Two Morpeth Harriers had the honour of turning out in England Masters competition on Sunday May 26th 2019,
to compete against the Celtic Nations in the Simplyhealth Great Birmingham 10k. Difficult conditions and a challenging course mitigated against fast times, but in an event dominated by England veterans, Helen King was 8th in the Over 40 category in 40m 6s and Dave Nicholson 9th in the Over 60 in 40m 15s and both later professed themselves ‘elated’ to pick up their first representative honours. There was some compensation the following weekend for Helen, however, as she was first female finisher in the Bamburgh 10k on Sunday 2nd June 2019, in a time of 39m 45s. (Eagle-eyed Big Brother fans might have noticed in the UKA newsletter that the Geoffrey Beattie who ran for the Celtic Nations was the original ‘psychologist’ for the eponymous Channel 4 series.) The second meeting of North East Regional BMC events were held at Chester Le Street’s Riverside Track on Monday 3rd June 2019. A total of twelve athletes from the ranks of Morpeth Harriers competed in the eight 1500m races on the programme. Fastest from the club on the night was Carl Avery, whose new lifetime personal best time of 3m59.61s, saw him finish fourth in a hotly contested Men’s A race, which was won by former Gateshead Harrier Chris Parr in a time of 3m53.95s, now running in Jarrow and Hebburn’s colours, the club of his late grandfather. Another Morpeth Harrier to feature in the A Race was Alistair Douglass, who had run at Sport City in Manchester the previous day, in the final of the 800m at the Northern Athletics Championships. Douglass finished ninth in 4m11.55s. Second fastest Morpeth Harriers performer on the night was Under 20 athlete Ross Charlton, whose new personal best time of 4m03.92s, saw him finish sixth in a hotly contested Men’s B Race. Other Morpeth Harriers finishers in the B Race were Adam Pratt, fresh from his Northern Steeplechase Gold Medal win, who finished ninth in 4m09.71s, and another Under 20 Man Daniel Melling, who was delighted to achieve new figures of 4m10.56s, when finishing just behind Pratt in tenth spot. In the C Race, Morpeth’s George Lowry finished second, posting a seasons best of 4m07.83s. Another second placed Morpeth performer was Under 17 athlete Dylan Gooding, who posted a finishing time of 4m18.93s, in a Mixed gender D Race. Gooding was eighth fastest in his age group on the night. In the Mixed gender E Race, brothers Dylan and Ryan Davies finished in ninth and eleventh places respectively, both clocking personal best times of 4m37.94s, and 4m41.01s. Holly Peck of Morpeth Harriers finished sixth in a Mixed gender F Race, posting a time of 4m53.09s. North East Women’s Steeplechase Champion Rachelle Falloon of Morpeth Harriers won the G Race, which was an all-Women affair, posting a new personal best time of 4m59.35s. Rounding off the night’s Morpeth performances was Taylor Murdy, who finished eighth in the Mixed gender H Race, posting a new personal best time of 5m34.99s. BMC Regional Race Leeds Competing in his third race in five days, persistence certainly paid off for Morpeth Harrier Alistair Douglass, who made the journey south to Leeds Beckett University, to compete in the BMC Regional 1500m B Race, posting a brand new personal best time of 4m03.14s, bettering his previous figures for the three and three quarter lap event by a fraction of a second from his clocking at the opening North East Grand Prix Meeting at Monkton in April. Douglass finished sixth out of thirteen in his event, and he was sixth fastest of twelve competing Senior Men in the five races on offer at the meeting. Four athletes from Morpeth Harriers were medal winners at the first day of competition at the annual combined Northern Athletics Senior and Under 20 Track and Field Championships, sponsored by Start Fitness, h eld at Sport City in Manchester. Adam Pratt won a much-prized Gold Medal in the Senior Men’s 3000m Steeplechase, posting a new personal best time of 9m35.42s, taking an excellent twenty-two seconds off his previous figures. He won by a margin of one second from Leeds City’s Mohamed Abshir, with Wharfedale Harrier Lee Athersmith a further nine seconds adrift in third place. Specialist throwers Ruaridh Lang and Bobbie Griffith’s, who have only recently been sitting A levels at King Edward VI School, are the proud owners of respective Silver Medals. Lang finished a very close second in the Under 20 Men’s Discus, only just losing out for Gold by a mere forty centimetres with his best throw of 42.51m. Gold Medal winner was Aran Thomas of Wakefield. Griffiths threw a best of 39.90m in the Under 20 Women’s Javelin to secure a Silver Medal behind Pendle AC’s Zoe Ellen Kidney, who produced an on the day best of 41.02m. The third medallist, and a much prized and much deserved and popular Bronze win, went to Under 20 Man Matthew Waterfield in the 400m. In his earlier heat he finished a very close second, posting an excellent 50.49s, however in his later run final, Matthew truly excelled, as he posted a new lifetime best of 49.39s, just missing out by a mere fraction for Silver to Sale Harrier Thomas Baines. The Gold Medal went to Leon Stubbs of Preston, who clocked 48.67s. Waterfield’s Morpeth Harriers Coach Eddie Hedley reflected afterwards how pleased and proud he was in his athlete’s achievement. He wasn’t sure if Waterfield was going to line up at the championships, due to the fact that over the Bank Holiday he had developed a worrying niggle, and had also endured the pressure of important exams, however having made the Start Line, was very pleased with the end result, as a coach he could only advise, and Matthew had to carry out the hard part, and he had done that with much distinction. Morpeth Harriers gained another medal on Sunday’s second day of competition, courtesy of James Young, who only fractionally missed out on a Gold Medal, when he finished a very close second to Preston’s Matthew Wiglesworth in the Senior Men’s 800m. Young was also just fractionally adrift of his lifetime best, when he posted a time of 1m52.66, to the winners 1m52.55s. It was a double for Wiglesworth, as he had won Gold in the previous days 1500m. Young must have been thoroughly sick of the sight of the Preston man, as he had also finished second in the earlier run heat, clocking 1m57.18s, a heat that also saw fellow Morpeth Harrier Alistair Douglass qualify for the final, as he finished fourth in 1m57.54s. Douglass finished seventh behind Young in the final, posting a time of 1m59.66s. In the Under 20 Men’s 800m Final, Morpeth Harrier Kieran Hedley finished fifth in 1m57.37s. Watch James Young in action at Sports City in the 800mts
Morpeth Harrier Rory Leonard defied the driving rain and windy conditions that prevailed during his latest 3000m outing in the BMC Regional Meeting, held at Scotstoun, near Glasgow, on the evening of Friday 31st May 2019.
Leonard posted a time of 8m24.91s, his second-best time of the season, and six seconds adrift of his lifetime best, when winning the Men’s, A Race from fellow North East and Under 20 rival Sam Charlton of Wallsend Harriers by a margin of two seconds. Obviously the conditions seriously affected times, which Leonard could only reflect some disappointment, and afterwards thought that they were somewhat akin to the Cross Country season, however he still remains positive about the forthcoming season, and appearing on the International stage, preferably in the longer 5000m, where he is currently ranked No 3 in Europe, and convincingly No 1 in the UK, and possibly having a tilt at his Father Tony’s best time for the distance, which still sits at 14m08.38s, a time which he achieved in 1981 in Brighton. Rory’s best time for the distance, achieved one week ago is 14m16.35s. Morpeth Harriers and its athletes featured prominently in the recent
Morpeth Sports Awards evening, held on Thursday 23rd May 2019, at Morpeth Rugby Club. The awards were presented by the newly elected Mayor of Morpeth Alison Byard, and among the Clubs recipients were Rory Leonard (Senior Male), Laura Weightman (Senior Female), Walter Ryder (Male Masters), plus Senior and Under 18 Team awards, which went to the Morpeth Harriers Under 20 Men’s Road and Cross Country Squad, and Under 15 Boys Road and Cross Country squads respectively. Morpeth Harriers also featured in the main Mayors Award for 2018 achievements, which went to Daniel Dixon. |
Archives
April 2024
|