mudbath conditions as nehl resumes

There was an excellent turnout from the club on what proved to be a productive day of NEHL action on Saturday 23 November at the pocket of land behind the Beacon Lough estate in Wrekenton, Gateshead.
 
It was certainly a contrast to the last visit to the venue in January, when the ground  remained frozen throughout and temperatures were barely above zero.
 
This time, while it was warmer, the ground was a veritable mudbath in several spots, although the nature of the course – with the sections of gravelled footpath also en route – made the choice of footwear as ever difficult.
 
There were a number of excellent individual runs from both Young and Senior athletes, with outstanding team victories also coming courtesy of the U/17 and U/15 Girls, and the Senior Women’s squad.
 
Five U/11s ran in the first of the day’s two fixtures, with Mason Ellison back in 7:13 in the Boys race and Ben Hodgson 31st in 7:28 in a field of 70.
 
Ella Rowlinson was 19th in 7:55, Ellie Feal 21st in 7:56 and Florence Tyler made her debut in 9:28.
 
Although there were, sadly, no U/13 Girls out, the Boys squad continued to show their tremendous commitment, with Hector Ford-Hutchinson 13th from Slow (13:45), Joe Fawcett 17th from Fast (12:40), Luke Thompson 30th (13:02) and Will Fawcett 42nd (13:45), both from Fast.
 
Although the team were 4th on the day, they remain in 3rd in the overall table.
 
There was a delightful win in the U/15 Girls, where Heidi Wilkinson, 4th from Fast in 12:41, Faye Heatley 7th from Fast in 13:12 and Zoe Tomlinson, returning to competition, 14:35 and 9th from Slow, where on the day winners and moved themselves up to 5th in the overall table.
 
The U/15 Boys squad were also complete, with Mason Gaylor medalling in 3rd in the day’s second fastest time, 11:08 from Fast, Jack Dhawar 16th in 11:54 from Fast and Hector Beere 118th in 13:25. The team were 3rd on the day and are now also 3rd in the overall table.
 
Daniel Craig was disappointingly the only blue and white vest running in the U/17s, on a tough day coming back in 17th from Fast in 19:23.
 
However, the club’s U/17 Girls continued their fine showing, despite missing Molly Roche who had run the day before.
 
Emma Tomlinson medalled in 3rd, 22:34 from Slow and ever presents Lucie Todd (24:40) and Charlotte Marshall (25:47) 12th and 14th respectively, both from Slow.
 
Winning on the day, they are tied on points with Durham City AC’s squad at the top of their table, with the race likely to go to the wire over the next two fixtures.
 
Another outstanding showing from the club’s Senior and Veteran Women saw them also take the team win, and also steadily move up the overall division to 4th.
 
Won by Elswick’s Maria Catterall from Slow in 27:29, Morag Stead was the club’s first counter, recording the day’s fastest Medium pack time of 26:32.
 
She was followed home by Holly Lawrence, 12th in 25:07, Lizzie Rank, 16th in 25:20 with Jane Hodgson, 32nd in 25:50 completing the team count, all from Fast.
 
There were some nine other Morpeth runners, with three debutants amongst them.
 
Sophie Ward had a good run to come home 35th in 30:51 from Slow, Nicola McCoy was 79th in 31:52 and Janes Kirby and Briggs 91st and 97th in 32:06 and 32:12, all from Slow.
 
Coach Vicky Thompson was 121st in 32:42 and Sarah Henry 224th in 35:98.
 
Jess Holman marked her transfer from Jarrow and Hebburn with a clocking of 33:39 in 166th, and new signings Emily Easton were 345th in 43:40 and 352nd in 45:24 respectively.
 
There was also a better turn out from the Senior and Veteran Men in the day’s final race of over 450 finishers as they finished 2nd on the day behind leaders NSP.
 
The race was won by Gateshead’s Lewis Liddle, clocking 33:18 from Slow Pack, although Heaton’s Chris Larkin ran the day’s fastest time of 31:54 from Medium.
 
Connor Marshall led Morpeth’s team count with a great run from Medium, 8th in 33:48. NEHL debutant Bobby Hagen was 10th in 36:28 from Slow, Lee Cuthbertson 18th in 34:50 from Medium, Andy Lawrence 24th in 35:30, also from Medium, Oliver Tomlinson 56th in 33:51 in his first run from Fast with Tom Innes last counter, 59th in 36:24 from Medium.
 
Lee Bennett was 96th in 39:40 from Slow, Ian Armstrong 183rd in 39:07 from Medium, Andriy Volkov 245th in 43:13, Alistair Macdonald 271st in 43:57, Richard Glennie 301st in 44:51 and Steve Johnstone 359th in 47:35, the last all from Slow.
 
Although long time sleeping giants (and NEHL yo-yo club) NSP seem determined to see the competition out as winners, Morpeth are certainly capable of another top three finish with this sort of turn-out in the last two fixtures.
 
Congratulations to all who ran on the day in what was a great club performance.
 
North Eastern Harrier League 2025/26 Sponsored by Start Fitness