Jonny Taylor of Morpeth Harriers finished third behind Aldershot and Farnham International Andy Vernon, in the Senior Men’s 9.51k event at the opening British Cross Challenge fixture, held at Teardrop Lakes, near Milton Keynes on Saturday 12th November. Taylor, who had enjoyed his first outing of the winter at Mansfield the previous week,
was well up with the leading pace, and in fact took on the lead going into the final 2k of the event, only to fall back to his finishing slot in the closing stages behind second placed Ben Connor of Derby, and winner Vernon. In the end, posting a time of 29m01s, he was nineteen seconds adrift of Vernon, and seven seconds adrift of Connor, and ten seconds ahead of fourth placed Adam Hickey of Southend. Four Morpeth Harriers were in action at the annual British and Irish Masters
International Cross Country meeting, held at Tollcross Park, in Glasgow on Saturday12th November. Representing England, Chris Smith and John Butters finished in 16th and 23rd places respectively in the Over 35 and Over 40 Men’s events. Bob Marshall competed for Scotland in the Over 65 Men’s event, finishing 16th in his age category. Fergus Bates competed in the 8k Open Race, and finished in seventh place. England won the Overall Team award, ahead of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Morpeths Mark Snowball was the first to cross the finish line in the inaugural Prudhoe Riverside Park Run on Saturday 12th November. Snowball posted a finishing time over the brand new 5k circuit of 17m29s. In the Newcastle Park Run, Morpeth Harrier Paul Banks finished eighth in 18m16s. Three places behind him was club colleague Paul Bellingham, who produced new figures of 18m21s. Carl Avery of Morpeth Harriers had his second win in a month at Druridge Bay.
On his previous visit, he broke club colleague Ian Harding’s course record, however on Saturday he was agonisingly twenty-two seconds adrift of his own new record, when he posted a time of 15m53s, which was over three minutes’ clear of his closest rival. Another prominent Morpeth Harriers finisher at Druridge Bay was Trevor Robinson, who placed 24th in 22m38s, which for him was a brand-new best. Sam Hancox was first Morpeth Harrier home at the prestigious Abbey Dash in Leeds last weekend,
and behind him there were again a number of personal and season bests. The out-and-back race between Leeds city centre and Kirkstall Abbey again attracted a high-class field and nearly 9,000 runners in total, and also featured also the England and UK 10k Championships. On a chilly but thankfully rain-free morning a closely fought men’s race was won by Jonny Mellor of Liverpool Harriers and AC in a time of 29 minutes and 12 seconds. It was a more clear-cut victory in the women’s race where Scottish Olympian Liz McColgan’s daughter Eilish, of Dundee Hawkhill, was a resounding victor in a time of 32m 52s. With a time of 31m 9s, Hancox knocked over 40 seconds off his previous best for the distance when finishing in 35th place and showed the progress he continues to make under the guidance of his coach, Chris Waugh. Some twenty seconds behind him was his training partner Tom Straughan in 45th place (31m29s) who also knocked over thirty seconds off his previous best for the distance. When Morpeth’s Emma Holt crossed the line eighteenth in the women’s race in 35m 6s, she became the third Waugh coached athlete to record a pb for the distance. Other Morpeth Harriers who made the journey down the A1 in search of a fast time were Andrew Hebden, now recovered from his exertions in the Kielder Marathon, 289th in 36m 33s; Sam’s Dad Rob, 293rd in 36m 36s and 6th Over 50 male; Matthew Boyle, 363rd in 37m 44s; Mark Cockburn, 460th in 38m 53s; Peter Scaife, 656th in 40m 25s and 8th Over 55 and, in only his second 10k, Paul Bellingham, 760th in 41m 46s, another pb. With five of their competing teams all finishing inside the first fifteen in their respective events, it was a relatively good day at the office for Morpeth Harriers at the annual English Cross Country Relay Championships, held at Berry Hill Park in Mansfield, on Saturday 5th November 2016. Best of those five results came from their Under 15 Boys, who finished tenth, followed very closely by their Under 17 Men, who finished twelfth, then their Senior Men, who after a tough battle finished thirteenth, and their Junior Men, and Under 15 Girls both achieved fourteenth places respectively. Very little recent rainfall rendered the various courses fairly firm and dry, with only the odd muddy patches in the wooded sections of now well known and much established North Nottinghamshire venue, and autumn sunshine accompanied by a cool wind proved most welcome to most competitors. Morpeth had two Under 15 Boys teams in action in their 3 x2k event, and their A team worked their way through from a first leg effort by Daniel Melling, who was 31st on the opening leg, with a time of 6m53.45s. Ross Charlton did well to take them up 19th with an equally excellent 6m54.55s on second leg, leaving third leg runner Daniel Dixon to bring them home in a final tenth place, with a clocking of 6m34.00s, which was just outside the ten fastest times of the day. The squad were also second from the North and North East behind Middlesbrough AC, who nine seconds and four places ahead of them. They were also only around thirty seconds adrift of a medal winning spot. The Morpeth B team were ninth B team, finishing in 56th place overall out of 78 complete teams, courtesy of Thomas Cunningham (7m19.40s), Andrew Hudspith (7m37.75s), and Brad Brown (7m49.50s). Morpeth Harriers had no less than three teams competing in the 3 x 3k Under 17 Men’s event. Their A team performed superbly to finish in twelfth place out of 72 complete teams. Rory Leonard had them very well in contention, when coming home in 18th place on the first leg, posting a finishing time of 9m21.10s, which proved to be only a mere 21 seconds adrift of early leaders, and fellow North Easterner’s Middlesbrough AC, courtesy of supremo Josh Cowperthwaite, who eventually proved to be the fastest of the day. Taylor Glover elevated the squad to twelfth on the second leg, posting a time of 9m46.05s, a position that was carefully maintained by third and final leg runner Kieran Hedley, who clocked 9m33.70s. The squad finished as fourth from the North of England, and first from the North East, as early leaders Middlesbrough AC slipped to thirteenth place, seven seconds adrift. Morpeth Harriers Under 17 Men’s B and C teams finished in 37th and 58th places respectively. The B team performance came courtesy of newcomer Joe Ramshaw, who is now fully clear to compete following his transfer from Gosforth Harriers, and he can feel very proud of his debut effort, as he made an excellent start by finishing 50th in 9m53.65s, which was firmly supported by colleagues Connor Marshall, and Liam Marsh, who clocked 10m06.30s and 10m10.90s respectively. Matthew Waterfield set things up nicely for the Morpeth C team with his first leg effort of 10m08.80s, which was further improved upon by Joe Dowd (10m30.35s), and Alex Cunningham (11m00.10s). The Morpeth B and C teams were seventh and third respectively. Morpeth Harriers Senior Men unfortunately could not defend their title that they narrowly won twelve months ago. Due to injury and general unavailability, only Jonny Taylor remained from that winning squad, however along with Taylor, Carl Avery, Robert Balmbra, and Jordan Scott made every effort to produce a respectable performance. Despite excellent third and fourth leg performances by Robert Balmbra (16m45.50s), and Jordan Scott (16m36.35s), the squad slipped to a final placing of thirteenth, but were only eighty seconds adrift of a medal winning slot. They were also fourth from the North of England, and first of eight North East clubs competing. Morpeth Harriers Junior Men’s squad finished fourteenth in their 3 x 3k event, courtesy of Joe Armstrong (9m04.20s), Phil Winkler (9m49.50s), and Scott Beattie (8m50.45s), which proved to be just outside the top ten fastest times. They were sixth from the North of England, and first of four North East clubs, and only 48 seconds adrift of a medal slot. Completing the Morpeth Harriers squads in the top 15 were their Under 15 Girls, who ran very competitively to finish fourteenth overall. Ellie Coxon had them very handily placed in 24th position on the first of their 2k legs, posting a time of 7m36.20s. On second leg Holly Peck climbed an excellent fourteen places, posting a time of 7m30.15s. Lily Heaton responded well on the pressure cooker like final leg, and despite losing a mere four places, her time of 7m58.95s was most respectable. The squad were fourth from the North of England, and the first of three North East clubs. In the Junior Women’s 3 x 2.5k event, which was the first to face the Starter of the ten-race programme, Morpeth Harriers finished 29th, courtesy of Alison Brown (10m07.75s), Abby Sheldon (10m24.70s), and Charlotte Jewell (11m20.50s). Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Girls finished 62nd in their 3 x 2k event, courtesy of Mia Belton (8m44.00s), Rhiannon Hedley (8m09.10s), and Laura Melling (9m43.80s). For Belton and Melling, the occasion must have proved quite daunting, as in both cases it was their first ever taste of National competition, and under the circumstances they coped very well, and impressed their Team Manager Mike Bateman. Bateman was equally praiseworthy of the Morpeth Under 13 Boys squad, who very courageously battled through to the finish of their 3 x 2k event, despite being the victims of an overzealous official, who denied second leg runner Alex Porteous access to begin his second leg run, after first leg runner Ben Walker had come home in an excellent 21st place, posting a time of 7m13.05s. Meanwhile as Porteous, knowing that Walker had finished, protested, and around three minutes and sixty plus places had been lost before the mistake was realised, and eventually the Morpeth youngster was given sanction to begin his run. Clearly upset by this, Porteous battled through to hand over to final leg runner Dylan Davies, who individually clawed back fifteen places with his clocking of 7m38.10s. Despite further protests afterwards by the Morpeth Harriers Team Management, the Event Referee decreed that the result could not be altered. It is thought that in reality Porteous actually ran around 8m00s in terms of time, which effectively would have seen the squad in 20th place overall, and seventh from the North of England, and also first from the North-East region. Morpeth Harriers Olympian Laura Weightman posted the fifth fastest time of the day of 9m36.00s,
when she came home in fifth place on the first leg of the Senior Women’s 3 x 3k event. Unfortunately, because of other commitments Morpeth could only manage to field two runners on the day, and second leg runner Josie Cram finished eleventh when she clocked 11m00.85s. Team Manager Bateman was also very praiseworthy of parent’s willingness to assist by ferrying youngsters to the event, and for the general on the day support throughout the course of proceedings, which certainly contributed to an excellent all round performance. |
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