Alnwick Harriers

Talia THOMPSON was the only Alnwick Junior athlete to compete in the annual North East Throws Festival on Sunday 22nd April. Talia entered the Shot Put, javelin and discuss, and despite wet and windy conditions had an excellent morning. Although not quite matching her recent excellent performances a good throw of 8.09m gained Talia second place in the Shot. A new personal best of 17.07m in the discus earned her third place and a solid performance in the javelin left her just outside the medals in 4th. A great set of results.

Earlier in the week four Juniors competed at the first North East Grand Prix Athletic Meeting on the evening of Wednesday 18th April. Talia THOMPSON and Antje HALL were 1st and 2nd in the javelin, Talia won the shot put and Finlay TELFER was runner up in the boyss category. Both Ollie and Fin TELFER competed in the high jump and managed close to personal best performances. On the track Ollie ran in the 1500m managing a good personal best time of 4.44 seconds.

The athletes produced a good set of results for a competition so early in the season.

Following on from hosting an incredibly successful North East Harrier League cross country event last Saturday, we are now looking for volunteers for this years Les Allcorn 10K and Junior Fun Run to be held on Tuesday 15th May 2018.

The Les Allcorn 10K and Junior Fun Runs are held in Hulne Park each May, and started as a memorial to Les, one of our early and very talented club members who is sadly missed. This year will be the 22nd year since the Les Allcorn started and once again we hope to celebrate it with another successful race. This cannot be done without a large number of volunteers – always drawn from our members and their family and friends. We are hoping that you will volunteer, not to worry if you’re new to this, as full instructions will be provided at the marshal briefing on the evening. All you need to bring is yourself, not forgetting some warm clothing (and possibly a flask) as standing around for approximately 2 hours on a May evening in Northumberland can get a bit cool!.

Please think of supporting your club and volunteering to ensure that this event goes ahead – and you can still help even if you are planning to run, with either the car parking, or race entry early duties. We still want as many of our own runners as possible of course – it’s great to cheer them on – so please help your club and get involved by racing or volunteering or both if you can.

A sign-up sheet has been put up on the Harriers noticeboard – please add your name as soon as possible. Or, you can message/email Gareth Breese if you are unable to get to Willowburn or if you would like further information. Marshals are needed at different times depending on the duties, with some marshals required from approximately 5pm for car parking and race entries; others at a later time as course marshals on the race route, please comment if you intend to run.

The full list of volunteers, activity and time of marshal briefing will be placed on the notice board and the website approximately a week prior to the date.

We are very dependent on your support for this event.

Many thanks
Gareth BREESE

garethbreese@me.com

On Saturday 14th April there were two race wins for Harriers at parkruns, thanks to Dan LENG and Rachelle FALLOON. Dan was in action at the Gladstone Parkrun in north west London where he was first across the line in a splendid 17.46. Meanwhile further north at the Rising Sun Parkrun near Wallsend Rachelle FALLOON was 1st female finisher in 20.19, clocking the fastest 5k by a female Harrier so far this year and finishing 10th overall.

Shaun LAND has had a spell out injured recently so it was great to see him back in action at the Newbiggin Parkrun where he was 6th home in 20.06. Up at Aviemore there was male 60 success for David HENDERSON where he clocked 22.56. Meanwhile at Sheffield Hallam Kim BRONZE was 284th in a large field in 26.05.

At the local event, the Druridge Bay Parkrun, John CUTHBERT was 1st Harrier across the line in 11th. John clocked 20.57 as he continues to prepare for the London Marathon. Harris HALL was 2nd Harrier followed by Chris STEWART. For the ladies Ruth DOCTOR was first of our trio taking part. Results:

11-John CUTHBERT 20.57 (61.89%)

33-Harris HALL 23.40 (64.65%)

35-Chris STEWART 24.15 (5.88%)

43-Ian STEPHENSON 24.59 (62.58%)

53-Derek GUTHRIE 25.56 (57.78%)

55-Euan FRIEND 26.16

70-Ruth DOCTOR 27.52

104-Eileen GUTHRIE 32.09 (54.85%)

125-Lorna STEPHENSON 36.22 (45.00%)

Finally for the weekend 5 Harriers took part in the Cragside 10k. Neil HAMILTON was 1st back for us on this undulating course in 46.06, whilst Mel STEER was our 1st female to finish. Results:

70-Neil HAMILTON 46.06

149-Mel STEER 51.07

269-Phil LEE 57.24

293-Helen DICKINSON 58.46

335-Peter LINDLEY 1.01.39

###Please note that there’s a glitch with the website. At present i’m unable to add photos. Some may say that’s a good thing!###

After some excellent performances at the recent Elswick Harriers Good Friday Relays we are now taking names for the second of the Spring Relays, the Wallsend Harriers organised Gordon Smith Memorial Relays. The event takes place on Wednesday 9th May at the Cobalt Business Park, Silverlink North. As always the club are paying the entry fees, car sharing will be available and all Harriers are welcome!! The details are as follows:

19.00 hours-Ladies Race. Teams will consist of 3 runners with each member running a very flat 2 mile leg. Each team must have someone aged over 35.

19.45 hours-Mens Race. Teams again will consist of 3 runners with each member also running 2 miles. Each team must have someone over 40.

If you’d like to take part please email Jo GASCOIGNE-OWENS or Dom HARRIS at alnwickxc@gmail.com. Please do so before Tuesday 24th April!

All the age groups were in action at a sunny Gateshead Stadium on Sunday 15th April. The younger Alnwick Harrier Juniors competed in the minors meeting and the athletes from the age groups of under 13 and upwards competed in the Open medal meeting.

Leila THOMPSON (Y5) was first to compete and not to be outdone by her big sister won her first throwing medal with a great howler throw of 22.20m to take a well-earned bronze. Oscar CHISHOLM (Y6) also competing in the minors meeting sprinted well to take the silver medal in the 75m sprint. Team GB hurdler Jason NICHOLSON also at the meeting took time to give Oscar some advice which obviously paid off.

Talia THOMPSON (U15) competed in three throwing events Shot put, discus and javelin. Continuing her early season’s success in the Shot Talia threw another personal best of 8.36m extending her club record and taking the bronze medal. In the Javelin Talia only managed one good throw but it secured her the bronze medal and in the discus she went one better to take silver. An excellent days throwing.

On the track Ollie TELFER (U17) and Lauren BROWN (U15) both ran the 1500m in their new age categories. Both were pleased with mid pack finishes on their first race of the season.

The Gateshead Open is a great early season outdoor competition where the athletes can see how well there winter training has paid off. It was a successful day for all the athletes and the summer season promises some excellent performances.

The North East Harrier League annual presentation was held at sponsors Start Fitness, Newcastle on Thursday 12 April. The evening brought to a close the 2017/18 cross country season with awards for individual and team performances.

The Alnwick Harrier under 13 girls have had an outstanding season winning their league after six tough fixtures against the top north east clubs. A strong core of six athletes from a two year age band formed the team. The senior runners Millie BREESE, Lauren BROWN and Hannah JOHNSTON ran all season from the fast pack and did exceptionally well to routinely finish with top ten placings.

Sam POTTS made her cross country debut this year winning the Aykley Heads, Durham fixture gaining promotion in her first race. This excellent result pushed the team to the top of the league, a position which they managed to hold and extend until the end of the season.

First year runners Ellie PRICE and Beth CARRAGHER won valuable points from the slow pack, Beth regularly placed highly racing in all six fixtures. The girls will form the backbone of next years under 13 team.

The girls success continued outside the Harrier League where they won the North East Counties Championship and placed highly in the Northern Championship. Lauren was then selected to represent the North East at the National Team Championship in Loughborough. Millie and Lauren both were successful in selection for the Northumberland team at the English Schools Championship.

In the Harrier League individual grand prix Lauren had a spectacular season running fastest in all her races securing the U13’s title for 2018. Alnwick Harriers also had success at senior level with Jo GASGOINE-OWENS and Steve CARRAGHER taking 2nd and 3rd places in the Veteran categories. An excellent achievement!

Many many thanks to the dream team of John ROSS and John CUTHBERT for updating the 2018 Alnwick Harriers Grand Prix standings after the recent Port of Blyth 10k. Out in the lead thanks to her cracking first female Harrier performance is Tracey SAMPLE! Club Chairwoman Tracey is the only Harrier to cross the 200 point barrier and is ahead of club stalwart Mike HENRY. In 3rd after his Manchester Marathon exertions is Dominic HARRIS, whilst Neil HAMILTON is 4th and Ian SIMON 5th. Jason DAWSON is in 6th, serial Grand Prix prize winner David HINDMARSH is 7th and Adam FLETCHER 8th. The final 4 prize winning trophy slots are currently occupied by Louise CALLAGHAN, Denise DRUMMOND, Steve PATTERSON and Jo GASCOIGNE-OWENS.

2018 Grand Prix Standings After Port of Blyth 10k

The next event is the Sunderland City Half Marathon on Sunday 13th May. You also have the choice of the George Ogle Memorial Race or the Clive Cookson 10k which are both on Wednesday 23rd May.

Twelve Junior Alnwick Harriers competed at the weekend in the first of the North of Tyne Athletics Network summer Grand Prix meetings at Whitley Bay. They all competed in a sprint, throwing, jump and middle distance event, with their cumulative score ranking them overall on the day.

The club was well represented across the four school years with athletes from the age of 8 to 11 competing. There were some great performances particularly as some of the athletes were taking part in this format for the first time. Performance of the day was by Harris HALL who broke the Championship record in the howler throw. Harris threw over 41 metres to comfortably win that event.

It was a great start to the season and it looks like the 2018 season will be hotly contested!

On Thursday 31st May a new race is coming to Alnwick and is part of the Northumberland Pride weekend. The race is being organised in conjunction with Alnwick Harriers and entries are now open here https://www.sientries.co.uk/event.php?event_id=4569. Further info regarding the weekends Pride activities are here http://northumberlandpride.org.uk/events/.

On Sunday 8th April a good number of Harriers were in action in the latest of the 2018 Grand Prix races, Port of Blyth 10k. There were some excellent performances not least from new signing Dave RICHARDSON who was a brilliant 11th finisher in 34.39. Also in the top 50 were Ian SIMON and Steve PATTERSON, who were just a few seconds apart. Allan FOGGON and Jon ARCHER were a couple of minutes further back and were both inside the top 100. Slightly further back John CUTHBERT notched a 10k best, whilst Tim FALCONER is getting his form back and Peter McEWAN had a decent run. For the ladies Tracey SAMPLE worked her way through the field to finish 1st female Harrier ahead of Lisa WILLIAMS and Angie EMBLETON. Grand Prix results will be out asap!

Results (chip timings):

11-Dave RICHARDSON 34.39

46-Ian SIMON 37.39

48-Steve PATTERSON 37.46

83-Allan FOGGON 39.29

87-Jon ARCHER 39.35

119-John CUTHBERT 41.13

134-Tim FALCONER 42.18

176-Peter McEWAN 43.58

223-Neil HAMILTON 46.18

245-Paul ROBINSON 47.45

252-Tracey SAMPLE 47.59

257-Lisa WILLIAMS 48.19

258-Angie EMBLETON 48.12

279-Mike HENRY 49.06

304-Chris FRIEND 50.09

307-Denise DRUMMOND 50.20

325-Louise CALLAGHAN 50.57

347-Ian ATHERTON 52.26

404-John ROSS 56.04

421-Laura McLEAN Jr 57.09

563-Mark HUME 1.14.17

Elsewhere 2 Harriers took part in the Manchester Marathon that day. On his marathon debut Dominic HARRIS finished in a fine 3.16.52, whilst Lisa BASTON was round in 3.49.01.

3 Harriers also travelled overseas to take part in the Berlin Half Marathon. Annabel and Jim LILLICO ran together and both finished in 1.52.01, whilst Jackie PROUSE completed the race in 2.10.55.

Finally for Sunday 3 Harriers were in action in the Druridge Bay Marathon and Half Marathon events. Cris ATWELL represented us in the full marathon, his 50th ever race at the distance. Despite not being fully match fit Cris finished 29th in 4.33.33. In the 13.1 mile race Mel STEER performed very well to win the female 50 age category. Mel finished 19th overall in 1.45.05, whilst Paul DELLBRIDGE was 70th in 2.19.41.

The previous day a whole host of Harriers were in action in the Druridge Bay Parkrun. The highlights were another splendid run by Junior Harrier Millie BREESE who was 2nd female finisher, whilst Robert BADDELEY and Mel STEER were both victorious in the aged 50 categories.

Results:

11-Millie BREESE 20.58 (77.66%)

15-Robert BADDELEY 21.22

31-Harris HALL 22.44 (67.30%)

32-Phil HALL 22.45

33-Alice TETLEY-PAUL 22.49

34-Dominic HARRIS 22.54

40-Neil HAMILTON 23.24

41-Mel STEER 23.29

46-Graham SKIRROW 23.56

50-Chris STEWART 24.10 (56.07%)

63-Euan FRIEND 25.24

65-Ian STEPHENSON 25.38 (60.99%)

66-Cris ATWELL 25.39 (60.95%)

95-Beth CARRAGHER 27.24 (59.43%)

104-Laura McLEAN Jr 28.22

133-Linda PATTERSON 30.45

134-Sarah GRAY 30.48

182-Lorna STEPHENSON 35.18 (46.36%)

Across the pond Jo POWELL took part in the Crissy Field Parkrun, a lovely looking 5k in the shadow San Franciscos Golden Gate Bridge. Jo was 1st in the female 45 category in 23.54 to finish 31st. Finally John ROSS was in action at the Newbiggin By The Sea Parkrun where he finished 42nd in 28.51.

Above photos are of Dave RICHARDSON and Paul ROBINSON/Lisa WILLIAMS at Blyth, the LILLICOs in Berlin, whilst Chris STEWART and Lorna STEPHENSON were at Druridge Bay.