Sunday morning saw the 52nd running of the annual Brampton to Carlisle 10 miler, the country’s oldest road race with a prestigious history that includes past winners such as Ron Hill, Steve Cram and Morpeth’s own club President Jim Alder MBE.
With a field of nearly 700 including nine who had travelled across from Morpeth, it was the blue and white vest of a proud Carl Avery that crossed the finishing line first in a time of 49 minutes 22 seconds to add his name to the roll call of winners, some 12 seconds ahead of NE Project’s Kieran Walker in 2nd (49:34). With club colleague and training companion Finn Brodie in 3rd in 50:51, Phil Winkler 7th in 51:47 and Sam Hancox 8th in 51:54, there was no question of where the team prize was going either, while evergreen Gavin Bayne was also the winner of the O/65 category in 1 hour 5 minutes 22 seconds. (Overall, the quality of veteran times on display here was remarkable, perhaps a reflection of how few 10 milers there are around these days and this race being targeted.) Leeds City AC runners were the first two home in the Senior Women, Stephanie Davis winning in 54:51 and club colleague Steph Pennycook 2nd in 55:53 with Durham City’s Jasmine Wood 3rd in 59:15. Also taking part for Morpeth and all having good runs were: Rob Hancox, 146th and 6th O/55 in 1:04:44; Tayla Douglas, 245th and 11th Senior Woman in 1:10:15; David Nicholson, 254th and 4th O/65 in 1:10:44 and Jane Briggs, 352nd and 5th O/55 in 1:16:28. Already one of the region’s most challenging cross country venues, incessant rain in the preceding week had meant conditions under foot were the worst ever known at Thornley Hall Farm, just south of Peterlee, for Saturday afternoon’s NECAA relays, with a whole new lake added to the far end of the course (‘Should I bring my wet suit?’ commented one Morpeth wag).
Thankfully that didn’t deter runners from those clubs who did choose to travel, although it was a mixed bag of teams from across the region, with, for example no NSP outfits featuring at all. It was, however, a productive afternoon for Morpeth, that saw us come out with no less than three team Golds, one Silver and one Bronze from the ten races and a whole host of committed performances from young and old. The club’s first medal came from the U/13 Girls team, where Faye Heatley (11:27), Lucy Raper (1143) and Zoe Tomlinson (12:58) battled through the boggy ground to pick up a fine team Bronze behind expected winners Birtley Harriers, whose young squad again look a class act apart, Olivia Murphy running 10:55 and Kitty Graham 11:09, with Faye clocking 11:27 for 3rd fastest of the day behind them. Running over the same 1.6k course in the day’s first race, the U/13 Boys also did well, outside the medals but finishing 5th with runs by Jack Dhawar (11:44), George Moll (11:58) and Jack Thompson (12:11), with Elswick Harriers coming out on top this time. Despite not being to able to field full teams, it was also great to see the commitment shown by Ben Moll and Emma Tomlinson in the U/15s events, with Ben running 10:08 for the day’s 4th fastest and Emma 11:42, her time the 2nd fastest of the day for her race. Tyne Bridge picked up both sets of winners’ medals. The first Gold came in the U/17 Boys over 2.9k, where Oliver Tomlinson (12:00), Joe Close (12:09) and Elliot Kelso (11:47) were winners after a hard battle in 35:56 against both Blaydon (37:03) and Darlington Harriers (36:18), who were still ahead till Elliot took the lead on leg 3. Oli, Joe and Elliot also ran 4th, 6th and 3rd fastest times of the day in a very consistent performance. (Blaydon’s Max Murray was fastest of day with 11:28.) Their performance was matched by that of the U/20 Junior Men, with James Tilley (13:05), Ethan Phillips (12:59) and Will de Vere Owen (12:14) also picking up an expected Gold, this time over 3k in 38:18. It was a bit of an odd one for the lads this one, with them starting at the same time as the Masters Men (old enough to be their dads if not granddads, in some cases) but soon disappearing into the distance in the face of no opposition. Always good to compete and medal, however. There were two Morpeth teams out in the aforementioned Masters fixture, with some 18 teams in total and a decent overall standard. Won by Elswick Harriers in 40:10, Morpeth A missed out on a medal in 4th place largely due to the unexpected presence of Hartlepool Burn Road Runners (who don’t compete in the NEHL) but who turned up here to finish 2nd in 41:09 with Gateshead Harriers (featuring the irrepressible and ever-smiling Conrad Franks) 3rd in 41:32. Ben Heatley for the A had a good battle with Ian Armstrong for the B on leg 1, Ian coming home in 13:38 and Ben back in 13:55. Andy Ball on 2nd leg moved the team up several places with 14:12 and Lee Bennett consolidated on 3rd with 14:29 for a total of 42:36. Meanwhile Colin Archer was back in relay action for the B on 2nd leg in 14:38 and Richard Glennie finished the count on 3rd in 15:20 for a total of 43:36. It was a family affair in the also keenly contested Senior Women’s race over 2.9k, with Morpeth’s own team of SuperMacs, the Macdonald sisters, taking a fine team win in 43:34. With Cat on the last leg and in such fine form (her 13:10 was the day’s fastest time here) it was always looking promising, with Lorna taking the hard fought leg 1 (15:15) and Lindsey moving the team up to 3rd on leg 2 (15:09). Thereafter, there was only going to be one winner, with Birtley 2nd in 44:06. The club’s B team of veteran Kirsty Burville (15:07), Kay Errington (18:20) and Poppy Bluck (15:38) also ran well to make a top ten finish in 48:54, coming in 9th overall in 48:54. Final race of the day, which also saw the biggest field of some 25 teams, was the Senior Men’s over 3k, with Gateshead Harriers - for whom Calum Johnson gave a demonstration of top class cross country running when running the day’s fastest time of 10:57 - managing to pip Morpeth by only ten seconds after four hard run stages. Tom Balsdon had an excellent run on the first leg to put the club in contention in third (11:59) with Peter Smallcombe (12:20) doing his best to limit the gap opened by Johnson on leg 2 and in the process Morpeth moving up to second. Mark Banks was able to hold the placing on leg 3 (12:57) despite a powerful run by young Houghton Harrier Cameron Allan, who ran the day’s second fastest time of 11:08. Connor Marshall (11:59) on Morpeth’s last leg had a very strong run, however, not only extending the gap to Houghton’s last leg runner behind but challenging Gateshead’s Lewis Liddle up ahead, who was running through treacle by the end was very close to getting caught. Morpeth’s cumulative time was 49:15 against Gateshead’s 49:05 with Houghton in 3rd (50:46). Well done all who braved the conditions to represent the club. In her second call up for to represent England at the British and Irish Masters International Cross Country, Over 40 Veteran Woman Jane Hodgson of Morpeth Harriers, finished 19th overall in the Women’s 6k event at Glasgow’s Tollcross Park on Saturday, and was ninth in her category, and just missed out on being a scorer for England by one place, and two seconds, to Scunthorpe athlete Nicola Curtis, but still received a medal for her team participation along with others.
Jane posted a finishing time of 22m04s, which was just over a minute adrift of race winner Teresa Doherty of Northern Ireland. The England Team finished in second place. In his first official UK Cross Challenge race for three years, Morpeth Harrier Joe Dixon, now competing as a first year Under 20 athlete, finished 32nd in the Junior Men’s 6.4k event in Cardiff on Saturday, posting a finishing time of 21m38s, almost two minutes adrift of winner Sam Hodgson of Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow in a field of 61 finishers. Morpeth Harrier Will DeVere-Owen piloted King Edward VI Senior Boys to the English Schools Cross Country Cup final, by winning the regional final by a comfortable margin at Middlesbrough’s Stewart Park on Thursday 9 November. He was very ably supported in the event by fellow Morpeth Harriers Ethan Phillips (6th), Bertie Marr (8th), and Liam Roche (9th). Behind King Edward in second place was Ermysted Grammar School of North Yorkshire, who were a good 20 points adrift. Another Morpeth Harrier competing in the Senior Boys event was Ryan Davies, who finished in 35th place, in a total field of 80 finishers. King Edward Intermediate Boys were not as successful however, finishing ninth behind Durham Johnston School, being led home by Morpeth Harrier Ben Moll, who was 22nd. Fellow Morpeth Harriers George Mavir and Thomas Roche were also amongst the scoring counts in 29th and 47th places, respectively. Morpeth Harriers Sophie Pledger (Under 15 Girls), and Harrison Scott (Under 17 Men), both made successful competitive debuts on the boards at the opening meeting of the Gateshead Harriers Winter Series, held at Gateshead College on the evening of Wednesday 8 November. Both competed in the 60m sprints, where Pledger in her preliminary heat, won in a time of 8.63s, which was eventually to become the fourth fastest time of the night in her age group, behind Sunderland Harrier Celine Obina Allo, who produced a best of 7.81s. Having qualified to run in a later final, Pledger finished second to her Sunderland rival, albeit in a slightly slower 8.66s. Meanwhile, Scott won his preliminary heat in 7.73s, which was seventh fastest behind Blyth’s Luke Pichler 7.34s, and went on to finish third in his later run final in 7.57s, which made him fourth fastest on the night in his age group, well done to both athletes in turning out in new territory for themselves, and both of these talents emerge holding great promise over the forthcoming winter months, and no doubt their respective club coaches have objectives mapped out for them as the season progresses. The annual Heaton Harriers Memorial Road Races were held on Newcastle’s Town Moor on Sunday Morning, and before the Senior 10k race got underway, competitors, and spectators alike observed a one-minute silence in remembrance of those who fought in the two World Wars, plus other conflicts, as is customary.
Over 400 runners lined up in the Senior event, including 11 finishers from the ranks of Morpeth Harriers. At the halfway point in the race, Morpeth’s Alex Brown had a slender lead over Birtley’s Adrian Bailes, and his former Houghton colleague Alex Coulson, plus Sunderland Harrier Liam Taylor also coming into the reckoning. Brown may have paid a slightly heavy price for his early exuberance, as by the time the front runners emerged from the far reaches of the two-lap course, he had slipped slightly off the pace to fourth, with Coulson now heading for victory, ahead of Bailes and Taylor. Whilst Coulson won in 31m05s, Bailes came home second in 31m14s, with Taylor getting third place in 31m26s, just holding off a fast-finishing Brown (31m36s). Next Morpeth Harriers finisher was Gavin Bayne, who was first Over 65 Veteran Man in 140th place, posting a finishing time of 40m28s. Three places behind Bayne, was his Morpeth club colleague Robyn Bennett, who posted a finishing time of 40m34s, and was sixth Senior Woman finisher. One place behind Robyn was another Morpeth Harrier, in the form of Lee Cuthbertson, who was only a second adrift, and was 43rd Senior Man overall. Further Morpeth Harriers results were as follows: - Alistair MacDonald (177th) (5th O/60 Man) 41m47s; Lindsay Quinn (183rd) (8th Senior Woman) 42m09s; David Nicholson (193rd) (3rd O/65 Man) 42m44s; Richard Kirby (226th) (15th O/50 Man) 44m16s; Laura McLean (292nd) (11th O/35 Woman) 47m49s; David McGuckin (298th) (2nd O/70 Man) 48m13s; and Andrew Dippie (317th) (13th O/60 Man) 49m13s. On the day Morpeth Harriers had no competitors in the accompanying Young Athletes events, which were all held in wonderful sunshine, with no evidence of wind, on what was a very pleasant autumnal day. Following her Italian adventure, another excellent run by Catriona Macdonald saw her pick up the women’s prize over the hilly seven-mile course at the Gibside Fruit Bowl, held within the National Trust Gibside Estate, in a time of 49:43 and 11th place overall.
Remarkably, this win came less than 24 hours after Cat was 20th overall in the Lindsays Scottish Short Course Championships held at Lanark. Having finished 35th last year, this was quite an improvement against the best of Scotland, including a mix of fast U/20s and 800 metre runners due to the odd 4k distance, in effect a course over football pitches, with not a hill in sight. (Alistair Macdonald was 13th in his O/60 age category, although 30 odd seconds would have got him inside top ten and Anthony Jannetta 38th in his O/40 age category, in what he describes as ‘a manic race with a huge field!’). Lee Bennett also had an outstanding run to finish as first Over 50 in 49:01 and 8th place, with daughter Robyn also running well for 6th Senior Woman and 34th, and Linzi Quinn 57th and 9th Senior. The race was won by U/23 Houghton Harrier Chris Coulson in 42:47, with some 212 finishers. Also on Sunday morning at Gosforth Park, some 102 teams were out at the Norman Woodcock Relays on a 1.66 mile course round the road that runs inside the race track. A mixed relay for teams of three, Morpeth fielded some five teams with success in two of the veteran categories on offer. Won by Sunderland Harriers in a cumulative time of 25:24, for whom Joe Armstrong ran the day’s second fastest leg of 7:42, Birtley’s Adrian Bailes going some four seconds faster, Morpeth’s A team of Mark Banks (8:06), Lizzie Rank (9:52) and veteran Tony Lewis (9:22) finished in a respectable 7th place in 27:20. The B team were hit by the late withdrawal on Saturday that had meant Tony joining the A team, so it was down to team manager Scaife to complete the team after runs by Andriy Volkov (9:55) and Poppy Bluck (10:30), with the team finishing in 58th in 33:44. (Commented Scaife later, ‘I had a bit of a Star Trek moment as I kept recalling Scotty’s immortal words: Captain, I cannae get no more out of these engines!’ ) The Over 40s team of James Dixon (8:46), Kirsty Burville (10:20) and John Butters (9:39) were unfortunate to miss out in their category, coming back in 19th (28:45) but 4th 0/40 outfit behind three teams from North Shields Polytechnic Harriers, for whom Steph Maclean-Dann ran the fastest female time of the day (9:43). However, the club’s 0/50s and 0/60s both picked up prizes, the 0/50s team of Neil MacAnany (9:49), Shuna Rank (11:42) and Mike Winter (10:48) finishing 2nd in their category in 32:16 and the 0/60s, represented by Dave Nicholson (10:43), Pam Woodcock (14:18) and Gavin Bayne (10:25), going won better to win theirs in 35:26. Full results here. |
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