Having her second competitive outing in the space of five days, UK Women’s 1500m Champion Laura Weightman of Morpeth Harriers, posted a seasons best time of 4m01.76s, only a mere second outside her lifetime best,
when finishing seventh in the IAAF Diamond League Women’s 1500m, in Lausanne, Switzerland on Thursday 5th July 2018. The event was won by the USA’s Shelby Houlihan, in a very fast 3m57.34s, with Great Britain’s Laura Muir, also producing a seasons best of 3m58.18s, to finish an excellent second. Third Place went to Dutch athlete Sifan Hassan, who clocked 3m58.39s. Other Brits in action in the three and three-quarter lap event, were Scotland’s Eilish McColgan, and Wales’s Melissa Courtney, who finished eighth and tenth, posting respective times of 4m01.98s, and 4m06.27s. The former was a seasons best performance. The dream European Under 18 Athletics Championship debut, ended up as a competitive nightmare
for Morpeth Harrier Rory Leonard in Gyor, Hungary, on Thursday 5th July 2018. Leonard had travelled to the event, along with fellow Brit Tom Keen, of Cambridge and Coleridge, fully expecting to claim a medal in the Boys 3000m, however ended up a disappointing ninth, in an equally disappointing time of 8m39.45s, a good twenty-one seconds adrift of his lifetime best, as Keen meanwhile secured the Gold medal in 8m27.38s. Unfortunately, Leonard never quite got into his usual stride, with the early pace been set by Nederland’s Ryan Oosting, and always held a midway position throughout. The North East and Inter Counties Under 17 Men’s Cross-Country Champion, hopes to return to better form for the English Schools Championships in Birmingham, where he will compete in the Senior Boys 1500m. Morpeth Harrier Sam Hancox achieved his third road race victory of 2018 on Tuesday 3rd July 2018,
when he won the annual Bridges of The Tyne 5 mile Road Race, organised by Tyne Bridge Harriers. Posting a winning time of 25m18s, he not only beat the host clubs’ Tom Charlton by a margin of twelve seconds, he also recorded a new personal best by all of twenty-six seconds, improving his previous best, recorded in the same event in 2016. Third, and fourth places, also went to host club runners James Dunce, and Terry Scott, who posted times of 26m11s, and 26m17s respectively. In fifth place was Jordan Scott of Morpeth Harriers, who clocked 26m28s, this being his first run in the event. Next home from Morpeth Harriers was John Butters, who finished eighth in 26m39s, and was third Veteran Man, and first in the Over 40 Male age group. It was also Butters first ever run over the distance. In his first run in a Morpeth vest following his transfer from Alnwick Harriers, Richard Johnson showed that he is a very worthy acquisition, as he finished in fourteenth place, posting a time of 28m25s, bettering his previous figures in the event by six seconds, which he had set in 2017. Completing the Morpeth Harriers results was Rob Hancox, who finished in 27th place in 29m27s, and was first Over 50 Veteran Man. The event had 355 finishers. Six Veteran athletes from Morpeth Harriers took part in the fourth North East Masters Track and Field League meeting, held at Jarrow’s Monkton Stadium on Monday 2nd July 2018.
Over 60 athlete Gavin Bayne won both the 800m and Mile events in his age group, posting respective times of 2m44.0s, and 5m44.2s. Another Morpeth Harrier in action over 800m was Paul Bellingham, who was second Over 55 Man, clocking 2m29.8s. In the Mile event, Morpeth colleagues Alistair MacDonald and Pam Woodcock joined Gavin Bayne in the action. MacDonald clocked 5m42.4s, to finish fourth Over 55 Man, and Woodcock clocked 7m30.1s to win the Over 65 Women’s section. Steven Appleby and Wayne Gedge were Morpeth’s two Field Eventers in action at the meeting. Appleby won both the Discus and Shot Putt in the Over 40 age group, with on the night bests of 31.00m, and 7.61m respectively, and Gedge also triumphed in the Over 40 Long Jump, with a best of 4.27m. A best of 8.48m, saw Gedge finish second in the Triple Jump. Double North Eastern Counties Champion James Young clearly showed that he is still in fine form, and has the required zest for regular competition, as he set new figures for 800m, in the Regional BMC Meeting,
held at Leeds Becket University, on the evening of Monday 2nd July 2018. The Under 23 Morpeth Harrier, posted a time of 1m52.20s, taking a small fraction of the time that he had set at May’s University Championships at Bedford, winning by just over a second from Leeds City’s Ethan Hussey. Another Morpeth Harrier in action at the meeting was Phillip Winkler, who finished second in the Mile event behind Blackheath’s James Habergham, posting a finishing time of 4m31.74s, in what was his first ever attempt at the distance |
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