The last week of 2021 saw some significant performances by Morpeth Harriers, with Laura Weightman returning to competitive action after many months of enforced absence following the injury that had so cruelly robbed her of a chance to take part in what would have been her third consecutive Olympic Games in the Summer. Two days later, Guy Bracken broke the world indoor Over 60 record for 3000 metres.
The Ribble Valley 10k on Monday included five Morpeth Harriers who had made the journey across the Pennines to Lancashire, with the event held just outside Clitheroe on a fast, if slightly undulating, traffic-free course in near perfect conditions. First home for the club was Sam Hancox, 37th in 31 minutes 21 seconds, only twelve seconds off his personal best and all this despite a heavy cold the week before which had seen him miss a full week’s training. Meanwhile Laura was only some 23 seconds behind, finishing second female in 31:44 and herself only six seconds off her best ever time for a distance she rarely competes over. Laura finished just behind race winner Jess Piasecki, whose 31:38 broke the existing course record of 32:07 set by Beth Potter in 2018, a time Laura also bettered. She would later comment on her twitter feed, ‘ Racing has never felt so good. I really enjoyed today! Ending the year fit and healthy. Looking forward to more races in the New Year.’ Dan and Joe Dixon also both ran, with Dan pacing Joe to an outstanding 32:09, Dan being given a time one second faster. 57th and 58th in the race, Joe’s run sees him record the 4th fastest time by an Under 17 for the distance in 2021 on Power of 10. Rob Hancox also had a very strong run, clocking 37:50 for 219th and also 5th O/55. Won by Jonny Mellor in 28:58 from Josh Griffiths in 29:25, the race also incorporated the North of England 10k Championships, with over 1,000 finishers. Two days later, Guy Bracken took part in his first Indoors meet of the season on Wednesday evening, running at Sheffield in the Run, Jump, Throw meet in his first competition since moving up a Masters category. Putting what has been a difficult year behind him, he showed his form has clearly returned with an outstanding clocking of 9 minutes 39 seconds for the 3,000 metres. This time represents a world O/60 best for the distance and hopefully he can now go on to focus his sights on a range of distances from 800m upwards. Comments are closed.
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