good showing in NEHL season finale

The 6th and final round of the North East Harrier League took place at Eltringham Farm in the Tyne Valley on a splendidly sunny Saturday 21 March.
 
A new venue, hosted by local outfit Prudhoe Plodders with help from Stocksfield Striders, the course is on farm land just south of the Tyne and a few miles east of Prudhoe.
 
Amid much curiosity about the venue, who proved to be accommodating and well-organised, there was a range of opinions about a course that was a proper XC challenge for all, even the U/11s, with all finishes up a steep hill in front of the tent village. As one club member put it, ‘It was a great course – for spectators at least!’

There was also a narrow bridge to cross – occasioning much outrage at those who refused to queue (up to 20 seconds in the Men’s race) – and two ladder stiles to get over also (although the more resourceful or driven actually rolled under the hedge).
 
Final titles were of course decided, with Morpeth’s team performances across most age individual and team categories at the very least more than respectable, although titles proved elusive.
 
Another good turn out in the U/11 Boys saw Mason Ellison come back in 3rd, with both Ben Hodgson (12th) and Jack Bell (27th) continuing to improve and running strongly.
 
It was a similar story in the U/11 Girls, with Ella Rowlinson 13th, just ahead of Niamh Balmbra 15th with Florence Tyler rallying at club encouragement up the hill to finish 37th.
 
The club’s U/!3 Boys once again turned out in good numbers, with Joe Fawcett 7th, Hector Ford-Hutchinson 15th, Will Fawcett 26th and Luke Thompson 28th.
 
It is a tribute to the commitment that the squad have shown that they finish 2nd in the overall league standings, behind Tynedale but ahead of NSP.
 
Jacob Thompson was the club’s sole representative in the U/15 Boys this time, finishing in 23rd place. The team did place 3rd overall however, with Tynedale again out in front and Elswick in 2nd. Mason Gaylor, who opted not to run here, placed 3rd in  individual GP and Jack Dhawar 6th.
 
Both Heidi Wilkinson and Faye Heatley turned out in the matching U/15 Girls, with Heidi 4th and Faye 8th, both of course from Fast. A tribute to how competitive a small squad has been, they also finished in 3rd place, this time behind Elswick and Durham City, with Heidi and Faye finishing 3rd and 4th respectively in the individual GP.
 
The club’s only other Young Athlete on the day was the determined Charlotte Marshall, who placed 5th (and 8th in the individual GP). Pleasingly however the team have finished in 2nd place, level on points with NSP and behind Durham.
 
The only two age groups where the club just haven’t been able to get numbers out across the season as a whole have been the U/13 Girls and U/17 Boys. It’s to be hoped that that situation will improve next season.
 
Penultimate race of the day saw a field of 274 Senior Women take on the two lap challenge. With Tyne Bridge heading for a noisy team coronation, Morpeth did at least more than consolidate a strong overall 2nd place, with a second place on the day here also.
 
In her first XC outing of the year, Robyn Bennett placed 5th from Slow Pack, having led for much of the first lap in fact, with Jane Hodgson having a storming run to come home ahead of fellow vet Justina Heslop when finishing in 9th.
 
The team count was made up Jess Holman, 31st, and Nicola McCoy 34th, with further support coming from Vicky Thompson, 59th, Olga Bell, 105th on her debut, and Sarah Henry, 164th.
 
TBH won overall on 12 points for the season, with Morpeth on 17th and Jesmond Joggers some way back in 3rd on 23.
 
Holly Lawrence placed 3rd in the individual GP and Lizzie Rank 6th, with Jane Hodgson losing out to Justina Heslop by the narrowest of margins in the Veteran Women’s.
 
Final race of the day and indeed of the season was the Senior Men’s over three laps, with just over 300 finishing.
 
As TBH in the Women’s race, this time it was NSP determined to win, and putting out no less than three new runners from Slow Pack.
 
Won by Will Robson (who had chosen to run from Slow and as a result won by a big margin), NSP were big on the day winners ahead of Gateshead and Morpeth.
 
Rowan Bennett headed the club challenge, 29th from Slow, with Oliver Tomlinson having his best run of the season to place 33rd from Fast.
 
Ali Douglass was 38th from Fast, Lee Bennett 48th from Slow, James Higgins 57th and Ellis McCoy 92nd, both.from Medium, to complete the team count.
 
Ian Armstrong was 93rd from Medium, Andriy Volkov 113th from Slow and Tony Horsley 162nd from Slow.
 
NSP were league winners, with Gateshead finishing only three points ahead of Morpeth in 2nd place.
 
Well done to all who represented the club with such determination, not just here but over a long season.
 
Race Results | North East Harrier League | North East Harrier League