The North East Harrier League returns on Saturday with the first fixture of the new season at Wrekenton.
Ahead of the event, host club Saltwell Harriers have issued a notice to participants and spectators relating to some changes that have taken place to the layout from previous years. The club said: "Gateshead Council have planted thousands of very young saplings indistinguishable within the undergrowth and we want to minimise any disturbance to the area. The council have worked very positively with Saltwell Harriers to enable this venue to be used for the cross-country and we do not want to jeopardise this for future years." The area normally used for club tents is now off limits so the tents will need to go to other areas nearby. To avoid the new trees, some of the junior races will be a little shorter than usual for Wrekenton. Pack handicap times will be adjusted accordingly (see map). Please can all Morpeth Harriers, parents and friends respect the work done. Travel: the best route is usually over the Tyne Bridge and following the signs for Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead; the venue is less than a mile after this. Please park sensibly and don't do anything to jeopardise future use of the venue also. Times are on the NEHL website, and also information regarding packs etc. Link is here: http://www.harrierleague.com/ Club tent and flag will be up, and Peter Scaife will have all race numbers. See you there and let's look to pick up where we left off last season! The curtain came down on this summer’s track and field action at Jarrow on Saturday, with both the North East Masters Open Pentathlon Championships and NEMAA 5000m and 10000m Championships being held, and it was a very successful afternoon for all the Morpeth Harriers taking part.
In the Men’s Pentathlon (which included Long Jump, Javelin, 200m, Discus and 1500m), Neil McAnany was 1st in the Over 60 category with a jump of 4.19 metres, a Javelin throw of 19.75m and a Discus of 22.39m. He also recorded 29.24 seconds for the 200m and 5 minutes 9.76s for the 1500m, and broke the existing NEMAA Pentathlon record into the bargain. His success was matched by Over 35 Nisha Desai in the Women’s event, whose busy season finished with a resounding victory in the event, also breaking the NEMAA record which she herself had previously set while up against stiff opposition from athletes from Crook and District and Darlington Harriers. In a slightly different selection of events, Desai recorded throws of 6.90m in the Shot Putt and 21m in the Javelin, along with a Long Jump of 4.95m. She backed this up with a run of 27.06s for the 200m and 2:18:28 for the 800m. The North East Counties Pentathlon took place at the same time, with Mark Snowball finishing in 5th place with Long Jump of 3.86m, throws in the Javelin and Discus of 17.96m and 12.39m respectively, and runs of 27.66s for the 200m and 4:29:26 for the 1500m, the latter two times both personal bests for the distances. Meanwhile in the track 5000m, Over 65 Gavin Bayne’s clocking of 19 minutes dead also represented a new Championship record, with him finishing well over a minute ahead of his nearest rival. The most recent of the autumn’s shows across the county took place on Saturday at Thropton, with the day incorporating its traditional fell race.
Run over a distance just short of 11 kilometres with a a climb of some 365 metres, this year’s race however featured a new route due to continued Forestry Commission closures on Simonside. Won by Tyne Bridge Harrier Craig Jones, John Butters had his first run out since completing the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc, finishing in 4th place overall and 1st O/45. He was followed home by Lee Bennett in 10th place, also a category winner in the O/50s. Close behind was Catriona Macdonald, comfortably 1st female finisher and in 13th place overall. There were some 60,000 runners taking part in Sunday’s Great North Run, as the world’s largest half-marathon returned to its traditional route from Newcastle to South Shields after the Covid enforced changes of 2021, with thirty Morpeth Harriers lining up amongst them.
The race itself was won by Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo in a time of 59 minutes and 33 seconds, with Ethiopians Selemon Barega and Kenenisa Bekele 2nd and 3rd (1 hour 39 seconds and 1:01:01). In a closely-fought Women’s race, Kenyan Helen Obiri was 1st female finisher in 1:07:05, fellow Kenyan Peres Jepcrchir 2nd (1:07:07) and Ethiopian Almaz Ayana 3rd (1:07:10). Gateshead Harrier Calum Johnson, 9th overall, was the first finisher from the North East in 1:03:16 and North Shields Polytechnic Harrier Dave Green, having a good run, the second, 18th in 1:05: 52. Fellow NSP Harrier Molly Pace was the first local female to finish, 27th in 1:22:38. For Morpeth Harriers, Alex Brown was first home, 22nd in 1:06:50 and club stalwart Andy Lawrence, a regular for many years and once again donning his famous banana suit, just outside the top 100, 103rd in 1:14:23. Also taking part for the club were: Mark Snowball, 154th in 1:16:37; Richie Hughes, 230th in 1:18:19; Andrew Hebden, 396th in 1:22:34; Dave Stabler, 422nd in 1:22:51; Jake Parmley, 562nd in 1:24:43; Shaun Land, 602nd in 1:25:13; Neil Gunstone, 1328th in 1:31:41; Josh Burton, 1847th in 1:34:58; Mike Winter, 2048th in 1:36:06; Anna Wright, 2063rd in 1:36:14; Lindsey Quinn, 2069th in 1:36:17; Julie Vermaas, 2309th in 1:37:26 ; club chairman Dave Swinburne, 2637th in 1:38:49; Jenny Belton, 2955th in 1:40:11; Ciaran Leahy, 2989th in 1:40:21; Jim Alder ‘the younger’ 3318th in 1:41:39; Kevin Shanahan, 4819th in 1:46:34; Mike Steven, 5037th in 1:47:14; Laura Mclean, 6908th in 1:52:14; Mhairi Line, 7396th in 1:53:22; Matthew Boyle, 7696th in 1:54:03; Robyn Ferguson, 7887th in 1:54:26th; Paul Willis, 8244th in 1:55:10; Becky Lawson, 12932nd in 2:04:15; Arjan Piet, 21481st in 2:21:01 and Rosie Winter, 25285th in 2:29:18. It was also good to see the return to competitive action of two Harriers both returning after a lengthy spell out and operations to boot, Tony Lewis, 3389th in 1:41:54 and Gary Mason, 7086th in 1:52:39. Good to see you both back – but Gary, did no one tell you there weren’t any hills! The club has now put in place something new for those looking to run on a Monday and Thursday night with what was once the group run by Hamish Mcallister-Williams.
Andrew Dippie will now be taking on the role of coach for this group. Many of you will know Andrew already from his time at the club. He has experience of coaching already, holds a DBS clearance and is also working further to add to his coaching qualifications. A complete schedule for the Walk, Talk and Run group has been drawn up - see here for details. All sessions will start from the club at 7.15pm (unless otherwise advised) but will be often different from those run before. This group is ideal for those new to the club but wanting to develop further, those wanting to build on progress so far under coaching guidance or those just wishing to run socially. For more details contact Andrew at [email protected] |
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