seniors close in on titles after not-so-muddy fun on the farm

James Tilley was Morpeth's highest finisher in the Senior Men's race

​The fifth round of the Start Fitness sponsored North East Harrier League took place at Thornley Farm just south of Peterlee on Saturday, with the club recording two team wins to add to the one Gold, two Silvers and two Bronze medals won by individual athletes.
 
With the sun shining down on a course that is normally the muddiest of the season, this time it was more of a question how short to go with the spikes or even to wear trail shoes over the very uneven, pitted ground.
 
Under 11s were again the curtain raisers and it was good to see the club’s youngest competitors turning out in numbers.
 
Lucy Raper was 10th in the Girls race, with Zoe Tomlinson not far behind in 14th. Erin Burns was 25th with Emily Hodgson 28th.
 
For the Boys, Jacob Thompson came home 10th with Eli Mcsparron 33rd.
 
Michael Leeson was delighted to pick up a Silver in the U/13 Boys event in front of proud father Andy, later to run himself, with the team of Leeson, Thomas Roche (8th) and Evan Laude (35th  from Fast) finishing 3rd behind teams from Heaton and Blaydon Harriers. A good turn out in a squad which has improved as the season has gone on also saw William Hawkins 44th from Slow and Daniel Vermaas 45th from Fast.
 
Emma Tomlinson narrowly missed out on a medal in the U/13 Girls, coming home in 4th from Fast with Faye Heatley 11th, also from Fast. Disappointingly, the team were, however, short of a final counter.
 
Finishing 4th in the U/15s, Dan Burrow was later upgraded to a Bronze following the disqualification of the North Shields Polytechnic Harrier in Silver who was found to have run from the wrong pack. Supported by Stephen Craske (5th) and Ben Moll (23r d from Fast) and Harry Armstrong (30th, again Fast), the team finished 2nd to Tyne Bridge Harriers and stay top of their division.
 
Molly Roche had a good run for 8th in the U/15 Girls with Megan Potrac 17th from Fast, although again, there was sadly no third team counter.
 
Will de Vere Owen was the winner of the club’s one individual Gold, coming home at the front of the field in the Under 17s race with colleague Bertie Marr picking up the Bronze. With Joe Close in 8th, the team were comfortable winners overall despite a number of absentees, and will surely, like the 15 Boys, go on to claim the team title.
 
The club’s final individual medal came in the penultimate race of the day, the Senior Women’s,  courtesy of another outstanding run from Jane Hodgson in what is proving to be a very fine season for her. Finishing 2nd to Tyne Bridge’s new recruit, Lucy Coates, running from Slow, Jane ran the day’s fastest time for the distance (25 minutes).
 
With Cat Macdonald second fastest in 6th place, Claire Calverley 28th  from Slow and Mhairi Line final team counter in 112t  from Medium, the team finished in 4th place on 73 points behind Tyne Bridge (37), Jesmond Joggers (46) and Tynedale (54).
 
There were 11 finisher for the club in total, with Linzi Quinn next in in 123rd and Jane Kirby 154th, both from Fast. Fran Robson was 249th, Margaret Macdonald 265th and Jill Bennett, choosing one of the toughest fixtures for a comeback run, 276th.
 
Just over 300 finished. Still several points ahead in the overall standings of on-the-day winners and nearest rivals Tyne Bridge Harriers, the club will be hoping for a big turn out in the final fixture at Alnwick Pastures in March to try and secure the title.
 
Just over 400 finished the Senior Men’s race, with Morpeth recording their 4th team win of the competition to improve further what was already a very healthy lead at the top.
 
Blyth’s Ellis Hetherington was overall winner in 34:15 with Gateshead Harrier Joe Wales 2nd in 34:40 and Durham’s Alex Aldridge 3rd (35:00), all from Slow.
 
Fastest run of the day was our old friend Jarlath Mckenna, guesting for Bristol and West and finishing 7th in 31:39. Birtley’s Chris Perkins was some 11 seconds behind him in 8th.
 
The Morpeth count was headed by James Tilley in 14th in  his first run from Medium Pack, with Rob Balmbra gaining promotion to Fast Pack in consecutive races by finishing in 20th from Medium. Already running from Fast, Matt Walton was 31st.
 
Thereafter, Andrew Lawrence was 4th  counter in 39th, Mark Banks 43rd from Medium with Richard Glennie making the final count for the club with a great run, 91st  from Slow. 
 
There were another eight finishers from the club, with Andriy Volkov just missing out from the team score in 144th. Anthony Liddle was 165th from Medium, Mark Snowball 198th from Fast, Lee Bennett 234th from Fast and Dave Nicholson 298th. Andy Leeson was 302nd, Steve Johnstone 312th and Paul Turnbull 383rd, all from Slow.
 
The final team count was 104 to Gateshead’s 114 and Tyne Bridge’s 127. A resurgent Durham City turned up in force and look set for promotion back to Division 1.
 
Well done to all who ran at what is perhaps the league’s most unpopular venue.
 
The final NEHL fixture is at what has traditionally been one of our favourite venues and a happy hunting ground close to home, Alnwick Pastures on 4 March. Put the date in your diaries now, and let’s get some complete teams and big numbers out to clinch another successful season.