On Saturday 22nd February 2020 in Glasgow, Morpeth Harrier Rory Leonard took part
in the 3000m at the British Athletics Indoor Championships, instead of defending his Junior Men’s title at a wet and muddy Wollaton Park in Nottingham, at the English National Cross-Country Championships. It is debatable whether Leonard made the correct choice, in that he was well off a very much up tempo pace throughout, against stiff opposition, finishing at the rear end of a ten man field, led home by Reading’s Jonathan Davies, who posted a winning time of 8m07.96s. Meanwhile Leonard finished in 8m34.89s, recognising that from the off he was up against more experienced older opposition, who were intent on extinguishing his young threat by upping the pace before the race was a quarter old. Another athlete with a Morpeth Harriers connection in action in Glasgow, was North East Champion Shot Putter Craig Charlton. The RAF Serviceman did well to finish an excellent fourth to City of York International Scott Lincoln, who made a winning Putt of 19.49m. Delight for Charlton was that he produced a new personal best of 15.63m, taking 9cm off his old figures. Morpeth Harriers Senior Men won back the Royal Signals Relays trophy they had lost last year while their Senior Women were second in the North East Counties Road Relays Championships held at Hetton Lyons Country Park on a blustery Saturday afternoon.(15th February)
With none of the administrative haggling that had delayed the running of last year’s race to the Autumn, the event was once again restored to its traditional early season spot in the timetable with the main worry being the threat of the impending Storm Dennis from the West. The opening race of the day incorporated both the Women’s and Men Over 50 Championships and was run over four legs of the traditional 2.2 mile, undulating circuit of the lake. An outstanding run by Gateshead Harrier teenager Chloe Wellings, who clocked the fastest women’s time of the day (12 minutes 25 seconds) put the outfit from South of the Tyne into an early lead on leg 1 which they never relinquished, although Robyn Bennett brought Morpeth Harriers home in 2nd place (13:03). On leg 2, Rachelle Falloon ran an identical time to the Gateshead athlete (12:51), although Michelle Thompson took a few seconds back on leg 3 with her clocking of 14:23. In the end, the gap on leg 4 was too great for veteran Jane Hodgson (13:07) to win back against another teenage athlete, and the club settled for a strong second place and a set of greatly enjoyed silver medals. Morpeth’s Veteran Women’s team, comprising Sue Smith (16:53), Pam Woodcock (17:45), Margaret Macdonald (19:06) and Lesley Chapman (17:57), were 17th VW team, with NSP’s Veterans clear winners in the competition. Morpeth’s Over 50s Men’s team suffered from having lost two of its potentially fastest runners to the Over 40s during the week as injury and availability badly comprised selections, but put together a respectable 6th place performance. Ironically, first club across the line – Tyne Bridge Harriers – were later disqualified due to last leg runner Steve Cairns being ineligible (although he has run and medalled for them here before). This meant North Shields Polytechnic’s O/50s, featuring of course World Masters Champion Guy Bracken (who clocked 11:49 here), were awarded Gold medals, although by then a disgusted Vaughan Hemy had already sloped off in anger at his own last leg! Morpeth’s A team of 0/65 Dave Nicholson (14:10), Paul Waterston (13:55), Alistair Macdonald (14:09) and Neil MacAnany (14:01) clocked a total time of 56:24 behind NSP A and B, Sunderland A and B and Elswick. Meanwhile an incomplete B team of Paul Brown (14:41), Bill Tilley (15:13) and Paul Bellingham (15:19) also turned out. In the Senior and Men’s O/40 six stage that followed, with so many of the club’s leading Senior Men having run in Armagh on Thursday evening, team manager David Swinburne had no choice but to put his faith in no less than four of the club’s teenagers, and they all proved deserving of the trust placed in them, the team winning by over a minute from their nearest rivals. A keenly contested 1st leg saw local club Houghton Harriers take an early lead with what proved to be the fastest time of the day, 10 minutes 34 seconds, by outstanding youngster Henry Johnson. Morpeth’s Kieran Hedley hung on gamely to record 11:05 however, finishing in 4th position behind athletes from Sunderland and Darlington Harriers. Taylor Glover ran an almost identical time of 11:06 on leg 2, and although Gateshead Harriers had moved up the field thanks to a sub 11 clocking by evergreen Conrad Franks, Morpeth took a lead of 14 seconds at the end of the leg that they were never thereafter to lose. Dan Melling on leg 3 - the second Mike Bateman-coached athlete to figure - ran a very well-judged 11:14 that showed he was in no way overawed by the competition around him, and the club retained a 9 second lead over Gateshead Harriers at the end of the leg. Rowan Bennett, the 4th Morpeth teenager to feature, clocked the club’s fastest time of the day (11:02), with one of the club’s best runs, and with the margin to Gateshead having gone out to nearly 15 seconds, victory was now very much on the cards. It was useful for the club to be able to draw on the experience of a returning Sam Hancox on leg 5, who showed he had missed the challenge of a good race as he ran a confident 11:04. Behind Hancox, it was now Sunderland and Houghton locked in a tussle for the minor medals with the gap to both having gone out to well over a minute. Having run in Armagh less than 48 hours previously, last leg runner Adam Pratt was no doubt happy then to be able to run on cruise control, his clocking of 11:17 bringing Morpeth to a cumulative winning time of 1:06:48, a minute and 10 seconds ahead of Sunderland and Houghton Harriers in 2nd and 3rd, with Gateshead having been run out. Meanwhile the club’s 0/40 veterans were unlucky to finish in a respectable 4th place behind Tyne Bridge, Sunderland and NSP. Jamie Johnson, currently in full London Marathon training, got the club off on leg 1 with a posting of 13:26 and evergreen Gavin Bayne – who had only been asked to step down the night before and willingly obliged – ran 14:15 on leg 2. In his first ever veteran relay for the club, Eric Adams ran 13:45 on leg 3 and Lee Bennett the club’s fastest veteran time of the day, 12:38 on leg 4. Rob Hancox was another who willingly stepped down an age group, running 13:24 on leg 5, and Jason Dawson finished the club’s account with 13:28 on leg 6, the team finishing just over a minute outside the medals. The annual UK Inter Counties Cross Country Championships, where teams from all counties in the UK,
including the North East will be in action. is being held on Saturday 7th March, and the event also incorporates the final of the popular UK Cross Country Challenge. The North East has now finalised its list of competing athletes. Morpeth Harriers athletes included are, Carl Avery, Alex Brown (Senior Men), Catriona MacDonald (Senior Women), Ross Charlton, Daniel Dixon, and Daniel Melling (Under 20 Men), Rowan Bennett, Dylan Gooding (Under 17 Men), Holly Peck (Under 17 Women), Ryan Davies, Joe Dixon, (Under 15 Boys), Abi Leiper (Under 15 Girls), and Oliver Tomlinson (Under 13 Boys). Two athletes from Morpeth Harriers took part in the annual British Universities Indoor Track and Field Championships, held in Sheffield over Friday, Saturday and Sunday 14th, 15th and 16th February.
Under 20 Sprinter Jessica Young-Rogers finished an excellent third in her opening heat of the 60m, producing a new personal best time of 7.94s. However, the Sunderland University first year student found things a little tougher in her later run Semi Final, where she finished seventh, with a time of 7.97s. Ruaridh Lang, currently studying nearby at Sheffield University, produced a personal best of 11.81m in the Shot Putt, and finished fourth amongst the contingent of Under 23 athletes. |
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