Between the hours of 15.30 on Thursday 21st December, and 8.31 on Friday 22nd December 2017, Morpeth Harrier’s Women’s endurance specialist Lorna MacDonald completed the longest Night Run, and race of her life, and that was to complete no less than 76 miles on foot, comprising of roughly sixteen 4.8mile loops of a planned course round Morpeth, in aid of Shelter, to raise awareness of homelessness, and the health and safety aspects attached to its growing existence. Using the Just Giving procedure, Lorna’s undoubted brave efforts, saw her raise over £1,500, of what was originally a £500 target, and she greatly appreciates the assistance shown by friends and fellow club colleagues, and will quite rightly appreciate the opportunity to put her feet up over the Christmas period. Well Done indeed Lorna, a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you, no doubt you will now know areas of the town that you were not aware of. 2017, Olympic Year, has been superb for 26-Year-Old Morpeth Harrier Laura Weightman, not only in terms of achievement, but also in her consistent performances, which in turn have seen her highly placed, not only in UK terms, but also perhaps more importantly, on the World Stage, performances which have also resulted in her being selected for the forthcoming 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia in April. Weightman will be contesting the Women’s 5000m for the very first time at such a level, having already achieved Silver medal status in her up till now preferred distance of 1500m in the Commonwealth’s in Glasgow in 2014. The recently published World and UK Rankings see Laura highly placed as ninth equal over 1500m in the former, but also seventh in the UK over 800m, second in the 1500m, second in the Mile, and third in what will soon become her more regular competitive distance 5000m. Despite her lack of experience in the 5000m, Weightman’s long term Coach and Mentor Steve Cram firmly believes his charge will quickly make her mark over the longer distance, especially when the competition really matters. Her club and the region certainly wish Laura well in her new challenges, as she prepares to leave for warm weather training in January, in preparation for those challenges in the Gold Coast in April. Dear All,
Thanks for turning out last night and hope you enjoyed it! Next race is Wednesday 24th January and hope that you can make it! Have a Happy Christmas and all best wishes for 2018, Kevin & Linda Christmas Handicap 2017 Well the weather couldn’t have been much different from the November race ! It was perfect last night for the 26 who turned out for the 5k Christmas Handicap and a number of PB’s were clocked which was great. I was recording at the finish and tell you what – people were really trying ! For those who don’t know the system, it’s a ‘yacht’ handicap with the fastest runners away last chasing down the slower runners and my job as handicapper is to get people finishing together. Well, I got 24 of you back inside a 2 minute span which I don’t think was too bad but I do owe apologies to Jill Sandeman and Clare Hiscock for whom I got it completely wrong – Ladies please come back in January & don’t desert me..........!! Last to start and first back after a tremendous run was 15 year old Daniel Dixon in a time of 25.41 which minus his handicap meant he got round in 15.51!! He chased down Mike Steven and Frances Naylor and passed them in the home straight in a really tight finish. Mike and Frances finished 2nd and 3rd both recording 5k PB’s so well done to them ! Fastest lady overall was Lorna MacDonald in 18.44 – perfect (?) preparation for her epic charity run that starts today at sunset and continues until sunrise tomorrow. Lorna is running overnight on the longest night of the year to raise money for Shelter, the homeless charity. If you want to support her click here; https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lorna-macdonald9 where you can find out about what she’s up to! Best of luck Lorna ! Top %age efforts were Daniel at 84.86%, Paul Bellingham (and Rosie, his reindeer cross English Pointer who definitely won the fancy dress prize) with 82.38%, and Neil McAnaney with 81.67%. It was great to see Lesley Chapman back on the road with an excellent 77.18% effort, and Hamish and Jane Kirby running well after recent injuries. Back at the clubhouse the buffet was demolished and a special prize was awarded to the ‘man on the bike’, Dave Taylor who has turned out for every race to act as pacer for the lead runners and he has dragged, cajoled, hollered and shouted people to some brilliant performances over the past two winters ! It was also great that to see some of the younger generation taking part – the two Daniel’s Dixon & Melling and Matthew Briggs. Morpeth Harriers have some very talented young athletes which bodes well for the future ! Thanks to Linda and Lindsey for the timekeeping which was spot on and to Mike, Cinty, Pam and Paul Waterston for their help last night – it’s appreciated ! Next race is on Wednesday 24th January – perfect to help you get over the post festive blues !! Thanks for running and have all best wishes for Christmas and the New Year! Kevin Chester Le Street Riverside Park Run
In his first competitive outing since re-linking with Morpeth Harriers, Lewis Timmins saw that he had not lost any of his zest, when he crossed the finish line in first place in the Chester Le Street Riverside Park Run on Saturday 17th December 2017. Timmins clocked a time of 17m07s over the 5k course. Druridge Bay Park Run Another Morpeth first place was achieved by Under 17 Man Connor Marshall, who led the field home at Druridge Bay, by producing a personal best on the course of 17m43s. Also finishing prominently at Druridge for Morpeth was Kenneth Ions, who was tenth in 20m50s. Other Morpeth runners at Druridge were Paul Adams (30th) 23m31s, Susan Smith (34th) (4th O/50 Woman) 24m03s, Pam Woodcock (55th) (9th O/65 Woman) 26m13s, Molly Ions (56th) (10th U15 Girl) 26m24s. Newbiggin Park Run Mark Snowball of Morpeth Harriers produced a new best of 18m13s at Newbiggin, when finishing second, two seconds adrift of brother Chris, who competes for Ashington Hirst. Not far behind Mark, was fellow Morpeth Harrier Paul Bellingham, who finished third, also producing new figures of 19m31s, and was first Veteran Man. Further down the field in 31st place was David Gray, who clocked 28m01s. Wallsend Rising Sun Park Run Morpeth’s Jilly Bell finished 69th at Park Run, and was 13th Woman, producing a time of 25m19s. Dear All,
I'm conscious that some of you might not have taken part in the Christmas race before so here is a brief update. If you have already registered for the Handicaps that's fine ! Just turn up on Wednesday night - 6.30pm at the club hut for a 6.50pm start at Lancaster Park. Please wear something bright / reflective for the run ! If you want to take part and haven't registered please email me a 5k approx. time and your age and I will add you to the start list ! Christmas Race Rules 1) Spend 5 quid on a prize and wrap it up ! 2) Bring it to the clubhouse on Wednesday night when it goes into the prize pot ! 3) Run the race - Santa hat's, xmas jumpers etc are optional ! 4) Winner gets first pick out of the pot and so on down the field ! 5)Bring something to eat / drink to go on the buffet table for the post race bun fight ! There will also be a prize for the caption competition - so far I've been underwhelmed by the pathetic total of 5 entries (though some are very good !) - so if you haven't entered please see the picture below and email me your effort ! Fingers crossed for the weather and here's hoping for a good turnout - see you Wednesday evening ! Spectators / helpers more than welcome ! Kevin 0789 60 55 794 THINK OF A CAPTION FOR THIS PHOTO ! |
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