morpeth teams compete well at good friday relays

The annual Good Friday Relays, organised once again by Elswick Harriers, took place at the Riverside Business Park early on Friday morning, with hundreds turning out to both compete and spectate.
 
The races for Young Athletes which kicked off proceedings were also among the first locally to use the new age group categories which are now mandatory and will affect the NEYDL fixtures this season.
 
Niamh Balmbra was first back for the club in the Under 12s where there were over one hundred finishers, finishing 10th girl and in 37th place overall in the combined Boys and Girls event, with Jack Bell 49th.
 
Five blue and white vests lined up in the U/14s, with the Fawcett brothers showing well at the front, with Joe just missing out on a medal in 4th and Will one place behind. Luke Thompson was 14th, Hector Ford-Hutchinson 17th and Izzy Cromar 7th girl and 32nd overall.
 
There were two Morpeth finishers in the U/16s, with Jack Dhawar 16th and Jacob Thompson 43rd.
 
The combined Women’s Senior and Veteran race, run over three stages, got the Relays off thereafter, with three Morpeth teams lining up in a field of some 111 complete teams.
 
At the sharp end, Gateshead Harriers were on the day winners in a combined time of 34 minutes and 19 seconds, with Birtley AC 2nd in 34:44 and Sunderland Harriers 3rd (35:16).
 
Morpeth’s A team of Robyn Bennett, Sophie Ward and young Charlotte Marshall finished in 40:02 in 23rd place.
 
The B team of Nicola McCoy, Vicki Thompson and Jess Holman were 45th in 42:58 while the O/40s team of Kelly Clarke, Olga Bell and Sarah Henry were 12th O/40 and 63rd overall in 46:23.
 
The final day’s race, for Senior Men over four stages this time, saw Middlesborough Mandale, winners back at the Signals in February, triumph once again here, finishing in a combined time of 38:00 in a field of 98 teams.
 
They were followed by two clubs fielding a number of U/17 and U/20 athletes like many here, with Gateshead Harriers 2nd in 38:22 and NSP 3rd in 38:25.
 
Morpeth’s challenge was spearheaded by Oliver Tomlinson on leg 1, with Connor Marshall, still on his way back from illness, O/45 Dave Stabler and O/35 Lee Cuthbertson rounding off the team, who finished in a commendable 7th place in 41:03.
 
The B team of O/40 Andriy Volkov, Shaun Land, Rowan Bennett and O/35 Bobby Hagan were 32nd in 45:43.
 
Meanwhile the O/50s squad of Dave Marshall, Rob Hancox, dropping down from the O/60s, Jason Dawson and Lee Bennett were most unfortunate to miss out on a category medal, finishing 4th and 60th overall in a time of 50:48.
 
Well done all who ran. Full results are here.