222 finishers took part in the annual Angus Tait Memorial Hexham Hobble
Multi Terrain Race on Sunday 2nd December 2018, run over one of the toughest courses of its kind on Hexham Common, starting and finishing in Allendale, and organised by Allen Valley Striders. Amongst those finishers were five runners from Morpeth Harriers. First home from the club was Emma Holt, who finished in 20th place, and was first Woman home. She posted a finishing time of 77m05s. Four places behind her and posting a time of 78m36s was Mark Snowball, who is very much in the early stages of a comeback after several weeks of illness. Next home from the club was Paul Banks, who was two places behind Mark in 26th spot, posting a time of 78m41s, and was seventh Over 40 Man. Les Cavill was next home for Morpeth, finishing 124th overall, posting a time of 95m52s, and he was sixth Over 60 Veteran Man. Completing the Morpeth contingent was Gwenda Cavill, wife of Les, who finished 139th overall, and was third Over 50 Woman, posting a finishing time of 99m00s. Although this event always proves to be tough, it still draws a good deal of enthusiastic support on each occasion, and the number of finishers this time, proved it to be no exception. Well Done to the organisers. We recently reported on the disappointment of Morpeth Harrier Rory Leonard,
in that he was forced to pull out of the Under 20 Men’s race in the UK Challenge Meeting in Liverpool, which also meant that he had possibly scuppered his chances of making the Great Britain team that is competing this coming weekend in Tilburg, in the Netherlands in the European Cross Country Championships. However, following events in Liverpool, fortunes for Leonard have somewhat changed, in that the GB selectors saw fit to eventually include him in their final squad, based on his excellent performances recently in Cardiff and Spain, where he ran very closely to team leader Jake Heyward of Cardiff. Providing Leonard could prove his fitness before Monday gone, the selectors would be quite happy to still include him. Following two very stringent fitness tests given to him by his coach, a delighted Leonard has been found fit to travel and compete, and will now line up in Tilburg this Sunday, in the Under 20 Men’s event , alongside Heyward, Isaac Akers of Corby in Northants, Euan Brennan of Ilkley, Zakariya Mahamed of Southampton AC, Jack Meijer of Milton Keynes, Tom Mortimer of Stroud and District, and Matthew Willis of Wrexham AC, in the hope of bringing home championship medals, possibly Gold hopefully. Four athletes from Morpeth Harriers, currently under the very watchful eye of Club Coach Dave Thomas, competed in the opening Northern Athletics Indoor fixture, held at Sheffield Arena on Saturday December 1st 2018.
In her first outing over 60m Hurdles as an Under 17, Amy Lott can feel very pleased with herself, as she won her heat in a time of 9.18s, which pushes her straight up to equal 37th in the UK for her new age group, and she was also fourth fastest overall over the two heats. Lott also competed in the 60m sprint, finishing sixth in her heat, posting a time of 8.60s, making her 17th in her age group in the competition. Including Lott, all four Morpeth Harriers performed excellently, each achieving good placings in the UK rankings as a direct result of their achievements. Lott’s younger sister Hannah, also rose to the occasion well, by winning the Under 13 Girls 60m Hurdles in a new personal best time of 10.51s, a time which sees her ranked currently as 28th in the UK. Hannah also was sixth fastest in her age group in the 60m sprint, where she posted a time of 9.29s. She is currently ranked 182nd in the UK. Currently ranked 107th in the UK, Mia Belton finished as 8th fastest in the Under 15 Girls 60m sprint in a time of 8.48s. In the same age group, club colleague Alice Geoghegan, finished as twelfth fastest, posting a time of 8.65s. She is currently ranked as 212th in the UK. Geoghegan rounded off a superb day’s work, when finishing as 3rd fastest in the 60m Hurdles, achieving a new personal best time of 9.61s, which sees her rise to 37th in the UK rankings. For Thomas, it was pleasing to see all four of his charges performing well, and each achieving times that sit well in the National rankings, and he has high hopes for each of them as the season progresses. He was particularly pleased for the younger Lott, who entered the Power of 10 rankings for the very first time, a remarkable achievement for one so young, and only beginning the first rung in terms of the competition arena. Posting a finishing time of 14m51s, Morpeth Harrier Carl Avery finished second to Leeds City athlete John Ashcroft in the Croft 5k, held close to Darlington on the racing circuit, on Saturday 1st December 2018.
Ashcroft posted a finishing time of 14m42s. Other prominent Morpeth finishers were George Lowry (4th) 14m52s, Joe Armstrong (6th) 15m10s, Andrew Lawrence (11th) 16m09s, and Ross Floyd (12th) 16m25s, and Richard Morrell (19th) 17m34s. Morpeth’s other finisher was Archie Jenkins, who was 107th in 25m53s, who was third Over 60 Man. |
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