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The first fixture in the North East Harrier League season on Saturday saw over 1,300 runners involved at Wrekenton, with Morpeth enjoying three team and three individual victories over the ten-event programme. First up were as customary the Under 11s races, with some 68 contesting the Boys event and 42 the Girls. Getting their first taste of competition were Jacob Thompson, 1st back for Morpeth in 13th, Jack Thompson (no relation, but enough to confuse the entries) in 17th and Eli McSparron 53rd. In the corresponding Girls race, Lucy Raper was 6th and, in her first race in blue and white, Zoe Tomlinson, younger sister of Emma and Oliver, 12th. The first of the individual victories came in the Under 13 Boys race, with Ewan Line winning from Slow Pack by a narrow margin of only 4 seconds from his nearest rival. Supported by Daniel Vermaas in 25th and William Hawkins in 52nd, with Evan Laude 53rd from Fast Pack running the club’s fastest time of the day and William Mcbryde 54th, the team managed to come in 7th place overall it what looks like it will be a very keenly contested age group, with no less than twelve clubs fielding complete teams. There was also a full team in the U/13 Girls, with Faye Heatley having a strong run to come in 2nd from Slow Pack. Emma Tomlinson made 16th from Fast Pack, with Sophie Pledger completing the scoring count in 26th and Grace Cunningham 46th from Fast. The team made 3rd place and certainly look competitive for the rest of the season. 3rd place was also the position achieved by the U/15 Boys, despite the absence of a strong outfit in this category who were down to run in Manchester the next day. Stephen Craske was 13th, and good packing saw Dan Burrow come in 15th and Harry Armstrong 16th, the latter two both rewarded in fact with the same time. The Northern Relays also meant the absence of our U/15 Girls team, many of whom have now moved up from the U/13 category at which they were so successful last season. Hopefully, they can start to play catch-up in the next fixture. The first team victory came courtesy of the U/17 Boys, also missing a whole team down to run the next day, to finish ahead of rivals Gosforth Harriers. In his first outing in this age group, Joe Close led the team home from Slow Pack with Elliot Mavir finishing in 7th from Slow and Elliot Kelso running strongly to come home in 9th from Fast Pack. Disappointingly, Tabby Robson, having moved up from the U/15s, was the club’s only competitor in the U17/U20 race, coming home strongly in 15th place. With the club having medalled in this division last year, a full team over the remaining fixtures would mean there is every chance of repeating this success, but it is down to the runners to turn out.  The senior women's team at Wrekenton Best turn out of the day for the club was once again the Senior and Veteran Women, with no less than twelve Harriers taking part. Their resounding victory in the approximately 4-mile race put down a strong marker for the rest of the season, showing they have a real chance of winning the overall title from last year’s winners Elswick Harriers.
The team were led home by veteran Morag Stead from Slow Pack in 25:22, thankfully now back in competitive action and finishing in 2nd place behind race winner Katie Iliffe of Durham City Harriers (24:56). Rachelle Falloon was in next, finishing in 13th from Medium Pack (26:16) and she was followed in by last year’s overall champion Cat Macdonald, who once again run the day’s fastest time of 24 minutes 3 seconds. With Jane Hodgson only 14 seconds and one place behind Cat, the team recorded only 21 points, a big 24 points ahead of nearest on the day rivals Jarrow and Hebburn AC (45) with Heaton Harriers a distant 3rd (71). It was also good to see Robyn Bennett back in competitive action, 19th from Slow in 29:28, with Lorna Macdonald 29th from Medium in 27:27. Mhairi Line was 38th from Slow (30:27), with the next four for the club all having to run from Fast Pack after last season: Lindsey Quinn, 118th (27:24); Lizzie Rank, 134th (27:41); Sarah Lawson, 167th (28:14), and Julie Vermaas, 256th (29:42). Fran Naylor was 319th in 37:04 and Margaret Macdonald, 334th in 37:30. Some 441 finished in total, the big field showing how strong the event has become. Final race of the day, the Senior Men’s three lap, 6 miler, saw both individual and team victories for the club with three of the club’s U/20 youngsters stepping up with aplomb to the Senior ranks for the first time. The win came courtesy of KEVI sixth former Matty Walton in front of some very proud parents. Always up with the leaders from the gun, Matty ran a superbly measured race to come home with a final margin of some 20 seconds over his nearest Slow Pack rival Stefan Szaclewski of Durham, while also doing enough to stay ahead of England international Sam Charlton of Wallsend, who ran the day’s 2nd fastest time from Medium Pack to come home 3rd. Matty was supported by fellow KEVI student James Tilley, 4th from Slow in 33:02 with Ralph Robson, another running his first race with the Seniors, in 16th (34:54). John Butters worked his way steadily forward as the race progressed, finishing finally in 11th overall in 34:07, and with Anthony Liddle 29th, also from Slow (37:04) and Mark Snowball completing the team count from Fast Pack in 110th (34:39), there was a 37 point margin to nearest rivals Elvet Striders and Tyne Bridge Harriers. Anthony Janetta just missed out on being a counter, 132nd from Medium in 37:32, Lee Bennett, still out of Fast Pack in his 50s, 190th in 36:11 and Stephen Johnstone 317th in 44:07. Overall, there were a whopping 542 finishers despite many clubs losing runners to Manchester. Fastest time of the day was by our old friend Jarlath Mckenna, guesting here for Bristol and West, and recording 30:14 from Fast. However, another guest, William Cork of Brighton and Hove AC, ran the day’s 3rd fastest time behind Mckenna and Charlton of 30:38 in his introduction to the NEHL’s unique pack system, and the club looks forward to his imminent transfer to Morpeth. With the next fixture at Druridge Bay in less than two weeks time, the promotion to higher packs of so many counters does mean that, despite an excellent team performance, the club will need to draw on the full range of its available athletes as the season progresses. But, for now, congratulations to all and a big thanks also to all officials, to host club Saltwell Harriers, and to Start Fitness for continued sponsorship. See here for Stuart Whitman's gallery of images from the event. Comments are closed.
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October 2024
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