north tyneside 10k and events round-up

The 1,691 finishers who tackled the scenic coastal course of the North Tyneside 10k on Sunday enjoyed excellent conditions as the event was held for the seventeenth occasion.
North Tyneside Labour MP Mary Glindon set the runners off on the route from North Shields Fish Quay via Tynemouth and Cullercoats to the finish line beside St Mary’s Island in Whitley Bay.
And it was not long before two times winner David Green of North Shields Poly pulled well ahead;  in fact by the time he had reached Cullercoats, having completed the first quarter of the course, he was some 100m clear of any opposition.
He eventually crossed the finish line in a time of 31m09s, notching up a hat-trick of victories in the event, as well as the fastest of his three performances. His record is impressive, as he had also finished a good second to Ethiopia’s Tadele Geremew in 2017 when wearing the colours of Tyne Bridge.
Second place on Sunday went to Gateshead Harrier Ali Bailey who posted a finishing time of 31m59s. In third place was Sunderland Harrier Liam Taylor, who finished in 32m16s.
The Women’s race title went to late entrant Danielle Hodgkinson who finished tenth overall, posting a new Women’s course record time of 33m29s and taking twenty-seven seconds off Justina Heslop’s ten-year title.
Second place spot in the Women’s race went to Elswick Harrier Amy Fuller, who has a;sp learnt of her recent selection for the North of England in the Cardiff 5k.
Fuller was chased in hard by club colleague Heslop, with both athletes posting the same time of 36m31s, in 39th and 40th positions respectively.
Eight athletes from Morpeth Harriers were amongst the 1691 finishers, the first of these being Mark Snowball, who was 13th in 33m49s.
Next home for the club was newcomer Richie Hughes, who finished 23rd in 35m00s.
Mark Banks, another Morpeth newcomer following his transfer from Heaton Harriers, finished in 26th place in 35m23s.
Ed Hillier, who finished 94th, was next home for the club, with a time of 39m51s, and was ninth in the Over 45 Veteran Men’s category.
Morpeth’s first Lady finisher was Anna Wright, who finished in 222nd place, and was sixth Over 40 Woman, posting a time of 44m10s.
Kate Gaffing finished in 450th place, and was 24th Senior Woman, in 49m03s.
Robyn Ferguson finished in 519th place, and was 30th Senior Women, in a time of 50m19s.
Completing the Morpeth tally was Laura Shaw, who posted a time of 55m01s when finishing in 782nd place.
Full credit to North Tyneside for their splendid organisation of the event, being run for the first time on its traditional Easter date since 2019 - it had of course been held last October when Green achieved his second win.
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A new personal best performance was just the spur that Morpeth Harrier Scott Beattie (currently studying in Tulsa University in the United States) needed as he set out his summer track campaign when he finished an excellent seventh in the 10,000m at the Stanford Invitational Meet in Palo Alto, California on Friday 1 April.
Beattie’s time of 28m19.90s saw him take almost twenty-two seconds off his previous figures.
At the same meeting, fellow Morpeth Harrier Rory Leonard, also studying in America, at Oklahoma State, ran in the 5000m. Leonard finished 21st, posting a time of 13m59.71s, a little way off his best.
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Three Morpeth Harriers had their first taste of local track action when they competed in the Kieran Maxwell Memorial Open Meeting at Middlesbrough Sports Village on Sunday 10 April.
Under 17 Men Bertie Marr and Will DeVere-Owen were far ahead of all their rivals when finishing first and second respectively in their 3000m event. Marr won in 9m05.42s, with DeVere-Owen posting a time of 9m08.77s.
In the seeded 200m events, Freya Caygill was second fastest Under 17 Woman, posting a time of 27.06s.
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Margaret Macdonald completed an impressive 50k challenge recently in Perth. Running to raise money Alzheimers, she got round the course along the Perth Riverside course in 6 hours 35 minutes.
With the event being part of the Scottish 5k Championships, she was also 2nd Over 55. Congratulations!