Sunday 17th November, saw the 62nd running of the annual Brampton to Carlisle 10 mile road race, now the oldest in the country, with nearly 700 finishing the course. Run in near faultless conditions, the first race took place in 1952 and has been won in the past by many illustrious names from British athletics, including of course Morpeth Harriers’ own Jim Alder, MBE, on three consecutive occasions in the 1960s. This year’s race turned into a battle between UK internationals Charlie Hulson of Liverpool Harriers and Philip Sesemann of Leeds City, with Hulson finally winning out in a time of 47 minutes 45 seconds, ahead of Sesemann (47:45) and Marc Brown of Salford AC (49:41). First woman home was Alison Lavender of Oswestry Olympians in 56:00, over two minutes ahead of her nearest rival Annabel Simpson of Fife AC (58:09) with Birtley’s Tracey Millmore third female and first Over 35 (59:25). Morpeth’s Richard Johnson, meanwhile, ran his second big personal best of the Autumn after his performance in the Abbey Dash 10k, completing the 10 miles in a time of 53:48. For much of the race he had leading world Over 55 veteran Guy Bracken of North Shields Polytechnic Harriers for company, with Bracken only a few places behind at the end but setting a new world best for his age (53:58), subject to ratification. Matthew Boyle was second home for the club, 63rd in 58:48. Another athlete currently in very fine form is Gavin Bayne, who once again
was a category winner in the Over 60s, with a time of 62:35 Other finishers for the club were Paul Waterston, 114th and 7th O/50 in 1:03:33 and Norman Clark, 425th and 5th O/65 in 1:19:47. Morpeth Harrier Scott Beattie, currently studying in Tulsa USA, finished eleventh out of 195 finishers in the Men’s 10k event at the NCAA Division 1 Mid-West Region Cross Country Championships,
held at Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Friday 15th November 2019. Beattie was fifth counter for a winning Tulsa squad, who were led home by Preston Harrier Patrick Dever, who placed third, who also included fellow Brits Isaac Akers of Corby (8th), Cameron Field of Liverpool Harriers (9th), amongst their scorers. Sisters Amy and Hannah Lott got their 2019/20 Indoor season underway, when they both competed at the opening meeting of the Gateshead Series, held at Gateshead College on the evening of Thursday 14th November 2019.
Amy was the fastest Under 17 Woman in the 60m Hurdles, posting a very satisfactory 9.22s, which was a mere fraction adrift of her lifetime best, and clearly points the way to another successful Indoor campaign in front of her, providing she can stay well clear of any injuries or mishaps, in this, her second year in the age group. Younger sister Hannah, also made a satisfactory start, competing in her new Under 15 age group. In the 60m sprint, she was tenth fastest in her age group, posting a time of 9.10s, which was also only a mere fraction adrift of her best time last year, when she was an Under 13 Girl. Following on from his recent excellent run on the roads in the Leeds Abbey Dash, 2017 Northern Cross Country Champion Carl Avery of Morpeth Harriers began his Winter campaign in earnest, when he finished an excellent third to Scottish International Andrew Butchart in the 4k Men’s Short Course event, at the Lindsays Scottish National Cross Country Championships, held at Kirkcaldy High School, on Saturday 9th November 2019.
Posting a finishing time of 11m58s, that was only four seconds adrift of Butchart, Avery can feel well pleased indeed with his effort, and clearly shows that he is in excellent form for a forthcoming busy few months over the winter terrain. Another Morpeth Harrier in action in competitive action in the event was Under 23 athlete Alex Brown, who finished in 18th place overall, and posted a finishing time of 12m36s, making him sixth fastest in his age group. There were two individual and two team victories from Morpeth Juniors at the Heaton Harriers Remembrance Day Races on Sunday morning (10thNovember), while in the Senior 10k there were three North East Masters Gold medal performances from their older team mates. Now in their 99th year, the Memorial Road Races have always been held on Remembrance Sunday, with the venue for many years now established as Newcastle’s Town Moor. Fortunately for both organisers and competitors there was no reoccurrence of the overnight frosts that had led to the cancellation of the previous day’s Parkrun, although it remained a chilly morning throughout. In the day’s first event, the Under 11 boys and girls 1kilometre race, Morpeth’s Iris Dungait was 5th girl and 8th overall finisher in a time of 4 minutes and 3 seconds. While there were no runners in the U/13 races, there were no less than nine finishers in the Under 15s. Once again Joe Dixon had a fine run to win in a time of 9m 36s over the 3k course, and in the process beat the existing course record, taking some twenty seconds out of second place Silas Christie of Gosforth Harriers. With Ryan Davies (10:13) in 3rd and Matthew Walton (10:18) in 5th, Morpeth were also convincing winners of the team prize. Liam Roche was not far behind in 6th (10:19) and Will Devere Owen 7th (10:29). In the girls race, Abi Leiper was 2nd in 10:55, some 19 seconds behind race winner Holly Waugh of North Shields Polytechnic Harriers, and with teammates Zara Naughton 9th (12:07) and Laura Melling 12th (12:58) the girls picked up a team silver. There was a winning return to competitive action for Taylor Glover in the combined U17 and U20 races. A time of 15:31 for Glover saw him, like Dixon, set a new course record for the 5k distance. Interestingly, 2nd place runner David Race of Gateshead Harriers broke the U17’s course record of Morpeth’s Scott Beattie (now of course at university in America) set several years ago when finishing in 15:43. With Dylan Davies 6th in 17:17 and Dylan Gooding 12th in 19:24, the combined team also picked up a gold. Kate Gaffing, meanwhile, was the club’s sole female representative, finishing as 3rd female in 21:48. The traditional minute of silence preceded the main event of the day, the Senior Men’s and Women’s two lap 10k race, which this year also incorporated the NEMAA Championships. Won by a visitor from Salford Harriers, Marc Brown, in a title of 30:41 with Gateshead’s Conrad Franks of Gateshead 2nd and Gus Withers 3rd, the race saw a debut in Morpeth colours for new recruit Liam Roarty, who finished 13th in 33:14. The women’s race was won by home club Heaton’s own Danielle Smythe in 36:05 with Lucy-Erin Hunter of Darlington 2nd and Gillian Manford of Gateshead 3rd. With Manford winning the female Over 35 title, Morpeth’s Rachelle Falloon ((37:35) was credited as 3rd Senior.
There were fine category wins and NEMAA gold medals also for Gavin Bayne, 1st male O/60 in 39:01, Dave Nicholson, 1st male O/65 in 39:41 and Pam Woodcock, 1st female 0/65 in 50:44. Other Morpeth finishers included: Ed Hillier, 82nd in 38:27; Jamie Johnson, 127th in 40:19; Jason Dawson, 237th in 43:54; Michelle Thompson, 8th O/35 and 238th in 43:53; Claire Calverley, 11th O/40 and 240th in 43:51; Paul Bellingham, 252nd and 13th O/55 in 44:19 and Mike Steven, 259th and 10th O/60 in 44:20. |
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