Posting a personal best time of 14m53.87s, Morpeth Harrier James Taylor won the 5000m B Race,
at the BMC Regional Meeting, held at Scotstoun near Glasgow on the evening of Friday 26th July 2019. He took around 33 seconds off his previous figures set at the same meeting in 2018. Morpeth Harriers Under 17 specialist thrower Jessica Gardiner was indeed in sparkling form on the evening of Wednesday 24th July 2019, at the fifth and penultimate North East Grand Prix meeting,
held at Jarrow’s Monkton Stadium. Firstly, she won the Graded Hammer event, producing new figures of 46.24m, then went on to win her age group Discus competition, where she also posted new figures of 33.81m. Gardiner’s two personal best performances were amongst a total of ten in all by athletes from Morpeth on the night. To add to the Gardiner family joy, that list also included Jessica’s younger brother Edward, who finished second in the combined Under 13/15 Discus, being second Under 15 Boy, managing a distance of 24.67m. Ben Waterfield, who has had a superb Track and Field season, who only narrowly missed out on an English Schools place earlier in the month, is certainly rounding off his season well, probably with more than a little bit of encouragement from elder brother Matthew, who was only recently crowned as the English Schools Senior Boys 400m Champion. Under 17 athlete Ben, ran a superb 4m16.28s in the Graded 1500m, finishing ninth in the A Race, taking a good three and a half seconds off his previous figures. He was also fourth in his age group. Another Under 17 Man in fine form from Morpeth was Dylan Davies, who also very fractionally improved on his previous figures, when finishing ninth in the B Race. Other Morpeth Harriers in action in the Graded 1500m were Rachelle Falloon, who finished eighth in the C Race in a new personal best time of 4m52.44s, who was the fastest Senior Woman, Ella Duffield, who competed over the distance for the first time, finishing second in the D Race in 5m22.59s, and was second fastest Under 20 Woman. Also competing for Morpeth in the D Race were Michelle Thompson, who was fifth in 5m29.0s, and finishing just behind Michelle was club colleague Tayla Murdy, who posted a new personal best of 5m32.58s, who was second fastest Senior Woman. In the Junior Graded 800m events, Morpeth Harriers had four athletes facing the Starter. In the A Race, Under 15 Boy Ryan Davies finished sixth in 2m18.06s, one place ahead of club colleague, and fellow Under 15 Boy Bertie Marr, who clocked 2m21.04s. Another Morpeth Harrier running in the A Race was Abi Leiper, who finished tenth, posting a new personal best time of 2m23.71s, which saw her take almost a second off her previous figure. In the B Race, Under 13 Boy Oliver Tomlinson posted a best of 2m35.86s, when finishing twelfth. Morpeth’s Under 15 Girl sprinter Olivia Gent, produced a new personal best of 14.58s, when winning the Junior Graded 100m C Race, and also finished sixth in the later 200m B event in a time of 30.42s. BMC Regional Meeting
Ten athletes from Morpeth Harriers were in competitive action at the fourth and final meeting of BMC Regional events, held at Chester Le Street Riverside Track, on the evening of Monday 22nd July 2019. Six of those athletes achieved personal best performances over the 1500m distance on offer. Although not an actual personal best, Carl Avery was only a mere second outside his best, when finishing fourth in the fastest race of the night, where he posted a time of 4m00.25s. In the second fastest race of the night, George Lowry won in a new personal best of 4m00.47s, worthy of an A Race place. Second and fourth places went to Lowry’s Morpeth club colleagues Alex Brown and Adam Pratt, who posted respective times of 4m03.85s and 4m04.33s, the latter being a new personal best. In the fourth fastest race, Under 17 Man Dylan Gooding finished fourth, posting new figures of 4m17.07s, which made him second fastest in his age group. Under 15 Boy Ryan Davies finished fifth in the fifth fastest race, posting a time of 4m38.03s, making him fourth fastest in his age group. Ryan’s older brother Dylan finished seventh in the sixth fastest race, posting a time of 4m38.43s, which made him sixth fastest Under 17 Man. One place behind Dylan was his Under 15 club colleague Joe Dixon, who produced a new personal best time of 4m43.13s, making him fifth fastest in his age group. In the seventh fastest event, Rachelle Falloon finished third, in a new personal best time of 4m53.06s, making her second fastest Senior Woman, and one place behind her was her Morpeth Harriers club colleague Rhiannon Hedley, who finished with a clocking of 4m53.37s, also a new personal best time for the Under 17 Woman, who was second fastest in her age group. BMC Gold Standard Meeting Morpeth Harrier James Young travelled to Stretford in Manchester on the evening of Tuesday 23rd July 2019 to compete in a talent filled 800m A Race, at the BMC Gold Standard Meeting. Young finished seventh, posting a time of 1m51.79s, which was agonisingly only one second adrift of his lifetime best. Sam and Rob Hancox ventured as far as Grimsby on Sunday 21st July 2019
to take part in the Orsted Grimsby 10k. In a race won by Lewis Jagger of Sheffield and Dearne in 30m 9s, Sam was 5th in 31m 31s, having suffered rather with the extreme heat. Rob picked up a 3rd O/50 prize with a clocking of 38m 34s. Some forty years after winning the first ever Northumberland Coastal Run, Archie Jenkins returned to both start and then participate in a race he will always be associated with, having recorded no less than four victories there, as well as organising the event for some twenty years. He will certainly have seen some changes: the first ever 1979 race, won in a time of 1 hour 22 minutes and 30 seconds, featured only some 12 competitors and had no set route, with runners free to find their own way down the coast from the beach at Beadnell to the sands at Alnmouth. In contrast, the race is now nationally recognised as one of the most scenic in the UK and is usually sold out within hours of entries being open. This year’s race attracted runners from as far South as Portsmouth and even a competitor now based in Argentina! A strong headwind made life difficult for this year’s runners, but both Tom Charlton of Tyne Bridge Harriers and Morpeth’s Jane Hodgson retained the titles they had won last year. Charlton recorded a time of 1:16:58 with Darrell Hastie of Gala Harriers second (1:20:01) and Stephen Jackson of Elvet Striders third (1:20:23). For Hodgson, this was her third consecutive and fifth overall victory in an event she has very much made her own. Her time of 1:28:14 actually placed her in a remarkable 25th overall placing. First runners home for Morpeth, however, were Ali Douglass, 7th in 1:22:54 and Jordan Scott, 8th in 1:23:28, Scott having paid the price in the second part of the race for trying to go with the lead group out of Craster.
Carl Donaldson showed the improvements he continues to make, finishing 32nd in 1:30:15. Next were Jason Dawson, 47th and 5th O/45 in 1:38:22 and Jamie Johnson 73rd in 1:38:22. Mike Winter had a good run to finish 81st in 1:38:57 and shared the run-in with canine companion. Other Morpeth finishers were: Steve Haswell, 95th in 1:41:00; Jim Alder ‘the younger’, 117th in 1:42:52; Gavin Bayne, carrying a cold, 135th and 4th O/60 in 1:45:12; Eric Adams 165th in 1:47:06; Paul Bellingham, 185th in 1:48:07; John Clark, 301st in 1:55:45; Simon Eaton, 327th in 1:57:05; Dave Nicholson, struggling a little with the various different conditions under foot, 382nd in 1:59:57; Kenton Duffield, 490th in 2:06:37; Lesley Chapman, 545th and 4th O/60 in 2:09:58 Laura Mclean, 707th in 2:20:24; Archie Jenkins, 945th in 2:49:25. |
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