Five athletes from Morpeth Harriers competed at the annual Northern Athletics Track and Field Championships, held at Sport City in Manchester on Saturday and Sunday.
On day one, Phil Winkler won a prized Gold Medal in the Senior Men’s 5000m, posting a winning time of 15m02.95s. Also winning a podium place on day one from Morpeth Harriers was Under 20 Man Edward Gardiner, who won Bronze in the Discus, by producing a best throw of 36.99m. Medals continued on the second day for Morpeth , when Joe Dixon won Bronze in the Under 20 Men’s 5000m, where he produced a time of 15m46.30s, this being his first outing over the twelve and a half lap distance. This was accompanied by another Bronze Medal being won by fellow Under 20 athlete Charlotte Earl, who produced a best of 11.59m in the Triple Jump, which was just a mere fraction adrift of her personal best. Matthew Waterfield finished third in his heat of the Senior Men’s 800m in a time of 1m57.40s, which was also only a mere fraction adrift of his personal best. Unfortunately, in the later run final, he finished outside the medals in eighth spot, posting a time of 2m03.48s. * Morpeth had an additional medallist in the NECAA Track and Field Championships, when Senior Man Alistair Douglass finished third in the 10,000m at Churchill Playing Fields, Whitley Bay on the evening of Wednesday 31 May. Douglass was presented with his Bronze Medal by NECAA President Mick Frazer, after crossing the finish line in 33m17s, behind Houghton Harrier Chris Coulson, who won in 31m35s, from Sunderland Harrier Jake Ridding (32m41s). Over 65 Masters Gavin Bayne and Dave Nicholson travelled to Scotland at the weekend to take part in the blast running Scottish Mile, incorporating the BMAF Mile Championships, where they were unlucky to miss out on medals despite strong runs.
Gavin finished 4th in 5:46 and Dave 5th just a second or so behind, with the O/65 and O/70 events, run in the same race, won by a pair of doughty Scots, John Thomson and Ed Norton, in 5:13 and 5:34. * Cat Macdonald finished 18th and 2nd Female in the lung-bursting Penshaw Hill Race on Wednesday evening with a time of 18:50, losing out to Durham City’s Alice Crane who ran 17:50 to come back in 7th overall. Host club Sunderland Harriers filled the first three places, with O/40 vet Stephen Jackson 1st back in 16:21. Two Under 17 Men from Morpeth Harriers represented the North East Counties at the annual Northern Inter Counties Track and Field Championships, held at York on Saturday 27 May.
The region finished second overall behind Yorkshire, losing out by 109 points, with Greater Manchester in third place, and 17points adrift. Conditions for all were very warm and Sunny throughout and Joseph Close finished fourth in heat one of the two heated 800m, posting a time of 1m58.43s, which was fifth fastest overall over both heats. Elliot Kelso finished third in the 1500m, posting a time of 4m09.50s. Both athletes had won their places in the regions squad by virtue of their respective performances at last months NECAA Championships at Middlesbrough, where Close had won both the 800m and 1500m, and Kelso had finished second to him in the 1500m. Members are reminded that club subs for 2023/24 must be paid in the next couple of weeks.
Subscriptions have been due since April 1 and need to be paid by June 19 to allow the club to register athletes for competition for the current track and field season and forthcoming winter season. Existing members can renew their subscriptions online here or by visiting the clubhouse during Monday night training sessions. Amble-based Jordan Scott was a winner at the Druridge Bay 10k Charity Run in aid of Hospice Care North Northumberland.
Jordan clocked up a 4th victory in the race, traditionally the property of the local Amble crew with Ian Harding and Karl Taylor all previous multiple winners, which Jordan won for the first time as far back as 2008, winning again in 2018 and 2019, in a time of 35:34. Club colleague Mark Snowball was 3rd in 39:38 with North Shields Polytechnic Harrier Darcey Tullis 10th and 1st Female finisher in 45:32. Numbers were markedly down on previous years however, with only some 129 finishers in total, maybe because entry prices were up and perhaps because the course now includes some longer stretches on the beach also. |
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