The annual end of season presentation night for the Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Harrier League, took place at the sponsors premises on Grainger Street, in the warm and welcome Camber Coffee Bar on the evening of Thursday 11th April 2019, and was well attended by expectant prize winners, and their respective club representatives and supporters. Amongst those present, were several from Morpeth Harriers, who were extremely successful in team affairs, especially on the Male side, where they captured four league titles, and in addition had team success in the combined Under17/Under20 Women’s competition. Master of Ceremonies for the night was League Secretary Micky Baker, who was ably assisted by NECAA Chairman Bill McGuirk, who provided individual information on each winner for a captive audience, but not quite Ant and Dec, or Morecambe and Wise for that matter. Presentations were made to all recipients by Veteran Medallist Guy Bracken, representing the sponsor, and Harrier League Committee Members, John Stevens (Men’s Secretary), Vicki Thompson (Women’s Secretary), and Alan Elders (Treasurer), were also on hand to assist. Opening Presentations were for the Individual Grand Prix, where four Morpeth Harriers were amongst the recipients. Ryan Davies was third Under 13 Boy, and Daniel Melling, Holly Peck, and Emma Holt were winners of the Under 17 Men’s, Under 17/Under 20 Women’s, and Senior Women’s Grand Prix’s. On the team front, as mentioned earlier in this report, Morpeth Harriers won the Under 13 Boy’s, Under 15 Boys, Under 17 Men’s, Senior Men’s Division 1 titles, and the clubs Under17/Under 20 Women won their league title. Ryan Davies and Bertie Marr accepted the Under 13 Boys trophy, Dylan Davies went up to receive the Under 15 Boys trophy, Daniel Melling and Tom Balsdon were on hand to take the Under 17 Men’s trophy, Andrew Hebden accepted the Senior Men’s Division 1 trophy, and Holly Peck stepped up to accept the Under 17/Under 20 Women’s trophy. Many thanks go to the league committee for once again organising a superb season of competition,
and to sponsors Start Fitness for their continued generosity and hospitality, who will also be sponsoring the forthcoming 2019/20 season, which will commence in the autumn. After a difficult Saturday, it was a better day all round for the club on a damp and foggy Sunday morning (7th April 2019) at the annual Port of Blyth 10k with Morpeth Harriers making up the largest contingent of entrants and many enjoying both team and individual success. Although the conditions were not good for spectators, they were however suited to some fast times on the traditional out and back course from the quayside at Blyth to Seaton Sluice via the beach promenade and dunes path, with some five pbs registered. With the race awarded the honour of incorporating the annual British Masters 10k Championships for 2019 – and so effectively having a ‘two in one’ structure - entries had sold out many weeks ago and the field included a strong representation of the country’s leading veterans. Morpeth veteran and NEMAA secretary, the indefatigable Archie Jenkins had flagged up the race several months previously, and had indeed been personally instrumental in securing such a prestigious national veterans race for this part of the world, as was acknowledged by the BMAF later (indeed, he would even be called into action for help in some of the more arcane Scottish pronunciations at the prize giving). The race itself was won by a visitor from Milton Keynes Distance Project, Noah Hurton(strange name for a club: not exactly the Nike Oregon Project; and aren’t ‘projects’ things your teacher set you at Middle School?’ ), in a time of 31 minutes and 18 seconds from Richard Mair of Kilmarnock Harriers in second and first local lad, Jordan Bell of Blackhill in third (31m 44s). First home for Morpeth was leading Over 40 veteran John Butters, who clocked 33m 7s in 10th. With his club colleagues Phil Winkler (15th) – who had run less than 24 hours previously in the National 12 stage relay – in 15th and Lee Bennett 21st, the men were awarded the 1st team prize. There was double joy for Bennett who was also first O/50. In the women’s race, Olympian marathon runner Alison Dixon of Sunderland Strollers (now an Over 40, unbelievably) broke the course record by clocking 33m 27s, winning by a margin of well over two minutes from Elizabeth Renondeau of Vale Royal AC. Jane Hodgson was 4th woman home but first O/35 ((37m 8s) and with youngster Robyn Bennett running a personal best of 37m 58s in 6th and Helen King (39m 31s) making up the team count in 17th, Morpeth’s women matched their male counterparts in winning the team prize. With three separate prizes, Jane must have been pleased that she decided to run after a lot of deliberation caused by long-term injury worries. There were a whole raft of strong performances for the club as a whole: Tom Innes, 11th in a new pb of 34m 13s; Graeme Thorpe, 36m 15s and 7th O/45; Mark Brown, 64th in 37m 14s; Jake Masterman, 68th in 37m 32s; Jason Dawson, 11th O/45 in 38m 9s, a pb; Paul Waterston, 12th O/50 in 38m 35s; Dave Nicholson, 6th O/60 in 39m 13s; Gavin Bayne, 8th O/60 in 40m 14s; Paul Brown, 14th O/55 in 41m 23s; Jim Alder ‘the younger’, 14th O/55 in 42m 33s; Nobby Clark, 10th O/65 in 48m 17s; Pam Woodcock, 3rd O/65 in 50m 41s; Paul Bentley, 9th O/70 in 52m 54s; and last but certainly not least, Walter Ryder, down from Scotland once again, first O/80 in 1h 1m 50s. Special mention should perhaps be made of the performance of Mark Brown, who has had a wretched few years with injury, but on the back of only three training runs a week ran a time he hadn’t dared possible in the weeks beforehand; perhaps it was being a local lad, or perhaps some atavistic knowledge of a course he had held the record for on two separate occasions (the current record belongs of course to Peter Newton), Despite actually stopping at the 5 mile point (‘I thought I was going to be sick!’) he was justifiably delighted with his run, hopefully the start of an extended comeback as a vet. In the British Masters competition there was both individual and team success, with no less than three individual and one team gold medals, backed up by one individual silver, one bronze and a further team bronze to boot.
The quality of the competition here was formidable, with leading vets from all over the country and some quite astonishing performances, especially amongst the older competitors. Among many others out of the top drawer, worthy of mention were the times of 45m 13s recorded by Dorothy Kesterton in the O/65, Stanley Owen’s 39m 14s as an O/65 and perhaps most extraordinary, James Pittilo: 1h 4m 59s as an Over 85 year old! Perhaps there’s hope for us all yet. Both Butters and Bennett picked up BMAF gold medals by finishing as first in their respective categories, and their success was matched by the ageless Walter Ryder, who had once again made the long journey south from his home in the West of Scotland to pick up the O/80 medal. Jane Hodgson added a BMAF silver and Pam Woodcock an O/65 bronze. The team gold came courtesy of the men’s O/45 team of Lee Bennett, Graeme Thorpe (who, like Winkler, had competed on the Saturday) and Jason Dawson, delighted to pick up his first Morpeth medals since his transfer from Alnwick Harriers. The bronze was for the club’s O/55 men, Dave, Gav and Paul Bellingham (although both the first two are shortly moving up to compete as O/65s). For future reference, a look at the team medals does show that finishing a team in most categories will lead to a good medal chance, so thanks again to Archie for the heads up. Special mention must be made of the excellent facilities provided by the Port of Blyth as sponsors and, as ever, the witty words of MC Kevin Freeman of host club Blyth. PS The next NEMAA event is the three man/woman road relays at Bedewell Park in Jarrow on the night of Wednesday 1st May: do let your team manager know of your availability – normally an enjoyable evening. There was no harder worker than Morpeth Harriers Senior Men’s Team Manager David Swinburne last week, for his superb efforts in ensuring his club managed to take their place amongst the starting 68 clubs, in the annual ERRA National 12 Stage Road Relays, held at Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield, on Saturday 6th April 2019. At the beginning of the week, it certainly looked that Swinburne would be able to call upon a strong squad, who in all fairness, would have probably commanded a top ten placing, and would not be far adrift of the medals, which would go to the first three clubs. By the end of the week however, he was very much to the roots of his possible squad, due to key athletes being forced out by various reasons, some by unfortunate injury problems. The situation led to him having to ask for some of his charges to run the longer 5.38mile leg, when they would normally be more suited to the shorter 3.16mile distance. Swinburne rightfully opted for fielding his strongest available over the earlier legs, and it was Northern Cross Country Silver medallist Carl Avery, who got the weakened Morpeth squad off to the brightest of starts, as he came home in seventh place, and only fifteen seconds adrift of early pacesetters and event leaders Thames Valley Harriers, with his clocking of 26m09s over the opening long leg. On the shorter second leg, Morpeth’s George Lowry made excellent progress, by not only clocking an individual (15m38s), fifth fastest of the leg, but also getting his club into a medal place, by climbing four places. It was at this point that Morpeth introduced 12 Stage debutant Rory Leonard into the fray. Leonard, who only seven days ago was competing for Great Britain’s Under 20 Men’s squad in Aarhus in the World Cross Country Championships, certainly did himself and his club proud, as he got round the third long stage in a time of 26m59s, which was the tenth fastest time of the leg, only losing out a place to a faster finishing Cardiff runner. Liverpool Harriers, who had grabbed the lead on leg two, had now established a ten second lead over Cardiff, with Bedford slipping back to third place, but only a mere twenty seconds ahead of Morpeth. On the short fourth leg, Cardiff managed to grab a lead of thirty-five seconds over Liverpool, whilst Morpeth’s Joe Armstrong (16m00s), managed to just outsprint Bedford, to reclaim third spot, if only by a mere second. The long fifth leg brought some really competitive running to the front end, with Cardiff still maintaining a lead, now over a rejuvenated Bedford, Liverpool, and Highgate and Leeds City now coming into the picture for the first time, and just slightly adrift of the medals. Meanwhile Morpeth had now slipped back to twelfth, courtesy of Adam Pratt, another National 12 Stage debutant, who clocked 29m19s. On the short sixth stage for Morpeth, was another debutant Junior in Alex Brown, who did well by getting around in the seventh fastest of the leg time of 16m06s, to gain a place to eleventh, taking his club to the halfway point in 2hrs10mins11secs, which was just under three minutes adrift of the medallist positions, with Cardiff still maintaining their lead, ahead of second placed Bedford, with Highgate in third, ahead of Liverpool, Tonbridge, and Leeds City to complete the top six placings. Only 159 seconds divided the top six places at the end of the first half of proceedings.
Cardiff still held the lead during the long seventh leg, however it was Northern clubs Liverpool Harriers and Leeds City now fighting out the minor medal placings, and only twelve seconds apart. Meanwhile Morpeth’s Karl Taylor, who had not been expecting to run earlier in the week, slipped slightly back to seventeenth, with his individual clocking of 29m15s. Phil Winkler restored the Morpeth fortunes by climbing a couple of places on the short eighth stage, with his excellent 16m33s. Meanwhile at the front end of the field, matters had changed dramatically, when Northern Relay Champions Leeds City went to the front for the first time, ahead of Liverpool, and Aldershot and Highgate were occupying third and fourth places, ahead of Bristol and West, who had entered the picture for the first time in fifth spot, just ahead of deposed leaders Cardiff. On the long ninth stage, Morpeth slipped back to twenty third, with Alistair Douglass clocking 32m27s, after volunteering to run a longer than expected distance on the day. Meanwhile at the front end of affairs Leeds City had pulled away to a slight lead over second placed Aldershot, with Bristol and West third. Morpeth’s short tenth stage runner Graeme Thorpe, who had very much responded to a very late call up by Team Manager Swinburne, he had been hoping to also compete in the Blyth Valley 10k the following day, where there was a possibility of a British Masters Team Medal beckoning, is to be commended for his efforts in getting round in 18m39s, and refusing to surrender his clubs position of 23rd. At the front end of the field, Leeds City, courtesy of Northern Cross-Country Champion Emile Cairess, had extended their lead to just over a minute from Bristol and West, with Aldershot having slipped back to third, a further ten seconds adrift. On the penultimate long eleventh stage for Morpeth was Mark Snowball, who slipped back to 24th, despite clocking 29m44s. There was no change in team order at the front end, however Leeds City, the Northern Champions, now had a lead of two and a half minutes going into the final leg. The short final leg for Morpeth was run by a less than fully fit Ian Harding, who managed to get around the course in 15m59s, seventh fastest of the leg, which resulted in him clawing back a place to finish in a respectable 23rd place. This gave Morpeth a total finishing time of 4hrs32mins48secs, whilst Leeds City had taken the title in 4hrs12mins21secs, ahead of Bristol and West 4hrs14mins33secs, who were second, with Aldershot finishing third in 4hrs14mins39secs. Leeds City, who on the day achieved an excellent double by taking the Women’s 4 Stage title, won the Men’s title by establishing a new course record into the bargain. Meanwhile Morpeth Harriers emerged as fifth Northern club, and first North East club ahead of Gateshead Harriers (40th) 4hrs45mins53secs, and Heaton Harriers (55th) 5hrs04mins33secs. Tyne Bridge Harriers, who had entered the event, did not travel. It may well have been a cold evening on Monday 1st April 2019, however their was plenty of warmth amongst athletes, officials and willing helpers, despite some with health issues,
who attended the annual Sprints Trials Meeting, held at Morpeth Athletics Track at KEVI School, and organised by Morpeth Harriers Sprints and Jumps Coach Dave Thomas, who at the end of an extremely hardworking night, heaped much praise upon all who attended. 44 athletes took part, 24 Male, and 20 Female, which included Under 11, Under 13, Under 15, Under 17, with one from the Under 20 age group. In addition to Sprints of 100m, 200m, 300m, and 400m distances, Dave had also pulled in assistance to enable High Jump and Long Jump events to take place, which found favour with twenty six of those athletes in attendance, with twenty four competing in the Long Jump, and five attempting High Jump clearances. It certainly takes much patience and dedication to put on such an event, which clearly is very much a required boost and test for our Young Athletes as they make final preparations for the forthcoming Track and Field season, and Dave Thomas would like to singularly thank all the graded officials, club members, and parents, who willingly gave their assistance on the night, “Much Appreciated.” Despite blustery winds, there were still some excellent performances at the first round of the NECAA annual Throws Festival, which was held in conjunction with the Spring Track Relays and Open Miles, organised by the North of Tyne Athletics Network, held at Churchill Playing Fields on Saturday 30th March 2019. Event winners all received Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals respectively for their achievements, and although they had no athletes competing in Track Events, Morpeth Harriers still managed to claim no less than Six Gold Medals in the Throws Events. Four of the six Golds went to Sister and Brother siblings Jessica and Edward Gardiner, who managed two each, which clearly meant that the weekend, and Mothering Sunday alike, went without any family squabbling, or claims of bragging rights, as if. Their proud Father Alan was also there on the day to witness their respective excellent achievements, which included four new personal best performances, and a Meeting Record going to the older Jessica. Her record came in the Under 17 Women’s Hammer competition, which saw her win with a best throw of 39.81m, which was achieved in her first of four attempts, bettering her previous figures by a whole 1.53m (five feet in old money), which also now sees her ranked No 1 in the region, and eighth in the UK, a fine early season effort indeed. Jessica won by a clear four metres over Darlington’s Rosie Thompson, who produced an on the day best of 35.56m. Later in the competition, she won the Discus, also with a new personal best of 31.33m, again inflicting defeat on Thompson, on this occasion by the comfort of around 3.50m. Gardiner, bettering her previous figures by 1.38m (just over four foot in old money), now sits at No 3 in the UK, and 1st in the region as a result of her splendid efforts. Younger brother Edward, having his first full taste of competition, and the pleasure of increased implement weights, from the Under 15 Boys age group, won Gold medals in the Discus and his preferred Javelin, an event in which he was Northumberland Schools County Champion last summer.
Both respective performances of 19.72m, and 25.12m, were naturally personal best performances, efforts which see him currently ranked No 1 and No 2 in the region, and inside the top 50 in the UK. In the Javelin, Edward beat Cameron Marshall of Gateshead Harriers, who had an on the day best throw of 19.63m. Morpeth Harriers other two Gold medallists on the day were Under 20 athletes Bobby Griffiths and Ruaridh Lang, who will both feel encouraged by these early season performances. Griffiths very comfortably won the Javelin, establishing a new Meeting Record of 37.09m, which although is a little adrift of her lifetime best of 42.27m, still offers some degree of satisfaction, bearing in mind that she was also competing in some of the worse conditions of the day, after the drizzle emerged. Lang, who won his Gold in the Discus, which was held earlier in the day, had a best effort of 42.90m, which was also a Meeting Record, which would have certainly satisfied him, being an early season performance, despite being slightly adrift of his lifetime best of 43.78m, and hopefully will have also placed a hint of an expectant smile on the face of his dedicated coach Paul Reed, who indeed was on hand to witness his performance. So all in all, good things look to be in store from Morpeth Harriers, and their band of specialist talented throwing experts. |
Archives
April 2024
|