There was undoubtedly a chilly edge to conditions at the second meeting of the Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League, held at Aykley Heads. on Saturday 21st November 2015. The overnight sleet and snow had largely given way to a very heavy wet surface, on what could very easily be described as one of the toughest of courses, which involved a very steep uphill climb. Nevertheless the hearts of athletes from Morpeth Harriers were very much warmed by the clubs performances in the scoring events, which saw four individual victories out of four in the Male events, which also included one team win, two second team places, and one third. In the Women’s events, it was the clubs Under 17 and Under 20 athletes who shone as a team, as they finished second on the day in their event. Additionally the club also had some fine individual performers, who may well have brought more honours if they had been given some competitive support. One of the clubs best individual performances came from Scott Beattie, who worked his way around the two lap Under 17 Men’s course as though he owned it, and won by a margin of twenty two seconds from the Fast Pack, clocking the fastest time of the day, with his closest challenger for pace being around thirty six seconds adrift. Whilst Beattie was clearly a class apart, the supporting runs of his club colleagues Josh Burton and Cameron Kirk, who finished ninth and seventeenth from the Slow Pack, gave Morpeth a second team place behind co hosts Durham City, who only won the day by a slender two points. Also competing in this event for Morpeth was Adam Shewry, who finished 25th from the Fast Pack. The three lap Senior Men’s event also saw a Morpeth Harriers individual winner in Kevin Calvert, who seized his winning opportunity with a rare run from the Slow Pack, where he was clearly well ahead of his closest rivals, as he won with just over a minute to spare. He led his club to second team place on the day in Division One, again behind co hosts, Durham City, only losing out for a team win by eighteen points. Calvert had excellent club support firstly from Carl Avery, who worked his way through from a Fast Pack start to finish in tenth place, posting the second fastest time of the day behind Durham’s Dan Jenkin, who finished two places ahead of him, and was a mere seventeen seconds faster. Next Morpeth counter was Tim Miley, who finished 29th from the Slow Pack. Further supporting runs came from Sam Hancox (47th) (Fast Pack), Thomas Straughan (60th) (Fast Pack), and Mike Winter (70th) (Slow Pack). Further Morpeth Harriers Senior Men performances came from Mark Cockburn (74th) (Medium Pack), Steve Haswell (90th) (Slow Pack), Michael Thomsen (106th) (Medium Pack), Steve Patterson (127th) (Medium Pack), Paul Waterston (189th) (Medium Pack), Mick Skeldon (207th) (Slow Pack), Rob Hancox (226th) (Medium Pack), Richard Kirby (253rd) (Slow Pack), Eric Adams (328th) (Slow Pack), and David Nicholson (387th) (Slow Pack). The Senior Men’s event had a record equalling finishing field of 592 runners. Morpeth Harriers had an excellent on the day team victory in the one lap Under 15 Boys event. They were led home by Rory Leonard, who is fast making a name for himself in the Morpeth squad, and he certainly maintained his current dearth of form by winning the event outright from the Slow Pack, and by the comfortable margin of twenty eight seconds over his closest rival. Leonard’s time was actually the sixth fastest of the day. One of the athletes ahead of him in terms of time was clubmate Taylor Glover, whose superb run from the Fast Pack brought him home as his clubs second counter in ninth place, and he was third fastest overall. Morpeth Harriers scoring tally was completed by Brad Brown, who in his first Harrier League appearance performed well from the Slow Pack, finishing seventeenth, just one place ahead of club colleague Ross Charlton, whose superb run from the Fast Pack made him overall seventh fastest. Other Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Boy performances came from Joe Dowd (25th) (Fast Pack), Daniel Melling (28th) (Fast Pack), Connor Marshall (34th) (Fast Pack), Matthew Waterfield (40th) (Fast Pack), Sam Bradley (41st) (Slow Pack), and Alex Cunningham (54th) (Fast Pack). An excellent turn out in this event saw a total of 60 finishers take part. There were even more in the Under 13 Boys event, where 71 athletes faced the starter. From a Slow Pack start, whippet like Bobby Stone of Morpeth Harriers led the field home, winning by the margin of fourteen seconds over his closest rival. Stone led his club to third team place on the day behind winners Durham City, and second placed Houghton Harriers. Further team support came from Jack Barrett (19th) (Slow Pack), and Alex Porteous (33rd) (Slow Pack). Other Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Boys performances came from Joshua Adams (50th) (Slow Pack), Aaron Haldane (58th) (Slow Pack), and Reece Garrett (68th) (Slow Pack). In the Female events, Morpeth Harriers best team performance came in the combined Under 17/Under 20 Women’s two lap event, where the club finished a close second, again to co hosts Durham City, only losing out by a slender six points. The Morpeth squad were led home by Charlotte Jewell, who ran well to finish seventh from the Slow Pack, and was third Under 20 finisher. Three places behind Charlotte was the clubs second finisher Alison Brown, whose Fast Pack run was fifth fastest on the day, which was a superb performance in the very testing conditions. Morpeth’s third and closing count came from Lizzie Rank, who was three places behind Alison in thirteenth place from the Slow Pack. The clubs other runner in this event, Abby Sheldon, produced a steady run from the Fast Pack, finishing 25th overall, posting the twelfth fastest time. Making a rare North East appearance, and her first since her Beijing track disappointments, Morpeth’s Laura Weightman clearly showed that she has lost none of her zest for strong competition, when running from the Fast Pack, she carved her way through the majority of the 398 strong field of Senior Women’s finishers to finish seventh overall, posting the third fastest time of the day, thirty eight seconds adrift of second placed Amelia Pettit of Vale Royal, running in the colours of Newcastle University, and only thirteen seconds behind Durham City’s Rosie Smith, who had finished one place in front of her. Another excellent Morpeth performance came from Josie Cram, who also running from the Fast Pack worked her way through to finish 25th, posting the ninth fastest time over the two lap course. Morpeth’s other finisher in this event was Shuna Rank, who finished 209th from the Slow Pack. It was good to see Morpeth Under 15 Girl Kate Seymour back in action, and she quickly made great strides by finishing third from the Slow Pack, picking up an individual Harrier League medal. She also posted the fifteenth fastest time in a 58 strong field of finishers, who included club colleague Gracie Hufton, who finished 26th from the Fast Pack. Holly Peck certainly continued her splendid run of excellent form when she worked her way through the majority of the 65 strong field of Under 13 Girl finishers, to finish fourth from the Fast Pack, posting the fastest overall time by a margin of twenty six seconds over her closest rival. Also having a good run in the Morpeth Harriers colours in this event was Rhiannon Hedley, who finished 14th from the Fast Pack, posting the seventh fastest time overall. The non scoring Under 11 events for Boys and Girls saw four Morpeth Harriers face the starter. In the Boys event Jack Livingston produced an excellent run to finish seventh out of a field of 81, that included Dylan Walker, who finished 30th. The 80 strong Girls field included Lauren Garrett and Sophia Cunningham, who finished in 42nd and 48th places respectively. Harrier League action continues again this coming Saturday, with the third fixture being held at Druridge Bay Country Park for the very first time, courtesy of organisers Blyth Running Club. Action as usual gets underway at 12.15pm with the Under 11 Boys event. Senior Women and Senior Men’s action takes place at 1.15pm and 2.15pm approximately. Having only just missed out on the previous months vote, Holly Peck certainly maintained her excellent competitive form throughout the month of October 2015, enough to convince the judges to award her with a Certificate of Achievement as the Linden Homes Morpeth Athlete of the Month. Holly, pictured receiving her award from the clubs Press Officer George Patterson, at the clubhouse on Mitford Road, Morpeth, on the evening of Monday 16th November, had impressed at the English National Cross Country Relays in Mansfield, where she had led her club to seventh team place in the Under 13 Girls event. She had also done well on the road in the English National Relay Championships at Sutton Park, had won the individual Gold in the Under 13 Girls event at the Davison Shield competition at South Shields, and had won her clubs own Road Race Championship for her age group. Holly now joins previous months winners Ruaridh Lang (May), Bobbie Griffiths (June), Scott Beattie (July), David Thomas (August), and Kieran Hedley (September), in the line-up for a possible more lucrative award to be decided in May or June next year, when judges make their decision as to who becomes the Linden Homes Morpeth Harriers Athlete of the Year. After persistent overnight rain and howling winds, there was some relief in finding that the showers had stopped and conditions had eased at least for long enough to make Sunday’s 30th Abbey Dash at least less of an ordeal than it had threatened to be 12 hours previously. Indeed, though recent demolition now meant it was no longer possible to read the temperature from the giant display at the top of the old Yorkshire Post building, for decades a prominent feature on the city’s skyline, it certainly felt mild enough to be mid September. Race organisers were taking no chances, however, dismantling the finishing gantry outside the Town Hall. The 30th running of the race was partly notable for the 2,000 or so entrants who didn’t make the start line - presumably having looked out the window and then rolled back over in bed - and organisers who appeared unable to decide if it was the race’s 29th or 30th anniversary. Pre-publicity had 29th, post-race t-shirt 30th. Being old enough to have run in the very first event (along with an old student house mate called Peter Bowker, who has since gone on to a very successful TV screenwriting career), I can confirm that the first race was actually 1986 and so it was the 30th. The confusion has perhaps arisen as next year is the 30th anniversary of it being run in support of AgeUK (or formerly Help the Aged) - so wear your pearls. In the event, just short of 9,000 completed this year’s race that continues to attract a high-class field from all over the country and was again the final race in the runBritain Grand Prix series, incorporating the English Championships. Race winner Dan Studley of Bristol and West was first home in a time of 29 minutes and 43 seconds, although only five seconds separated the first three runners. For Morpeth, Nick Swinburn had a great race to finish in fourth place overall in 29m 55s and Ian Hudspith continued his run of fine performances on this course to finish in 14th (30m 15s). Ian’s clocking was a new National Over 45 record, and caps another outstanding year in his running career. Andy Wiles was third Morpeth counter, 54th in 31m 33s and not far behind, young Sam Hancox ( 79th in 31m 57s) defied the conditions to post yet another pb in his first ever sub 32 minute run, with Ross Floyd 88th in 32m 5s. In a women’s race won by Charlotte Arter of Cardiff AC in a time of 33m, Emma Holt was Morpeth’s first female finisher and another with reason to return home with a smile on her face, having run her fastest 10k in 36m 4s. She was also 20th senior woman. Josie Cram followed her as 57th Senior in 39m 24s. Other Morpeth Harriers battling with the swirling winds on the Kirkstall Road included: John Butters, 211th and 7th Over 40 in 33m 51s; Jordan Scott, 299th in 35m 37s; Matthew Boyle, 356th in 35m 56s; Mick Thomsen, 376th and 25th O/40 in 36m 8s; Tony Lewis, 378th and 51st O/35 in 36m 9s; Rob Hancox, 7th O/50 and 487th in 37m 18s; Paul Brown, 586th and 10th O/50 in 38m 18s; Mick Skeldon, 741st and 36th O/45 in 39m 30s and Peter Scaife, 1009st and 7th O/55 in 41m 15s. Meanwhile, only a quarter of a mile from the race at the normally very pleasant Kirkstall Bridge Inn,
these intrepid gentlemen were enjoying a quiet Sunday pint… (Thanks to Chris Waugh for the photo link) Over 9,000 runners took part in the prestigious Abbey Dash Road Race in Leeds, on Sunday 15th November 2015, including a 16 strong band of enthusiastic Morpeth Harriers, some sparklingly fit, and some giving themselves a most rigorous test, in what were the most trying of conditions. That was mainly due to the heavy overnight rain; however these factors didn’t seem to bother the clubs front runners Nick Swinburn and Ian Hudspith, who finished prominently in fourth and fourteenth places. Their respective times of 29m56s and 30m15s, clearly showed that these boys meant business, and in Swinburn’s case, he was only a mere twelve seconds adrift of the winner Dan Studley of Bristol & West, who won by the margin of three seconds from Swansea’s Dewi Griffiths. Swinburn only just lost out for third place to Rugby’s Jacob Allen by the slender margin of six seconds. But he did manage to once again overcome tough challenges from Highgate’s Andy Maude in the final run in, having encountered the same athlete two weeks previously at Mansfield in the English National Cross Country Relays. Again he managed to beat Maude by a whole second at the finish line. In Hudspith’s case, it also showed that despite his 45 years he can still manage to counter the best, when he broke his age group record on the well established course. Morpeths Lewis Timmins certainly won the day in a sprint final finish to take a three second victory over Elswick Harrier Tadele Geremew in the 64th Brampton to Carlisle 10 Mile Road Race, on Sunday 15th November 2015, reportedly the oldest of its kind in the UK. In his very first run in the event, and the distance, Timmins posted an excellent time of 52m31s, making up for having to finish second to Tipton’s Ryan McLeod seven days previously in the Heaton Harriers 10k event. Lindsay Dunn coached Timmins is obviously rounding into some superb form, and has a good run in next month’s North Eastern Counties Cross Country Championships firmly in his sights. He certainly hopes to better his placing of 2014, when he finished an excellent third behind club colleagues Jonny Taylor and Nick Swinburn, who also hope to face the starter in Sedgefield. Another prominent Morpeth Harrier in action at Brampton was Ian Harding, who finished eighth in 55m25s. Paul Waterston finishing 31st in 59m23s, was Morpeth Harriers third counter in a Men’s team race, which saw them finish second to Manchester club Trafford AC. Waterston who was seventh Veteran Man, and second Over 50, also led a Morpeth challenge in the Veteran Men’s team race, which saw them finish sixth behind winners Sunderland Harriers. Morpeth Harriers fourth runner home was Mark Snowball, who was also running his first ten mile Road Race. Snowball, who finished 51st, clocked a time of 62m18s. Six places behind Snowball was new club colleague Mark Cockburn, who clocked a time of 62m37s, a new personal best, knocking a whole ten minutes off his previous attempt over the distance, which had been in the same event twelve months ago. Next home for Morpeth Harriers was Phil Walker, who finished 84th in 64m46s, was ninth Over 45 Veteran Man, and was second counter in the Veteran team count, being 33rd Veteran Man overall. The Morpeth Harriers Veteran Men’s team count was completed by Mike Winter, who finished 89th, was tenth Over 45, and clocked a time of 65m05s. Other Morpeth Harriers finishers in the total field of 557 were Paul Banks (157th) (35th Over 40 Man) 70m18s, and Norman Clark (330th) (4th Over 60 Man) 81m04s. |
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