With a sixth and final meeting held at Alnwick on Saturday, the curtain came down on the Start Fitness North East Harrier League cross country season for 2021-22 with the club able to carry off three on-the-day team and two individual wins to round off another highly-successful campaign. There can, of course, be fewer more picturesque settings for racing than Alnwick Pastures, with the castle’s iconic presence imposing itself on events from the distance on a day of both bright spring sunshine and chilly winter breezes, with Alnwick Harriers once again a welcoming and well-organised host. First up were, as ever, the Under 11 boys and girls running over a short but hilly one kilometre course and there were three Morpeth boys out, with Jacob Thompson first back in 13th (4 minutes 3 seconds). William Macbryde had his first ever run in a blue and white vest in front of proud grandmother and clothing supreme Pam Woodcock and was 45th in 4:45 (and commented afterwards ‘It was too short’, not something often heard at cross countries!). Eli Macsparrow was also 59th in 5:08. In the next age category, it was pleasing to see a full team out at last in the U/13 boys, with Evan Laude 6th (15:55), Daniel Vermaas 11th (16:16), Thomas Roche 25th (16:54) and William Hawkins 40th (17:39), all from Slow Pack. The team finished complete in 3rd overall and there is certainly some promise now for next year’s campaign. One of the most pleasing results of the day was in the matching U/13 girls race, with the team finishing 2nd on the day to North Shields Polytechnic Harriers but winning the overall league title. This time Grace Cunningham was first back, 6th in 17:07 with Faye Heatley 13th (17:34) and Charlotte Marshall just behind in 14th (17:35), all from Slow Pack. Fastest Morpeth time of the day was by Emma Tomlinson from Fast Pack, 18th in 16:22, with Sophie Pledger 20th (18:10) and Molly Roche 27th from Fast (16:51). Rosie Heaton was 30th from Slow (18:44) with Megan Potrac 32nd (17:13) and Iris Dungait 40th (17:46), both from Fast. An improving squad has shown how important it is to put out full teams and support each other, and can feel justly proud of their season. Emma also made the top ten in the individual grand prix in 9th position. There were, sadly however, no Morpeth vests out in the U/15 girls, where Tabbie Robson to her credit has ploughed a lone furrow all season, and this is the one glaring absence for the club that will need addressing in the autumn. There were in contrast comprehensive wins for both Under 15 and Under 17 boys teams, who have dominated their divisions over the season with both outfits winning five out of the six available fixtures. Led home once again by Oliver Calvert, 5th in 12:44, the team’s three to count were again made up by Joe Close, only a few seconds behind in 6th (12:47) and Oliver Tomlinson 7th (12:55), all from Fast Pack. Calvert won the individual Grand Prix, with Close in 3rd and Tomlinson in 4th. Further supporting runs came from Dan Burrow, 17th in 15:17 and Stephen Craske, 25th in 15:52, both out of Slow, and Eliot Mavir, 42nd in 15:27 from Fast. The equally dominant U/17s were led home by Bertie Marr, 4th on the day (14:43) to Birtley Harrier Chris Perkins (14:00) who also won the individual GP. Ryan Davies, 5th in 14:45 and James Tilley, 8th in 15: 16, both found the conditions much easier than the exertions of the previous week’s National, with Matt Walton 13th in 15:46. Marr was able to enjoy his 2nd place in the GP table, with Davies 5th, Walton 7th and Tilley 8th. The club’s first individual victory came in the combined U/17 and U/20 Women’s race, where Millie Breese comfortably held off all competition to win with the fastest time of the day, 16:31, and also take the overall GP title. Caitlin Flanagan, also running from Fast Pack, was 18th in 19:00, but sadly there was no 3rd counter. There was at least the consolation of an overall 3rd place for the season, but the contrast with full squads in other categories continues to shows how important it is for us to close out teams. There has certainly not been a problem however in getting the club’s Senior Women to turn out for the cross country with record numbers indeed for the club, and this time there were twelve Morpeth athletes forming part of the 400 plus field where Elswick Harriers looked to claim the overall title. In a two-lap race won by veteran Kirsty Lowery of Sunderland Strollers in 32:19, the day’s fastest time was again recorded by Cat Macdonald, 3rd home overall in 28:10 with Jane Hodgson chasing her most of the way and finishing in 4th (28:54). Cat and Jane were clear winners of their respective Senior and Veteran GP tables. Julie Vermass, now out of Medium Pack, was 3rd team counter in 33:43 while Gemma Floyd (59th) and Lindsey Quinn (60th) were locked in a tussle together all the way for 4th, both later credited with the same time. Supporting runs came courtesy of: Mhairi Line, 77th from Slow (37:00); Robyn Ferguson, 94th (Slow, 37:18); Sarah Lawson, 143rd in first run from Fast Pack (33:06); debutant Gemma Turnbull, 151st (Slow, 38:14); Sue Smith, 252nd (41:16); and, in their first races back after long-term injuries, Jane Kirby (Slow, 258th, 41:36) and Claire Calverley (Medium, 274th, 39:59). Surprisingly, the team placed only 4th on the day with Jesmond Joggers, Elvet Harriers and even Elswick again finding some Slow Pack finishers. Morpeth could, at least, enjoy a fine 2nd place overall for the season and can look forward to a battle with this year’s winners Elswick Harriers in September, most of whose runners have now moved up to Medium or Fast Packs. Final race of the day was the Senior Men’s where the club rounded off the season in fine style with overwhelming individual and team victories. The individual victory came courtesy of local lad Phil Winkler, the Leeds resident back on home turf for the weekend but keen to have a post-Covid infection ‘rust buster’ run, something he was most emphatically able to do. Running from Slow Pack, he was soon in the clear and led all the way and, with a final clocking of 39:38, finished a minute and a half of 2nd place finisher and guest Jarlath Mckenna, whose 36:16 from Fast Pack was the day’s fastest time. There was a long-awaited debut for the club from Graeme Cook, 5th in 42:22, and a further one from Richie Hughes, 11th in 43:03, both from Slow. Under 20 Joe Anderson, now out of Medium, was 15th in 40:57 in a season that has seen successive promotions for him out of Slow Pack to Fast, as like Connor, he makes what looks like a seamless transition from the Junior to Senior ranks. With veteran Graeme Thorpe 21st (43:54 from Slow) and Connor Marshall 6th counter in 23rd (39:05 from Fast), the club’s 6 to count score was a miserly 32 points, over a 100 less than Heaton Harriers in 2nd. Indeed, Tom Innes, 5th in the final GP tables and 26th here, didn’t even make the counters on this occasion. Winning three of the six fixtures outright, Morpeth’s Senior Men won the team title by a seven point margin over nearest rivals Tyne Bridge Harriers, who were awarded 2nd place despite finishing on the same points as Sunderland Harriers, but who won two fixtures. There were no less than eleven other Senior and Veteran men out: Shaun Land, improving again to finish 46th from Slow in 45:25; David Stabler, 77th in his first ever NEHL (46:13); Andy Lawrence, 130th from Fast (42:11); Jamie Johnson, 153rd from Slow (47:40); Jake Parmley, one place and one second behind, also from Slow; Alistair Macdonald, 214th (Slow, 49:13); Jason Dawson, 224th (Medium, 46:57); Rob Hancox, 242nd (Medium, 47:24); Richard Kirby, 284th (Slow, 51:15), getting his revenge on Richard Johnstone, 314th (Slow, 52:31); Bill Tilley, 371st (Slow, 53:21). Some 468 finished. Overall then for the NEHL season, a final tally of four out of a possible eight team victories, plus one second and one third place, and also four individual grand prix wins. Thanks and congratulations to all those who ran – if there’s one thing we are constantly reminded of at the XC, it’s about the numbers out, not just the counters. If you didn’t run – you’ve missed it! But rest assured, it will be back in the autumn. Visit Stuart Whitman's gallery of photos from the event here. The final league tables are available on the Harrier League website here. It was a long day indeed for the handful of athletes from Morpeth Harriers who made the journey south on Saturday morning to compete in the Saucony National Cross Country Championships. Held for the 17th time at Parliament Hill Fields on the Southern end of Hampstead Heath - considered by many now to be the spiritual home of the English Championships - the hugely demanding course offers spectators panoramic views of the London skyline but is also renowned as one of the toughest in the country. With conditions exacerbated by a week of heavy rain in the south, there were a lot of on the day drop-outs during races – though thankfully none from Morpeth – with the club’s competitors to a man acknowledging a degree of difficulty that trumped anything they had encountered so far over the winter, even despite the challenges of local races at Aykley Heads and Thornley Farm. Mercifully the day itself was at least sunny with, as expected, big crowds of spectators and there was one stand-out performance for the club in the Under 17s and a highly respectable team count from the Senior Men. The U/17 performance came courtesy of Joe Dixon, younger brother of Team GB triathlete Daniel, who finished in an excellent 10th place. Clocking 22 minutes 16 seconds for the 6 kilometre course, he was just over a minute behind race winner Sam Mills of Exeter Harriers (21:14) with some 304 finishers in total. Still at the bottom end of the age group, Joe will have another shot at the race when it comes north in 2023. Behind him, James Tilley had a good run to come home in 125th (25:07) with Ryan Davies three places behind in 25:09, though half-term holidays meant that, sadly, there was no fourth counter to make a team up. Later, running on his own in the Junior Men’s 10k race, Dan Melling placed almost exactly half the way down the field, 211th in 38:50. Largest field of the day, with just over 2000 finishers, was the Senior Men’s 12k. Demanding from the off, with a steep, uphill start, a gruelling battle at the front saw Southampton AC athlete Mahammed Mahammed eventually triumph in 40:52 with Leeds City AC’s Emile Cairess 2nd in 41:07 and Olympic triathlete Alex Yee 3rd in 42:04. Carl Avery was Morpeth’s first counter, 44th in 44:50 and behind him Sherman Cup winner Matthew Briggs, in his first ever National, was 86th in 46:03, a tremendous performance that pleased watching coach Jim Alder MBE greatly. The club’s other counters were: Finn Brodie, 103rd in 46:29; James Taylor, 157th in 47:20; Sam Hancox, 164th in 47:27 and Connor Marshall, like Briggs in his first ever National, 287th in 49:30. The team count of 841 points placed the club in a respectable 15th position overall but at least 1st from the North East (with Sunderland Harriers 43rd and Tyne Bridge 88th,) and also 4th from the North of England, with Leeds City, Sale Harriers and Hallamshire Harriers ahead. The six to score team competition was won by Southampton AC on 209 points, with Leeds City on 265 (despite having their 6th counter home in 65th) and Cambridge and Coleridge on 270. The club’s other finishers on the day were: Andrew Lawrence, now thankfully on the road to recovery but not one to miss the chance to run in the mud, 437th in 51:49; Tom Innes, 519th in 53:02; Mark Snowball, 520th in 53:03; and veterans Jason Dawson, 1067th in 1:00:28 and Neil Gunstone, 1209th in 1:02:19. The Senior Women’s 8 km race was won by Jess Gibbon of Reading AC in 29:00 with the team title going to Leeds City ahead of Aldershot Farnham and District AC and Londong Heathside. Tyne Bridge Harriers placed 42nd and NE Project 89th. With a protracted, damp and chilly journey home on the train – this time accompanied by the celebrations of returning Newcastle United fans on their way back from Brentford – that saw most only getting back by as late as 11 pm, congratulations are due to all who turned out even if the total numbers of those running was a disappointment. With the competition returning to the North in 2023, there should be no excuses for not turning out en masse as a club. Meanwhile North of the border, Cat Macdonald took part in Scotland’s own National Cross Country Championships held at Calendar Park in Falkirk. Running for her Scottish club Bellahouston RR, Macdonald had a fine run to finish in 10th place overall in a time of 39:37, with the race won for the 3rd time by Mhairi Maclennan of Inverness Harriers AC in 36:36. |
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