caitlin Flanagan make a return to the cross country in the U/17/20 combined that followed, finishing well up the field of nearly fifty in 5th place from Slow Pack in 21:44, although sadly once again the sole Morpeth representative.
 
There were similarly incomplete teams in the U/15 Boys and Girls, although this was perhaps excusable in the Girls fixture with a team also travelling to the NW.
 
Ben Moll and Daniel Scott both ran well here, with Ben 6th and Daniel 9th, both from Slow Pack – but what a shame there was no 3rd counter to make the team complete.
 
Meanwhile Charlotte Marshall had the customary gutsy run in the matching U/15s, coming home in 29th place from Slow.
 
There was better news however in the U/13s, with strong performances from both Boys and Girls squads.
 
Tremendous packing from the Boys saw Jacob Thompson, Ewan Line and Evan Laude finishing in 17th, 18th and 19th , with Ewan from Fast. There were further supporting runs from George Moll, 21st, Liam Jackson, 30th in his first ever outing in a blue and white vest, Jack Dhawar, 44th, and Eli Mcsparron, 79th. The team finished 3rd on the day.
 
The Girls went one better, coming in in 2nd place to Elswick. Lucy Raper, in her first race as an U/13, was 3rd, Zoe Tomlinson 12th and Faye Heatley 18th from Fast.
 
It was very much business as normal for Catriona Macdonald and Jane Hodgson in the penultimate Senior Women’s race, with Cat recording the day’s fastest overall time of 23:43 in 9th place and Jane Hodgson the 3rd fastes when coming home 20th in 24:41, both from Fast Pack.
 
The women’s squad finished  4th on the day with support from Linzi Quinn, 59th from Medium, and Gwenda Cavill, 78th from Slow.
 
Nicola McCoy made her club debut in the race too, just outside the top 100, with Julie Vermaas 154th from Medium, Laura Mclean 163rd and Margaret Macdonald 371st , both from Slow.
 
It certainly looks to be once again a competitive division, with NSP winning here, Durham City 2nd and Jesmond Joggers 3rd, but promotions to higher packs will undoubtedly mean the bigger picture will only enfold as the season gets more fully underway.
 
Perhaps the highlight of the day from Morpeth point of view however was the outstanding run by KEVI sixth former Joe Dixon, who showed a clean pair of heels to the rest of the field in the Senior Men’s race, winning from Slow Pack in a time of 32 minutes 39 seconds, the day’s third fastest time overall. Never seriously challenged after completion of the first lap, Joe looked very much in his element and showed the strength over the country that he had shown when picking up a fine Silver in the Northern XCs at Blackburn earlier in the year.
 
With Faye’s father Ben, in his first ever race for the club, coming home well placed as second counter in 32nd ,  and further supporting runs from Mark Banks, 61st ,and Andrew Ball, 87th, both from Medium, Mark Snowball 104th from Fast and final counter Andriy Volkov, 166th from Slow, the Men’s team finished fifth overall on the day as they look to defend the title they have won in the competition for the last two years.
 
There were further runs from: Anthony Jannetta, 177th from Medium and just outside the counters; Neil Mcanany, 235th; Dave Nicholson, 383rd ; John Clark, 390th , and  a returning Adam Coulson, 438th  (these last from Slow).
 
Interestingly enough, it was promoted outfits Durham City and Elvet Striders who were 1st and 2nd here with NSP 3rd, but as with the Women the situation will only unravel as the season goes on; this fixture was always about damage limitation with so many potentially available runners turning out at Birkenhead (noticeable that both Tyne Bridge and Sunderland Harriers were similarly affected here, with Gateshead not travelling to the NW and just ahead of Morpeth).
 
Looking at the day overall, it has to be said that, despite several outstanding performances, the turn out across a number of the age ranges was disappointing,  and the club will look to remedy the situation with the next fixture very much on home turf at Druridge Bay in two weeks time. Put the date in your diary now: Sunday 15 October.

Andy Lawrence travelled to Germany at the weekend for the 49th running of the Berlin Marathon, in a race that featured a new Women’s World Record of 2:11:53 set by Ethiopian Tigst Assefa, and very quickly raised questions once again over the technology of a new shoe. Andy meanwhile had an extremely consistent run, finishing in 257th place in another excellent time of 2:31:45.

Claire Calverley was Morpeth’s sole representative in the Redcar Half Marathon on Sunday. Finishing in a time of 1:41:13, Claire was 11th Female runner and 95th overall.
 
A bit further for Tom Prentice, in travels if not in distance. Taking part in the Vitality London 10k, Tom knocked over a minute off his pb, finishing in  32:21 when coming home in 25th place overall. 

Whilst the majority of Morpeth Harriers Track and Field Athletes have wound up their summer activities, two of the club’s more Senior athletes have continued their competitive options in Pescara, Italy, at the European Masters Championships, and both have emerged with Silver Medals to show for their respective efforts.
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Running a truly excellent 61.55s, a season’s best, Over 35 Woman Nisha Desai, picked up a well-earned medal in the 400m Hurdles. Nisha only lost out by a mere fraction of a second for Gold, and becoming European Champion, to fellow Great Britain and Northern Ireland athlete Emily Bonnett of Yeovil, who also posted a season’s best of 61.22s.

After enduring three races of competition, Over 50 Man Trevor Hodgson, finally came through to take a Silver Medal in the final of the 100m, posting a time of 11.61s, again just missing out on Gold by a fraction of a second to Italy’s Alessandro Lassi, who posted a winning time of 11.43s.

Winning his opening heat in the fastest of all first-round qualifiers, in 11.83s, Hodgson finished second in his later run Semi Final in 11.79s, to fellow Brit Darren Scott (11.71s), the third fastest final qualification time, and Hodgson just outpaced Scott in the final to take Silver.
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Trevor’s Italian Job was capped off with a place in Great Britain’s Over 50 Men’s 4 x 100m squad, where he had a share in a Team Silver. 

The Northern Athletics Autumn Road Relays took place on Sunday 24 September in Birkenhead Park on the Wirral. A four-hour there and four-hour back journey for runners from the North East, but the club did manage to field teams in the U/15 Girls and the U/17 Boys, along with two teams in the Senior Men’s race.
 
First up were the U/15 Girls, who finished a very respectable 20th of some 40 teams,  with runs from Emma Tomlinson (13:17), Megan Potrac (14:01)  and Molly Roche (13:19). Winners were local outfit Liverpool Harriers and AC, with Lincoln Wellington 2nd and Sale Harriers 3rd.
 
The day’s medal-winning performance came courtesy of the club’s U/17 Boys who, while not quite able to match the winning performance of last year’s team, still came away with a hard-fought team Bronze behind winners Blackburn Harriers with City of York AC second. Elliot Kelso ran 11:58 on leg three to get the team into a medal position, which was also the team’s fastest time of the day and the 5th fastest run overall, after earlier legs by Joe Close (12:06) and Oliver Tomlinson (12:28).
 
Morpeth’s Senior Men were unfortunate to miss out on medal in the day’s final event, the six-stage relay, contested by some 100 clubs from across the whole of the North of England.
 
A flying Rory Leonard, currently in very fine form, had got the team into contention on leg 3 with what proved to be the fastest time of the day for the 5k course, 13:55, after earlier legs by Sam Hancox (15:17) and Will de Vere Owen (15:15).
 
Thereafter it proved to a very close tussle, with runs by Finn Brodie (15:02), Peter Smallcombe (15:37) and Will Cork (15:16) saw the club only slipping out of 3rd on the last leg and missing out on a medal by only some 17 seconds (1:30:22) to Sheffield’s Hallamshire Harriers (1:30:05), with a dominant performance by winners Leeds City AC (1:28:15) and local outfit Liverpool Harriers (1:29:42) in second.
 
There was also a taste of top-level racing for five of the club’s B team, all competing for the first time in a Senior outfit.
 
After experienced Alistair Douglas had got the team going on leg 1 (15:49), an unfortunate mix up on the changeover saw Liam Roche timed at 19:23, although his actual run time was much faster. Thereafter it was catch up time with the next four out managing to get the team back into 31st place overall (1:39:26) with runs by teenagers James Tilley (15:48), Bertie Marr (16:14), Ethan Phillips (16:01) and Tom Balsdon (16:11).
 
Disappointment was replaced by relief in the evening as it was confirmed that the club had  qualified their B team for the National event in two weeks time.
 
North East wise, Sunderland Harriers were well-placed in 14th with Tyne Bridge, for whom the redoubtable Jarlath Mckenna ran first leg despite running also in the NEHL the previous afternoon,  20th . TBH B team were 49th. Gateshead didn’t travel.
 
Action moves on to the National Six Stage in a matter of weeks, where the club hopes to be also in contention. Well done all who made the journey, and special thanks to on the day team manager Julie Roche. 

The first round of the NEHL cross country season for 23/24 takes place this coming
Saturday (23 rd September) at Wrekenton.

The full list of registered runners for the club is available here at

http://www.harrierleague.com/runners/2023-24/Morpeth%20Harriers%20&%20AC.htm
(Please note if you are NOT registered for this one, you can’t be entered on the day;
however, we can register you for the next one at Druridge Bay.)

Timings are the same as last season, with the first race off, the Under 11s, at midday and
the timings all here:
12.00 Under 11 Boys
12.05 Under 11 Girls
12.15 Under 17 men
12.20 U17 and U20 women
12.35 Under 15 Boys
12.40 Under 15 Girls
12:50 Under 13 boys
12:55 Under 13 girls
13.05 Senior & veteran women
13:50 Senior & veteran men

As ever, parking can be tight at these events, so please give yourself time to get parked up,
collect number and get warmed up. Parking is available at Cardinal Hume Catholic School,
Old Durham Road, postcode NE9 6RZ, though some parking is usually available on the
Beacon Lough estate.

Best route from Morpeth is usually over the Tyne Bridge, then picking up the signs for Queen
Elizabeth Hospital – the school and course are only a few hundred yards after this. Toilets
available at the course (though always worth bringing own extra loo roll!).
Wrekenton has usually tended to be quite firm going under foot, but it may be worthwhile
bringing spikes and trail shoes, if you have them, although the course will also be fine in
ordinary shoes.

Look for club tent and flag – we will be there unseasonably early, as ever!
Further information is likely to be on the NEHL website or on the NEHL Facebook page.
It’s always good to get off to a good start and part of the success in XC is, of course, in the
numbers, so let’s aim for a big turn out in blue and white whatever the weather.