Nick Swinburn and Jonny Taylor of Morpeth Harriers were both included in the Great Britain squad who competed in the televised Senior Men’s 8k event at the annual Great Winter Cross Country, held at Holyrood Park in Edinburgh. on Saturday 9th January. Although the going was heavy, and there were flurries of sleet, there was no sign of the heavy snow that was being experienced further North. Despite still suffering from a heavy cold that had been with him since his excellent run in Brussels slightly prior to Christmas, Swinburn could feel well pleased with his performance in finishing twelfth of the thirty finishers, and also the final cog in Great Britain’s scoring six, who won a close team race by eleven points from a strong USA squad, who were led home by the race winner Garrett Heath, who managed to just outsprint double Olympic Champion Mo Farah to the line, to win by two seconds in 25m29s. Farah himself was visibly delighted with the Great Britain team win, boosted by the added performances of long term leader Callum Hawkins (4th), Ross Millington (5th), Dewi Griffiths (6th), Andrew Butchart (7th), and Swinburn, who had always been in touch with the leaders until the final lap, and was only twenty two seconds adrift of a podium spot at the finish. Taylor had also been up with the early pace, but seemed to fade after half way was reached, and ended up in seventeenth place, and just behind fellow Brit Jonathan Davies, making him eighth home for his country. Two Morpeth Harriers competed in the earlier run 5k Road Race. Nathan Cox finished fourth, posting an excellent time of 16m52s. Sixty seven seconds and nine places behind him was fellow Morpeth Harrier Mark Snowball, who also could feel well pleased with his run. With a blank weekend in the region on the Cross Country circuit several runners sought competition in the Saturday Morning Park Runs, and Morpeth Harriers had no less than four athletes as first finishers on the day. In his first outing at Newcastle’s Exhibition Park, Kevin Calvert crossed the finish line of the 5k circuit in 15m50s. Fifteen places and exactly three minutes behind him was fellow Morpeth Harrier Paul Banks. Clocking five seconds faster than Calvert, Morpeth Harriers Under 20 athlete Joe Armstrong was easily first over the finish line at Albert Park in Middlesbrough. Meanwhile a few miles further south in York, Morpeth Harrier Sarah Graham was first Female over the finish line. In her first outing for several months, although her first at this particular venue, she clocked 20m25s. More locally, Mark Cockburn was the first finisher at Druridge Bay, posting new figures of 18m32s. Other prominent Morpeth Harriers finishers at Druridge were, James McFetrich (7th) 20m50s, which was just six seconds adrift of his best on the course, Andrew Richardson (9th) 21m06s, Jim Alder (13th) 21m41s, Richard Kirby (14th) 21m43s, Larry Clarke (15th) 21m46s, and Damian Foster (22nd) 22m21s. A Coffee Morning is being held at St Robert’s RC Church Hall in Morpeth from 9.30am till 12 noon, organised in aid of the fund that Morpeth Harriers are trying to achieve, to assist them financially for their trip to Turkey at the beginning of February. The clubs Senior Men’s Road and Cross Country squad are Great Britain’s official representatives at the annual European Champions Club Cross Country Championships, however are expected to fund a good proportion of their trip, members of the squad will be in attendance, along with photographs of the squad in action during a very successful 2015, plus it is hoped that a small laptop presentation will also be included. Everyone is welcome to attend, so if you are interested, and have a few minutes to spare, and in need of a little added sustenance, why not pop in for a chat and a cuppa. The torrential rainstorms that hit the region after the New Year unfortunately forced the postponement of the fourth Start Fitness Harrier League meeting, scheduled to be held at Newcastle Town Moor on Sunday 10th January. Although organisers had sought an alternative option at Wrekenton, Gateshead, those plans were also thwarted when that course was also found to be severely waterlogged. It is now hoped to re-schedule the meeting for Saturday 13th February 2016, once again at the Newcastle Town Moor venue, hoping for better conditions. Nick Swinburn of Morpeth Harriers will certainly hopefully be putting cold North East winds, any thoughts of snow or wintry showers, and cold wet mud, very much behind him, when he travels out this week to Bermuda for the annual highly competitive, and Internationally renowned 10k Road Race, taking place this Saturday 16th January 2016. He is one of four Great Britain athletes, two Men and two Women, who will be competing for their country in an event where stars such as the late Grete Waitz (31m41s), and Britain’s Geoff Smith (28m14s), hold the respective Men’s and Women’s course records. Swinburn’s Male team-mate is Jacob Allen of Rugby and Northampton AC, and the Women are represented by Charlotte Arter of Cardiff AC and Faye Fullerton of Havering AC. All four have won their chance of the trip, courtesy of their excellent individual performances in November’s Leeds Abbey Dash event. We hope to report on Nick’s achievements in the event, in our News Update next week. |
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