Alnwick Harriers

On Wednesday 11th July Alnwick Harriers will once more play host to members of Wooler RC and Blyth RC for our annual Social Run. There will be a choice of 3 routes of varied lengths and with varied ascent/descent. Expect grass, mud, hills (nowt for Wooler!) and even some stepping stones. Trail or off-road footwear would be useful, if wet, but are not essential. Wear your club vests if you have one and if you haven’t visit the club shop!

Meet at Willowburn at 6.45pm for a 7pm start!

Chips and sandwiches are available at The Hogs Head Pub afterwards!

If you’d like to take part please add your name to the list on the noticeboard at Willowburn, text Adam SPILLER on 07941171151 or email Mark DOCTOR at dockie1974@hotmail.co.uk.

On Sunday 17th June Carole PAGE represented the club in the British Masters 5k Championships at Horwich, near Bolton. Carole was 4th in the female 55-59 category in a brilliant 20.18, a 5k pb!

At the Druridge Bay Parkrun the day before there were some impressive performances from a couple of our Junior Harriers, with Max MURRAY-JOHN and Joseph GODDEN finishing 8th and 13th with both notching course pbs. Highlights for our women included Jo POWELL winning the female 45 category and Lorna STEPHENSON bagging another course pb!

Results:

8-Max MURRAY-JOHN 19.24 (76.63%)

13-Joseph GODDEN 20.20 (71.31%)

16-Robert BADDELEY 21.12

25-David BARNES 22.21

30-Jo POWELL 22.49 (69.61%))

40-Ian STEPHENSON 23.43 (65.92%)

79-Ruth DOCTOR 26.47

103-George WILLIAMS 28.34

107-John ROSS 28.53

116-Alison HUTCHINGS 29.33

123-Eleanor HEELEY 30.12 (55.08%)

126-Rebecca HEELEY 30.27

129-Lorna STEPHENSON 30.44 (53.25%)

Elsewhere Diana WEIGHTMAN ran very well at Newbiggin by the Sea where she was 2nd female and 17th overall in 24.30. At the Jersey Parkrun at St Brelade Derek and Eileen GUTHRIE took part, finishing 82nd and 191st respectively in 24.44 and 30.19. Stuart BRUCE was at the Rising Sun Parkrun, near Wallsend where he finished 292nd in 33.04, whilst Mark HUME was at the Eden Project Parkrun in Cornwall where he was 137th in 32.30.

Well done to Gay EASTOE who won the female 60 category at the Run Cumbria Solway Half Marathon at the weekend. Gay and husband Richard took part, with Richard crossing the line in 2.01.21 and Gay in 2.05.59.

Finally for the weekend Adam FLETCHER was in action at the 24k Alwinton Three Tops Fell Race where he finished in 20th place in 2.26.38.

Photos are of Carole PAGE at the British Masters 5k and Joseph GODDEN/Jo POWELL at Druridge Bay.

Ollie TELFER of Alnwick Harriers was selected to represent Northumberland at the Northern Schools Inter Counties Championships at Gateshead Stadium on Saturday 16th June. Teams from Northumberland, Durham, Cleveland and Cumbria met for this athletics meeting. Ollie competed in the Inter Boys 800 metres where he faced some tough opposition. However Northumberland had a strong team on the day and convincingly won the competition!

After the latest event in the 2018 Alnwick Harriers Grand Prix series, the Blaydon Race, Ian SIMON is still out in the lead. He has a healthy lead over 2nd placed Tim FALCONER who, along with 3rd placed Jason DAWSON, have demoted Tracey SAMPLE to 4th. Down to 5th is Dominic HARRIS, whilst Jo GASCOIGNE-OWENS has jumped right up to 6th after Blaydon. Allan FOGGON and John CUTHBERT are new entries into the top 12, whilst Cris ATWELL has slipped to 9th from 4th. Neil HAMILTON is down to 10th, just ahead of Laura McLEAN Jr and Mel STEER. Here are the standings courtesy of John ROSS:

Alnwick Harriers Grand Prix Standings After Blaydon Race

The next event is the Hadrians Wall Half Marathon on Sunday 24th June, details of which are here http://www.hadrianhalf.co.uk/. Entries for the Morpeth 10k on Tuesday 7th August are also open here http://morpethharriers.weebly.com/morpeth-10k.html.

It was a busy weekend for the Alnwicks Junior Harriers. The youngest athletes competed at Whitley Bay in the 3rd North of Tyne Athletics Network (NOTAN) athletics matches, whilst a selection of the older age group represented their schools in the County Championships.

Over a dozen of the Year 9+ athletes who had been selected to represent North Northumberland competed on Saturday at the County Championship at Wentworth Leisure Centre, Hexham. There was tough opposition from the other three areas with a strong team from Newcastle Schools. However there were some excellent performances. Joseph GODDEN jumped a personal best of 4.67m in the long jump. In the javelin Ailsa BATLEY was narrowly pushed into 3rd place by just 5cm with an excellent personal best throw and a club record of 23.76m.

On the track Ollie TELFER travelled to the Championship as a first year ‘inter boy’ with little expectation of success in the 800m. However with a strong 2nd lap and good finish he managed an excellent third place. Ollies run secured him the reserve place at the Inter Counties match next Saturday where he will represent Northumberland against Durham & Cleveland.

It was an excellent day and a great achievement for all the athletes to progress to this level of the competition.

On Sunday the youngest athletes took part in the NOTAN athletics meeting at Whitley Bay. A great group of Year 3-6 athletes competed with their usual enthusiasm. Harris HALL managed another good win in the howler throw and finished 3rd overall on the day. Molly JOHNSTON ran a good 600m finishing in 2nd place with a time of 2 min 05s.
All the athletes competed well and it was excellent to see great progress.

On Saturday 9th June the usual great number of Harriers took part in the Blaydon Race, the annual 5.6 mile race along the Scotswood Road. Top runs of the day came courtesy of Dan TURNBULL who was a brilliant 32nd finisher in 30.17 and Rachelle FALLOON who was 9th female finisher in 34.35! Good runs also came via Steve PATTERSON, Shaun LAND, Karen KELLY, Allan FOGGON, Lisa BASTON, Peter GREY, Laura McLEAN Jr and Ian HORSLEY to name but a few! John ROSS will get to work with the huge job of updating the latest Grand Prix rankings asap:

Dan TURNBULL 30.17                                  Stuart MORRIS 42.55

Steve PATTERSON 34.14                              Paul ROBINSON 44.48

Rachelle FALLOON 34.35                             Laura McLEAN Jr 45.28

Shaun LAND 35.54                                         Bev BLYTHE 45.50

Allan FOGGON 36.33                                     Juhu JOSEPH 46.29

Peter GREY 36.41                                            Chris STEWART 47.10

Tim FALCONER 37.30                                   Louise CALLAGHAN 47.32

Jason DAWSON 38.32                                   Ian ATHERTON 48.07

John CUTHBERT 39.19                                 Mary PLUMLEY 49.33

Ian HORSLEY 39.34                                       Ruth DOCTOR 50.34

Steve STUDLEY 40.01                                    Ruary SLATER 51.09

Mark DOUGLAS 40.21                                   Paul DELLBRIDGE 51.35

Peter McEWAN 40.40                                    Mel SMITH 1.00.28

Karen KELLY 40.45                                        Christine MAVROMICHAELIS 1.01.01

Lisa BASTON 41.23                                         Stuart BRUCE 1.01.34

Angie EMBLETON 41.46                               Ron McCORMACK 1.11.35

Jo GASCOIGNE-OWENS 42.21

Earlier that day there were some excellent results by our ladies at the Druridge Bay Parkrun, where we secured the first 5 places, plus some age category wins. In a big 5k pb and 4th place overall was Millie BREESE in 19.43. She was just over a minute ahead of 2nd female Carole PAGE who smashed her own WAVA record at the event by clocking a course pb of 20.44. The WAVA record for the event now stands at a mind-boggling 89.71%. 3rd female home was Annabel LILLICO and 4th was Jo POWELL. Jo secured yet another course pb, her 7th in her last 8 runs at the event. 5th female was Alice TETLEY-PAUL, just under a minute ahead of Diana WEIGHTMAN who won the female 50 category. Also well done to Una McCAIG who was 1st female 70. For the men the highlight was a glorious course pb by Gareth BREESE!

Results:

4-Millie BREESE 19.43 (82.59%)

8-Carole PAGE 20.44

11-David MILNE 21.14

17-Robert BADDELEY 21.50

20-Jim LILLICO 22.06 (71.95%)

23-Annabel LILLICO 22.25

24-Gareth BREESE 22.33 (67.04%)

27-Jo POWELL 22.47 (69.71%)

37-Alice TETLEY-PAUL 23.35

49-Diana WEIGHTMAN 24.26

94-Audrey STEWART 28.14 (66.82%)

107-Nell GAIR 29.21

109-John ROSS 29.26

123-Una McCAIG 30.32 (78.00%)

124-Linda PATTERSON 30.36

154-Mark HUME 33.25

Also that day but a long way away David HINDMARSH was warming up for a mammoth race the following day at the North Beach Parkrun in Durban, South Africa. He clocked 29.39 in a huge field to finish 470th.

However the big event was the following day when David tackled the oldest and biggest ultra marathon in the world, the Comrades Marathon. This is a 55 mile race run in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa between the cities of Durban and Pietermaritzburg. David finished in 10.21.20 which is a brilliant effort!!

Just down the coast Annabel and Jim LILLICO were in action at the Durham Coast half Marathon, a very undulating but scenic race along the Durham coastline. They ran together and finished in 1.59.02.

Finally Nell GAIR travelled down to Hull to take part in the half marathon. Nell finished 1345th in 3.02.01.

Photos are of Millie BREESE and Gareth BREESE at Druridge Bay, whilst David HINDMARSH proudly clutches his Comrades Marathon medal!

On Thursday 31st May Northumberland Pride held their inaugural 5k at Alnwick Rugby Club, a race brilliantly organised by Jackie PROUSE with the help of Alnwick Harriers. A decent crowd turned out for this event with Rachelle FALLOON finishing 1st of our contingent in a brilliant 5th place overall and 1st female finisher. Emma SHELL had a decent run as well finishing in 19th, just ahead of Mel STEER.

Results:

5-Rachelle FALLOON 19.33

19-Emma SHELL 23.32

20-Mel STEER 23.53

22-Cris ATWELL 24.13

29-Mairi CAMPBELL 26.02

43-Kim BRONZE 28.25

82-Alice TETLEY-PAUL 35.06

A couple of days later there were a whole host of Harriers taking part in various parkruns, with the fastest time coming courtesy of James WILLOUGHBY at Newcastle. He clocked a brilliant 17.58 to finish 10th overall, whilst Allan FOGGON notched a 5k pb of 19.13 to finish 28th.

Up at Druridge Bay Adam STOTT ran a course pb to finish 16th overall, just ahead of Tim FALCONER. Carole PAGE was our 3rd finisher and was 3rd female finisher winning the 55 category. Amongst the other highlights Chris FRIEND ran a course pb dipping under 23 minutes, Mel STEER was 1st in the female 50 category and there was a very good run by Junior Harrier Liam McDONOGH who finished in 23.50. Results:

16-Adam STOTT 20.32

17-Tim FALCONER 20.50 (73.76%)

21-Carole PAGE 21.10 (87.87%)

24-John CUTHBERT 21.32 (60.22%)

37-Jon ARCHER 22.09

47-Alice TETLEY-PAUL 22.34

52-Chris FRIEND 22.56 (62.79%)

58-Mel STEER 23.23 (71.70%)

65-Liam McDONOGH 23.50 (66.22%)

66-Jason DAWSON 23.57

110-Laura McLEAN Jr 26.18

154-Kim BRONZE 28.48 (53.82%)

193-Rebecca HEELEY 30.52

194-Nell GAIR 31.02

234-Mark HUME 34.01 (53.94%)

250-Eleanor HEELEY 35.10

Finally David HINDMARSH took part in the Letchworth Parkrun in Hertfordshire. David was 16th in 22.09, winning the male 55 category!

Also that day Ian and Lorna STEPHENSON travelled over to the Lake District to take part in the Grasmere Gallop races. Ian was 78th in the 17k event in 1.42.45 and Lorna was 246th in the 10k race in 1.15.56. Well done to both!

The following day 5 Harriers took part in the Bamburgh 10k, with Steve PATTERSON finishing a brilliant 6th in 37.20. Gareth PEARSON was our next finisher in 44.33, followed by Lisa BASTON in 45.24. Lisa was 5th female home and winner of the female 35 category! Paul DELLBRIDGE and Mairi CAMPBELL also took part finishing in 52.15 and 54.55.

Photos are of Rachelle FALLOON and Emma SHELL at the Pride 5k, Allan FOGGON at Newcastle, Carole PAGE at Druridge Bay and the STEPHENSONs at Grasmere.

On Sunday 27th May the next of the 2018 Grand Prix races took place, the very popular Druridge Bay 10k. There were a number of highlights including Carole PAGE finishing 2nd female and our trio of Carole, Jo GASCOIGNE-OWENS and Louise CALLAGHAN winning the womens team prize! Also well done to Jo POWELL who was the 4th female home, but missed out on the team prize as she’d entered the race prior to joining the Harriers.

Here are the results:

10-Ian SIMON 40.12

47-Carole PAGE 45.57

52-Neil HAMILTON 46.24

70-Jo GASCOIGNE-OWENS 48.13

71-Jo POWELL 48.14

78-Stuart MORRIS 48.58

83-Kevin McGEE 49.21

104-Chris STEWART 51.00

107-Cris ATWELL 51.05

113-Ian STEPHENSON 51.29

137-Paul DELLBRIDGE 53.30

157-Louise CALLAGHAN 54.39

189-Emma McGEE 56.22

368-Nell GAIR 1.11.03

373-Lorna STEPHENSON 1.11.25

Also that day 3 Harriers were in action at the Edinburgh Half Marathon. Lisa BASTON ran very well finishing in 1.41.48. Jo WOODCOCK was home in 1.48.10 and Keith SHOTTON finished in 1.58.02.

The previous day there were some good runs by Harriers at the Druridge Bay Parkrun, particularly from Steve PATTERSON who was 2nd finisher in 17.53. Jon ARCHER was next home in 4th and Tim FALCONER 15th and winner of the male 55 category. Brand new member Lawrence REEVES was home in a course pb and Carole PAGE was 4th female, winner of the female 55 category. Amongst others who notched pbs were Harris HALL, Jo POWELL and Alison HUTCHINGS. Also well done to Robert STEPHENSON who beat his father Ian for the first time in quite some time. Results:

2-Steve PATTERSON 17.53

4-Jon ARCHER 19.17

16-Tim FALCONER 20.39 (74.41%)

19-Lawrence REEVES 20.54 (61.72%)

24-Jason DAWSON 21.21

25-John CUTHBERT 21.23

38-Carole PAGE 21.58

42-Harris HALL 22.18 (68.61%)

43-Phil HALL 22.18

52-Jo POWELL 23.03

55-Chris FRIEND 23.20

59-Justine NORMAN 23.44

64-Robert STEPHENSON 24.14 (56.53%)

66-Hannah TAYLOR 24.26

68-Ian STEPHENSON 24.38 (63.46%)

70-Euan FRIEND 24.45

97-David HINDMARSH 26.05

142-Alison HUTCHINGS 28.25

153-Kim BRONZE 29.01

190-Lorna STEPHENSON 32.28 (50.41%)

Elsewhere Alice TETLEY-PAUL trotted round the Gibside Parkrun in 35.50.

Finally for the weekend our amazing Andy STEPHENSON was in action in the Hardmoors 160! This 160 mile race takes in parts of the Cleveland Way and includes over 7000 metres of ascent! He completed this amazing feat in 50.51.13 to finish 5th male and 1st in the male 50 category!!

The above photos are of our winning females at the Druridge Bay 10k and Jo POWELL in action. Also Robert STEPHENSON at the Druridge Bay Parkrun and Andy STEPHENSON receiving his male 50 trophy!

Wednesday 23rd May saw Harriers having the choice of 2 Grand Prix races, the undulating George Ogle Memorial Race and the fast Clive Cookson 10k.

As always there were some very good performances at both events with Ian SIMON finishing in the top 10 at the George Ogle in Swalwell. Adam SPILLER was a minute back in 11th, whilst Tim FALCONER was next improving on his time from last year. Angie EMBLETON was the first of our women, 4th female overall. Tracey SAMPLE was not far behind and Denise DRUMMOND was our 3rd female. Also of note Mary PLUMLEY was over 2 minutes faster over the 5.5 (ish) mile course than last year!

Results:

9-Ian SIMON 36.36

11-Adam SPILLER 37.36

27-Tim FALCONER 39.40

38-Jason DAWSON 40.51

53-Angie EMBLETON 43.12

59-Tracey SAMPLE 43.39

67-Denise DRUMMOND 44.44

75-Cris ATWELL 45.28

83-Ian STEPHENSON 46.55

117-Ruth DOCTOR 51.19

128-Robert STEPHENSON 52.35

129-Mary PLUMLEY 52.47

142-John ROSS 54.21

178-Lorna STEPHENSON 1.02.31

Meanwhile just the 3 Harriers took part in the North Shields Poly organised Clive Cookson 10k, a splendid 2 lap fast course. James WILLOUGHBY continued his fine form with a 10k pb of 36.54 to finish 30th of over 350 runners. Paul ROBINSON ran well once again to finish 181st in 46.38, and Phil LEE was 265th in 53.22.

Photos are of Angie EMBLETON, Jason DAWSON and Ruth DOCTOR in the George Ogle, whilst Paul ROBINSON is in the Clive Cookson. Grand Prix standings to follow asap…….

On Sunday 20th May 2 Harriers travelled to Merseyside to take part in the Liverpool Rock n Roll Marathon. Just a few weeks after their runs in the London Marathon they were back at the 26.2 mile distance. Running together Laura McLEAN Jr knocked a superb 15 minutes off last months time to clock 4.23.05, whilst partner John CUTHBERT was a second further back! The previous day they had warmed up for the marathon with the 5k leg of the race weekend. John was round in 21.30 and Laura 25.56.

Also across the Pennines that day John ROSS ran the Great Manchester Run Half Marathon where he finished in 2.12.50.

Finally for the day a group of Harriers took part in the latest Glen McWILLIAMS organised event, the Cheviot Bomber Trail Race. There were some issues with the results meaning that some runners, including our Mairi CAMPBELL, are missing! Results:

6-Adam FLETCHER 1.17.20

49-Alice TETLEY-PAUL 1.40.37

51-Mel STEER 1.41.17

69-Ian STEPHENSON 1.49.54

71-Colin McLEAN 1.51.16

82-Laura McLEAN Sr 1.59.33

The previous morning there was a good debut for new Harrier Adam STOTT at the Druridge Bay Parkrun where he finished 12th overall and first for the club in 20.39. This was Adams 6th run at the course and was a pb. Neil HAMILTON was our next finisher followed by David BARNES who ran a course best. For the ladies Mel STEER was a superb 4th female finisher in 22.39, a pb and good enough to win the female 50 category. Not far behind her was Jo POWELL also in a course pb! Results:

12-Adam STOTT 20.39

19-Neil HAMILTON 21.27

20-David BARNES 21.36

28-Mel STEER 22.39 (74.03%)

31-Jo POWELL 23.08

81-John ROSS 27.41

108-Nell GAIR 29.48 (50.50%)

150-Mark HUME 34.55 (52.55%)

Down the coast at South Shields there was a good battle between Robert and Ian STEPHENSON, with Robert just pipping his dad. However the headline maker for us there was Lorna STEPHENSON. In her 23rd run there she smashed her previous best by over a minute! Elsewhere Kim BRONZE was 466th in a huge field at Sheffield Hallam in 29.15, whilst Richard EASTOE was 103rd at Workington in 28.33 and wife Gay was Tail Runner.

Photos are of Laura and John at Liverpool, our Cheviot Bomber runners and Mel STEER at Druridge Bay.