There were two Morpeth Harriers in action at the UK Athletics Championships in Manchester at the weekend.
James Young made it through qualifying in Saturday evening’s 1500m, finishing in 4th place in the third of three heats in a time of 3 minutes 42.97 seconds and going through to the final as the fastest loser. In the later 5000m, run as a straight final, Scott Beattie finished in 7th place in a time of 13:44.29, with the race won by Tonbridge AC runner James West in 13:42.03 ahead of Leeds City’s Emile Cairess and Stroud and District AC’s Thomas Mortimer. Young returned less than 24 hours later for a very competitive final in the 1500m, which was won by the experienced Neil Gourley (Giffnoch North AC) in 3:46.16 with Birchfield Harrier Elliot Giles 2nd (3:46.48) and George Mills of Brighton Phoenix (son of Leeds United and England full-back Danny Mills) 3rd in 3:46.57. After being in a promising position with 250m to go, James finished 10th overall in 3:49.21. Morpeth’s long hold on the local Weetslade Relays, held at Lockey Park at Wideopen and hosted by Claremont Road Runners - which had seen a five-year winning streak and six overall victories - was finally broken last Wednesday as the club lost out to a determined Sunderland Harriers.
The race claims to be the first in the country to have a unique male/veteran (of either sex)/female category, which certainly makes it a difficult one for team organisers to marshall the troops for, but its popularity has soared, with over 100 teams out this time and clubs restricted to a maximum of six each. Having been beaten by Morpeth last year by a matter of seconds, the Wearside outfit looked in determined mode this time as they put out a very strong team who were always out in front. Veteran Liam Taylor headed their challenge, coming home in the evening’s fastest time of 13 minutes 9 seconds for the 2.65 mile, lung-bursting climb of the old Weetslade spoil heap. Behind Taylor, young Tom Prentice, in his first relay outing for Morpeth, came in with a sprint finish in 2nd place in 13:31 with Wallsend in third. Sunderland youngster Jess Fox extended their lead on leg 2 with a clocking of 15:55, with Morpeth looking to Gemma Floyd for vet legs (17:28). For Wallsend, Jennifer Berry ran one of the evening’s fastest times of 15:42 to move them back into 2nd place. (Fastest overall female time of the night incidentally was by Elswick vet Justina Heslop, 15:21). Stephen Jackson’s third leg of 13:24 meant a cumulative time of 42:24 for Sunderland, but George Lowry ran an excellent last leg of 13:13, the second fastest time of the night, to gain a fine 2nd place team finish (44:12) ahead of 3rd place Wallsend Harriers (44:19). Morpeth’s B team of Mark Banks (13:53), Lizzie Rank (16:49, the club’s fastest female time of the evening) and Andrew Lawrence (14:18) also had a fine run and were 4th in 45:00. The C team of Dave Stabler (15:07), Jane Kirby (18:27) and John Butters (14:31) made it three teams in the top twenty with a strong 16th. Jake Parmley, Stephen Cessford, James Dixon and Laura Mclean all made relay debuts for the club, with further teams in 27th, 44th and 46th, all comfortably in the top half of the field. D: Jake Parmley (15:30), Tayla Douglas (18:21), Anthony Liddle (15:55) 49:46 E: Gavin Bayne (17:14), Lindsey Quinn (17:52), Stephen Cessford (17:05) 52:11 F: James Dixon (15:03), Laura Mclean (20:01), Mike Winter (17:26) 52:30 Incidentally, in addition to welcome cash prizes, the goody bags randomly distributed at the end remain among the oddest ever known in races, Morpeth’s including this year: a roll of toilet paper printed with the words ‘Crime Scene’, a copy of the novel Elmet by Fiona Mozley, nominated for the 2017 Man Booker prize, a small boxed icon of the Holy Family and sundry exotic smellies. Hmmm. For Stuart Whitman's gallery of photos from the event click here. There were eight Morpeth Harriers, several wearing the vest of Northumberland Fell Runners, among the 175 finishers at the 66th annual Chevy Chase fell race on Saturday.
Described by organisers Wooler Running Club as ‘a rewarding and demanding personal challenge’, the race was run over the now established twenty mile circular route that takes in demanding ascents and descents of both Cheviot and Hedgehope, and was won once again won by veteran Jarlath Mckenna, now with Tyne Bridge, in a time of 2 hours 38 minutes 56 seconds, some three minutes faster than last year. Remarkably, Mckenna finished over 21 minutes ahead of nearest rivals Hamish Murray from Keswick and Craig Jones from Tyne Bridge in 2nd and 3rd, with Keswick’s Shirley Murray fastest female finisher in 3:26:18. Carnethy’s Jill Mykura was 2nd in 3:37:30 and Wallsend’s Jennifer Berry 3rd in 3:47:59. In his first Chevy Chase, Alistair Douglas was 28th and first back for Morpeth in 3:49:17 with NFR member Gary Mason 52nd in 4:10:36. Running together, Jane Kirby and Anna Wright, who had both run the Edinburgh Marathon a few weeks ago, were 70th and 71st and 9th and 10th female finishers in 4:29:59. Jamie Johnson was 74th and Mike Winter 75th in the same time (4:30:26) also running together, while Gwenda Cavill was 85th in 4:35:47 and Claire Calverley, thankfully avoiding injury this time, was 88th in 4:37:18. Six athletes from Morpeth Harriers & AC were in competitive action representing Northumberland at the annual English Schools Track and Field Championships, held in Birmingham on the weekend of 30 June and 1 July.
In the Senior Boys 3000m Final, both William DeVere-Owen and James Tilley tackled the seven=and-a-half lap event. Will managed to finish in a good seventh place, posting a time of 8m47.50s, which while marginally down on his personal best of 8m32.84, was nevertheless encouraging at such a level. James’s finishing time of 8m55.40s was a little adrift of his personal best in what was a tough race, with James finishing in 17th overall. Intermediate Boy Elliot Kelso finished 18th also in the 3000m, in a time of 9m13.44s, like James a little off his pb. Perhaps unluckiest of all was Intermediate Boy Joseph Close, who - after finishing third in the opening heat of three in the 800m in 1m55.9s, a fraction adrift of his personal best, and seventh fastest overall in the heats - found himself squeezed out of the final by finishes in other heats, with qualifications of two from each heat, plus two other fastest. Ironically in Saturday’s final only the eventual winner ran a faster time than Close had achieved. The other two Morpeth athletes competed in the field events. Ed Gardiner finished ninth in a very tough competition with his best effort in the Senior Boys Discus, reaching 38.71m with his best throw, a couple of metres adrift of his best for the season however. Also facing tough competition was the club’s youngest representative Alexandria Hodgson, in her first English Schools. In the Junior Girls Hammer, held in a prevailing cold wind, she unfortunately found herself unable to make a mark in the event, perhaps partly down to nerves. Having done well to get there, hopefully, she will be able to treat this as a learning curve and make progress in her next outing. Superb efforts from a much-weakened squad saw Morpeth Harriers' Senior Men and Women’s Track and Field team, bravely battle their way through to finish fourth in their second round Northern Athletics North East Premier League Match at Shildon 2000 Stadium, on Sunday 18 June.
Both the Men’s and Women’s squads were missing key athletes, however those that did rise to their respective calls from Team Managers Vina Desai (Women), and Tom Innes, Mark Snowball, and George Patterson (Men), were more than willing to step up to the plate throughout the day. Some even stepped into unfamiliar events in the relentless pursuit of vital points, also many thanks go to the band of members who helped with official duties on the day, including juniors Alexandria and William Hodgson, twin siblings of their competing older sister Victoria, and Father, Trevor. Competitively, Nisha Desai and Mark Banks put in a hard shift, by tackling as many events as possible. For the Women’s Team, despite carrying a sometimes-discomforting injury, Desai managed to complete no fewer than seven events, including both relays, and for the Men’s team Mark Banks did likewise. There was also good input from the club's Under 20 contingents, namely Charlie Lane, Ethan Phillips, and James Tilley for the Men, and Ellie Wickens, Olivia Gent, and U17 Victoria Hodgson for the Women. Even Team Managers Innes and Snowball joined the party in competition, along with Club Coach Neil McAnany, who competed in the final 4 x 400m Relay. On to the match itself, and Morpeth had a winner in the very first event, courtesy of Hodgson, who was running a Senior 400m Hurdles for the very first time. She won the A race quite comfortably in 70.15s. With Nisha Desai carrying an injury, unfortunately she was unable to take part in one of her favoured events as B Race support. Mark Banks had two B Race wins in the 800m (2m12.21s), and 1500m (4m19.80s), as well as finishing second in the A String High Jump (1.65m). He also finished fourth in the B String 200m 29.47s, where Charlie Lane finished third in the A Race in 24.21s. Lane also finished a good second in the B Race of the 400m in 53.16s, in support to Ethan Phillips finishing third I the A Race in 53.77s. Earlier, Phillips had finished second in the A Race of the 800m, posting a time of 1m57.76s, which was a performance boosting personal best for the Under 20 athlete. Another good Under 20 performer on the track was James Tilley, who was second in the 1500m in 4m14.37s, being very ably supported by Banks taking the B Race. The hardworking Banks also took on the longest race of the day in the 5000m, finishing as fourth in the B event (20m34.17s), as good support to Mark Snowball’s fifth in the A Race in 18m50.69s. Snowball had earlier finished fourth in the 400m Hurdles in 74.38s, one of seven events that he tackled in all. Unfortunately, injury had reduced Morpeth Men to only one recognised short sprinter, but Over 50 Veteran Trevor Hodgson competed well on his promotion to the 100m A Race by finishing third in 11.83s, having run at the previous day's Masters Championships. Hodgson also stepped up to compete in the Shot Putt, and finished fifth in the A String, Putting a best of 7.81m. Team Manager Innes putted 5.65m for sixth in the B String. Innes certainly played a significant role in the Morpeth Field event challenge, by also taking part in the Long Jump, Triple Jump, Discus, and Javelin events, along with the 4 x 400m Relay, which meant that he competed in no less than six events on the day. In the B String Long Jump, he finished fourth with 3.81m, and Mark Snowball produced 4.16m for sixth in the A String. Innes finished fifth in the A String of the Triple Jump with 7.34m, with again Snowball partnering him, finishing fourth in the B String with 7.15m. The pair met up again in the Discus, where Innes finished sixth in the A String (14.83m), with Snowball getting sixth in the B String with a best of 12.72m. Innes and Snowball continued their quest for points in the Javelin, finishing fifth and fourth respectively in the A and B competitions, with bests of 22.20m and 16.43m. In the Men’s 4 x 100m Relay, Morpeth finished third, courtesy of Charlie Lane, Trevor Hodgson, Mark Banks, and Mark Snowball, who combined to post a time of 49.40s. Mark Banks, Neil McAnany, Charlie Lane, and Tom Innes combined to bring Morpeth Men home in fourth place in 4m14.34s. Victoria Hodgson followed up her 400m Hurdles win with a second place in the 100m A Race in 13.37s, and Ellie Wickens finished second in the B Race in 14.06s. Wickens also finished second in the 200m A Race in 28.49s, being well backed up by Nisha Desai in the B Race finishing second in 27.59s. Tayla Douglass and Desai also combined well in the Women’s 400m and 800m events. Douglass finished third in the A Race of the 400m in 77.95s, and fourth in the A Race of the 800m in 2m49.62s. Desai won both B Races in respective times of 63.0s, and 2m35.57s. Lizzie Rank finished second in the 1500m in 5m18.45s. Julie Vermaas finished fourth in the 3000m in 12m31.05s. Morpeth Under 20 Woman Olivia Gent, who began her career at the club under the guidance of her Coach and Team Manager Vina Desai, worked her socks off in the Field events. She competed in no less than four of them, one of them alongside Vina. Her best result came in the Javelin B String, which she won, supporting Nisha Desai, who finished fourth in the A String. Desai threw 19.19m, and Gent won with a best of 16.94m. Gent finished fourth in the A String Long Jump with a best of 4.17m, and second in the B String Triple Jump with 9.11m. Ellie Wickens placed third in the A String with a slightly better 9.13m. Gent also finished fifth in the A String Shot Putt with 5.76m, and Vina Desai was sixth in the B String with 4.68m. Vina Desai was fifth in the B String Discus with 11.77m, supporting Ellie Wickens fifth place in the A String with 16.15m. It was a Desai family effort in the Hammer, with Vina finishing sixth in the A String with a best throw of 15.03m, and daughter Nisha weighed in with 13.86m for fourth in the B String. Morpeth finished second in the Women’s 4 x 100m in 53.76s, courtesy of Nisha Desai, Ellie Wickens, Olivia Gent, and Victoria Hodgson. Taylor Douglass, Victoria Hodgson, Julie Vermaas, and Nisha Desai brought the Morpeth Women’s 4 x 400m squad home in third place, posting a combined time of 5m00.11s. At the end of a hard day’s work, the Morpeth team can feel well pleased that their combined efforts gave them fourth team place, only a mere ten points adrift of third placed New Marske, but well adrift of first and second placed Gateshead Harriers, and Darlington. The combined squad of Chester Le Street/Durham City, and North Shields Poly were fifth and sixth. It is hoped that the Morpeth squad will be stronger for the third and penultimate fixture at Middlesbrough on Sunday 9 July. FINAL MATCH RESULT 1st Gateshead Harriers 418pts, 2nd Darlington Harriers 400pts, 3rd New Marske Harriers 292pts, 4th Morpeth Harriers 282pts, 5th Chester Le Street/Durham City 242pts, 6th North Shields Poly 186pts. CURRENT LEAGUE POSITIONS AFTER TWO MATCHES 1st Gateshead Harriers (770.5pts) 12pts, 2nd Darlington Harriers (725pts) 10pts, 3rd New Marske Harriers (610pts) 7pts, 4th Morpeth Harriers (607pts) 7pts, 5th Chester Le Street/Durham City (546.5pts) 4pts, 6th North Shields Poly (399pts) 2pts. |
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