Evenwood Road Runners

Evenwood Road Runners and supporters travelled to Cumbria on March 1 to compete in the Haweswater Half Marathon. On a scenic but undulating course in cold conditions new member John Clifford was 1st back for the club for 3rd position in 1.14.24, next home was Paul Tucker in 1.46.09 followed Andy Green in 1.47.15. Next home was Steven Graydon doing his 1st half marathon finished in 1.56.15. Tessa Fletcher was next back in 2.04.02, Stephen Sams also doing his 1st half marathon finished in 2.08.19. Victoria Aitken was next in 2.08.28, followed by another member doing his 1st half marathon Lee Phillips 2.13.39. Gillian Ball and Andrew Laybourn running together finished in 2.18.28, followed by Darrel Brown 2.20.26, Louise Rhodes 2.23.03, Samantha Tucker 2.32.28, Natalie Carter-Sedgewick 2.36.28 and Kenny Sams.

On Sunday 22nd February Alistair and Maddy Fisher competed in the Snake Lane 10 mile race at Pocklington North Yorkshire, Alistair Finishing in 1.06.24 and Maddy in 1.10.09.

Crook and District AC

The penultimate fixture of the NEHL season saw Crook secure promotion to the first division at the scenic venue of Alnwick Castle. After a season long battle the club managed to secure the required points with a fixture left and it now comes down to the final fixture at Wrekenton to see who wins the Division two title between Tynedale Harriers and Crook AC.

Results: U13 Boys - 50 Adam Wilson 16.27. U17 Boys - 8 Jordan Rawlings 29.45 - 27.05 F.

Senior/Vet Ladies - 58 Joanne Raine 33.14 - 29.14 F, 84 Natalie Byrd 33.42, 124 Caroline Teasdale 34.22 - 32.22 M, 133 Helene Pratt 34.27 - 32.27 M, 176 Lynsey Manifold 35.46, 195 Elizabeth Allison 36.40 - 34.40 M, 229 Joanna Wilson 38.35.Senior/Vet Men - 43 Carl Chapman 41.08 - 36.08 F, 71 Dave Best 41.50 - 39.20 M, 118 Jason Bridgewater 42.42, 126 Craig Downs 42.43, 135 Chris Auld 42.57 - 37.57 F, 165 Sam Beckett 43.23 - 38.23 F, 187 Jason Allison 43.45 - 41.15 M, 226 Craig Wren 44.21, 235 Rob Teasdale 44.34 - 39.34 F, 267 Wayne Pearson 45.08 - 42.38 M, 268 Geoff Hewitson 45.08, 310 Paul Brennan 46.28, 347 Paul Smith 47.48, 363 Kev Saville 48.29, 380 Gerry Hehir 49.03, 400 Eric Moore 50.06, 409 Darren Fairclough 50.17, 443 Graham Laverick 52.26, 447 Chris Clynes 52.38, 460 Percy Parkin 53.15, 461 Neil Douthwaite 53.22, 477 Steve Manifold 55.03, 507 Allen Purdham 68.22.

Our young athlete Markhim Lonsdale once again tasted success on Saturday at the Indoor Under 17 Championhips in Sheffield with a four second victory in 4.01.62 in the 1500m Final.

Last week Steve Mills took a trip to Huddersfield and to take part in the 10K which he duly completed in 54 minutes on the undulating course.

Last Sunday saw Ropner Park the venue for the latest Stockton Winter Trail race series event. Five Crookites took part with Joanne Raine coming home first lady in a cracking time of 20.18. Michael Dufton was 44th in 22.02 while Steve Manifold clocked a time of 23.56 in 75th place and Matthew Hargraves came 90th in 24.57. Lynsey Manifold completed the 5K route in 25.33 to earn 102nd place.

Victoria Manifold took part in Finsbury parkrun last Saturday morning and clocked a time of 31.18 to come 193rd.

Paul Smith was the lone Crookite at Durham parkrun and completed the 5K route in 30.01 to earn 199th position.

At Blackhill parkrun David Goodfellow clocked a time of 24.02 to cross the line in 10th place.

Michael Lloyd continued his return from injury by registering a time of 25.04 at Sedgefield parkrun to come home in 52nd place.

Sharron Hogarth was at Darlington parkrun and completed the three lap course in 25.26 to come 110th.

Junior Matthew Brookes took part in Hackworth parkrun and measured a time of 30.54 coming home in 32nd position.

Richmond and Zetland Harriers

An aura of calm returned to Richmond and Zetland Harriers this week. Most athletes were using the rest week to see how their hard work over the winter months had paid off. Only Michelle Nolan and Nick Mason took the long road down south for the Bath Half Marathon. Michelle who is on fire presently came home in 10th place in an extremely high class field and blitzed her old pb by nearly 4 minutes in 1:19:57. Nick finished in 1:26:00 with another pb and was 351st.

Alan Ashcroft took on the flat Hawes Half marathon and finished with a pb of 1:24 for his first attempt. Nicki Billows took the long trip down to the City of Newport half marathon for her maiden half marathon and had a great run to finish in 2:10!

At the local Darlington parkrun it was the Flannery show. The senior Mark Flannery ran a fantastic time of 17:44 and a new pb to finish in 2nd place. Daughter Holly, also finished as the 3rd lady and another fantastic pb of 20:40. Jeremy Pattison was the next Harrier and crossed the line in a fine 5th place. Mark Crawford (159th) ever the gentleman, was well beaten by new wife Mary Mickle (156th). This is a normal occurrence within the club with both the Fletcher and Nolan men used to being 2nd best to their respective wives! It was questioned whether Crawford had got confused with Darlington being a cross country course and had worn his long spikes in preparation!

Ronnie Corbett and Lucy Goundry took a trip down the road for some parkrun tourism to Wycombe Rye. Ronnie in great form, crossing the line in 19:19 and 3rd place. Lucy went one place better and was the 2nd lady to finish.

Another group of harriers headed across to Albert parkrun where pb's fell in all cases except for coach Ken Harker who recorded a season best! Rob Scott tore round in 16:49 to take 7th place, Coach Harker in 9th (17:37), Shona Fletcher was the 1st lady in 10th (17:38) and Jo Adams was 2nd lady in 18:33 and another pb. Kathryn Fletcher instructed her father from the buggy for a finishing time of 23:26 and a pb (11 seconds quicker than he ran unaided by buggy encouragement).

Marc Scott was action again on the indoor circuit in New York, USA and continues to impress. Competing in the American Athletic Conference Indoor Championships he was victorious over both the 3000 (8:01:77) and 5000 (14:37:72) metre distances.

Shildon Running and AC

The penultimate North East Harrier League fixture took place at Alnwick. The course set in Alnwick Pastures overlooking Alnwick Castle was a great backdrop for the 6 competing Shildon athletes. In the Under 11 female event Annabel Cooper completed the course in 26th position in a time of 4.40 from a field of 66.

Next was the U13 Boys 3k race in which twins Thomas and Joshua Wraith ran superbly both gaining promotion to the fast pack. Thomas finished in 2nd position whilst Joshua in 5th Position, (overall 22nd and 26th positions based on times) completing the course in 14.14 and 14.22 respectively from a field of 63 runners.

Chloe Fairclough running in the U13 Girls 3k fast pack, finished in 23rd position (15th based on fastest times) from a field of 55 runners in a time of 15:26.

In the U15 Girls 3k race also running in the fast pack was Lizzie Cramb finishing in 10th position (7th fastest on times) completed the course in 14:39. Lizzie is also sitting in 5th Position in the individual grand prix.

Lizzie Wood ran another good time in the senior womens race running from the medium pack finishing in 39th position (38th on fastest times), completing the course in 30:49. Lizzie is also sitting in 5th position in the individual grand prix.

On Sunday the Stockton Trail Series continued and moved to Ropner Park for race number 8. Cameron Stainsby came home in 7th position in a time of 18:49 with Harrison Daglish completing the 5km course in 21:50 in 40th place.

The indoor season came to a close at the weekend with 2 members of the Sprint Group competing in the England Athletics Open Indoor Championships in Sheffield.

Rachel Bennett, 12, started well by winning her heat in 7.96 seconds equalling her PB and club record. The semi final proved a more difficult race with a photo finish required to separate a number of athletes with Rachel producing another good performance to be given 2nd place in 7.98 seconds. In a very competitive final, Rachel started slowly but managed to recover to finish 6th in a close race which saw 4 athletes (3rd to 6th place) finish in 8.1 seconds.

Kyle Walton, 13, competed in the under 15s 60m and didn’t disappoint in his opening heat finishing 2nd in 7.64 seconds and by doing so setting a new PB and club record. In the semi final Kyle produced another inspirational performance to shatter the club record again to finish 3rd in 7.60 seconds thereby setting a new PB. In the final Kyle did not let his more senior and experienced opponents phase him remaining calm and composed to finish a splendid 6th again in 7.60 seconds. The following day Kyle ran in the 200m produced another superb performance to finish 4th in his heat in 25.40 seconds again shattering the club record and setting another PB.

Thirsk and Sowerby Harriers

Several Harriers were at Park Runs this weekend, with Greg MacDonald having another excellent run to finish 3rd at Fountains Abbey in 17.40.

Although Graham Robinson is a regular Park Runner, this was his first time at Fountains and he came 27th in 21.04 with Laura Bosomworth 30th in 21.13, Martin Cummins, in his 104th Park Run, coming 51st in a new personal best 22.58, Alan Pollock 64th in another PB 24.05, Steven Scott 70th in 24.23, Paul Adams 161st in 29.13, Jane Cummins 167th in

29.29 and Elizabeth Stephenson 239th in 39.13.

At Darlington, Charlotte Knowles was 37th in 21.15 and Louise Knowles 89th out of 232 in 24.24.

Rob and Christine Burn were trying out the Harrogate event and Rob, trying to shake off an injury, came 28th out of 320 in 21.13 with Christine 263rd in 30.25.

The following day, in wild, windy weather with hail stones thrown in for good measure, Alan Harman completed his 10th Haweswater Half Marathon, over a tough course with plenty of hills. He finished 334th out of 503 in 1.56.33.

It was very windy at the pleasant, rural Norton 9 but no hail stones.

Ian Codling was 491st out of 511 in 1.04.03 and Marian Codling 507th in 1.52.50.

The Thirsk 10 with Wheelchair Race and Fun Run on March 22nd is fast filling up. Get your entry in if you don't want to be disappointed.

Details on the club website.

Darlington Harriers

Harriers have seen a significant increase in athletes competing in the indoor track and field circuit this winter, with 15 athletes ranging from Y4 to Y12 categories. Most have made their indoor debuts.

At the first minor athletes’ meeting, Joseph Rutter, the club’s youngest competitor , was first in the Y4 60m at the Gateshead Minors Meeting in October. Big sister Charlotte was third in the Y6 long jump, second in the 60m and achieved a UK ranking and first place in her first ever high jump competition.

At the same meeting, Abigail Taylor was second in the high jump and also had good debut performances in the long jump and 60m. Joseph Sawyer also had a very good indoor debut, with second in the 60m and long jump and first place in the high jump.

October also saw the first midweek Gateshead track and field fixture for older athletes, with Ella Lee, Niamh Musgrave and Aimee Musgrave all making their indoor debuts. Ella ran well in her first 60m and took second in the shot and third in the long jump. Aimee and Niamh also made their 60m debuts, with Niamh also coming home third in the 60m hurdles with a UK ranking.

Joseph Dredge and Max Pentith – no strangers to indoor competitions - also had a good competition with a PB in the U-17 60m for Joseph and victory in the U17 long jump for Max.

November saw U-20 Kieran Maxwell make his indoor debut at the English Institute in Sheffield in the 60m and 150m, followed a few days later with another 60m at Gateshead. Kieran, a T42 athlete, has recently been accepted into the development programme by the Parallel Success Academy and continues to work to his goal of becoming a Paralympian.

The same meeting saw U-20 Sam Griffin compete for the first time this winter after a very successful outdoor season in which he picked up several titles and gold medals. Sam hit PB form in the 60m.

The November Gateshead meeting also saw victory in the long jump again for Max Pentith, with training partner Rory Fletcher taking second place. Joseph Dredge just missed out on a 60m PB.

In the U-15 girls’ category, sisters Niamh and Aimee Musgrave both achieved a PB in the 60m, with Niamh also getting a PB in the 60m hurdles.

December saw experienced outdoor sprinter Layla Bell make her indoor debut at the English Institute of Sport in the 60m amnd 300m. Meanwhile, at December’s Gateshead meeting, U15 girl Katie Scott made her debut in any competition in the shot. Joseph Dredge achieved another 60m PB and Niamh Musgrave won her 60m hurdles heat.

The second half of the indoor season continued in the same vein with Harriers again having representation at the January Gateshead meeting, with several Harriers doing well. Sam and Layla also took in the U1-7/U-20 Northern Championships at Sheffield.

February saw three meets - the last of the Gateshead evening series and the Sunday morning minors meet in which the five Darlington athletes all won gold medals. George Peacock who three golds on his indoor debut. George, along with Jacob and Charlotte Rutter, Joseph Sawyer and Ella Lee, helped Darlington top the day’s medal table.

The biggest competition was the North-East Championships held in February. Max Pentith capped off a good winter by taking his and the club’s first North-East Counties medals of 2015, with bronzes in both the long jump and triple jump. Jasmine Sharp just missed out a bronze in the U-15 shot and hit PB form in the long jump.

On track day, Layla, Ella and Kieran all represented the club well in their various races.

The indoor season culminated in Layla and Sam competing at the U-17/U-20 Nationals at Sheffield. Both hit PB form in the 60m and Sam hit a massive PB in the 200m to round off a very successful indoor season for Darlington with a record number of indoor competitors.