Alnwick Harriers

On Wednesday 21st June Alnwick Harriers entered 5 teams into the Weetslade Relays, brilliantly organised by Claremont Road Runners. This is the favourite relay of the season for many Harriers and takes place at the Weetslade Country Park near Wideopen. Each team has 3 members, with each runner tackling a 2.5 mile leg which includes a small hill! There were some excellent performances from the 15 Harriers who took part and more importantly virtually everyone enjoyed it!!

Our A Team of Richard JOHNSON, Jo GASCOIGNE-OWENS and David MILNE finished an amazing 4th of the 103 complete teams, which is a great performance considering the good number of excellent athletes who were there on the night. Richard went first and ran a 14.28 leg, which was nearly 45 seconds quicker than his performance in the same event last year. Jo went next and ran the 5th quickest time by a female on the night, 15.34, and then David brought the team home with his 13.29 being the 6th fastest leg by a man on the night and comfortably the fastest leg by a Harrier at the event in recent years.

The B Team came home in 18th place thank to great runs by Shaun LAND, Alice TETLEY-PAUL and very late replacement Ian SIMON! The trio of Jordan ROGERSON, Pauline AITCHISON and Dominic HARRIS were 34th overall, whilst there was a great battle between our D and E Teams. The E Team of Adam SPILLER, Alison WRIGHT and Stuart MORRIS prevailed over the D Team of David HINDMARSH, Mary PLUMLEY and Dean STACKHOUSE with just one place separating them!

Results:

4-“A Team” Richard JOHNSON 14.28, Jo GASCOIGNE-OWENS 15.34 and David MILNE 13.29. Overall 43.31.

18-“B Team” Shaun LAND 14.37, Alice TETLEY-PAUL 17.51 and Ian SIMON 15.25. Overall 47.53.

34-“C Team” Jordan ROGERSON 15.57, Pauline AITCHISON 20.03 and Dominic HARRIS 15.00. Overall 51.00.

55-“E Team” Adam SPILLER 15.58, Alison WRIGHT 21.01 and Stuart MORRIS 17.12. Overall 54.11.

56-“D Team” David HINDMARSH 16.59, Mary PLUMLEY 20.40 and Dean STACKHOUSE 16.46. Overall 54.25.

Many thanks to team captains Jo GASCOIGNE-OWENS and Dominic HARRIS for sorting the teams in the 3 Relays this season. Also a special mention must go to Pauline AITCHISON, Shaun LAND, Dean STACKHOUSE and Jo for being the only Harriers to have taken part in all 3 Relays!

Photos are of the all the Harriers (apart from Stuart MORRIS), followed by our “A”, “B”, “C” and “D” Teams.

A decent number of Harriers took part in the Druridge Bay Parkrun on a very hot Saturday 17th June. Richard JOHNSON was 1st finisher for the 3rd time in the events history in a very good 18.02, a course best for him. Carole PAGE ensured it was another double for the club as she bolted up in the female race. Not only did she win, she ran a course personal best of 20.58 and amazingly achieved the best WAVA score in the events history! The WAVA score allows you to compare your personal performance against other people’s performances even though they might be a different age and a different sex to you – the higher the score the better the performance. Since the event started in August 2014 nearly 4500 different runners have taken part. Carols WAVA score is a huge 87.52%, the best of the lot!

Results:

1-Richard JOHNSON 18.02 (71.53%)

14-Carole PAGE 20.58 (87.52%)

38-Paul ROBINSON 23.02

51-Mel STEER 24.30 (67.62%)

57-Ian ATHERTON 25.01 (65.82%)

72-Jackie PROUSE 25.57

83-Kim BRONZE 26.23 (58.24%)

111-Neil HAMILTON 28.20

135-Christine HARDY 30.27

145-Nell GAIR 31.25

147-Melanie SMITH 31.45

162-Alex KNIGHT 32.57

167-Jayne McKENNA 33.28

In other parkruns Alice TETLEY-PAUL was 3rd female finisher at Pollock, Glasgow in 22.47 and was 63rd overall. Ruth DOCTOR ran a course best at the Ellenbrook Fields event in Hatfield, Hertfordshire in 24.36. Gay EASTOE was winner of the female 60 category at Inverness in 28.43, whilst husband Richard was 1 second further back. John ROSS was also in Scotland at the Dunfermline Parkrun where he finished in 29.02. Finally Mark HUME was the winner of the male 70 age group at Gateshead where he finished the route in Saltwell Park in 32.24.

The following day 4 Harriers were in action in the Windy Gyle Fell Race, an 8.5 miler which was also held in very hot conditions. First home for us in 2nd place overall, showing that he’s in decent form 2 weeks out from the Chevy Chase, was Graham SIMPSON. Graham matched his time from the 2016 event but was almost exactly a minute quicker. Adam FLETCHER ran well to finish 12th, whilst Richard JOHNSON completed a brilliant weekend to finish 2 places and just a minute behind Adam. Mike TELFER also took part and was home in 29th place. Results:

2-Graham SIMPSON 1.04.49

12-Adam FLETCHER 1.11.46

14-Richard JOHNSON 1.12.50

29-Mike TELFER 1.25.10

Above photos are of Richard JOHNSON and Mel STEER at Druridge Bay, and Adam FLETCHER in the Windy Gyle Fell Race.

Alnwick Harriers host 3 races per year and all are important to the club. We have already held the first two, which went very well thanks to your support, and now have only the last one to go. Yes, the Northumberland Coastal Run! This year it takes place on Sunday 23th July. It requires a large number of marshals from the club and is our most prestigious event, selling 1300 places and being a key club fund raiser. We are very committed to making this a huge success with a great race experience for our competitors. We can only do this with your help.

We hope you and/or your family and friends will volunteer to help in some way and we’re sure that you will enjoy the experience, whether it’s your first time as a marshal or you’re a regular. This is a way of giving something back to the club and the running community. You don’t need any previous experience; full instructions will be provided to each volunteer prior to the event. Note that you can help even if you plan to run, with either pre-race set up, pre-race registration on the Saturday at Willowburn or on the Sunday at Beadnell immediately prior to the race; or with post-race clear up. We also need course marshals on the day to direct runners, ensure their health and safety and to organize water stations. Timing for course marshals will vary – if you are close to the race start you will be finished by late morning; if close to the finish you’ll start later but may be needed until 2.30pm approximately. There’s something for everyone!

A sign-up sheet has been put up on the Harriers noticeboard at Willowburn– please add your name as soon as possible. Or you can message Jocelyn BOLAM on 07877125365 if you cannot get to Willowburn or if you would like more information. Marshals will be needed at different times depending on the exact duty undertaken. When you sign up, please make clear your availability (ie, Saturday and/or Sunday; if you are running; and any restrictions you might have etc.). The full list of volunteers and the actual activity will be placed on the notice board and on the website approximately a week prior to the date, following individual discussions.

We depend on your support for this event as without it, the race cannot be held.

Many thanks

Alnwick Harriers Committee

The 2017 Grand Prix is well and truly hotting up now, with some big moves courtesy of some very quick times at last weeks Blaydon Race. Back out in the lead is previous winner David HINDMARSH, followed closely by Dominic HARRIS and Conrad STEWART. Tim FALCONER has jumped from 8th to 4th, whilst Karen KELLY leapt from 11th to 5th. Laura McLEAN Jr went up one place to 6th, Richard JOHNSON went from 12th to 7th and Shaun LAND is now 8th from 13th. The biggest mover is Jocelyn BOLAM who is now 9th from 20th! Peter GREY, John CUTHBERT and Ruth DOCTOR are in the remaining trophy winning slots. Plenty to play for though!

Alnwick Harriers Grand Prix 2017 After Blaydon Race

Many thanks to John ROSS for his great work as always in collating the results. Below is a happy David HINDMARSH, sensing another Grand Prix victory this year!

Two Alnwick Harriers competed on Saturday 10th June at Sportcity, Manchester in the U20/Senior Northern Track and Field Championships. In difficult damp and windy gusting conditions U20 Peter SKIRROW achieved a new long jump personal best of 6.59M to gain a bronze medal. Competing in her first major competition Under 20 Harrier Jessica BARNABY managed to get a good start and finished fourth in the 100M Hurdles, running a new personal best time of 18.33 seconds. The following day saw little improvement in weather conditions, but a leap of 12.89M guaranteed Peter a further bronze medal in the triple jump.

For the 4th weekend on the trot a female Alnwick Harrier was successful at the Druridge Bay Parkrun, thanks to an excellent pb performance from Alice TETLEY-PAUL on Saturday 10th June. Alice clocked 21.12 and was 12th overall, to be first female across the line at the event for the 3rd time. 2nd female was Carole PAGE in a shade over 22 minutes, with Paul ROBINSON just behind. Also well done to Christine HARDY for her pb at the event! Results:

12-Alice TETLEY-PAUL 21.12 (69.81%)

17-Carole PAGE 22.04

18-Paul ROBINSON 22.06

95-Alex KNIGHT 29.01

98-Christine HARDY 29.19

Elsewhere Tony ROSKILLY was 129th finisher at Newcastle in 24.20 and Richard EASTOE was 26th at Workington in 24.52.

In the darkest reaches of Northumberland 2 Harriers took part in the 24k Alwinton 3 Tops Fell Race that day. Adam FLETCHER and Phil HEMSLEY finished 7th and 8th in 2.18.40 and 2.19.34.

The following day there were a number of top performances from Harriers at the Bamburgh 10k. Running yet another personal best Dominic HARRIS is getting better and better. Dom was 11th finisher in a brilliant 37.21 to knock a decent chunk off his previous 10k best. Behind him was another Harrier who is fast improving in Allan FOGGON, clocking 38.29. Peter GREY and Carole PAGE both won the age 55 categories, with Carole finishing 4th female overall. There were 10k pbs for, amongst others, Lisa BASTON and Paul DELLBRIDGE! Results:

11-Dominic HARRIS 37.21

18-Allan FOGGON 38.29

24-Peter GREY 39.44

29-Jordan ROGERSON 40.26

49-Carole PAGE 42.56

99-Lisa BASTON 45.56

238-Paul DELLBRIDGE 52.59

256-Ruary SLATER 54.29

259-Richard EASTOE 53.59

261-Emma MURRAY 55.04

277-Helen DICKINSON 55.16

303-Gay EASTOE 56.11

326-Christine HARDY 57.10

Photos are of Alice TETLEY-PAUL at Druridge Bay and Allan FOGGON at Bamburgh.

A superb number of Harriers took part in the latest of the 2017 Grand Prix events on Friday 9th June, the Blaydon Race. In lovely sunny and warm conditions 35 of our number took part in the annual trot along the Scotswood Road from Newcastle City Centre to Blaydon. 1st to complete for us was Dan TURNBULL in a splendid 31.46 to finish just outside the top 50. Next home and about a minute quicker than in 2016 was Richard JOHNSON in 32.30, whilst Shaun LAND was just over a minute further back. Ben KELLY ran well to finish 3rd in the Under 19s category. Also of note for the men Stuart MORRIS, Mark DOCTOR and Ian ATHERTON were faster than last year, and it was great to see Micky AISTON back racing.

For the ladies Jo GASCOIGNE-OWENS was 11th female finisher in a brilliant 34.40. Slightly further back Karen KELLY ran well to finish in under 40 minutes, about 30 seconds ahead of Lisa BASTON. There was a good run by Jocelyn BOLAM who knocked 2 minutes off her time from 2016 and 6 minutes off her 2015 time!

Results:

Dan TURNBULL 31.46

Richard JOHNSON 32.20

Shaun LAND 33.34

Ben KELLY 33.38

Ross WILSON 34.30

Jo GASCOIGNE-OWENS 34.40

Tim FALCONER 37.09

Stuart MORRIS 37.54

Paul GODDEN 38.12

John CUTHBERT 38.15

Den STACKHOUSE 38.34

David HINDMARSH 38.41

Mark DOCTOR 39.02

Karen KELLY 39.44

Lisa BASTON 41.19

Peter McEWAN 42.23

Conrad STEWART 42.40

Angie EMBLETON 42.48

Pauline AITCHISON 45.42

Katie BLACKBURN 45.44

Kim BRONZE 45.47

Ian ATHERTON 45.52

Laura McLEAN Jr 46.25

Morag DONOGHUE 47.16

Tania CONWAY 48.39

Jocelyn BOLAM 49.45

Micky AISTON 49.59

Sue BOLAM 52.49

Paul ROBINSON 54.21

Mel SMITH 56.49

Christine MAVROMICHAELIS 57.57

Jayne McKENNA 58.21

Stuart BRUCE 59.25

Ron McCORMACK 1.02.18

Gaynor AYRE 1.06.50

The latest Grand Prix standings will be out asap!

Photos are of some of the Harriers before Blaydon, Shaun LAND in action and Tania/Pauline/Katie/Jocelyn on the start-line and a happy Stuart MORRIS.

A good number of Harriers took part in 5k parkruns up and down the country on Saturday 3rd June, with easily the fastest of them coming from Dan LENG at the Long Eaton Parkrun in Nottinghamshire. Dan ran a spectacular 16.49 to finish 4th overall in the event. This time equalled the quickest 5k of the year by a Harrier which was set by David MILNE up at Elgin earlier in the year.

On a gloriously warm morning 19 Harriers turned out for the Druridge Bay Parkrun. There were some very good runs from many of our runners, including Richard JOHNSON and Rachelle FALLOON who won the male and female races! Richard was home in 18.18 for his 2nd success at the event, whilst Rachelle was 1st female for the 17th time and was 5th overall in a decent 19.17. Tim FALCONER was our 3rd member to finish, followed by Carole PAGE who was 2nd female finisher. Also of note Ruth DOCTOR was the winner of the female 40 category.

Results:

1-Richard JOHNSON 18.18

5-Rachelle FALLOON 19.17 (76.75%)

16-Tim FALCONER 20.16 (75.23%)

23-Carole PAGE 21.26 (85.61%)

30-Neil HAMILTON 21.47

33-Phil HALL 21.50 (63.97%)

47-Graham SKIRROW 22.53 (66.57%)

68-Mel STEER 24.17 (68.22%)

75-Paul ROBINSON 24.42

77-Justine NORMAN 24.48 (64.45%)

92-Ruth DOCTOR 25.36

97-Kim BRONZE 25.45 (59.68%)

104-Robert STEPHENSON 26.02 (53.46%)

137-Zoe ROBSON 27.41

158-Laura McLEAN Jr 28.53

175-Christine HARDY 29.45

206-Nell GAIR 33.26 (44.87%)

210-Mark HUME 34.10

227-Lorna STEPHENSON 36.02 (44.96%)

Alice TETLEY-PAUL had a great run at the Lyme Park Parkrun in Cheshire where she was 2nd female finisher in 24.12. Gay and Richard EASTOE took part in the York Parkrun where they finished in 27.01 and 27.04 respectively. Elsewhere that morning Jayne McKENNA ran at St Helens in 35.58, Stuart BRUCE was at the Rising Sun Parkrun in Wallsend where he was home in 33.12.

Also that day Shelley COATES travelled over to the Lakes for the Coniston Trail Marathon. Shelley finished this hard run in 122nd of the 214 finishers in 5.48.01.

The following day Graham SIMPSON was the sole Harrier in action at the 8 mile long Yetholm Hill Race just north of the border. Graham was a splendid 3rd finisher in 1.16.51.

Back on Monday 29th May, in markedly different terrain to the mostly fast and flat 5ks, new Harrier Sam CHRISP was in action in the worlds highest marathon, the Everest Marathon! Sam completed this toughie, which starts after a trek to Everest Base Camp, in 6 hours 39 minutes which saw him come 39th of 202 finishers and 6th international runner! Well done Sam. Club trip next year?

Photo are of Rachelle FALLOON and Carole PAGE at Druridge Bay, Shelley COATES at Coniston, Graham SIMPSON at Yetholm and Sam CHRISP in the Himalayas!

The fantastic weather gave 10 Alnwick Harrier junior athletes an excellent opportunity to perform at their best at Churchill Playing Fields, Whitley Bay this weekend.

Molly JOHNSTON and Tess HINDMARSH (Y4) were both competing in their first competition and did well to achieve solid mid table results. Leila THOMPSON, also year 4, jumped well managing a personal best of 2.88m in the long jump. In the boys category Connor CAROLAN had an excellent competition winning the 75m sprint and finishing 3rd overall on the day.

The three year 5 boys competed well together with Alfie TEMPLE running an excellent 75m to finish joint third place (12.0s) and Alex KNIGHT managing an excellent 2.82m in the long jump. Oscar CHISOLM ran a brave 600m leading throughout the race until the final 100m where he couldn’t quite hold on but managed an excellent second place. Evie GODDEN, the only Alnwick year five girl, did well in all her events producing another good overall performance.

Olivia TEMPLE (Y6) showed improvement in the howler throw coming third with a good 20.79m. Olivia also ran a determined 800m to ensure she achieved a good overall score for the morning. Billy CLAYTON had an excellent morning winning the boys 100m in 15.0s. However even with a massive throw of 37.41m he could only manage second place! Billys sister Emily (Y3) showed she has been practising hard by comfortably winning the howler throw (15.41m) and finishing third in her category overall.

It was a good morning of athletics and the improvement made by the athletes was very evident, it was encouraging to see them all competing and supporting each other so well.

13 Harriers took part in the Druridge Bay 10k on Sunday 28th May where there were some excellent personal performances and a fair few prizes for our runners! Our mens team captain Dominic HARRIS showed what a decent runner he is becoming by finishing a brilliant 3rd overall in 37.33. Allan FOGGON finished 9th and Peter GREY was 21st, meaning that our trio of HARRIS, FOGGON and GREY won the mens team prize! For the ladies Lisa BASTON was 1st home for us in 80th overall, just ahead of the winner of the female veteran trophy Diana WEIGHTMAN. Grand Prix standings will be out soon.

Results:

3-Dominic HARRIS 37.33

9-Allan FOGGON 39.09

21-Peter GREY 41.57

41-Adam SPILLER 45.32

55-Neil HAMILTON 46.53

80-Lisa BASTON 49.12

86-Diana WEIGHTMAN 49.36

102-Conrad STEWART 50.56

118-Sarah CROSS 52.20

167-Paul DELLBRIDGE 55.07

366-Melanie SMITH 1.12.08

389-Nell GAIR 1.15.50

399-Lorna STEPHENSON 1.19.20

Also that day 2 Harriers travelled north of the border to tackle the Edinburgh Marathon. Shaun LAND ran extremely well and finished well ahead of his predicted time, completing the 26.2 miles in 3.07.22. Keith SHOTTON made his marathon debut and finished in 4.50.29. Meanwhile in the half marathon event Sophie APPLEBY and Karen WOOD both ran 2.17.28. Well done to all!

John CUTHBERT and Laura McLEAN both took part in the Liverpool Rock n Roll Half Marathon, with both of them notching pb’s! John has been going from strength to strength this year and knocked a huge chunk off his previous best. He had hoped to run about 1 hour 35 but in fact finished in a brilliant 1.32.30! Meanwhile Laura smashed her previous best by over 3 minutes to finish in 1.55.18.

John ROSS made the trip across to Manchester to take part in a very emotional 10k. John was home in 54.33.

The previous day Rachelle FALLOON ran a stormer at Druridge Bay to finish 1st female at the parkrun. She completed the 5k in 19.10, as did Richard JOHNSON. Tim FALCONER was home in 20.28, whilst Carole PAGE was 3rd female just outside a course best. Results:

7-Rachelle FALLOON 19.10

8-Richard JOHNSON 19.10 (67.30%)

17-Tim FALCONER 20.28 (74.43%)

24-Carole PAGE 21.13

30-Neil HAMILTON 21.55

84-Kim BRONZE 25.28 (60.34%)

120-John ROSS 28.04

181-Jayne McKENNA 32.30

187-Nell GAIR 33.00

191-Alice TETLEY-PAUL 33.16

Finally Richard EASTOE took part in the Workington Parkrun finishing in 24.53.

Photos are of Diana WEIGHTMAN and Allan FOGGON at the Druridge Bay 10k, John CUTHBERT at Liverpool and Richard JOHNSON with Rachelle FALLOON at the Druridge Bay Parkrun.