Alnwick Harriers

It was a busy weekend of race action for Alnwick Harriers – including huge numbers from the club turning out for the town’s first parkrun.

The debut Pastures parkrun was under starter’s orders on Saturday morning and attracted a field of more than 200 runners.

Held in the shadow of Alnwick Castle and with three laps around the Pastures, the stunning Alnwick event is a welcome addition to the parkrun collection.

Fittingly, the race itself and the women’s event were both won by Alnwick Harriers, with Dan Turnbull first home in 17.46, while youngster Millie Breese (JW11-14) was first female in a very impressive 20.53.

RESULTS

1 Dan TURNBULL 17:46

3 Steven CARRAGHER 19:03

4 Adam FLETCHER 19:41

5 Alexander Bruce CROMBIE 19:48

7 James WILLOUGHBY 20:07

8 Jon ARCHER 20:08

9 Max MURRAY-JOHN 20:11

11 Millie BREESE 20:53

13 Rob MURRAY-JOHN 21:25

16 Finlay WILDE 22:07

18 Michael TELFER 22:14

22 Paul WILKIE 23:03

23 Tony JACKSON 23:44

26 Gareth BREESE 24:20

28 Karen KELLY 24:26

32 Diana WEIGHTMAN 25:09

34 Euan FRIEND 25:18

36 David HINDMARSH 25:47

40 Mel STEER 26:08

42 Christopher ATWELL 26:14

47 Keith SHOTTON 26:36

52 Rachel MCCOY 27:08

53 Beverley BLYTHE 27:13

54 Chris FRIEND 27:21

58 Ruary SLATER 27:44

59 Emma GIVENS 27:52

66 Cooper WILDE 28:17

67 Chloe GIVENS 28:17

71 Charlotte HUGHES 28:23

72 Elizabeth CARRAGHER 28:23

74 Paul DELLBRIDGE 28:36

86 Helen DICKINSON 29:18

96 Jennifer KNIGHT 30:07

102 George WILLIAMS 30:26

107 Jan CHISHOLM 31:01

112 Peter LINDLEY 31:18

113 Mel WHEWELL 31:20

121 Alex KNIGHT 32:00

123 Laura MCLEAN 32:02

134 Kim BRONZE 33:17

171 Christine MAVROMICHAELIS 36:46

While the Pastures attracted a large number of Alnwick Harriers, there was still a good number of the club’s runners at Druridge Bay. Paul White led the way for Alnwick, finishing fourth in 19.18. Junior Ben Murray-John (JM15-17) and Dominic Harris also finished in the top 10. Justine Norman was first woman home for Alnwick, in 24.18.

RESULTS

4 Paul WHITE 19:18

5 Ben MURRAY-JOHN 19:24

6 Dominic HARRIS 19:43

21 David BARNES 22:07

45 Jason DAWSON 23:57

50 Justine NORMAN 24:18

80 Ruth DOCTOR 26:33

90 Eleanor HEELEY27:15

95 Adam STOTT 27:45

100 Anna-Grace HARVEY 28:08

128 Melanie Brigid BUCHANAN 30:18

150 Rebecca HEELEY 32:01

At other parkruns, Richard Eastoe (27:01) and Gay Eastoe (44:41) were at Workington, Mark Hume crossed the line in 34:01 at Gateshead and Zoe Robson clocked 27.48 at Finsbury.

Away from parkrun action, and over a longer distance, two Alnwick Harriers were in action in the popular Brass Monkeys half-marathon. Jason Dawson was first for Alnwick in 1.26.39, followed by David Hindmarsh in 1.37.55.

Meanwhile, hardy Harriers Ross Wilson, Alice Tetley-Paul and Dave Bartrum took on the challenging, but scenic Hedgehope half-marathon – which actually turned out to be more like 16 miles.

The trio had to contend with high winds, as well as the large climbs, but Ross put in a storming performance to finish 13th overall in 2.50.20. Alice completed in 3.51.37, while Dave went round in 4.00.18. A great effort! A number of other Alnwick Harriers acted as sweepers at the event.

Elsewhere, a major shout out to Junior Ollie Telfer, who ran a 2.11.19 PB in the 800m at the Northern Athletics Indoor Championships.

*Alnwick Harriers are reminded that entry to this year’s Northumberland Coastal Run opens on Thursday. For more details, click here.

Cross-country and parkrun dominated the weekend’s race calendar, with the Juniors putting in particularly impressive performances.

The first cross-country fixture of the New Year was the Sherman Cup and Davidson Shield, at Temple Park. The fixture is a one-off match where the runners race without the usual handicap pack system.

Alnwick Harrier’s Junior section brought down a squad of 20 and the stand-out performance came from U15 runner Millie Breese, who continued her excellent form and ran an excellent race to finish second.

Millie and Katie Francis, of Birtley, ran head-to-head for the entire race and both looked strong as they emerged onto the finishing field for the final 400m. However, on this day, Katie was the fastest over the final 50m, narrowly beating Millie to a superb second place. A great result to start the New Year.

The U15 girl’s team comprising of Millie, Lauren Brown and Maddy Hall finished fourth overall – Alnwick’s highest place in the overall Davidson Shield competition.

The U11 girls were once again out in their happy smiling team, the girls are a great group and support each other well.

The U13 boys were lead home once again by Max Murray-John who finished in an excellent sixth place.

Lilia Purvis was first U13 girl home and was closely followed by Chloe Givens (pictured below) who had an excellent run.

Finlay Wilde was the only U15 boy on this occasion but finished in an encouraging 35th place.

Ollie Telfer (U17) and Ben Murray-John ran well finishing their 5.5km course in 7th and 9th places, Ollie finishing in a time of 19min 41s.

It was an excellent day where the junior athletes started the New Year with some promising results and lots of enthusiasm.

In the Senior competition, a decent number of Harriers ran in the male and female races.

Alice Tetley-Paul was first home for the women, crossing the line in 27.42. Karen Kelly, Jo Powell and Diana Weightman were all less than a minute behind.

RESULTS

73: Alice TETLEY-PAUL 27.42
88: Karen KELLY 28.17
89: Jo POWELL 28.21
92: Diana WEIGHTMAN 28.24
130: Mel STEER 29.40
225: Tania CONWAY 32.48
258: Jennifer KNIGHT 34.25
270: Helen DICKENSON 34.41
308: Linda PATTERSON 37.46
325: Lorna STEPHENSON 39.10

In the men’s race, Graham Simpson was first back for Alnwick, finishing in 34.49. He was followed by Adam Fletcher and Bruce Crombie – with just two seconds separating the pair.

RESULTS

79: Graham SIMPSON 34.49
91: Adam FLETCHER 35.22
92: Bruce CROMBIE 35.24
123: Jason DAWSON 36.19
233: Mike TELFER 39.52
295: David Hindmarsh 42.07
314: Chris CALVERT 42.45
415: Ian STEPHENSON 50.16

On Saturday morning, various Harriers turned out at parkruns.

At Druridge Bay, Dominic Harris (pictured below) finished second overall in 19.37, while Justine Norman was third in the women’s race in 24.16.

RESULTS

2: Dominic HARRIS 19:37
22: David BARNES 22:41
41: Euan FRIEND 23:46
48: Neil HAMILTON 23:59
53: Justine NORMAN 24:16
86: Paul WILKIE 26:43
89: Chris FRIEND 27:00
116: George WILLIAMS 28:38
135: Una MCCAIG 29:53

Elsewhere, Philip Lee ran 29.10 at Whitley Bay, while Richard and Gay Eastoe clocked 38.46 and 47.14 respectively at Workington.

It was a busy festive season for Alnwick Harriers, with a huge number of club members taking part in races over the Christmas period.

Many Harriers began 2019 as they meant to go on by turning out at events on New Year’s Day.

There was a good number at Morpeth Harriers’ annual New Year’s Day Road Race.
Peter Grey won the V60 prize, finishing the 11k course in 44.10 and coming 48th overall.

He was followed by Denis Kerr (44.36), John Cuthbert (49.23) and Mark Hume (78.06).

Amazingly, John Cuthbert tackled this race, as well as doing the Druridge Bay and Newbiggin parkruns on the same day. An incredible effort!

And he wasn’t the only Alnwick Harrier to do more than one race on New Year’s Day, with a number of runners representing the club at Druridge and Newbiggin parkruns. Well done!

There was a bumper crowd of more than 500 at Druridge, and Alnwick’s Steve Carragher ran very well to finish third overall in 17.55.

Among the large field was a decent number of Alnwick’s Junior members, who put in some great performances.

Max Murray-John (JM11-14) was seventh overall with a 19.10 PB, followed by brother Ben (JM15-17) who came 10th in 19.32.

Meanwhile, Millie Breese (JW 11-14) showed just what a talent she is by winning the women’s race, coming 14th overall in 19.44.

There were also PBs for other Junior runners, with Max Breese (JM 15-17) finishing in 20.44 and Cooper Wilde (JM 11-14) crossing the line in 22.37.

For the Seniors, and on the PB front, Paul Wilkie was delighted with his 21.27.

RESULTS

3: Steven CARRAGHER 17:55
7: Max MURRAY-JOHN 19:10
10: Ben MURRAY-JOHN 19:32
4: Millie BREESE 19:44
23: Jason DAWSON 20:17
26: Max BREESE 20:44
30: Finlay WILDE 21:02
40: Paul WILKIE 21:27
52: John CUTHBERT 22:17
56: Cooper WILDE 22:37
66: Andrew WILDE 22:56
81: Neil HAMILTON 23:36
91: Gareth BREESE 23:47
142: Ian STEPHENSON 25:24
174: Justine NORMAN 26:19
196: Philip LEE 27:03
262: David HINDMARSH 28:57
269: Jennifer KNIGHT 29:08
302: Laura MCLEAN 29:59
320: Linda PATTERSON 30:56
407: Lorna STEPHENSON 34:06
440: Christine MAVROMICHAELIS 35:48
485: Nell GAIR 44:02

Meanwhile at the Newbiggin parkrun, there was a PB for Alex Knight (JM 11-14), who finished in 30.15.  Once again, well done to those runners who took part here and at Druridge.

RESULTS

114: Neil HAMILTON 24:40
141: John CUTHBERT 25:29
265: Jennifer KNIGHT 28:37
294: John ROSS 29:49
304: Eleanor HEELEY 30:14
305: Alex KNIGHT 30:15
329: Laura MCLEAN 30:48
343: Linda PATTERSON 31:21
353: Nell GAIR 31:42
446: Alice TETLEY-PAUL 37:12

On New Year’s Eve, Alnwick Harriers were invited to Alnwick Tri Club’s annual social coastal run, from Beadnell to Alnmouth. A very enjoyable event was had by all.

In between Christmas and New Year, plenty of Harriers turned out at various parkruns on Saturday, December 29. The results were:

Druridge Bay

3 Adam FLETCHER 19:04
6 Paul WHITE 19:45
8 Jason DAWSON 20:21
17 Robert BADDELEY 21:33
22 Paul WILKIE 22:04
29 Carole PAGE 22:28
37 David BARNES 23:10
43 Jo POWELL 23:27
66 Justine NORMAN 25:19
87 Liam MCDONOGH 26:53
88 Christopher ATWELL 26:55
123 John ROSS 29:05
128 George WILLIAMS 29:23
162 Melanie Brigid BUCHANAN 31:29
176 Lorna STEPHENSON 32:29
196 Rebecca HEELEY 33:58
230 Eleanor HEELEY 47:23

Sedgefield

215: Kirsty STEED 32:59

Whitley Bay

139: Philip LEE 26:09

Windy Nook

21: Bev BLYTHE 28:05

Workington

116: Richard EASTOE 39:06
133: Gay EASTOE 48:57

On Christmas Day, hardy runners chose the perfect present – a 5k parkrun at Druridge Bay.

RESULTS

26: David BARNES 22.00
35: Neil HAMILTON 23.12
37: David HINDMARSH 23.22
60: Harris HALL 25.05
65: Colin MCLEAN 25.20
67: Maddy HALL 25.24
68: Phil HALL 25.25
69: Justine NORMAN 25.26
71: Andrew WILDE 25.30
80 Rebecca HEELEY 26.05
84: Eleanor HEELEY 26.14
85: Cooper WILDE 26.15
83: Chloe GIVENS 26.14
94: John CUTHBERT 26.58
97: Emma GIVENS 27.25
111: Mel STEER 28.16
126: Peter EMBLETON 28.52
127: David COOPER 28.53
135: Nell GAIR 29.38
141: Tracey SAMPLE 30.02
144: George WILLIAMS 30.07
156: Laura MCLEAN: 30.53

On the Saturday before Christmas, Harriers were in action in various parkruns. These were:

Druridge Bay

7: Bruce CROMBIE 18:46
8: Adam FLETCHER 18:53
11: Joseph GODDEN 19:32
12: Max MURRAY-JOHN 19:43
34: Jo POWELL 22:55
40: Neil HAMILTON 23:39
46: Mel STEER 24:06
49: John CUTHBERT 24:19
51: Phil HALL 24:25
52: Justine NORMAN 24:26
70: Mark LATHAM 26:16
80: Eleanor HEELEY 26:57
89: John ROSS 27:21
108: George WILLIAMS 28:25
113: Rebecca HEELEY 28:57
122: John CALLAGHAN 29:58
124: Lorna STEPHENSON 30:02

Ganavan Sands

Chris CALVERT 23:29

Sheffield Hallam

Kim BRONZE 29:08

Sunderland

Kirsty STEED 33:16

Workington

Richard EASTOE 47:02
Gay EASTOE 47:56

The fixtures for next year’s Alnwick Harriers Grand Prix have been announced.

The competition will feature a mix of races across different terrains and distances. A total of your six best WAVA scores from the following four groups will count towards your overall total.

GROUP ONE – Any Alnwick parkrun

Club vests need not be worn. The last race to count run will be December 7, 2019.

GROUP TWO – Up to 10k

Your best two WAVA scores will count from:

Blyth 10k

Druridge Bay 10k

Blaydon Race

Bridge Of Tyne 5 miles

Morpeth 10k

Hexham 10k

GROUP THREE- Endurance

Your best two WAVA scores will county from:

Any marathon

Sunderland Half Marathon

Coquet (Rothbury) Half Marathon

Great North Run

Haltwhistle Half Marathon

Brampton to Carlisle 10 miles

Northumberland 10 miles

GROUP FOUR – Off-road

Your best WAVA score from:

Thornley Hall Farm, Peterlee (North Eastern Harrier League)

George Ogle Memorial Race

Alwinton Show Fell Race

Anne Allan Memorial Race

Club trip (to be confirmed)

All of the 2019 Grand Prix races are displayed on the Alnwick Harriers website, in the Grand Prix section.

The winner of the 2018 Grand Prix was Ian Simon.

The 40th anniversary of Alnwick Harriers’ flagship Northumberland Coastal Run will be held on Sunday, July 21, 2019 – but the registration process will be different this time around.

The renowned event takes place over a multi-terrain route, stretching for approximately 14 miles. It starts at 10.30am from Beadnell Harbour and follows the stunning Northumberland coastline down to Alnmouth beach.

Registration for the 2019 race will take a slightly different format from previous years as it will be over two days.

The first day will be Thursday, January 17, for all UKA-registered athletes and club members. The second day will be Friday, January 18, for UKA-registered athletes and all other runners.

Registration will commence on both days at 6pm and close at 10pm, or earlier if all spaces are taken. Please note you will be only able to enter one person at a time this year. The link to the registration site will be www.resultsbase.net

Please follow the Alnwick Harriers website and Facebook page for further details about the event, which will be regularly updated. For email inquiries, contact Laura McLean, Race Director, via ahcoastalrun2019@gmail.com

With just over a week to go until Christmas, it was ho-ho-go for the Alnwick Harriers who competed at various races.

And for many of the participating runners, decent performances proved to be an early present.

Perhaps the stand-out displays of the weekend came at the eight-mile Hethpool to Wooler Winter’s Trail race, which followed part of the scenic St Cuthbert’s Way.

Leading the way for Alnwick were two of the club’s cross-country specialists, with Adam Fletcher (pictured) finishing 5th in 1.06.27, followed by Bruce Crombie (1.10.35) in 8th.

Alice Tetley-Paul put in an outstanding performance to finish second female – just one place and 20 seconds behind the women’s winner, Jenny Yeo, of DVTR. Alice, crossed the line in 1.25.36, to come 20th overall.

Others in action were Mel Steer (1.34.24), Ian Stephenson (1.35.13), Fiona Stacey (1.38.59), Tania Conway (1.43.24) and Mari Campbell (1.51.03).

The weekend also saw the club host its Christmas Handicap at Alnmouth.

In the four-mile Senior race, there was a quality field of five runners! It was a dead heat for first between Ruth Doctor and Graeme Skirrow. Mike Telfer was next, closely followed by Andrew Wilde and then David Henderson.

The Junior Harriers also held their festive Christmas handicap – a 2km race along the beach.

The runners were awarded a handicapped start time based upon previous race performances over a similar distance. Approximately six minutes separated the start time of the fastest and slowest runners, which is quite a margin on a predicted overall race duration of only 12 minutes.

The youngest competitor, Erin Givens (9), was first to set off and lead the charge up the beach, but was soon being chased by the rest of the Harriers who were keen to close the gap as soon as they could.

After heading north for the first 500m, Erin turned south for 1km and was faced with all the runners chasing after her. However, she hung on and even with 500m to go after the final turn she did not allow anyone to catch her and won by a comfortable 30s margin. Cooper Wilde was next home, winning the boys category for the second year in a row.

The remaining prize winners were far closer grouped with less than 30s separating the first three boys and the 2nd and 3rd placed girls. The remaining field of runners were all home within the next 30s making an exciting, closely-fought race.

Girls: 1st Erin Givens, 2nd Evie Godden, 3rd Abbie Davies

Boys: 1st Cooper Wilde, 2nd Harris Hall, 3rd Finlay Telfer.

The morning was rounded off with a fantastic barbecue following the presentation.

On Saturday, a number of Alnwick Harriers were in parkrun acton.

At Druridge Bay, Peter Grey was first home for Alnwick and 7th overall in 20.27.

In the women’s race, Alice Tetley-Paul (22.53) was second, while Jo Powell was third in 23 minutes flat.

Among the other good performances, Jennifer Knight grabbed a PB, finishing in 27.32.

RESULTS

7: Peter GREY 20.27
20: Alice TETLEY-PAUL 22.53
22: Jo POWELL 23.00
31: Mel STEER 24.08
33: Paul ROBINSON 24.24
59: Jennifer KNIGHT 27.32
81: George WILLIAMS 29.53
87: Eleanor HEELEY 31.09
91: Alex KNIGHT 31.39

Away from Druridge, but sticking with parkruns, Philip Lee finished in 25.10 at Whitley Bay, Mark Hume (36.24) turned out at Gateshead, John Ross crossed the line in 28.14 at Vogrie and Richard and Gay Eastoe (39.28 and 49.56) were at Workington. Meanwhile, at Newbiggin, Paul White was fourth in 21.23 and Tony Jackson was 13th in 23.48.

From festive races to the thrills and spills of cross-country, plenty of Alnwick Harriers were in action at the weekend.

On Saturday, the North Eastern Counties Athletic Association staged its Annual Cross-country Championship at Wrekenton. The race attracts the highest standard of athletes from across the North East region.

The highlight for Alnwick came in the Juniors, with Millie Breese finishing second in the U15 category.

Following their success last year as the U13 champions, the girls moved up to U15 for this year’s race. As the younger year of the category, they faced some tough competition, however the girls weren’t daunted and Mille ran a superbly confident race.

Millie ran a strong first lap of the 4km course, maintaining her position close to the front of the field. In the final 500m of the race, she moved up to second place and following a very close battle over the last 200m with Katie Francis, of Birtley, she finished as runner-up in the championship. A superb result for a first-year runner of that age category.

Elsewhere in the Junior section, Jack Price was the club’s only U11 boy, but once again proved himself, finishing an excellent 12th place amongst the 65 strong field. In the U11 girls’ content, Tess Hindmarsh ran a good race to be first home of the five-strong Alnwick team.

In the U13 races, Max Murray-John finished 15th as first counter for the Alnwick boy’s team and Ellie Price was first home for the girls. The girls had a large enthusiastic team who showed great potential for next year. The U15 boys’ team also made up predominantly of first-year runners had a strong team, Joseph Godden and Gregor Batley were first counters for the club.

The U17 boys were last to run of the whole day, fastest for Alnwick was Ben Murray-John who completed their course in 25min 32s.

The Junior harriers turned out an enthusiastic set of teams who tried their utmost on the day. It was encouraging to have such a depth of experience within the teams with both new and seasoned runners taking part. Next year the Championship will be held in Alnwick which will be an excellent opportunity to build on this year’s success.

Unfortunately, in the senior men’s race, just four club representatives turned out on the day, meaning that they didn’t have a large enough team to count. However, those who wore the Alnwick vest put in some decent individual performances across the 12k course.

First back for Alnwick, and finishing 49th overall, was Dave Richardson, clocking 48.09, while Graham Simpson was four places further back in 48.16. He was followed by Bruce Crombie in 52.56 and Jason Dawson in 53.16.

In the women’s race, Alnwick’s female team put in a good showing to finish 22nd overall.

Coming just inside the top 100, Diana Weightman was 95th, finishing the 8k course in 40.48. She was followed by Jo Powell (41.28), Bev Blythe (45.30) and Emma McGee (46.40).

On Saturday morning, a good number of Harriers were in parkrun action.

One of the performances of the weekend came at the Newbiggin event, where Alice Tetley-Paul finished a fantastic second overall and first female, clocking 22.02 and matching her course PB in the process.

Others to wear the club vest were Kim Bronze (34.39) at Sheffield Hallam, Mark Hume (35.34) at Gateshead, and Richard and Gay Eastoe at Workington, who finished in 40.46 and 41.19 respectively.

There were some decent performances at the Druridge Bay parkrun, including from Mel Steer and Lorna Stephenson, who both showed that girl power is alive and kicking. Mel was third female overall, in 24.43, while Lorna grabbed a 30.13 PB.

RESULTS

18: Neil HAMILTON 23.09
29: Mel STEER 24.43
31: Ian STEPHENSON 24.52
33: Alex REED 25.22
50: John ROSS 27.40
91: Lorna STEPHENSON 30.13
106: George WILLIAMS 33.01

On Sunday, Ashington Hirst Running Club staged its Fell ’em Doon Festive 5k. Ruary Slater was first home for Alnwick in 26.25, followed by Linda Patterson (29.23), George Williams (29.57) and Lorna Stephenson (31.51).

Junior Alnwick Harrier Ollie Telfer showed that the future is bright for the club, storming to victory at the Druridge Bay parkrun on Saturday.

The youngster (JM15-17) won the 5k race in a personal best time of 18.01, finishing seven seconds ahead of the rest of the field.

It was a great performance from Ollie, who has been putting in some decent results of late and is progressing at a rate of knots.

Ollie headed a whole host of Alnwick Harriers who turned out at Saturday’s parkrun.

Finishing in the top 10 were Paul White (18.37) and Phil Hall (19.40), while Ollie’s dad Mike came 11th in 20 minutes exactly.

First female home for Alnwick was Carole Page, in 21.40. A frequent winner of the women’s race, she was fourth overall this time around – showing just how strong the turn-out was in the ladies’ category on Saturday.

Aside from Ollie, a number of other Alnwick Harriers grabbed PBs, including two of his Junior colleagues, with Eleanor Heeley (JW11-14) finishing in 24.13 and Chloe Givens (JW11-14) clocking 25.21. Senior Harrier Robert Enser also ran his fastest time yet at Druridge, notching a pleasing 20.37.

RESULTS

1 Ollie TELFER 18:01
8 Paul WHITE 18:37
9 Phil HALL 19:40
11 Michael TELFER 20:00
15 Robert ENSER 20:37
16 Robert BADDELEY 21:13
18 Carole PAGE 21:40
19 David BARNES 21:42
25 Tony JACKSON 22:27
28 Alice TETLEY-PAUL 22:37
32 Neil HAMILTON 22:57
49 Eleanor HEELEY 24:13
50 Paul ROBINSON 24:46
52 Louise CALLAGHAN 25:18
53 Chloe GIVENS 25:21
60 Ruary SLATER 25:54
67 Emma GIVENS 26:21
92 Justine NORMAN 27:22
95 David COOPER 27:28
103 George WILLIAMS 28:13
134 Laura MCLEAN 31:22

Last Saturday’s Druridge Bay parkrun saw the finish of another Alnwick Harrier Grand Prix. The 2018 top 12 runners are confirmed and are currently having their names engraved on their unique trophies.

The presentation will take place at the Hog’s Head Inn, Alnwick, on Wednesday, December 19, after the Parlaufs.

Thanks to everyone who ran our races in 2018. The good news we will be doing it all again in 2019.

Away from Druridge, a good number of Alnwick Harriers were out and about at other parkruns around the country.

Top of the bill was Isaac Moss who finished third at the Sheffield Hallam parkrun in 17.18 – just two seconds behind the winner. Incredibly, in what was a very tight race, there were only three seconds between the top four runners. Talk about a sprint finish!

Elsewhere, Zoe Robson (27.27) was in action at the Finsbury parkun, David Hindmarsh tried his hand at the Fountains Abbey parkrun for the first time, finishing in 21.38, and Richard and Gay Eastoe represented the club at the Workington parkrun, crossing the line in the 38.06 and 43.12.

Closer to home, Philip Lee ran 25.26 at the Whitley Bay parkrun.

On Sunday, there was an age-category win for Peter Grey at the Blyth Sands Race. In what looked like tough conditions, Peter crossed the line in a very good 39.04, taking the V60 crown.

In the same fixture, David Henderson came away with a PB, finishing in 45.26.

Elsewhere, Gay and Richard Eastoe ran in the Hoad Hill Harriers Xmas Pudding 10K run at Ulverston. No results have yet been published.

Meanwhile, Ian Stephenson clocked 1.52.50 at the Angus Tait Memorial Hexhamshire Hobble – an annual fell race of about 10 miles across Hexhamshire Common.

There were some excellent performances from Alnwick Harriers at the weekend, with a number of victories and personal bests along the way.

On Saturday, Steve Carragher won the Druridge Bay parkrun in 17.57, finishing more than 20 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.

Meanwhile, Junior Harrier Millie Breese put in an excellent performance to be first woman home, finishing 12th overall in 19.49.

In what was a good morning for the club, Senior runners Paul White and Adam Fletcher and Junior members Joseph Godden and Junior Max Murray-John all finished in the top 10, with Godden grabbing a 19.30 PB in the process.

Sticking with PBs, Lisa Baston (third woman overall) finished in 21.51, Christopher Atwell clocked 23.29 and Junior Eleanor Heeley crossed the line in 24.59.

RESULTS

1: Steve CARRAGHER 17.57
3: Paul WHITE 18.23
5: Adam FLETCHER 19.02
8: Joseph GODDEN 19.30
9: Max MURRAY-JOHN 19.37
12: Millie BREESE 19.49
13: Peter GREY 20.18
26: Lisa BASTON 21.51
27: Andrew WILDE 22.00
28: David BARNES 22.04
32: Jo POWELL 22.51
33: Neil HAMILTON 22.56
39: Christopher ATWELL 23.29
43: Mel STEER 23.45
56: Philip LEE 24.49
57: Eleanor HEELEY 24.59
75: Adam STOTT 26.27
92: John ROSS 27.41

Away from Druridge Bay, a decent number of Harriers were in parkrun action further afield.

Zoe Robson (28.41) was at Finsbury, Kim Bronze (27.46) turned out at Sheffield Hallam, Richard and Gay Eastoe (41.12 and 44.51 respectively) represented the club at Workington, Mark Hume (33.29) was at Gateshead and Ian and Lorna Stephenson (23.52 and 29.24 respectively) ran at Bakewell.  Lorna was chuffed to finally dip under 30 minutes.

On Sunday, there were some very good category performances from Alnwick Harriers at the Run Northumberland BIG 10 Miler. The popular 10-mile race is the North East’s largest 10 miler, starting and finishing at Kirkley Hall and taking in the villages of Ogle and Whalton.

First home for Alnwick was Lisa Baston, who was third in the women’s V35 category in 1.14.40. Next was Mel Steer, who was second in the female V50 section in 1.17.46. Meanwhile, Gay Eastoe won the female V65 category in 1.34.12. Others to represent Alnwick were Justine Norman (1.31.53) and Richard Eastoe (1.34.14).

Oversees, Jocelyn Bolam was first in her age group at the Lorca half-marathon, in Spain, finishing in 2.12.26.

Elsewhere, hardy Andy Stephenson – fresh from recently reaching the 1,000 competitive miles landmark – was tackling another gruelling run. This time, he was in action in the  Hardmoors Super Slam series, which consists of running all five Hardmoors races (not all in one go!).

Andy has already clocked up 308 miles in the series and he added another 80 miles to the mix at the weekend. Supported by Mark Colling for about 100k of the way, Andy started at 8am on Saturday and finished just under 24 hours later! A great effort.

There is a new leader in the Grand Prix table, after the final fixture of the 2018 season.

Ian Simon has climbed to the top of the table, following his performance at Sunday’s Brampton to Carlisle 10-mile road race. He finished in 1.06.54.

Ian heads second-placed Tim Falconer and previous leader Jason Dawson, who sits third, followed by Michael Henry and Louise Callaghan. All of the top five were in action at Brampton.

Grand Prix table – top 32

However, while last weekend’s race in Cumbria was the final 2018 fixture, there is still time for the rankings to change, with two Druridge Bay parkruns left for Harriers to increase their score. These will be staged this Saturday and next.

The date/venue of the annual awards presentation will be announced at a later date.

Away from the Grand Prix, the Alnwick Harrier London Marathon ballot is now open. Could any club member wishing to enter the ballot for the 2019 Virgin Money London Marathon send their rejection letter to Stevenstudley76@gmail.com as soon as possible. The draw will be made shortly.