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. The Club Championships for Young Athletes saw a record turn out by some 63 runners in total over the traditional one lap course of Lancaster Park (approximately 2.25 kilometres).
The first race incorporated the U/11 and U/13 Boys and Girls races, with 29 athletes in total taking part. First home was U/13 Evan Line in a fine time of 8 minutes 15 seconds with fellow U/13 Emma Tomlinson next in in 8m 48s. Following them, U/13s Euan Laude (8m 56s) and Daniel Vermaas (9m 00s) had an excellent tussle for 2nd and 3rd in their categories, with Laude just winning out. Faye Heatley ((9m 10s) and Sophie Pledger (9m 49s) were 2nd and 3rd U/13 Girls. Confusing the scorers mightily were Thompsons Jack and Jacob (no relations) 1st and 2nd in the U/11 with the same times (9m 06s) as well as the same surnames! Lochlan Dungait was 3rd in 9m 23s. Lucy Heatley (9m 43s), Lucy Raper (10m 08s) and Zoe Tomlinson (10m 10s) were 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the U/11 Girls. Although there were slightly fewer runners in Race 2, the competition was, if anything, even more intense with U/17s Will De Vere Owen and Bertie Marr battling it out all the way to the line, with Will winning by a margin of only one second (6m 29s). Fellow U/17 Ryan Davies was 3rd home in 6m 35s, with U/15 Oliver Calvert only one second behind him. Oli Tomlinson was 2nd U/15 (7m 20s) and Ben Moll 3rd (8m 23s). For the Girls, U/17 Tabby Robson ran the fastest time of the night (8m 24s) with Caitlin Flanagan 2nd (8m 50s) and Kate Kennedy 3rd (9m 22s). In the U/15s, Molly Roche was 1st home in 8m 57s, with Iris Dungait 2nd (9m 02s) and Megan Potrac 3rd (9m 04s). Well done to all who took part and made it such a competitive and successful evening. Special thanks to Hemant Desai, who once again provided use of his drive (and lawn), to Julie Roche who recorded the times, and to Mickey Groves and George Patterson who recorded times and started. Click here for full results Morpeth athletes claimed three podium finishes at the Kielder Marathon weekend of events, including a gold-medal double in the 10k.
Mark Snowball won Saturday’s 10k, which took place in heavy rain, in a time of 35:40, comfortably ahead of his closest challenger, Paul Turnbull of Tyne Bridge Harriers (37:27). And Rachelle Falloon – the club’s only other runner among the 540 participants - made it a Morpeth double as she was the first woman home and seventh overall in 39:33. The skies brightened substantially the following day as Mark returned for the weekend’s headline marathon event – a challenging, undulating full circuit of the reservoir. Understandably taking it a bit steadier this time, Mark finished in a time of 3:39:49 (34th place and 19th in the senior men category). Aberdeen-based couple Kyle and Debbie Greig celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary in style by winning the male and female races respectively, and justifying the long trip down from north east Scotland. Kyle finished in 2.45.46, just under three minutes ahead of last year’s winner Russell Maddams of Keswick AC, with Debbie smashing the course record for a woman in 3:07:10, which earned her 5th place overall. There were 539 finishers in the marathon. First home for Morpeth in 3:12:14 was Kielder veteran Andrew Hebden who came 6th overall and 2nd men’s V40, and the club’s first female finisher was Anna Wright in 3:50:13 (62nd and 2nd women’s V40). Other Morpeth Harriers taking part included Matthew Briggs who was acting as a pacemaker for a friend (53rd in 3:45:12); Jane Kirby (81st in 3:56:25); and Mhairi Line (207th in 4:28:49). There was more Morpeth success in Sunday’s half marathon where John Butters claimed 2nd place and 1st V45 in an impressive time of 1:17:47. Richard Castledine was Morpeth’s only other competitor in the half marathon, finishing 91st in 1:46:17. There was just one Morpeth Harrier taking part in Sunday’s junior events - Steven Craske finishing 5th in the U16s race in 07:03. |
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