John Butters is looking to put together a Morpeth Harriers trail running group to coach trail skills, hill strength, downhill and uphill running techniques as well as dealing with technical terrain. John is keen to put his coaching qualification to use and believes there is a gap for trail running coaching which is becoming more and more popular.
The group will start with a hill session at Brough Law (Bulby’s wood car park) on Sunday 26 October at 10am. There will be a 15-minute warm up followed by drills, a main session, 15-minute cool down, and stretching.
Depending on interest, John is hoping to build a trail group to train on a Tuesday evening.  There will also be future trail runs at various locations on a weekend TBC.
Everyone is welcome. All abilities.
For more details contact John on [email protected] or 07981 170123.

The Great North Run weekend kicked off on Friday night with the Elite International 5k race round the one-mile circuit north and south of the Tyne over the Swing and Millennium Bridges between the Baltic and the Pitcher and Piano.
 
A keenly-contested three-man scrap saw Morpeth’s Scott Beattie and Rory Leonard losing out by the smallest of one second margins to Thai-American Kieran Tuntivate (14:01) in a thrilling race for spectators.
 
The mass participation 5k that followed saw Tyne Bridge Harriers winning both the men’s and women’s races, with Michael Hedley clocking 15:35 and Jess Eaton 17:45, with Jake Parmley for Morpeth recording 17:48 in 20th.
 
Saturday’s uunior races, also on the Quayside, featured a number of Morpeth runners in age-graded waves, with Mason Gaylor and Heidi Wilkinson both 3rd in theirs.
 
Lucy Heatley was 10th, Charlotte Marshall 13th, Faye Heatley 19th, Mason Ellison 30th and William and Joseph Fawcett 80th and 82nd respectively in their waves.
 
The near 60,000 runners who took part in the 44th edition of a blustery Great North Run on Sunday morning included once again many members of Morpeth Harriers keen to be part of the world’s largest half-marathon, although some were donning various charity vests and raising sponsorship.
 
On a day when Kenyan athletes were first across the line in both Men’s and Women’s races, with Alex Mutiso recording 1 hour and 52 seconds and compatriot Sheila Chepkirui 1:09:32, Carl Avery was first back in a blue and white vest, making the top 20 in 19th place in 1:07:16. (Carl also had the distinction of being the very first runner to partake in a free beer at the Newcastle Hash House Harriers Beer stop at 10.5 miles!).
 
He was followed home by Phil Winkler, 24th in 1:08:18, Tom Prentice, 73rd in 1:12:49, and Connor Marshall, 98th in 1:13:50.
 
Also finishing were: Rob Balmbra, 103rd in 1:14:43; Tom Straughan, 154th in 1:16:42; Andy Lawrence, 182nd in 1:17: 34; Andrew Swinburne, 202nd in 1:18:01; Andy Ball, 270th in 1:20:16; Dave Stabler, 297th in 1:19:55; Shaun Land, 435th in 1:22:35; Jake Parmley (again), 713th in 1:26:22; Rob Hancox, 1009th in 1:28:33; Will Clark, 1232nd in 1:30:00; a crocked John Butters, still 1443rd in 1:31:07; Kirsty Burville, the club’s first female finisher, just outside the one and a half hour mark in 1:30:32 in 1359th place; Caitlin Flanagan, 2141st in 1:34:46; Anna Wright, 2486th in 1:36:21; Mark Banks, 6984th in 1:48:50; Richard Kirby, 20218th in 2:12:18; Arjan Piet, 26343rd in 2:23:01 and Leah Scott, 31036th in 2:31:53.
 
Well done all who ran - although the enjoyment of finishing by many was subsequently dampened by the controversy over the design of medals…

Some 600 entrants – all who had to pass strict entry requirements – took on the 4409 feet up and down Britain’s highest mountain in the annual Ben Nevis race from Fort William on Saturday.
 
Morpeth’s Catriona Macdonald, representing her Scottish club Bellahouston AC, was very much to the fore in the women’s race, with the distinction of being the first woman to reach the summit in a time of 1:17:14.
 
Hauled in on what is perhaps the most difficult descent in the country, she nevertheless finished in a fine 4th place, 67th overall, in a time of 2:06:25.
 
Ambleside’s Eve Pannone recorded fastest female time of 2:00:56 with the race itself won by Sasha Chaplin of Carnethy HRC in 1:38:04.  
 
Catriona’s father Alistair also took on the challenge, finishing in 206th place as 7th Over 60 in 2:33:24.
 
Only just over 400 of those entered in fact completed the course. 

In advance of the new Harrier League season which begins at the end of the month, there will be a short meeting for athletes and their parents at 6.30pm on Monday 8 September at the clubhouse in advance of training. 

Watergate Trail Race
 
The annual Watergate Trail Race over the customary 5k course in Watergate Park, Low Fell, incorporating the NEMAA Trail Championships, took place on the evening of Thursday, August 21 with a handful of Morpeth vests among the nearly 250 finishers.
 
Won by Birtley’s Adrian Bailes in a time of 14 minutes 54 seconds, Lee Cuthbertson was first back for the club, 11th overall but 1st NEMAA O/35 in 16:46.
 
Catriona Macdonald was 32nd but 1st Female home in 18:14, although she was chased all the way by Houghton’s’ Anna Pigford (18:23).
 
Anthony Jannetta was 63rd and 3rd NEMAA O/40 in 19:43, Lindsey Quinn 85th and 4th Senior Woman in 20:46 and Margaret Macdonald 219th and 3rd NEMAA O/60 in 28:55.

Watergate Trail Race

Home Nations Podium 5k
 
The UK 5k Championships were included in the Podium 5k in Bute Park, Cardiff on Saturday, with a very strong field turning out in a series of graded races.
 
In the elite Men’s race, which was won by Birch Hill’s Jack Rowe in 13 minutes 31.9 seconds, Scott Beattie had a fine run to come home in 2nd place in a time of 13:37.4.
 
The Home Nation - Podium 5K
 
Monument Mile Classic
 
A rainy night in Stirling for the Monument Mile Classic with another Morpeth athlete in excellent form, Cameron Boyek, finishing in 2nd place behind race winner Henry McLuckie (3 minutes 53.99 seconds), who joined a prestigious list of names of Emsley Carr Mile winners.
 
Boyek clocked 3:54.97  to record a new personal best for the distance, with all 11 finishers going under the four-minute mark.
 
30-1-1 The Emsley Carr Mile | The Monument Mile Classic
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