Chicago Marathon

Seasoned Morpeth marathon runner Andrew Lawrence, now an Over 40 vet, took a trip across the pond recently to run in the Chicago Marathon on Sunday 12 October.
 
Won by Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo in a time of 2 hours 2 minutes and 23 seconds with Ethiopian Hawi Feysa Gejia winning the Women’s race in 2:14:57, Lawro clocked 2:42:23.
 
There were over 54,000 finishers in the Windy City, with Lawro comfortably inside the first 1,000.
 
Link to full sortable results here: Bank of America Chicago Marathon

World Mountain and Trail Running Championships

Lawrence McCourt collected his first GB vest when competing in the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Canfranc in the Spanish Pyrenees at the end of September.
 
The Up and Down race, also sometimes called the Classic, was 14.3 kilometers (8.9 miles) in length but also included 767 meters (2,516 feet) of elevation over a two-loop course.
 
In a tough race that featured the best from all over the world, Lawrence was 53rd in 1:11:17, with Kenyan Philemon Ombogo winning in 1:02:30 in a race dominated by East Africans from both Kenya and Uganda, although the Italian team managed a team Bronze.
 
Full results here and detailed article here: 2025 World Mountain Running Championships Up and Down Results: Nina Engelhard, Philemon Kiriago Victorious – iRunFar


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A youthful Morpeth Harriers Senior team ran in the Northern Athletics Cross Country Relays at Graves Park in Sheffield, where they placed 5th of some 60 teams from across the North of England.
 
Run over four stages of two miles each, the event was won by a club from just over the Pennines, Salford Harriers taking the title in a time of 39 minutes 46 seconds ahead of local outfit Hallamshire Harriers (40:41), with Gateshead Harriers, for whom Callum Johnson ran the day’s fastest leg, taking the Bronze medal (41:00).
 
Ponteland High School teenager Oliver Tomlinson took the first leg for Morpeth, showing himself not at all daunted by the presence of older athletes, and recording 10:43.
 
Leeds University student Joe Dixon moved the team up the standings with the club’s fastest time of 10:05, with Loughborough students Matty Walton (10:23) and Will de Vere Owen (10:19) completing the team count in a cumulative time of 41:32.
 
Thanks to Sheffield University student Bertie Marr, who did the spade work to get the team out but was sadly unable to run himself following illness after the National Six Stage.
 
The Women’s race was won by Derby AC with a combined time of 35:36, with Birtley AC's women 2nd in 36:24.
 
Two teams of Morpeth teenagers also ran, with the Under 13 team of Joe Fawcett, Luke Thompson and Will Fawcett finishing 31st in their first ever race outside the region, and the U/15 team of Jack Dhawar, Jacob Thompson and Mason Gaylor making the top twenty in 18th place.
 
Emma Tomlinson ran a solo leg in the U/17 Girls, clocking 9:35.
 
Link to full results here: Northern Athletics Cross Country Relays

Four members of Morpeth Harriers competed at the European Masters Athletics Championships in Funchal, Madeira.
Over 70 Man Gavin Bayne completed his two events by finishing an excellent 94th in a talent-filled Half Marathon, when he won a category Silver Medal, posting his fastest time for a couple of years of 90m37s.
Two days previously he had competed in the 10k Road Race, posting a time of 42m17s, just missing out on a category medal, finishing fourth in his age group in 142nd overall, again in a very strong field.
Bayne also led the GB team in his age group to Team Gold in the Half Marathon, and also Silver in the 10k.
After winning his opening heat of the 100m in 11.89s, Over 50 sprinter Trevor Hodgson finished second in his semi final in a fairly identical 11.88s, however in a very-hotly contested final, he found 11.95s to be outside of medal contention, finishing in sixth place.
By way of consolation however, Hodgson was also part of an age group 4 x 100m Relay squad for Great Britain, who won Team Bronze in 46.16s
In the Over 55 400m, Ben Harding finished in fourth place in 56.68s in his semi final.
This was after finishing third in his opening heat in 57.17s.
Although he had travelled in hopes of progressing in the Over 65 400m, Paul Bellingham disappointingly went out in his opening heat, finishing sixth in 70.93s.
However, he took great consolation on making it through to the semi final of the 100m, where he finished eighth in 14.70s, after finishing fourth in his opening heat in 14.72s.

Storm Amy meant a truncated Kielder Marathon Weekend this year, with events scheduled for the Saturday rolled into the Sunday and a congested timetable which, however, still thankfully went ahead, and some ten blue and white vests turning out across the three main events.
This year’s marathon was won by a past winner, Ceri Rees finishing in 2 hours 46 minutes 32 seconds, with the women’s race won by Steph McCall in 2:59.31.
Defending a title she’s won twice before (including the inaugural fixture and last year) Jane Hodgson battle through an ongoing foot problem to still make the podium, 3rd in 3:20.45.
Anna Wright was 95th and (5th O/40) in 3:47.19, Lindsey Quinn 393rd in 4:35.15 and Jane Briggs 57th in 4:56.12.
The half-marathon was won by Nathan Lawson in 1:13.45 by Nathan Lawson, but Catriona Macdonald was the 1st female finisher in 1:25.55. (She has the added distinction of being able to say she finished in a race ahead of Paula Ratcliffe, now of course only running socially, but still 1st O/50 in 1:35.55.)
There was another excellent run by Dave Stabler, 5th overall but 1st O/40 in 1:22.11 and Andrew Hebden was 18th (3rd O/40) in 1:27:52.
Finally, the 10k race was won in a time of 34:15.4 by Sunderland Harrier Craig Gunn, with a run out by track specialist Laura Muir seeing her back as 1st female finisher in 37:15.1.
Andrew Mirfield made the top ten, 8th in 38:26.3, Dean Lonsdale returned to competitive action in 15th in 43:31.6 and Jane Kirby was 58th and 11th woman but 2nd O/50 in 51:03.6.

The North East Harrier League resumed on 27 September with the opening fixture at Thornley Farm, just South of Peterlee, taking place in unusually (for the venue) clement conditions.
 
A general push from all at the club involved with young athletes saw a pleasing turn out in the YA races, and several complete teams and individual medals to boot.
 
The Under 11 fixtures kicked off proceedings once again, with Ben Hodgson, son of Jane, and a slightly under the weather Mason Ellison coming back 32nd and 33rd in the Boys 1 mile race, both clocked at 6:38, and Ellie Fea and Niahm Balmbra 14th and 24th in the Girls in 6:46 and 7:01 respectively. 
 
The best turn out for the club was, however, in the U/13 Boys, where there were no less than five finishers, with the Fawcett boys Joe and Will heading the team count in 12th and 18th. They were followed by Luke Thompson 20th, Hector Ford-Hutchinson 28th and Michael Madgwick 34th. The team finished 4th in what looks like it will be a keenly contested division.
 
Disappointingly, there were no U/13 Girls out, although hopefully this will change in the next fixture, as there were a number of decent performances in the recent club championships.
 
With Heidi Wilkinson out with an injury, Faye Heatley was the club’s only representative in the U/15 Girls,  20th out of Fast Pack.
 
The U/15 Boys squad looked competitive, however, with Mason Gaylor collecting an individual Silver. With Jack Dhawar 5th, Hector Beere 21st, and Jacob Thompson 32nd, the team finished in 3rd place.
 
Daniel Craig was the club’s only representative in the U/17 Boys, coming in 14th. Hopefully there will be others around him too at Druridge.
 
There was a complete team in the matching U/17 Girls, however, where Molly Roche put injuries behind her to pick up, like Mason, an individual Silver. She was supported by Charlotte Marshall, 14th, and Lucie Todd, 18th, the team coming in in 3rd place.
 
The most disappointing showing, from a club point of view, was probably in the day’s penultimate fixture, the Senior and Veteran Women’s race, where, for whatever reason, the club could only manage four finishers and finished next to bottom of the day’s table for Division 1 as a result, with TBH first, Sunderland Harriers second and Jesmond Joggers third.
 
Holly Lawrence ran Morpeth’s fastest time of 28:30, running from Fast Pack, for the two-lap course, finishing in 25th overall, with the race won by a big margin by Durham University XC student Megan Stonehouse in the day’s fastest time of 25:36.
 
Poppy Buck was 60th in 29:22 and Jane Hodgson 68th in 29:34, both from Fast.
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Credit to Sarah Henry then, who, knowing she was going to be 4th counter, stuck at the task to come home 203rd.
 
With no shortage of female members, it’s to be hoped that the low Morpeth numbers were a one-off as the competition has been very popular with the club in recent years, with the team regularly challenging near the top.
 
Last race of the day was again the Senior Men’s, where, despite also a lower turn-out than expected in blue and white, the four Slow Pack counters, three of whom were new, helped produce a clear team win.  
 
The Morpeth charge was headed by U/20 Oliver Tomlinson, who was narrowly pipped into 4th place after a strong showing. (37:45).  NSP’s Edinburgh University student Neil Silence was the winner in 36:13 from Slow. 
 
Not having run a fixture last year, Andrew Lawrence had somehow got himself demoted to Slow Pack also, and he made full use of the advantage, also making the top ten in 8th (39:51).
 
Sam Hancox made it up to 24th from Fast Pack in 36:52, and he was closely followed by newcomers Ellis McCoy in 27th (41:59) and Andrew Mirfield 35th (42:19), both of course from Slow. Rob Balmbra closed the team count in 53rd (37:58).
 
NSP were second on the day with Birtley third, and some 418 finishing.
 
Morpeth’s four other finishers were: Andriy Volkov, 136th in 45:54; Rob Hancox, 157th in 46:35; Richard Glennie, 194th in 47:59 and Steve Johnstone, 283rd in 51:40.
 
The next fixture is upon us shortly, taking place at Druridge Bay on Sunday 12 October not the usual Saturday – assuming it’s not cancelled again, as it was twice last year.
 
With the race on our doorstep, and almost a home fixture indeed, it would be good to see more Morpeth vests out, especially in the Seniors.
 
Results – Harrier League