It was a long journey for the 12 representatives of Morpeth Harriers who travelled down to Sutton Park in Sutton Coldfield for the English Road Running Association 12 Stage Road Relays on Saturday, one made worse by a series of accidents on the motorways south that made the journey even more difficult.
In the end, after over four hours of racing, a team decimated by injuries and unavailability finished just outside the top 20in a respectable 22nd place, having creditably managed to make the top ten for the first six legs. Finn Brodie led off for the first long leg, finishing 13th in 27:38, with Will Cork on the first short leg moving the club up to 7th with 15:36. Carl Avery on leg 3 had the team up to 3rd place after the second long leg with the club’s fastest time of the day, 26:29, with Ellis Hetherington keeping them there on leg 4 (16:02). Connor Marshall (27:56) and George Lowry (15:38) had them in sixth, but thereafter a much depleted squad drawing on veterans, athletes a little short of race fitness and those else called up at the very last minute to ensure a complete team did well to hang on, Matthew Briggs (30:48), Josh Fiddaman (16:02), Rob Balmbra (30:23), young Joe Dixon (16:28), Mark Banks (30:33) and John Butters (17:23), ensuring an overall time of 4 hours 27 minutes 52 seconds, with Morpeth 22nd out of a total of some 56 complete teams. Gateshead Harriers, 39th in 4:51:43, were the only other North East team to make the journey. All conquering Leeds City AC, for whom Phil Sesamann ran the day’s fastest long leg of 25:27, were runaway leaders in a time of 4:11:28, over three minutes ahead of Bristol and West in 2nd (4:15:00) and London outfit Highgate Harriers (4:15:34), for whom Jacob Allen ran the day’s fastest short leg of 25:43. No NE Women’s teams turned out in the Women’s 6 Stage, won by Thames Valley, with Leeds City 2nd and Sale Harriers 3rd. Full results here.
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Spring sunshine welcomed hundreds of runners to the Elswick Harriers Relays over the Bank Holiday, a much loved fixture of the North East running calendar for several decades and always held on the morning of Good Friday.
Now back at the Riverside Business Park on the banks of the Tyne at Newburn after last year’s one off at the old Albemarle airfield, there were once again hotly contested team races for both Women and Men, as well as three individual Junior races on offer. The U/ll combined one mile race got proceedings off promptly at 9 am, with Morpeth’s two representatives Heather Baillie and Jacob Raper both featuring. In quite a large field, Heather was 13th girl and 30th overall in 7 minutes 41 seconds, and Jacob 57th in 8:29. There were three Morpeth youngsters in the next race for U/13s over 1.6 miles, with Jacob’s older sister Lucy first back in 21st and 5th girl (10:08), Zoe Tomlinson 35th and 9th (10:27) and Heather’s older brother Lewis 57th in 11:32. The first team event, for Senior and Veteran Women, was held over three stages of 2.2 miles each, with well over a 100 complete teams turning out. North Shields Polytechnic Harriers were clear winners, with ex GB international Stacey Smith, in her first competitive outing for many a year, running the day’s fastest leg of 11:37 (the race’s only sub 12 minute run), and their team recording a winning time of 36:35. Morpeth’s A team of Holly Lawrence, in her first outing in blue and white (13:19), Poppy Buck (13:23) and Catriona Macdonald (12:44) just missed out on the medals however, finishing in 4th in 39:26 behind hosts Elswick Harriers in 2nd with Birtley Harriers 3rd. The B team of Lizzie Rank (13:17), Tabitha Robson (14:52) and Lindsey Quinn (13:50) also made top 20, finishing in 19th in 41:59 and a further C team of Lorna Macdonald (13:50), Kay Errington (16:32) and Laura McLean (15:44) coming in 40th in 46:06. Meanwhile the 40s and 50s race was unfolding at the same time, and here Morag Stead had an outstanding race to clock the day’s fastest Over 40 time of 12:48. With Jane Kirby on 2nd leg (14:50) and Anna Wright on 3rd (14:08), the team had a really good run to finish as third in their category in 41:46 and were actually 15th overall. In addition, the 50s team of Jane Briggs (15:14), Margaret Macdonald (19:34) and Shuna Rank (16:14) were fifth in the O/50 category and 69th overall in 51:02. Final event of the day was for Senior and Veteran Men, where Morpeth were looking to defend a title they had won several years in a row but up against stiff opposition from across the area, with again over 100 teams competing. Rob Balmbra (11:21) got the Morpeth challenge underway on a keenly contested first leg, with Birtley’s Adrian Bailes setting up an early lead. All was to change however on leg 2, with a flying James Young running the fastest leg of the day of 9:57 (also the only sub 10 minute time) to move Morpeth into a remarkable 1st place, with Gateshead Harriers now chasing. But with Ellis Hetherington recording the day’s 7th fastest time of 10:35 and Tom Balsdon the 8th (10:38), Morpeth were more than able to hold on for the win in a time of 42:31, despite the best efforts of a youthful Houghton Harriers in 2nd (42:42), for whom Cameron Allan ran the day’s second fastest time, and Gateshead in 3rd (43:16). The Morpeth B team featured two youngsters having their first Senior outings for the club, with sixteen year old Oliver Tomlinson on leg 1 clocking 11:41 and Ralph Robson 11:08 on leg 2. With Jake Parmley on leg 3 (12:44) and Andriy Volkov (15:11) on leg 4, the team made top thirty with a 28th placed finish (50:44). Special mention for Andriy, only drafted in with less than two hours notice and still on his way back from injury. Meanwhile strong Over 40s and 50s race were unfurling at the same time, with NSP’s O/40 outfit taking the title in 46:49 and James Anderson, a winner of the North Tyneside 10k the following Sunday, recording the day’s fastest O/40 time of 10:55. Morpeth’s team of Tony Lewis (12:58), John Butters (11:38, 4th fastest O/40), Dave Stabler (12:57) and Andrew Ball (12:14) did well to come in 23rd overall and 5th category team in an overall time of 49:47. The Over 50s of Jason Dawson (13:09), Gavin Bayne (14:01), Lee Bennett (12:38 and 4th O/50) and Rob Hancox (13:02) also had a productive morning, picking up a 3rd place category prize behind winners Crook AC. A mixed third vets team of two 40s, a 50 and a 60 also ran, with Anthony Jannetta strong on leg 1(12:36), O/60 Dave Nicholson (14:44), O/50 Mike Winter (14:24) and Dave Swinburne (14:05), the team finishing 56th. Good to have you back Dave! Veteran sprinter Trevor Hodgson powered his way to victory in the final of the Over 50 Men’s 60m, at the European Masters Indoor Championships, held in Torun in Poland on Wednesday 20 March.
The North East, and UK Champion, who prior to the competition was ranked No 1 in the UK, and No 4 in the World, as following finishing second in his opening heat on Monday in 7.50s, he went on to also finish second in his semi final in 7.54s. He was beaten only in both of those events by Spaniard Xavi Bosch-Ortiz, who posted winning times of 7.49s, and 7.51s, respectively. However, it was a totally different story in the final, where Ortiz could only get third in 7.49s for the Bronze medal. Meanwhile, France’s Bouziane Belghorzi took Silver in 7.48s, whilst Hodgson saved his best for last, as he triumphed in an excellent 7.44s, his second-best time of the season for the distance. Hodgson, who admitted more than an hour after his gold-medal success that he was struggling to take it all in, now looks forward to his upcoming summer season in his club’s colours having won three major titles, and of course those very shiny gold medals. Hodgson’s winning performance was viewed at close quarters by his coach Dave Thomas, who also made the trip to Poland. After over three hours of racing, Morpeth’s Senior Men’s squad picked up a hard-won team Bronze in the Northern Athletics 12 Stage Relays, held at a breezy Wythenshaw Park in Manchester on Saturday afternoon.
With over fifty teams in a Senior Men’s race, which included strong squads from local teams across the North West as well as those who’d made journey over the Pennines from Yorkshire and the North East, it was always going to be a tall order for Morpeth to retain a title they took at Redcar last year, but the team can certainly hold their heads up after putting in an excellent showing that saw them within only thirty seconds of a Silver medal and a minute and twenty seconds off Gold. Once again Finn Brodie got the team off to a good start, tracking Team GB triathlete Jonny Brownlee, representing Bingley Harriers here, with Brodie recording 23 minutes 40 seconds for the 8 kilometre leg. In his first team outing for Morpeth after transfer from Blyth, Josh Fiddaman showed his potential with 13:37 for the first short leg of 4.5k, with Connor Marshall taking the second long next to record 24:43. Tom Prentice clocked 14:01 on leg 4 before passing on to Carl Avery, whose long leg of 23:10 was the club’s fastest time for the distance. Ellis Hetherington, like Fiddaman in his first team outing for the club, clocked 13:46 on leg six, and with Alex Brown’s 23:55 for the day’s final long leg, the team were comfortably in a third place that they never looked like losing. Morpeth’s remaining short legs were run by Tom Balsdon (14:07), a late Friday night addition, George Lowry (13:50), Alistair Douglas (14:14), Lawrence McCourt (13:25, the team’s fastest short leg) and Will Cork (13:31), for a net time of 3 hours 26 minutes 5 seconds, well over a minute ahead of Liverpool Harriers and AC in 4th (3:27:38). Unsurprisingly, Leeds City were winners, clocking 3:24:46 with local outfit Salford Harriers and AC second in 3:25:35. There was a decent team out from NE teams, with Gateshead just outside the top ten in 11th (3:44:14), Sunderland Harriers 18th (3:47:24) and Tyne Bridge also making the top twenty in 19th (3:47:48). The Women’s Six stage was won by Sale Harriers in 1:57:12, only 11 seconds ahead of Leeds City in 2nd with Vale Royal a distant 3rd (2:00:26). The only NE representation was by South Shields Harriers and AC, who to their credit turned out not just one but two teams, the A team making top twenty in 2:10:48 and a B 45th in 2:18:52. With the track season fast approaching, the club is hosting its annual Try it/Trials night at the KEVI track on Monday 8 April. This is both to help prospective participants and team managers for the NEYDL team. Registration opens at 6pm and events will start around 6.30pm.
Coaches and parents are being encouraged to get as many of our younger members along to this event which will run until around 8pm. The programme will include sprints, throws, jumps and middle distance (800). The club’s 11–17 year olds will again compete in the North East Youth Development League along with clubs from across the region. The season begins on Sunday 21 April with a fixture at Jarrow. |
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