Alnwick Harriers

You will all know that we can now meet outside for exercise with 5 people from different households. This is great news but we have to keep the 2 metre social distancing rule at all times. We are now waiting for guidance from England Athletics as to when and how we can resume coaching in groups. We will keep you informed as to when our club can resume training with coached sessions.

We thank you all for your patience and adhering to the rules we have been given.

Your Coaching Team at Alnwick Harriers.

Report by Caro Fentiman

Another week, another Greener Miles Challenge, this time requiring team members to run 4 miles as fast as they could but starting and ending in the same place. This was to try and reduce any advantage incurred by elevation for those runners starting at the top of a very big hill and just belting it down to the bottom. An enthusiastic team of Alnwick Harriers, RUTH DOCTOR, MARY PLUMLEY, CARO FENTIMAN, JO CLEMMIT, GEORGE WILLIAMS, TRACEY SAMPLE, PAUL DELLBRIDGE, JENNIFER KNIGHT, KIM BRONZE and DIANA WEIGHTMAN, completed the challenge in a combined time of 344 minutes to finish 34th out of 70 teams. A fabulous effort and thank you to everyone who participated.

Next Saturday, Points Mean Prizes! The next challenge is a 30-minute run as far as you can and/or as high as you can. Points for both distance and elevation. Please see https://greenermilesrunning.co.uk/virtual-lockdown-team-challenges for more details and let me know by 5pm on Thursday if you would like to join the team.

Caro Fentiman

carofentiman@gmail.com

Report by Caro Fentiman

The Big One!

18 hardy harriers took part in another virtual running event organised by Greener Running Miles this weekend. The challenge was to run for 24 hours within 24 hours, with the winning team being the one that ran the furthest. With a strong team including MIKE TELFER, CLAIRE TELFER, JO POWELL, DIANA WEIGHTMAN, MARY PLUMLEY, RUTH DOCTOR, MARK TYLER, JO CLEMMIT, IAN STEPHENSON, CARO FENTIMAN, TRACEY SAMPLE, PAUL GODDEN, LISA BASTON, KAREN PRICE, LINDA PATTINSON, TANIA CONWAY, KAREN KELLY and GRAHAM SYERS, our total distance came in at 155.02 miles. Distances and locations varied, with Mike, Ian, Diana and Lisa racing across the county for hours and Caro blasting out 50 minutes on her back lane. Mary and Ruth battled strong winds on the Aln Valley railway line and Mark did a speedy 30 minutes following recovery from a knee injury. 

Alnwick Harriers placed 28 out of 57 teams from across the North-east. There was no limit on team members and the winning team, Tipsy Tynedale’s Scrambled Legs, achieved 207.42 miles with 65 runners!

This was another fun event and a great opportunity to be part of something bigger than our own backyards. Thank you to everyone who participated and look out for the next challenge….

Race report by Caro Fentiman

I stumbled across Greener Miles Running on Strava – an environmentally friendly trail running event company based in Gateshead that has been organising weekly lockdown events attracting almost a thousand runners across the North-East.

This week Alnwick Harriers entered a team for the 50k Time Trial. Teams of 10, including at least 5 women, had to run 50k as fast as possible. To keep it simple, each team member ran 5k, with runners keeping close to home and following social distancing rules. I’ve been doing laps of my back lane so I can keep an eye on the kids, but other Harriers managed to escape a little further from their front door and enjoy the bright Northumberland weather.

Out of an impressive 95 teams, the Alnwick Harriers team consisting of Lisa Baston, Kim Bronze, Jo Clemmit, Tania Conway, Caro Fentiman, Linda Patterson, Ruary Slater, Ian Stephenson, Mark Tyler and Diana Weightman came in 56th, with a time of 4 hours 22 minutes 40 seconds. The winning time was 3 hours 8 minutes and 30 seconds, with the final team coming in at just under five and a half hours.

Whilst running can be an escape for many of us from the noise in our lives and in our heads, there is something lovely about being part of a running community, and virtual events such as these have enabled people to belong to something bigger than their isolated runs.

The next Greener Miles event is The Big One starting at 5pm on Friday 22nd May. Teams of at least 10 need to run for 24 hours in total: the biggest cumulative distance wins. If you’d like to be involved please email me on carofentiman@gmail.com and let me know the longest time that you’d be prepared to run for in 24 hours. I’ll send out team details on Thursday 21st May.

Caro Fentiman 17.05.20

Notice from Laura McLean, Northumberland Coastal Run Race Director:

A final reminder to anyone who requires a refund for the 2020 Northumberland Coastal Run, the closing date on all requests is Thursday 30th April 2020.

If you require a refund please email Laura McLean at ahcoastalrun2019@gmail.com the following information:

Name, Order ID, Last 4 digits of card used for payments.

A big thank you to all entrants who are kindly holding their place, even though we do not have a new date to announce for 2021.  This supports our event and is very much appreciated by the Alnwick Harriers Committee.

Stay safe and our 2021 date will be announced in late Autumn.

Notice from Laura McLean, Northumberland Coastal Run Race Director:

Further to the notification of the postponement of the Coastal Run we can now give you details of the Refund Process. The date for the 2021 event will be published in late Autumn when we have more information regarding the height of the tide, but will be around the 2nd or 3rd Sunday in July.  All those requiring a refund will need to submit the following details to ahcoastalrun2019@gmail.com

Name

Order ID (can be found on Results Base Website)

Last 4 digits of card used for purchase (monies refunded direct to the card)

The last day for refunds will be the 1st May 2020  any requests after that date will be declined.  All those applying will be given a full refund. Please note once refunded you will not be able to take up the place and would need to reapply next year when there will be limited spaces.

Any queries regarding the refund policy please contact the Race Director, Laura McLean ahcoastalrun2019@gmail.com

Northumberland Coastal Run – 19th July 2020
POSTPONED Until 2021

Alnwick Harriers regret to inform you that this year’s event scheduled for the 19th July, is now cancelled due to the ongoing health concerns surrounding Covid-19 virus. There will therefore be no Coastal Run in 2020 and for those who have entered, your place will automatically be transferred to our event in 2021.

As the Coastal Run relies on the height of the tide for a safe route, we are unable to confirm a new date at present. In the Autumn we will be able to obtain accurate tide levels and be able to publish a new date. It will however be on one Sunday in July 2021.

We will be posting details soon for anyone who wants a refund but please bear in mind you will then have to reapply for your place for next year’s event.

Transfers will continue to remain open until one month prior to July 2021.

Any queries regarding this information please contact the Race Director, Laura McLean on ahcoastalrun2019@gmail.com

🏃‍♂️Les Allcorn 2020 CANCELLED🏃‍♂️

Hi everyone, unfortunately, due to the on going situation with regard to the Covid-19 virus, the uncertainty as to when sporting events will be able to resume and in consultation with Northumberland Estates, we have taken the decision to CANCEL this year’s Les Allcorn junior fun run and 10K races. Further details will be publicshed on Alnwick Harriers website and Facebook pages with regard to a rescheduled date in 2021, and options available to runners who have already paid and registered for these races.
Many thanks for your understanding during this period of uncertainty.
Stay safe and well.
Gareth Breese
Les Allcorn Race Director

Following the most recent advice issued by our governing body, Alnwick Harriers will be cancelling all club training sessions until further notice.

A statement from England Athletics and their latest updates can be found at https://www.englandathletics.org/athletics-and-running/news/coronavirus-statement/