Morpeth Harrier Amy Lott performed superbly at the Sheffield Indoor Arena on Saturday 12th January 2019,
when finishing an agonising fourth in the final of the Under 17 Women’s 60m Hurdles, in the first day of competition in the Northern Athletics Indoor Championships. Posting a lifetime best of 9.11s (equal ninth in the UK, and equal second for a first year Under 17), she just missed out on a Bronze medal behind Doncaster’s Nicole Lannie (9.06s). Event winner Abigail Pawlett of Stockport, and Silver medallist Melissa Coxon also posted lifetime bests of 8.66s and 8.94 respectively, which place them first and third in the current UK Rankings. Despite just missing out on a medal, Lott can feel justifiably pleased with her performance, a factor which also pleases her devoted Coach Dave Thomas, who unfortunately missed out on the occasion due to him having to attend a UK Athletics Coaching Course. Fellow North East athletes Charlotte Rutter and Philippa Ellis of Darlington and Gateshead respectively, both second years in the age group, also made it to the final. Rutter finished sixth in 9.20s, whilst Ellis trailed in a disappointing eighth and last in 12.99s, after unfortunately injuring herself at the third flight of hurdles. Lott’s performance will obviously prove encouraging, as she tackles other Indoor Championships in the forthcoming weeks. The 40th anniversary of Alnwick Harriers’ flagship Northumberland Coastal Run
will be held on Sunday July 21st 2019 – but the registration process will be different this time around. The renowned event takes place over a multi-terrain route, stretching for approximately 14 miles. It starts at 10.30am from Beadnell Harbour and follows the stunning Northumberland coastline down to Alnmouth beach. Registration for the 2019 race will take a slightly different format from previous years as it will be over two days. The first day will be Thursday, January 17, for all UKA-registered athletes and club members. The second day will be Friday, January 18, for UKA-registered athletes and non-affiliated runners. You can enter via www.resultsbase.net and registration opens at 6pm on both days. Costs for this race are £26 for affiliated runners and £28 for non-affiliated. Log on in the 15 minutes before opening and you will be assigned a random place in the queue for entry when it opens. If you sign on after 6pm, you will be placed at the back of this queue. The following website gives you details of the process https://resultsbase.net/page/queue Please note that this race sells out quickly, so it is recommended to follow the log in queueing process. In addition to this, courtesy of the Northumberland Athletics Network, Morpeth Harriers & AC have been allocated 30 guaranteed entries for the event, applications must reach us by email, morpethharriers@aol.com by Thursday 17th January, and all applicants must be fully paid up members of the club, no friends or family members will be allowed use of the entry. All entries are to be paid for by the member, at the above rate of £26.00, and carry an entry code applicable to the network, and are non transferrable. For the seventh time in succession, Morpeth Harriers Male athletes retained their hold on the Sherman Cup, which was held at a cold but relatively dry Temple Park Leisure Centre, South Shields on Saturday 5th January 2019. It really was a red-letter day for the club, as they also won the Davison Shield, which is competed for by Female athletes. Both competitions are held by the North Eastern Harrier League, and akin to the league itself, sponsored by Start Fitness. Morpeth Harriers success on Saturday was borne out of an excellent turnout in both genders, and by some athletes who were admittedly less than fully fit. On the team front, the club enjoyed age group victories in half of the ten events on offer, three coming from the Male section, with two coming from Female efforts. There were also individual championship medals won by the club, two Gold, three Silver, and three Bronze. The three Male team victories all came from the club’s younger athletes. Ryan Davies again got to close quarters with Blackhill’s Tom Slane in the Under 13 Boys event, just losing out for Gold by the merest of margins. Further Morpeth team support, which saw them achieve an excellent team victory over Blackhill, came from a truly excellent run by Joe Dixon, which saw him win a Bronze medal, only a few seconds adrift of Davies, with the winning Morpeth scoring count being closed by seventh placed Bertie Marr, who had also been doubtful with illness prior to the event. Although outside the scoring three, Morpeth’s Adam Howliston and William DeVere-Owen are to be commended for finishing 39th and 54th respectively in a finishing field of 75. Led by Euan Duffin, who excellently ran his way into an individual Silver medal placing behind Birtley’s Chris Perkins, only losing out on Gold by a mere twelve seconds, led Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Boys to an emphatic on the day team win ahead of Durham City and Gosforth. Duffin was well supported in team affairs by Dylan Gooding and a much-rejuvenated Ben Walker, who finished fifth and ninth respectively, with excellent runs, particularly pleasing for the latter, who has indeed bounced back after an extensive period of worrying low form, caused by illness and injury. Despite recent illnesses, Dylan Davies and Sam Tate still turned out to finish respectively in seventeenth and 18th places. Other Morpeth finishers in the Under 15 Boys event were Matthew Walton (23rd), and James Tilley (37th). Houghton’s Will Bellamy may have looked a lonely dominant figure as he strode to an emphatic twenty-eight second margin victory over Gateshead’s Charlie McMillan in the Under 17 Men’s event, however it was what was happening behind the leading two that was deciding the on the day team issue. Three Morpeth Harriers, all finishing within a period of twenty-seven seconds in third, fourth, and fifth places, clearly won the day, with Bellamy’s club, and Gosforth Harriers fighting out the minor placings. It was a particularly pleasing day for Morpeth’s Rowan Bennett, who managed to run himself into an individual Bronze medal placing, only a mere eight seconds adrift of Silver medallist McMillan. Bennett was joined in the Morpeth team success by fourth placed Daniel Melling, and fifth placed Tom Balsdon, who were eighteen and twenty-seven seconds adrift of their leader respectively. Other Morpeth placings in the 27 strong field of finishers in the Under 17 Men’s event were, Thomas Cunningham (14th), and Brad Brown (22nd). An excellent turnout by the Morpeth Harriers Senior and Veteran Women, 19 of them in total, saw them take both team titles, which was a superb contribution to the club taking the Davison Shield for the first time since 2012, having won it for nine seasons in succession prior to this, and the club had also won the trophy in the first year it was competed for, which was around 1994, a trophy that was donated to the Harrier League by Ron and Pam Davison, who were joint secretaries of the organisation, before their move to Scotland in retirement. Eight of those Morpeth Harriers in action were inside the top thirty of a 347 strong field of finishers, which proved the club’s dominance, with five of them being Seniors, and three of them being Veterans, thus clinching both titles. Leading the way for Morpeth was European, Olympic and Commonwealth star Laura Weightman, who returned to the venue of her win in the competition in November 2016. Then, she had got around the Women’s two lap course in 21m29s, on this occasion she was a good forty seconds faster and winning by a clear margin of nearly 110 seconds from her second placed club colleague Emma Holt, whom she had also beaten in 2016, although the margin had been a little slimmer. Holt, meanwhile, could take delight that she had bettered her 2016 time by fourteen seconds, just enough to hold off the stern challenge from Heaton’s Danielle Smythe to take a prize Silver medal. Completing the Morpeth Harriers Senior Women’s winning tally was fourth placed Catriona MacDonald, who was just over a minute adrift of Smythe. Not far behind MacDonald in seventh place was her club colleague Rachelle Falloon, who bravely fought her way round despite nursing a leg injury. One place, and only eight seconds adrift of Falloon was first Woman Veteran finisher Gemma Floyd, who led the Morpeth Veteran Women home, with further excellent team counts coming from Morag Stead (12th Woman) (4th Veteran), and Helen King (19th) (9th Veteran). The clubs other prominent Women’s finisher was young Alison Brown, who competed superbly to finish in 30th place. Another good result for Morpeth Women, was that of newcomer Sarah Lawson, who finished in 68th place. Not far behind Sarah in 78th place, was Veteran Jane Briggs, and finishing just outside the top 100, in 101st place was Jill Bennett, another Woman Veteran. Other Morpeth Harriers finishers on the day in the Women’s event were, Jilly Bell (129th), Lucy Fenwick (134th), Lesley Chapman (162nd), Sue Smith (175th), Jane Kirby (181st), Pam Woodcock (240th), Margaret MacDonald (272nd), and Claire Hiscock (326th). A very creditable turnout indeed, leading to two very vital and important team victories. Second and third team places in the Senior Women’s section went to Gateshead Harriers and Heaton Harriers, whilst in the Veteran Women’s section, second and third team honours went to Sunderland Harriers and Gosforth Harriers respectively. Morpeth Harriers very nearly clinched a third Female team victory on the day, courtesy of their combined Under 17/Under 20 Women’s squad, who lost out on countback to Houghton Harriers, after finishing on a level number of points with their Wearside rivals. However, Morpeth did have an on the day Gold medallist in this event, in the form of Holly Peck, who despite a number of stern challenges from Under 20 rival Rhian Purves of Gosforth, held her resolve to go on to win her Small and Large lap event by a margin of ten seconds, with Houghton’s leading counter Eva Hardie coming home to take the individual Bronze medal, a further fifteen seconds adrift. Supporting Peck in the Morpeth team count was Robyn Bennett, having her first race for some time. Bennett battled throughout to finish fifth, with the Morpeth team count being completed by Gracie Hufton, who finished an excellent twelfth. Bennett and Hufton were second and fourth Under 20 athletes behind Purves. Other Morpeth Harriers finishers in this event were, Ella Duffield (15th), Kirsty Duffin (16th), and Kay Errington (25th). In the longest race of the day, over three long laps, Morpeth Harriers Senior and Veteran Men battled hard to finish second and fifth respectively. Under 20 athlete Taylor Glover led the Morpeth Senior Men’s charge, finishing an excellent sixth, which still being an Under 20 athlete is a fine achievement, and the added factor that he was just over thirty seconds adrift of an individual medal, speaks volumes on the strength of his individual performance. Supporting Glover in the Morpeth Senior Men’s team count, which saw them finish second to Tyne Bridge Harriers, losing out for team victory by nine points, were Jordan Scott (7th) and Andrew Lawrence (9th). Other prominent Morpeth Senior Men in the 428 strong field of finishers were Matthew Briggs (23rd), who was fourth Under 20 to Glover, and Alistair Douglass (26th). Finishing 39th, Lee Bennett brought Morpeth Harriers Veteran Men home to fifth team place behind Sunderland Harriers, with further team supporting counts coming from Fergus Bates (58th), and David Nicholson (129th). Other Morpeth Harriers performances in the combined Senior and Veteran Men’s event, came from Andrew Hebden (68th), Neil McAnany (155th), Richard Kirby (213th) Eric Adams (215th), and Paul Bellingham (254th). A superb third place, and an equally superb Bronze individual medal achieved by Morpeth’s Abi Leiper in the Under 15 Girls event, inspired her club to third team place on the day, but nevertheless was an integral part of the overall success in winning the Davison Shield. When Rhiannon Hedley proved to be a late withdrawal with stomach pains, Rebecca Bradley, who had been ill herself, bravely stepped up to the plate by getting around to finish in eleventh place as second counter, and Olivia Carruthers, who had been due to take part in a ladies football tournament, which had been subsequently cancelled, also stepped in to play her part in the team success, by coming home as third counter in 24th place. Morpeth’s other finishers in this event were newcomer Sophie Coaker, and Laura Melling, who finished in 33rd and 35th places respectively. The clubs least experienced squad, the Under 13 Girls, did well to finish eleventh,
courtesy of Sophia Cunningham (31st), Molly Baker (38th), and Keira Peck, younger sister of Holly, who is still an Under 11 athlete this season, however by age is now eligible to compete at Under 13 level, and to finish 49th against a 67 strong field of mainly older girls is in itself an excellent achievement. At the end of the day, by stepping up in age group, and being a team counter into the bargain, she will share in her club’s overall success of winning both the Davison Shield and Sherman Cup, possibly being one of the club’s youngest recipients ever, of a championship medal. Staying with Under 11 achievements, Morpeth had two athletes lined up in the non-scoring Under 11 Boys event, which had a finishing field of 68 competitors. Oliver Tomlinson finished an excellent fourth, only ten seconds adrift of the winner, and Toby Marr, younger brother of Under 13 Boy Bertie, finished in 57th place. Returning to the main competitions, the Sherman Cup and Davison Shield, Morpeth Harriers won both by virtue of the fact that they had managed to field full teams in all five counting events of each competition. In the Sherman Cup, they won by a margin of sixteen points over Sunderland Harriers, with Gosforth Harriers a further three points adrift. Morpeth Harriers, Sunderland Harriers, and Gosforth Harriers were also the only teams who had full complement of athletes. The Davison Shield proved to be a little closer, with only thirteen points dividing the first three teams, where again, only those clubs had full turnout on the day. Morpeth Harriers won however by a margin of eight points from Elswick Harriers, with Sunderland Harriers again scoring, this time for third team place. Dr Antoinette Kenny, principle executive of Heartscan, had the privilege of setting nearly 200 hardy competitors on their way, in the annual Morpeth New Years Day Road Race.
Her company, which is North East based, and offer heart-screening services to sport, both in the professional and amateur field, were providing main sponsorship to the event for the very first time, and hope to continue keep up a relationship with Morpeth Harriers and it’s membership, based upon the strength of their continued support, laced with the services that they can bring to event participation. Shortly after 1.00pm, and in rather unseasonal warm winter sunshine, runners began their approximately 11k pursuit from the bottom of Dogger Bank on Mitford Road, taking in the splendid Northumbrian country splendour of Mitford, Mitford Steads, and the Whalton Road, returning to the finish on the Stanners, after passing the Sun Inn, and heading through Carlisle Park, and along the promenade. Just over thirty-three minutes, (33m05s) to be precise, it was Gateshead Harrier Callum Johnson, who began 2019 in fine style, by winning the event by a margin of eighty-two seconds from 2018 winner Ross Floyd from Morpeth Harriers. Third place went to Floyd’s club colleague Thomas Straughan, who had won his clubs 10k in August 2018. Straughan finished six seconds adrift of Floyd. First Female finisher was Jarrow and Hebburn’s Steph Pattinson, who was 21st overall in 40m55s. Pattinson won the Women’s race by six places and fifty-three seconds from Morpeth’s Catriona Macdonald, with the third placed Woman Judith Nutt of Elswick Harriers, a further four places adrift, posting a finishing time of 42m14s. Nutt was also the first Veteran Woman finisher. Morpeth Harriers wish to sincerely thank Heartscan for their much-valued generosity towards the event, and to Dr Kenny for her assistance in both starting the event and making post-race presentations on behalf of the organisers. In addition, they would like to thank Morpeth Rugby Club for the use of their Grange House Field premises as Race Headquarters and for Post-Race Presentation. They also wish to thank Race Director Kevin Bray, and his superb team of club members and friends who acted as Race Marshals on the day, without whose assistance, the event could not take place. UK Officials who assisted with finish control and on the on the day results production teams, are also to be thanked, along with Tees-side Volunteer First Aid Services, who were also present both on course and at the finish to assist where required. Finally, thanks also go to Race Number.Co. Uk, for providing pre-event registration services. |
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