Action moved to Druridge Bay on Sunday for the 2nd round of the North East Harrier League.
On an afternoon of better than expected weather with only a stiff south-westerly to contend with, this time round there were only two team victories, but a good turn out across the age groups and some fine individual performances made this a more than satisfactory afternoon on what is almost home turf for us. The first of the team victories came, perhaps unsurprisingly, from the U/17 Boys for whom Marr and De Vere Owen both turned out again despite the previous day’s efforts at the National relays, Will also managing the day’s fastest time. Will was followed home by Elliot Mavir in 6th, Elliot Kelly 14th from Fast, Bertie Marr in 16th and Joe Close 22nd. The victory sees the team comfortably established at the top of their division. The second win was courtesy of the club’s Senior Women, for whom Kirsty Burville on her debut in blue and white placed 3rd. Durham City athlete Alice Crane actually ran the day’s fastest time of 23:43 from Slow Pack to come home several minutes ahead of Hannah Williams in her 1st race for NSP since moving from the club (Morpeth Harriers will probably know her as Shuna’s older daughter). With Cat Macdonald 7th from Fast Pack in 24:32 and Jane Hodgson 11th and only 8 seconds behind, both from Fast Pack, it only needed Jane Kirby, only a week after the Kielder Marathon, to make 12th place for the team to complete their 2nd dominant performance of the season so far. Another fine turn out by the Senior Women included also Anna Wright in 109th from Medium; Lindsey Quinn 154th from Fast; Lizzie Rank 163rd from Fast; Julie Vermaas 213th from Fast, and Fran Kirby, 335th from Slow. With a final scoring count of another miserly 21 points - also 21 ahead of next club Tyne Bridge - there is now already a healthy 7 point margin in the overall division to next club Heaton Harriers, with the prospects for the remainder of the season looking extremely positive if numbers stay high. Although the club’s Senior Men could only manage 4th place on the day, they still remain at the top of their table. Once again the scoring count was headed by young Matty Walton, who defied his Medium Pack finish to come home in 8th place in 34:11 after another splendid run. Ralph Robson, also promoted from Wrekenton, was not far behind, 18th in 35:33, with the third of those promoted to Medium after Wrekenton, John Butters, also having an excellent run to come home 31st (36:25). Making not just his Harrier League but also, like Kirsty, his first run in blue and white, Andriy Volkov was 95th (40:11) with Anthony Jannetta 114th (37:59) and Anthony Liddle 124th (38:17) making up the scoring front six. A decent turn out of another eleven Morpeth athletes included also Ed Hillier, just outside the scoring count in 130th from Slow; Richard Glennie 147th from Slow; Mark Snowball 165th from Fast; a returning Will Clark 177th from Slow; Al Macdonald, 219th from Slow; Lee Bennett 221st from Fast; Jason Dawson 260th from Slow; Neil MacAnany, 267th from Slow; Steve Haswell, 291st from Slow; Steve Johnstone, 331st from Slow and Paul Turnbull, 511th, also from Slow. Fastest run of the day was by Kieran Walker of NE Project in 31:35, with two Newcastle University students, Luke Davis and Edward Petitt, coming in 2nd and 3rd, and all running from Slow Pack. A resurgent Gateshead Harriers were on the day winners with Tyne Bridge in 2nd and NSP 3rd. Morpeth remain at the top of the overall table on the same points as TBH but having won one fixture. The U/15 Boys were 2nd on the day to Durham City, with Oliver Calvert running the day’s fastest time in 5th place. Oli was supported by no less than 5 fellow team mates, with Oliver Tomlinson in 10th, also from Fast, Stephen Craske in 16th, Harry Armstrong 23rd, Ben Moll 25th and Dan Burrow 30th. The team head their overall table beside Gateshead Harriers. The U/15 Girls were most unfortunate in that a confusion over numbers and names saw Megan Potrac unfortunately disqualified despite finishing well. Iris Dungait in 9th headed the team home with Charlotte Marshall 25th. Once again Tabby Robson was the club’s only runner in the U/17/20 race, but like her older brother she had a very good run to come in in 6th place, ensuring promotion to the next pack up. There were however full teams out in the Under 13s, with the Boys in 7th and the Girls in 8th. Daniel Vermaas was first back for the club in 22nd in the Boys event, with Michael Leeson 31st on his debut and Evan Laude in 36th from Fast Pack. The team placed 7th and are 6th overall. The U/13 Girls are unfortunate in that all their runners come from Fast Pack, but this will surely balance itself out as the season goes on. Emma Tomlinson was 17th, running one of the day’s fastest times, Faye Heatley 27th and Grace Cunningham 47th. The team finished in 8th but are nicely placed in 5th overall with a good chance of moving up the table. The day’s activities had been once again kicked off with the U/11 races, where Morpeth had no less than six U/11 athletes running. In the Boys race, the club’s own ‘Thompson Twins’, Jacob and Jack (not of course actually related, but then neither were the band, who took their name from the bumbling detectives in Herge’s Adventures of Tintion - as fans of cheesy 80s pop will no doubt remember) were well up the field in 2nd and 4th, Jacob only 5 seconds off the day’s winner. Eli Mcsparrow was 34th also. Lucy Raper was also well up the field in the Girls race, coming home 4th, with Zoe Tomlinson 13th. The field also included Jane Hodgson’s daughter, Emily, who competed in her first ever proper race and came back in 25th place in front of some very proud parents. A link to full results is here: http://www.harrierleague.com/results/2022-23/Druridge/ The next fixture is at Lambton Castle in County Durham on Saturday 29th October. No Lambton lions – and hopefully no malevolent worm either – but a scenic backdrop of the castle and a proper xc course. Put the date in your diary if you have not already done so, as the competition is certainly hotting up. View Stuart Whitman's gallery of images from the day: Senior men Senior women Juniors Two Morpeth teams travelled to the English Road Running Association Autumn Relays at Sutton Coldfield on Saturday, with the highlight of the weekend undoubtedly the team Bronze won by the club’s Under 17 Men to add to the Gold won in the Northern Relays in Manchester some two weeks earlier.
Featuring the best in the country, competition was inevitably even more intense, and to come away with a National medal is no mean achievement. Held over 3 stages of 3.88 kilometres per leg, the same trio of athletes featured for the club as at Manchester, so it was once again Ryan Davies who led out for the club on the 1st leg, clocking 12 minutes 7 seconds for 9th place. Early leaders Rotherham AC took an early lead with Zak Ferguson recording the day’s 2nd fastest time of 11:38. Bertie Marr moved Morpeth up one place on leg 2 with his 12:18, but there was still an awful lot to do on the final leg for Will de Vere Owen. But posting the day’s 5th fastest time of 11:48, Will proved himself more than up for the challenge, with the team recording an overall time of 36:13 for a fine 3rd place. Winners Cambridge and Coleridge AC, for whom Isaac Morris recorded the day’s fastest time of 11:36, were the overall winners in 35:16 with Rotherham (who Morpeth had actually finished ahead of in the Northern) having to settle for Silver in 35:57. Congratulations to all concerned, and also to the loyal parental support team who travelled, as well of course to coach Mike Bateman. The club’s Senior Men also made the long journey to Birmingham worthwhile with a fine 12th place in the Men’s event, this time held over 6 stages of.5.84 kms each. Dominated by teams from the South of England with Aldershot, Farnham and District the eventual winners in a time of 1 hour 43 minutes and 37 seconds, Morpeth did have the distinction however of being 2nd team from the North of England behind Northern winners Leeds City AC, who were 2nd overall and only lost out by 5 seconds on an exciting last leg. For Morpeth, Finn Brodie clocked 17:34 on leg 1 for 14th, with Sam Hancox’s 18:00 seeing the team slip slightly to 17th. Making his debut for Morpeth, Will Cork moved the team up to 13th with his 17:43 and a returning Carl Avery recorded the day’s fastest time on the next leg of 17:29 as the team moved into the top 10. Runs by Connor Marshall (18:29) and Matthew Briggs (18:22) saw them drop down by a couple of places to 12th (1:47:37), but this was nevertheless a strong performance and the best finish for a number of seasons. Once again, congratulations to all. Behind Aldershot were Leeds City in 1:43:42, only 5 seconds behind after nearly two hours of racing, with Cambridge and Coleridge AC in 3rd (1:44:04). There were some 74 complete teams, with Gateshead Harriers next NE team in 37th, Sunderland in 53rd and Birtley in 66th. Fastest leg of the day was 16:39 by a flying Jack Rowe on leg 6 for Aldershot, who reeled in the unfortunate Leeds City athlete ahead of him. The Senior Boys squad from King Edward School took pride of place at the annual first round of the English Schools Cross Country Cup competition at Temple Park, South Shields on 4 October.
Matthew Walton of Morpeth Harriers, who is in the form of his life at the moment, highlighted by a recent Harrier League win at Wrekenton, led the squad home from the front, winning by a three-second margin from fellow club colleague James Tilley, who was second counter for the Morpeth School. Other prominent Morpeth Harriers in the leading group were Elliot Kelso (4th), who represented Ponteland High School, and Ralph Robson (5th) representing Queen Elizabeth High School in Hexham. Finishing one place behind Robson was club colleague Bertie Marr, who was third home for King Edward. The King Edward winning quartet was completed by Will DeVere Owen, who finished tenth. Other Morpeth Harriers competing in the Senior Boys event were Ryan Davies, who finished thirteenth, and Liam Roche who was fifteenth, both representing King Edward. Ollie Calvert of Morpeth Harriers was a clear winner in the Intermediate Boys event, as he led King Edward to seventh team place. Other Morpeth Harriers in action for King Edward here were, Ben Moll (29th), Steven Craske (32nd), and Daniel Scott (35th). In the Junior Boys event, Morpeth Harrier Harry Armstrong was second counter for a winning St Thomas More squad from North Shields, when he finished seventh. Five athletes from Morpeth Harriers took part in the Intermediate Girls event. They were Iris Dungait (16th), Megan Potrac 17th), Molly Roche (22nd), Charlotte Marshall (25th), and Rosie Heaton (42nd). The combined scores of Dungait, Potrac, Roche, and Marshall, gave King Edward a sixth team placing. Much-travelled Gavin Bayne continued his very successful year with a strong performance at the Great Bristol 10k.
Starting and finishing in the city centre, the event also includes a Half-Marathon (which takes in the Avon Gorge and passes under the iconic Clifton Suspension Bridge) with over 15, 000 runners taking part in total. Continuing his outstanding form of 2022 which makes him one of the leading veterans in the country, Gavin recorded 39 minutes 11 seconds in 176th place and picked up a BMAF Silver medal to add to this year’s collection. It was a case of London Calling for four Morpeth Harriers at the weekend, with the TCS London Marathon rescheduled from its traditional slot in April.
Amble-based Ian Harding had a superb run to come home first for the club in a time of 2 hours 28 minutes 56 seconds in 58th place overall, recording a fine pb in his early 40s and a result that vindicates the many, many dedicated miles put in in training over the previous months. Not far behind was London regular Andy Lawrence, 148th in 2:34:35. O/45 Jamie Johnson ran 3:18:38 for 3857th, and, running in aid of St. Oswald’s Hospice, Matthew Boyle recorded 4:28:29. The race itself was won by Kenyan Amos Kipruto in a time of 2 hours 4 minutes 39 seconds, with Ethiopian Yalemzwef Yehualaw winning the Women’s race in 2:17:26. Meanwhile, Michelle Thompson made the long journey to the Scottish Highlands at the weekend for the Loch Ness Marathon, fittingly sponsored by Baxters (of the warming soups). No sightings of Nessie, but an excellent run by Michelle, who clocked 3 hours 2 minutes and 27 seconds on a challenging course. She was also 4th female athlete, first O/40 and in 48th place overall. |
Archives
April 2024
|