A busy three days of the Great North Run weekend saw members of Morpeth Harriers win big races on both Friday and Saturday, with over two dozen then forming part of the 60,000 who took on Sunday’s half marathon from Newcastle to South Shields.
Action got underway on Friday night with elite races over one mile and 5k broadcast live on the BBC and forming part of the UK Road Championships, with the prospect of selection for the GB team in the inaugural World Athletics Road Running Championships in Latvia next month the prize on offer for race winners. First up was James Young in a one-mile race over a course that started near the Guildhall, went out over the Swing Bridge to the South bank of the Tyne before crossing back over the Millenium Bridge to the finish line. Always up with the leaders, James looked well placed throughout, but lost out in the closing stages of the race; Callum Elson of Cambridge and Coleridge winning in 4 minutes 8 seconds with Young unfortunately squeezed out into fourth place in the run-in. The Women’s 5k Championship that followed saw Swansea’s Verity Ockenden win impressively in a time of 15:26. Scott Beattie and Rory Leonard lined up in the third race of the night, the Men’s 5k race over the same course. The two club colleagues are both currently in fine form and were clearly determined to give good accounts of themselves on home turf, Beattie having already won the Quayside 5k over much of the same territory the previous month and Leonard having taken European U/23 Gold over 10,000m on the track. With Rory pushing the pace at the front on the second of the three laps, the small field gradually spread out, but it was Scott who produced a hugely impressive late surge over the Millennium Bridge to show a clean pair of heels to his rivals. He went on to win in a time of 13 minutes 56 seconds, some four seconds ahead of Stroud AC’s Tom Mortimer with Rory taking third place in 14:03. The win sees Beattie secure his place on the plane to Riga for his first GB vest. Interviewed later, both athletes spoke enthusiastically about the pleasure of competing in front of friends and family in such a picturesque setting, the near perfect conditions only enhancing the experience. There was another fine Friday night performance later in the mass participation Great North 5k race that followed, with Peter Smallcombe narrowly beaten into 2nd place by a two-second margin by Luke Davis of Western Tempo, who won in 15:24. Super Saturday’s Junior and Mini Great North Run events, with thousands taking part, were spearheaded by another win by an in-form Harrier in blue and white, Elliot Kelso winning in a time of 12 minutes 49 second for the 4k course, over ten seconds ahead of his nearest rival. The day’s races were split into colour-coded., age-related waves, with results here: Daniel Scott, 23rd in 15:31; Kate Kennedy, 61st in 16:27; Faye Heatley, 9th in 17:18; Jacob Thompson, 72nd in 18:37; Erin Burns, 49th in 19:52; Emily Vermaas, 23:08 (places given according to age-graded waves). The headlines on Sunday were always going to be taken by Sir Mo Farah in his last ever competitive outing, Farah finishing 4th in a time of 1 hour 1 minute 54 seconds, with Ethiopian Tamirat Tola breaking the one-hour mark to win in 59:58, with the women’s race won by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir in 1:06:45, with Charlotte Purdue first British runner back in 3rd in a time of 1:09:36. Conditions for Sunday were, however, certainly the most challenging that runners could remember, with punishingly high temperatures affecting many people's hoped-for times and expectations having to be adjusted accordingly; as Rob Hancox succinctly put it later: ‘it was brutal out there.’ Nevertheless, Carl Avery had yet another top notch run to finish just outside the top ten in 14th place in a time of 1:07:17 with Lawrence McCourt only two places behind him in 1:07:36. Carl and Lawrence were also the first two runners home from the North East of England. Not too far behind was training companion Finn Brodie, 30th in 1:09:56, with Sam Hancox, 34th in 1:10:31, and Tom Prentice,47th in 1:13:05, all making the top 50. Thereafter other finishers included: Chris Parr, 54th in 1:13:34; Ali Douglas, 92nd in 1:16:31; Ross Floyd, back in competitive action in a very respectable 1:18:37 for 130th; Marks Snowball and Banks, 442nd and 44th in 1:25:50/51; Andrew Hebden, 488th in 1:26:20; Rob Hancox, 1166th in 1:33:27; Connor Hall, 1353rd in 1:34:53; Jake Parmley, 1822nd in 1:37:52; Ben Clarke, 2165th in 1:39:33; Dave Swinburne, 2707th in 1:42:04; Gary Mason, 4939th in 1:49:19; Will Clark, 6987th in 1:54:10; Matty Boyle, 7264th in 1:54:57; Paul Turnbull, 7270th in 1:54:57; Roderick Bruce, 12483rd in 2:04:53 and Arjan Piet, 17035th in 2:12:50. Kirsty Burville was the club’s first female finisher with an excellent run of 1:33:29 for 1170th, with Anna Wright 1725th (1:37:17) and Tayla Douglas 1918th (1:38:25). In her first GNR, sixth-former Caitlin Flanagan was 3106th in 1:43:44, Linzi Quinn 4767th in 1:48:51, Laura Mclean 4954th in 1:49:21, Julie Vermaas 5037th in 1:49:35 and Mhairi Line 11748th in 2:03:34. Sadly, as if the oppressive heat hadn’t been enough of an ordeal, the heavens then opened and, with the journey back from South Shields affected by flash-flooding and many Metro stations closed, the return home proved to be as much of a challenge as the race itself. For all the weekend's results see here. The first fixture in the new NEHL season takes place at Wrekenton once again on Saturday 23 September, with the second at Druridge Bay on Sunday 15 October.
Entry is free to all paid-up members of the club and we would encourage as many as possible Young, Senior and Veteran athletes to be involved: success at XC is nearly always about getting the numbers out, not just those who’ll make the counters. Full details are on the NEHL website here. Packs for this season can be found by clicking on the Runner Information heading and scrolling down to Morpeth Harriers. If you are new to the club, your name will need adding to the Morpeth list. You can do this by:
This is one of the few occasions where we get to see the club operating across all the age ranges, male and female, and we hope to have another successful season. See you there! The Club Championships for young athletes will take place on Monday 11 September over the traditional one-lap course of approximately 1.30 miles at Lancaster Park.
If you have not already put your name down on the notice board and wish to run, please get down to the clubhouse promptly (ie well before 6.45 pm) next Monday so it can be added. Runners will be taken up to the course from 6.45 pm with the aim of getting the first race for Under 11s and 13s off by 7.15 pm. Thereafter the U15s and 17s will run, with a new two lap race for U20s last off. This is an excellent opportunity for all young athletes at the end of the summer holidays both to test themselves against their club colleagues and to get in a sharpener before the start of the cross country season, as well as helping team managers with team selection. Any help from parents to marshal is appreciated, but can we please request that, to avoid possible parking difficulties and complaints from residents, parents and spectators walk up from the club if at all possible – the route through the woodland only takes ten minutes. Taking only just over two hours, Cat Macdonald was 2nd female finisher in the historic Ben Nevis race at the weekend.
One of the country’s oldest and certainly most iconic fell races, the race starts and finishes in Fort William before a circular route taking in the summit at 4409 feet, and is certainly both ‘daunting’ and ‘a very special event’ as the organisers quite rightly proclaim. Representing Bellahouston Road Runners, with whom she is registered to run when across the border, a fine descent saw Cat get ahead of multiple winner Sharon Taylor towards the foot of the mountain to finish in a time of 2 hours 6 minutes 23 seconds, a matter of minutes behind York Knavesmire Harrier Rose Mather who was 1st female home in just under the two hour mark. This year’s race was blessed by some balmy conditions for once and featured some 431 hardy finishers in all, and was won by remarkable Scotsman Finlay Wild of Lochaber AC for the 12th consecutive year with a time of 1:35:26. Alistair also ran well, finishing 128th and 2nd Over 60 in 2:20:08, with Gary Mason finishing in 337th in 3:00:31 as one of the contingent of Northumberland Fell Runners who travelled to the event. Weekend round-up Also taking on a big challenge was Claire Calverley, who completed the Bullock Smithy Hike Ultra 56. With runners competing through the small hours of Saturday into Sunday in unseasonably warm conditions, it was no surprise to see so many drop-outs, with only 154 of the 280 who had entered completing. Never one to shirk a challenge however, Claire was 20th overall, completing in 14 hours 33 minutes and finishing as 3rd female home. Closer to home, the Anne Allan Alnwick Trail Race charity run took place in the Ingram Valley on Saturday. Run in memory of the much-missed Alnwick Harrier, the race raises funds for MND with this year the third running of the event. Fittingly perhaps, Alnwick’s Nick Briggs was a winner in 32 minutes 41 seconds for the 9 kilometre event, with Lindsey Quinn 4th overall but, as last year, 1st female finisher (42:09). Club colleague Steve Haswell was 3rd in 38:58. Also taking place at the weekend was the Essity Prudhoe Miners 5 Mile Race, organised by the somewhat modestly named local club Prudhoe Plodders. Won by Sunderland Harrier Liam Taylor in 36 minutes 34 seconds, Morpeth’s Tom Prentice, now being guided by club president Jim Alder MBE, was 2nd in 26:38. Five athletes from Morpeth Harriers were in action at Sunday's Tartan Games, held once again at Gateshead Stadium, and they gave a very decent account of themselves, with performances that included two event wins, one second and one third place.
Sean O'Hara placed 4th in the Senior Men's 100m in a time of 11.50 seconds, a season's best, with the race won by New Marske Harrier Caleb Hanif in a pb ime of 11.10s. In the same race the tireless Anthony Liddle was 7th in 12.32s. Liddle was back in action later in the 400m where he placed third this time with a pb of 55.29s. Freya Caygill was second in the U/17 100m in a time of 13.19s with Gateshead's Millie Wilkinson winning in 12.55s. Amelia Hamlin was a winner however in the U/17 300m in a time of 44.34s. Finally, it was great to see Bobbie Griffiths back in action in a blue and white vest, turning her arm over once again to win the Women's Javelin with a best throw of 35.84 metres. |
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