The cream of the country’s endurance talent descended on Sutton Park for the annual English Road Running Association relays on Saturday, with Morpeth Harriers once again flying the flag for the North East following their outstanding victory in the Northern equivalent at Redcar two weeks ago. The Men’s event unfolded over a long four hours, with no less an authority than Morpeth Harriers President Jim Alder MBE pronouncing the competition as ‘out of this world'. Losing both James Young and Alex Brown, two of their strongest competitors from two weeks ago, Morpeth were however able to draw on the services of both Chris Parr and thankfully also club stalwart Andy Lawrence, only a week away from the London Marathon, who was himself a late addition after a late withdrawal and who ran at considerable personal sacrifice. The race features six long legs of 5.38 miles and six short of 3.16 through the undulating grounds of the country park just North of Birmingham, with no less than 57 complete teams from England, Scotland and Wales competing. Early leadership of the race was contested by London outfit Highgate Harriers, Kent AC and Central AC from Stirling, with these three getting away from the rest of the field where Swansea AC led the chasing pack. Finn Brodie led out for Morpeth as he had at Redcar, clocking 26:31 for the long leg and 14th place, with George Lowry moving the club up to 11th on the first short leg (15:49). With long and short legs alternating thereafter, the club produced a very consistent performance to finish in 11th place overall in a time of 4 hours 18 minutes 41 seconds, only 38 seconds off a top ten finish.
Phil Winkler ran 27:19 for 16th on leg 3 and Andy Lawrence 16:55 for 21st on 4. Sam Hancox clocked 27:22 for 16th and Ali Douglas 16:06 for 17th as the race moved into the second half. Morpeth stayed in 12th throughout legs 7 to 10 thanks to runs by Carl Avery, 26:04, the club’s fastest long leg of the day, Connor Marshall, 16:02, Will Cork, 27:21 and Chris Parr, 16:03. On the last two legs, Lawrence McCourt moved up one place with 27:00 with Matty Briggs bringing the team home in 16:09 for 11th. At the sharp end, Highgate were still at the front at the half way point, but all changed after a storming run by Team GB triathlete and Olympic Gold medallist Alex Yee, also a world class runner, who clocked 24:58, only a second off his own course record, on leg 7 as he moved Kent AC into the lead. It was only on the last two legs that that lead was itself challenged, with Andrew Butchart of Central having recorded the day’s fastest time of 24:57 on leg 9, the Scottish outfit moving into pole position on legs 11 and 12 to record a winning overall time of 4:09:54. Behind them, Highgate got up to 2nd on the very last leg for a time of 4:10:38 with Kent having to settle for a close 3rd on 4:10:50. Leeds City AC were first Northern team in 8th (4:17:03) with Morpeth the second, but again first from the North East, with the region’s only other representatives Gateshead Harriers a distant 47th (4:58:40). Numbers were lower in the Women’s 6 stage event, with only some 26 complete teams out. Leeds City AC were comfortable winner this time out with a total elapsed time of 2:10:49 ahead of Thames Valley Harriers (2:12:37) and Salford Harriers and AC (2:13:37), although Blackburn Harriers, winners at Redcar failed to turn out at all. Fastest long female leg was by Herne Hill Harrier Georgie Grgec with 28:34 with Charnwood’s Gemma Steel clocking 16:41 for fastest short. This time the region’s sole representatives were Tyne Bridge Harriers, who finished in 18th in 2:28:51. Three Morpeth Harriers managed top 20 placings in Easter Sunday’s 18th running of the annual North Tyneside 10k, organised by North Tyneside Council, with additional support coming courtesy of clothing retailer Start Fitness, and Soft Drinks supplier Clear Drinks.
On a slightly-modified course, which meant that all previous records are now confined to the history archives, the field of over 1,800 runners were led home by North Shields Poly’s Carl Smith, who posted a winning time of 31m02s. Second place went to Gateshead Harriers Under 20 athlete Josh Blevins (31m25s), with Sunderland Harrier Craig Gunn claiming third place in 32m18s. First home for Morpeth was Andrew Lawrence, who finished an excellent sixth in 32m52s, just a few strides ahead of his club colleague Kieran Reay (32m56s). Also making a top 20place for himself in a Morpeth Vest was Tom Prentice, who was 13th in 33m44s. Other Morpeth results in the event were, Richard Glennie (128th) 40m30s, Stephen Johnstone (283rd) 44m24s, and Gary Mason (335th) 46m01s. The now disused airfield at the Albemarle Barracks, off the Military Road in Tynedale, was a new venue for one of the North East’s most historic fixtures last week, the Elswick Harriers Good Friday Relays.
First held in 1966 and run over a variety of courses around the city since, the races have been won in the past by a host of big names, including McLeod, Cram and Foster, and have become very much a feature of the Easter weekend. Last held in 2019 at the Riverside leisure park on the south bank of the Tyne, last year’s races had been planned to be held on the Town Moor, but were sadly cancelled due to some last-minute difficulties with the Freemen, so this year’s were eagerly anticipated after a break of three years. And although the airfield is now defunct, its tarmac starting to show signs of wear and tear, the land to the south of Stamfordham is still Ministry of Defence owned and as a result spectator access was strictly limited to the area around the changeover and race HQ marquee, making for a rather unusual experience for both runners and spectators. Allied to runners having to carry an actual baton – which many had not done since school sports day – it certainly made for a novel morning. Under pleasant Spring sunshine, action started with three sets of Junior races for combined Under 11s, U/13s and U/15s. Five Morpeth Harriers were first to run, taking part in the combined U/13s event, with Emma Tomlinson 18th and 7th girl in a time of 9 minutes 4 seconds for the 1.5 mile course. Emma was followed home by Michael Leeson, 31st in 9:26, Lucy Raper, in her first race as an U/13, 32nd and 11th girl in 9:43, Emma’s younger sister Zoe, 39th and 17th girl in 10:01, and Jack Dhawar 43rd in 10:19. There were some 77 teams of three taking part in the following combined Senior and Veteran Women’s race, held over a slightly longer distance of 2.4 miles. North Shields Polytechnic’s Seniors were overall winners, with the team of Holly Waugh, Katie Joslyn and Charlotte Penfold, who ran the day’s fastest time of 12:40, recording an overall time of 40 minutes 1 second, and finishing some 39 seconds ahead of Tyne Bridge in 2nd with Gateshead Harriers in 3rd. TBH did win the veteran’s race, however, and were 10th overall with a time of 43:46. Sunderland Stroller Aly Dixon ran the day’s fastest vet time of 13:07. Finishing 5th in a time of 42:37, Morpeth’s A team missed out on a medal by less than half a minute after the efforts of Morag Stead on leg 1 (13:56), Caitlin Flanagan on leg 2 (15:03) and Catriona Macdonald on 3 (13:32). The B team of Lizzie Rank (14:32), Kay Errington (18:59) and Linzi Quinn (15:24) were 31st (49:04). Morpeth’s vets were 42nd overall and 12th veteran team, with legs by Kirsty Burville (15:07), Pam Woodcock (19:55) and Claire Calverley (16:19) for an overall time of 51:30. The day’s final race, for teams of four, proved to be an exciting head to head between teams from Morpeth, Sunderland and Houghton. Morpeth’s James Young led out for the club’s A team and his exceptional time of 10:44, the fastest of the day, put the club into a lead that was subsequently challenged but never relinquished. Triathlete Brandon Pye had put a youthful Houghton Harriers team into 2nd place at the change, his 10:58 the third fastest time of the day, with Scott Armstrong of Sunderland Harriers in 3rd. Morpeth’s teenage C team also had a strong start, with Will de Vere Owen coming back in 11:34 in 7th place, ahead of B team runner Chris Parr (11:44). Sam Hancox’s 11:19 saw the A team maintain a healthy margin after leg 2, with Houghton just staying ahead of Sunderland. Finn Brodie clocked an excellent 11:10 for the B team to move them up several places and just ahead of the C, for whom Elliot Kelso ran 11:35. A strong run by Sunderland’s Stephen Jackson of 11:22 saw the Wearside outfit move into 2nd after leg 3, with Houghton dropping back to 4th and Morpeth’s B now in 3rd thanks to a fine run by Connor Marshall of 11:17, while the C team stayed in 5th after Joe Close’s leg of 12:14. With last leg runner Joe Armstrong, who had run the fastest short leg at Redcar the previous weekend, Sunderland may have thought that they would be able to snatch the victory, but Lawrence McCourt’s clocking of 11:05 was enough for Morpeth to win in a combined time of 45:06, some five seconds ahead of Sunderland, with Armstrong recording the second fastest time of the day (10:51). Will Cork anchored the club’s B team in 11:19 to a 3rd place finish (45:39) with Houghton out of the medals in 4th (46:02). Meanwhile James Tilley (11:51) brought the C team back in a fine 5th place and a time of 47:24, ahead of the A teams of both TBH and Gateshead. The D team also did well to finish in the top 20, with an overall time of 52:10 for 19th place. Mark Banks recorded their fastest time of 12:08, with Anthony Liddle on leg 2 running 13:17, Mark Snowball 13:24 on leg 3 and Shaun Land 13:10 on leg 4. The Male Veterans race was, like the Women’s, won by TBH, 12th overall in a time of 50:41. Sunderland’s Micky Baker’s 12:02 recorded fastest vet time of the day. Morpeth’s own veterans just missed out of the medals in 4th. 24th overall in 53:56, they were led by Andrew Hebden (13:26), with Anthony Janetta on leg 2 (13:34), Jason Dawson on leg 3 (14:00) and Lee Bennett on leg 4 (12:45). The vets B of Dave Nicholson (14:57), Neil MacAnany (14:36), Andy Leeson (14:45) and Richard Glennie (14: 40) were 44th and 13th vets outfit (59:07), with Neil having the distinction of being fastest 60 plus of the day. Some 83 teams finished. Congratulations to Elswick on getting the fixture back, although there will certainly be some tweaking before next year. Full results: https://racebest.com/results/v4aq7 Pictures: Good Friday Relays Men by Stuart Whitman Photography (pixieset.com) Good Friday Relays Women by Stuart Whitman Photography (pixieset.com) Gavin Bayne had the distinction of representing Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the World Masters Half-Marathon Championships at Torun in Poland over the weekend (actually part of the World Indoors Masters Championships).
Clocking a time of 1:27:56, Gav had his customary top-notch run to finish in eighth place, but was most unlucky to miss out on an 0/65 team medal, with GB, whose final counter finished in over two hours, in fourth behind Ukraine, Poland and the USA. Ironically, that place should have been the remarkable Alistair Walker, first at the BMAF XC at Wallsend, who had set a world Over 65 best for 10k in Poland of 34:18, but had opted not to run the half but the 1500 instead – in which he was sadly dq’d. There were more than 500 finishers for the 17th running of the popular (and sold-out) Port of Blyth 10k on Sunday.
In glorious conditions that were the best anyone could remember for the race in a long time, Blackhill Bounder Jordan Bell was first home in a time of 32 minutes 18 seconds, with Ali Douglas getting the better of Elswick’s Lewis Liddle in a sprint finish for second (32:32), Bell having got away from the leading group, who also included Heaton’s David Young, at Seaton Sluice. It was no mean achievement for Ali, who had been a member of the winning road relays team at Redcar less than 24 hours previously. Tyne Bridge Harriers Sophie Marr (38:22) and Alison Dargie (39:09) were first and third women, with Tynedale’s Diane Foster in second (38:49). There was plenty of Morpeth involvement, with Dave Stabler 31st and 4th O/45 next home in 36:54, just ahead of Shaun Land, 32nd in 36:59. Jason Dawson was 61st and 7th 0/50 in 39:25, Ed Hillier 124th and 19th 0/45 in 41:44 and Mike Winter 136th and 13th 0/50 in 42:47. Anna Wright was 6th 0/40 and 148th in the race in 43:09 and Julie Vermaas 7th 0/45 and 151st, while it was great to see Shuna Rank picking up a prize for first Over 55 with a clocking of 46:52. |
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