Four Morpeth Harriers travelled to Northern Ireland last week for the 31st running of the annual Armagh 5k on Thursday evening.
Organised by Armagh Athletic Club and attracting elite athletes from across the globe in search of the very fast times the course has traditionally offered, this time there were seven athletes under 14 minutes, with a remarkable 132 of the 469 finishers running under the 15 minute mark. Won by Henry Mcluckie of Shaftesbury Barnet in a time of 13:37, Carl Avery was first home for the club in 49th place in a time of 14:15. Carl was followed home by Phil Winkler, 74th in 14:27, Connor Marshall, 106th in 14:47 and Ali Douglas, 122nd in 14:55, with the team finishing in 7th place. The Women’s 3k was won by Alexandra Bell of Pudsey and Bramley AC in 9:02. Whilst Road and Cross Country action has been very much at the forefront of the club’s attention in recent days, some of our Track and Field specialists have been perfecting their talents in the indoor arena, with some excellent results being produced, and it is hoped that some of those achievements will prove fruitful in the forthcoming Summer campaign.
Top of the tree in terms of current form in the Morpeth Harriers ranks, is undoubtedly Under 20 athlete Charlotte Earl. On Sunday, Charlotte achieved a new personal best of 11.70m in the Triple Jump, in the combined England Athletics Under 20, Under 17 and Under 15 Indoor Championships in Sheffield. Aside from the English Schools, this was her first taste of a national championships yet she did not let this faze her in the slightest. She showed a great level of maturity and composure with her first round attempt of 11.62m, which bettered her PB by 30cm, set at the Northern Indoors in January. Despite the elation from this early performance, Charlotte kept her focus throughout and was rewarded with another PB in the sixth round of 11.70m. This performance gave a her a final position of 6th in a hotly contested competition. This was even more impressive given she was only ranked 11th on paper and just to make the cut would have been an achievement - but she far surpassed that. It’s not always possible for that those that have provided the closest support to an athlete to all be present to witness such a great performance, so it was even more pleasing for Charlotte to have both her Mum, Dad and coach, Vina Desai, with her on the day. From the very young to the Veteran age, and Morpeth Over 50 sprinter Trevor Hodgson achieved individual gold in the 60m sprint at the Scottish Masters Indoor Championships at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena on Sunday, posting a time of 7.57s, just a mere fraction outside his personal best. Another Morpeth athlete involved in Indoor action on Sunday was Matthew Waterfield. Waterfield, who is now studying back in Loughborough, and has reverted to the slightly longer distances, competed at the Manchester Indoor Meeting at Sport City over 600m for the first time, finishing second in his heat, producing a time of 1m21.33s, just outpacing Gateshead’s Matt Linsley, who finished third. Two Morpeth Harriers were in action at the fourth Gateshead Indoor Meeting held at Gateshead College on Thursday 9 February. Under 17 Man Ben Hope competed in both the 60m Hurdles and 60m Sprint events. In the Hurdles, he produced a best of 9.33s, and in the sprint, a best of 7.83s, taking a whole second off his previous figures. Fellow Morpeth Harrier and also Under 17 athlete Freya Caygill finished second in her heat of the 60m in 8.37s, the fifth fastest in her age group. The fifth round of the Start Fitness sponsored North East Harrier League took place at Thornley Farm just south of Peterlee on Saturday, with the club recording two team wins to add to the one Gold, two Silvers and two Bronze medals won by individual athletes.
With the sun shining down on a course that is normally the muddiest of the season, this time it was more of a question how short to go with the spikes or even to wear trail shoes over the very uneven, pitted ground. Under 11s were again the curtain raisers and it was good to see the club’s youngest competitors turning out in numbers. Lucy Raper was 10th in the Girls race, with Zoe Tomlinson not far behind in 14th. Erin Burns was 25th with Emily Hodgson 28th. For the Boys, Jacob Thompson came home 10th with Eli Mcsparron 33rd. Michael Leeson was delighted to pick up a Silver in the U/13 Boys event in front of proud father Andy, later to run himself, with the team of Leeson, Thomas Roche (8th) and Evan Laude (35th from Fast) finishing 3rd behind teams from Heaton and Blaydon Harriers. A good turn out in a squad which has improved as the season has gone on also saw William Hawkins 44th from Slow and Daniel Vermaas 45th from Fast. Emma Tomlinson narrowly missed out on a medal in the U/13 Girls, coming home in 4th from Fast with Faye Heatley 11th, also from Fast. Disappointingly, the team were, however, short of a final counter. Finishing 4th in the U/15s, Dan Burrow was later upgraded to a Bronze following the disqualification of the North Shields Polytechnic Harrier in Silver who was found to have run from the wrong pack. Supported by Stephen Craske (5th) and Ben Moll (23r d from Fast) and Harry Armstrong (30th, again Fast), the team finished 2nd to Tyne Bridge Harriers and stay top of their division. Molly Roche had a good run for 8th in the U/15 Girls with Megan Potrac 17th from Fast, although again, there was sadly no third team counter. Will de Vere Owen was the winner of the club’s one individual Gold, coming home at the front of the field in the Under 17s race with colleague Bertie Marr picking up the Bronze. With Joe Close in 8th, the team were comfortable winners overall despite a number of absentees, and will surely, like the 15 Boys, go on to claim the team title. The club’s final individual medal came in the penultimate race of the day, the Senior Women’s, courtesy of another outstanding run from Jane Hodgson in what is proving to be a very fine season for her. Finishing 2nd to Tyne Bridge’s new recruit, Lucy Coates, running from Slow, Jane ran the day’s fastest time for the distance (25 minutes). With Cat Macdonald second fastest in 6th place, Claire Calverley 28th from Slow and Mhairi Line final team counter in 112t from Medium, the team finished in 4th place on 73 points behind Tyne Bridge (37), Jesmond Joggers (46) and Tynedale (54). There were 11 finisher for the club in total, with Linzi Quinn next in in 123rd and Jane Kirby 154th, both from Fast. Fran Robson was 249th, Margaret Macdonald 265th and Jill Bennett, choosing one of the toughest fixtures for a comeback run, 276th. Just over 300 finished. Still several points ahead in the overall standings of on-the-day winners and nearest rivals Tyne Bridge Harriers, the club will be hoping for a big turn out in the final fixture at Alnwick Pastures in March to try and secure the title. Just over 400 finished the Senior Men’s race, with Morpeth recording their 4th team win of the competition to improve further what was already a very healthy lead at the top. Blyth’s Ellis Hetherington was overall winner in 34:15 with Gateshead Harrier Joe Wales 2nd in 34:40 and Durham’s Alex Aldridge 3rd (35:00), all from Slow. Fastest run of the day was our old friend Jarlath Mckenna, guesting for Bristol and West and finishing 7th in 31:39. Birtley’s Chris Perkins was some 11 seconds behind him in 8th. The Morpeth count was headed by James Tilley in 14th in his first run from Medium Pack, with Rob Balmbra gaining promotion to Fast Pack in consecutive races by finishing in 20th from Medium. Already running from Fast, Matt Walton was 31st. Thereafter, Andrew Lawrence was 4th counter in 39th, Mark Banks 43rd from Medium with Richard Glennie making the final count for the club with a great run, 91st from Slow. There were another eight finishers from the club, with Andriy Volkov just missing out from the team score in 144th. Anthony Liddle was 165th from Medium, Mark Snowball 198th from Fast, Lee Bennett 234th from Fast and Dave Nicholson 298th. Andy Leeson was 302nd, Steve Johnstone 312th and Paul Turnbull 383rd, all from Slow. The final team count was 104 to Gateshead’s 114 and Tyne Bridge’s 127. A resurgent Durham City turned up in force and look set for promotion back to Division 1. Well done to all who ran at what is perhaps the league’s most unpopular venue. The final NEHL fixture is at what has traditionally been one of our favourite venues and a happy hunting ground close to home, Alnwick Pastures on 4 March. Put the date in your diaries now, and let’s get some complete teams and big numbers out to clinch another successful season. Saturday sees the return of the Harrier League at Thornley Farm, Peterlee (sat nav DH6 3LY).
As ever with XC, it’s all about the numbers, so we’re looking for another big on the day turn out to consolidate and build on what the club has done over the country so far this season. Timings are the same as previous fixtures, and can be found on the NEHL website if you’re not sure, where you can also check packs. If you’re not registered and want to run, please contact the club either by email or phone asap. Some dry weather should, hopefully, mean the going is a bit easier under foot than in previous years. Refreshments are normally also available at the venue. Best route is down A19, then take the A181 immediately after Peterlee. Link to directions here. Only two fixtures to go now! Hope to see you there. The NEMAA XC Championships for 2023 took place at the Croft Circuit, Dalton-on-Tees on Saturday with five Morpeth Harriers in action over the two race programme.
Race 1, for Women and Masters athletes Over 65, saw four of those five running, with all of them winning medals. Gateshead’s Gilliam Manford was 1st home, winning the O/40s category, with club colleague Kim Grimoldby 2nd and 1st O/35. NSP’s Vicky Gibbs, late of this parish, was 3rd and 2nd O/40. Dave Nicholson, 5th in the race, was pipped by a mere five seconds to the O/65 title by Hartlepool Burn Road Runner Dave Wallace. Thereafter, Paul Bentley was 1st O/75 and 30th overall, Archie Jenkins 2nd O/70 and 35th. Most remarkable run of the day was undoubtedly our own Walter Ryder, still the club’s oldest competitive runner at the age of 85, and making his annual trip to the North East from his eyrie in Wester Ross to pick up his Gold medal. His passion for competition is an example to us all: well done Walter! Race 2, for Masters Over 35, was won by the ubiquitous Jarlath Mckenna of Bristol and West by nearly a minute, ahead of Sunderland Harrier Stephen Jackson in 2nd and Tyne Bridge’s Michael Hedley 3rd. Paul Brown had his first run out in a good while, finishing in 39th place overall and 12th Over 55 (actually the most keenly contested category, and proof the average age of runners must be going up). |
Archives
March 2024
|