heavens open as marr claims north shields win

Eight athletes from Morpeth Harriers competed in the North Shield Poly Open Track and Field Meeting, held at Churchill Playing Fields, Whitley Bay, on Saturday.
It was the first holding of the meeting, organised by the North Tyneside Club, and the event was largely well appreciated by those who were in attendance.
For much of the meeting, it was fairly dry, with a developing breeze clearly in evidence.
However, in the later stages organisers and officials were forced into rushing things through as storm clouds invaded the area, and the final three events were run in a prevailing rainstorm.
Two of the athletes affected by the rainstorm were Morpeth’s Bertie Marr and Joe Anderson.
Running the longest race of the day, the 3000m with the rain pouring throughout, could be termed as an act of punishment. However both athletes were not long in going to the front in the seven-and-a-half lap event, and it was Marr who eventually took victory, winning in 9m10.1s, whilst Anderson placed second in 9m13.0s, which was a new personal best by a fraction of a second.
Conner Phillips' two events were run entirely in the rain, firstly the 150m, where he finished as third Under 15 Boy in 19.2s, and later he finished as first Under 15 Boy in the 300m in 42.7s.
Another Morpeth runner in the 300m was Under 15 Girl Amelia Hamlin, who posted a time of 45.7s.
In the 150m, Morpeth also had Freya Caygill in action, where she was fastest Under 17 Woman in 20s, a new personal best for the lightly-used outdoor distance.
Caygill had earlier been the fastest Under 17 Woman in the 100m, where she posted a time of 12.8s
That time was equalled by her Morpeth club colleague Mia Belton, who was fastest Under 20 Woman.
Morpeth Under 15 Girl Amy Longstaff was fastest in her age group in the 100m, clocking 13.3s.
Despite taking a short holiday recently, Morpeth Harriers Senior Man Alistair Douglass was still comfortable in his victory in the 600m, posting a finishing time over the one and a half laps of 1m25.2s.
There were no athletes from Morpeth Harriers in action in the accompanying Field Events.